In a boundless space somewhere in the Sea of Quanta, the consciousnesses of several great gods from the Sea of Quanta converged to discuss the issue of "Ryn stealing the power of the Sea to give to a god candidate from the Imaginary side."
"A god from the Imaginary side has come to the Sea of Quanta and is plundering the Sea's energy to ascend to a higher level of existence. This is a provocation from the Tree to the Sea! Don't any of you have anything to say?"
"Don't know, don't care, doesn't matter. The great will of the Sea of Quanta hasn't notified us anyway, so there's no need for us to get involved in this mess."
"Think about Ometeotl. That idiot just made a move on those guys, and a few days later, he was beaten back to his primordial state by the Honkai God, beginning a long road to rebirth."
"Hehe, a god who has existed since the beginning of time was killed with a single slap by a guy from the future. This world is truly interesting..."
"I'm leaving first. Something has come up on my end recently. A guy I thought so highly of, I wanted him to replace me and become the rule of nothingness in the Sea of Quanta.
He actually told me, 'We are the source of all things, we are the destination of all things. Why be in such a hurry? Since it will be me, it will eventually be me. A little earlier, a little later, what meaning does it all have?'
What the hell does he know? As long as one has not truly transcended the Tree and the Sea, all things can never achieve true nothingness. It's better to come and take my place sooner. What's so good about being a damn Aeon over there?"
The other divine consciousnesses unanimously gave the one who was "seemingly scolding his successor for being disappointing, but actually showing off that he had found a successor" a deep look of contempt.
"Let's leave it at that. We'll just send some minions to make a token effort. Doesn't that lucky guy among them who looks a lot like the Honkai God still have the blessing of the Sea of Quanta?
Since the great will of the Sea of Quanta hasn't said anything, it might be tacitly approving of their actions."
"That's true. Maybe he'll be a comrade in the future, so let's not make things too difficult."
"Huh, are there a few pseudo-gods heading their way?"
"Pseudo-gods? There's a guy among them who was born from time and can travel through and change time at will! Heh, I wonder which genius created time. If there were no time, there wouldn't be so many problems in the world."
"But without time, everything would be meaningless. All things exist and operate based on time."
"Yes, the one who created time made all things develop linearly, irreversibly. It is time that makes the world not perfect, that allows everyone to have gains and losses, to have joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness..."
"Time is chaotic in most areas of the Sea of Quanta, so the one who created time should be an existence from the Tree's side, perhaps even the Imaginary Tree itself..."
"Alright, alright, that's enough. If we continue this discussion, it will be beyond what we can discuss. If it really involves the Tree and the Sea... let's not talk about it, in case the Sea hears..."
The gods were stunned for a moment, then looked at the god who had just spoken with a look of pity.
「Coward. I've been listening the whole time. Say what you want, it's not like I'm going to kill you.」
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Back with Ryn in the Sea of Quanta.
"Boss, do you feel it? It seems like a big trouble is coming..."
Kukulkan looked at the distant space with a grave expression, calling out to Ryn in a low voice.
"No need to feel it, I already see it. But... I don't understand why she is here."
Ryn could see farther than Kukulkan. In his field of vision, a battleship so perfect that even Ryn couldn't help but want to praise it had suddenly appeared in the Sea of Quanta.
The Eternal, Unsinkable Ship of Samsara - Hyperion.
The appearance of this battleship meant the appearance of Ai Hyperion Λ.
But in Ryn's vision, only this one battleship appeared...
And...
In front of the Hyperion, blocked by the Hyperion, was a huge white "continent" so large that its edges could not be seen?
Just as Ryn was sharing his vision with Kukulkan, wondering why the Hyperion had appeared there and why it had stopped, as if to block something from approaching...
"My, my~ It seems our unknown guests have run into some trouble? But I'm also very curious! Why did that thing suddenly appear and block the way? We don't seem to know each other, do we?"
A woman who looked very similar to Su, with gray hair and purple eyes, many emerald green feathers as a trademark on her body, and the same mark on her neck as Su.
She quietly appeared beside Ryn and the others, looking thoughtful, and joined Ryn in pondering why the Hyperion would appear to block her.
Ryn tilted his head to look at the Female Su, then punched her in the stomach, bending her like a broken chopstick.
At the same time, he released a black hole in his palm, completely devouring and destroying her.
After that, Ryn cut out the surrounding space, then used the power of Creation to create tens of thousands of clones, and then stuffed Kiana, Sirin, Maheśvara, and the others, along with this piece of space, into his own black hole world.
After finishing, Ryn and Kukulkan tacitly stood back to back, constantly on guard against their surroundings to deal with any unknown enemies that might suddenly appear like the Female Su just now.
"Kukulkan, that woman just now was probably just a scout. Next, the real big trouble is coming."
Kukulkan nodded, "Mhm... Kiana and the others' evolutionary ascension is almost over. This is probably the last trouble."
"So let's go all out from the beginning and make it quick!"
Ryn closed his eyes, brought the fingers of his left hand to his mouth, bit through the skin to let the blood flow, and then wiped it on his left eye.
Like painting a face in an opera, as Ryn's fingers traced a path, a scarlet bloodstain streaked across his left face, from above his left eye to his left cheek...
This was a tear of blood from Tianqi, of unknown origin, adding a touch of sadness to her cold cheek, and it was also a symbol of Tianqi-Ryn...
At the same time the bloodstain appeared, his hair, except for the lock in front, began to turn black, as black as the void of space...
Three stellar-mass black holes, compressed to the size of volleyballs, began to appear behind Ryn, like a divine halo, endlessly cycling like the sun, moon, and stars.
*Omm—*
The world suddenly fell silent. In the lightless blackness, Ryn opened his eyes.
And then... the world was filled with a single color, scarlet.
"Tianqi-Ryn, divinity manifest."