Chapter 84 - 61 The Zodiac and the Way of Bai
Chapter 84: Chapter 61 The Zodiac and the Way of Bai
Translator: 549690339
The Divine King was satisfied with the crafting of the Sun Chariot, but Cronus, concerned for the sun in the starry sky, hastened to leave.
He needed to get this celestial body moving again as soon as possible. Every day of delay meant more destruction in the heavens, and the time needed for restoration would be more than a hundredfold.
“Aster, how are the preparations?”
Watching Cronus’s avatar and Helios depart from the Spirit Realm, Laine inquired softly.
The star fields along the sun’s path used to be continuous, without detailed division.
“As you requested, I’ve divided the star fields the sun passes through into twelve equal parts based on the changes in its trajectory over the course of a year,”
“Corresponding with the twelve months, when the starlight aligns with the land, one can even use ‘calendars’ to influence the climate changes in the Mortal Realm.”
Clad in a silver gossamer gown, Aster, the Weaver of Stars, replied.
“But there are not enough human Heroic Spirits to stabilize the star fields. If we can’t calm the chaos in the starry sky by other means, relying solely on these Heroic Spirits, it would take more than ten thousand years to restore it to the original state.”
Maintaining and repairing were tasks of differing difficulty. Under normal circumstances, these Heroic Spirits of the Golden Humanity, with the starry power controlled by the God of Stars, would suffice in stabilizing the star field energy, but the situation now was far from normal.
“I understand—” Laine said after rubbing his forehead, feeling somewhat helpless with the situation.
He had not anticipated that Hyperion, in the end, would resort to a “to prevent subordinates from being used by you, I might as well kill them all” approach.
The starry sky, unlike the land, was rife with storms and energy tides that ebbed and flowed. Without sufficient Gods of Stars, a single star field simply couldn’t provide stable power to its master.
Now Laine was faced with this very situation and needed to find a way to quell the turmoil.
Of course, those “eternally slumbering” Gods of Stars were not exactly dead. If he was willing to have the Spirit Realm provide Divine Power, he could revive them. But Laine was not inclined to expend great effort just to save a group of temps.
After all, the illusory stars he had created also numbered in the thousands, and once the starry sky stabilized, those Gods of Stars were not needed. To save them to use for a thousand years and then bury them again—this was something Laine couldn’t bring himself to do.
But in the current system of the Spirit Realm, there was also no place for the external Gods of Stars.
“Let’s put it off for now,” Laine eventually said. “Once Cronus has arranged the trajectories of the celestial bodies in the starry sky, the Codex of Creation will stay with you.”
“Go find Themis in the starry sky, and with the Codex of Creation in her hands, its power is enough to quell the chaotic energy flows along the Zodiac trajectory.”
After hesitating for a moment, Laine added another sentence.
“Tell her, although it may take some time, after she helps with this, I will afterwards help her avoid an annoying fellow.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Though Aster did not know whom Laine was referring to, the Angels of the Spirit Realm never questioned Laine’s commands. So Aster nodded and flew towards the starry sky.
The twelve Gods of Stars had already gone to their new domains. After all, a star field left unmanaged for even a day multiplied the difficulty of its subjugation. Though their Divine Power was far from enough to suppress a star field’s energy, it was possible to manage.
After a short while, only one person was left in the great hall. Laine gently tapped on the armrest, his gaze piercing through the void, through layers of barriers, vaguely discerning that figure chained within the sun by the locks of order.
Even though he was sealed, the former God of the Sun was still struggling ceaselessly. Although this would not break the seal, the Divine King’s power was nonetheless sapped a bit because of it.
This was the God of Sun, fervent and reckless.
“Hyperion… this is the second time he’s fallen into my hands,” Laine mused.
While the second time was indeed orchestrated by the Divine King, without Laine’s assistance, he wouldn’t have succeeded so effortlessly.
Colliding with Laine twice, and each time ending up worse than before, this fellow truly suffered his share of hardship.
But indeed, undying deities are quite troublesome; no matter how many times you defeat them, they always have the chance to come back, and even if sealed, they are constantly wearing down the sealer’s power.
“Third time’s the charm.”
“You have one more chance to come out, at the time of the Divine King’s succession. If you choose to leave or to take revenge on your firstborn, then our grievances can end there. But if you’re unwilling to stop—”
Gods are immortal, and the Sun cannot be destroyed, so strictly speaking, Laine had no way of dealing with an Ancient Titan God.
However, with some past experiences, he faintly thought of some more interesting, yet more difficult methods of handling the situation. He couldn’t do it now, but when the third era came, he could give it a try.
[The Sun] is eternal, deities never die, yet death is not solely the demise of the physical body.
“Your Majesty, do you really intend to hand over the zodiac domains to the Lord of the Spirit Realm?”
On the way back to Mount of the Gods, Helios ultimately couldn’t hold his silence.
The zodiac was how Laine referred to the Sun’s path through the stars over the course of a year during the process of forging the Divine Artifact.
He called the Sun’s Path the zodiac, and the Moon’s Path the Bai path, and generally, although they intersect at one point, the Sun and the Moon do not collide.
Only on very rare occasions do their positions come dangerously close, and the Divine King considered such a rare day a thank offering to the [Devourer of the Sun].
Although it lacked wisdom, the Divine King remembered its merits, so on that day, he allowed Eclipses to emerge and ‘feast’ to its content, thereby also averting an imbalance of energy between the Sun and the Moon.
After all, due to Laine’s doing, the difference in power between the Sun and the Moon of this world was quite substantial, and if they were to intersect, something not so wonderful might occur.
With Hyperion’s control over the Sun, there hadn’t been any problems before, but the Divine King had no hope that would be the case with Helios.
“Of course, if I don’t do this, do you think he’d be interested in any other remote place? If you could operate the Sun on your own, I wouldn’t need to come here at all.”
Glancing indifferently at the God of Sun, Cronus spoke directly:
“Your thoughts need to match your power, Helios. I know you’re unhappy, but compared to your sister, at least you are a True God with strong godhood.”
“If one day you become a God with formidable divine power, I will seriously consider your ideas, but for now, you just need to execute.”
If it were any other deity, Cronus would at least try to coerce or entice them. But for the God of Sun, he didn’t even entertain the thought of ‘enticing’ him.
The starry sky doesn’t need so many voices, and coming up, he’ll probably have to focus on his soon-to-be-born children. Before that happens, he didn’t want to leave himself a pile of troubles.
“…Yes, Your Majesty.”
Helios responded in a low voice.
Although he was about to drive the Sun Chariot across the sky, and the Divine King had agreed to give him some Gods of Stars to govern, after the journey to the Spirit Realm, Helios felt no different than before, having moved from a small cage into a larger one.
But following behind Cronus, the God of Sun’s eyes flickered. Visiting the Spirit Realm today reminded him of something he had heard from his parents.
Before he was born, around the time when Cronus ascended to the throne of the Divine King, the Lord of the Spirit Realm, who had not yet created his own realm, made a Prophecy, and the Heavenly Father also left a curse before his ascension.
Just as Cronus had overthrown the previous Divine King, he too would be overthrown by his own young child.
Hyperion had said this in mockery, venting his anger, but reflecting on this incident, the new God of Sun couldn’t help but feel hopeful.
‘As you rose, so shall you fall. This statement not only implies that he gained the throne through rebellion, but could it also be referring to me?’
‘He relies on my existence to control the Sun and govern the stars, yet so blatantly disregards my interests, so why should I stand by him when a new Divine King is born?’
Moved by the thought, he quickly suppressed it. After all, the Divine King could release his father at any time, and if he couldn’t resolve this issue, any current deliberations were illusory.
However, aside from the yet-to-be-fulfilled Prophecy, Helios thought of another way to increase his strength.
‘I remember the God of the Ocean lineage seems quite fond of matrimonial alliances.’
‘I wonder if Prince Oceanus would find me suitable?’
He was somewhat confident, after all, compared to just one of the Oceanides, the husband of Clymene, the Goddess of Renown, at least Helios was a God of Sun.
Therefore, what the God of Speech, Iapetus, could achieve, he might as well be able to do.
With differing intentions on the same path, before long, Mount of the Gods loomed into view.