"..."
All the Astral Gods present fell into silence.
The Monarch was not lying. The crystal before them was indeed the relic of an Astral God, and one whose Path had completely dissipated.
In other words, the power of the Path controlled by this "Outsider" had been entirely excised from the Imaginary Tree. This was a true weakening of the Imaginary Tree, and what's more, this power, which originally belonged to the Tree, had been thoroughly "reformed" into the likeness of the Sea.
There was an even more severe problem: the followers of this unknown Astral God were still active on the Imaginary Tree. These races, unaware that they had been tainted by the Abyss, could become terrifying "flashpoints" at any moment. The potential for an inside agent was far more dreadful than a powerful external enemy.
"You must all understand the level of danger this situation presents," Qlipoth said, taking over the conversation from the Monarch.
"I can understand the various reasons why you are all reluctant to appear here in your true forms. After all, relationships between Astral Gods are rarely amicable."
"I cannot force this point," Qlipoth stated with great sincerity.
"I have no right to demand anything of you, but even the younger Astral Gods have likely heard tales of the past from us old relics."
"..."
Silence spread among all the observers as each participant tried to recall the secrets known only to the Astral Gods—the birth of the Astral Gods themselves.
It heralded the beginning of a new cosmic cycle.
In the previous universe created by the Imaginary Tree, the free and undisciplined "Ancient Beasts" had no interest in resisting the Quantum Sea. They even allowed their offspring to be corrupted by the power of the Abyss, a process they called "Paradoxical Evolution."
To be honest, this wasn't a bad thing for the Ancient Beasts.
After all, if they could adapt to quantum energy, their domain would expand even further. The unexplored territory of the Quantum Sea was just as suitable for nesting as any other place for beings like the Ancient Beasts.
However!
The Imaginary Tree could not tolerate such destruction.
During the previous cosmic era when the Ancient Beasts ran rampant, the Imaginary Tree was at an absolute disadvantage in its conflict with the Quantum Sea. Furthermore, because the power of the Ancient Beasts was not bound by any rules—they wielded pure Imaginary energy—they were not constrained by the forces of regulation.
In other words, the Imaginary Tree had no way to directly control these powerful, "naturally born" lifeforms.
Under these circumstances—the Astral Gods were born.
The first Astral Gods, like Qlipoth, were direct manifestations of the power of rules. As the Astral Gods developed and grew, they merged with various forms of "energy, matter, or emotion" that had evolved from Imaginary energy, giving rise to the existence known as [Paths].
The Imaginary Tree is the rules.
The [Paths] born from these rules, and their "representatives," the Astral Gods, were not completely controlled by the Imaginary Tree, but their actions and goals were heavily constrained by it.
This led to a well-known piece of information in the star-sea universe: "Astral Gods cannot deviate from their Paths."
Should an Astral God dare to do so, the [Path] they commanded would depart from their "very being," reverting to the power of rules and returning to the Imaginary Tree. The Imaginary Tree would then, through some "unknown principle," select the next suitable successor and cause them to "ascend to the divine throne."
---o---
The above is the origin story of the Astral Gods and their power.
By "personifying the power of rules" (creating the Astral Gods), the Imaginary Tree successfully suppressed the erosion of the Quantum Sea after eliminating the useless Ancient Beasts, and even launched a counterattack to reclaim its lost territory.
However!
What the Tree could do, the Sea could do with equal ease.
The Astral Gods exterminated over ninety-nine percent of the Ancient Beasts, driving the powerful species to near extinction in the star-sea universe. But those who had completed their "Paradoxical Evolution" to become [Paradoxical Ancient Beasts] still lived in the depths of the Quantum Sea, where even Astral Gods dared not venture.
These beings, who had survived from the previous cosmic era and possessed the power to rival Astral Gods, were given a new name by the Astral Gods, who referred to themselves as "True Gods":
"Ancient Gods."
The Ancient Gods had no concept or standard of right and wrong. In fact, even after entering the domain of the Quantum Sea, they remained utterly uninterested in the war between the Tree and the Sea. The Ancient Beasts had not helped the Imaginary Tree attack the Quantum Sea, but nor would they turn around and help the latter attack the "mother" that birthed them.
Likewise, the Quantum Sea held no expectations for these creatures.
The value of the Ancient Gods' existence was to provide the Abyss with a sufficiently excellent template. Based on the [Paradoxical Ancient Beasts], a new species emerged within the Quantum Sea—forged and gathered from quantum energy, wielding incomprehensible "unnamable 'Paths'" that the star-sea universe could not comprehend, and possessing combat power on par with Astral Gods:
The Outer Gods.
These three classifications—Astral Gods, Ancient Gods, and Outer Gods—comprised all the "high-dimensional beings" in the universe of the Tree and the Sea.
But now, with the Monarch having slain that Astral God of unknown origin (the roots of the Paths of True Gods and Outer Gods were vastly different), perhaps a new category of "divinity" needed to be added:
Fallen Astral Gods.
Compared to the reclusive Ancient Gods and the incomprehensible Outer Gods, these unknowable divinities, who were once "colleagues" or friends, were far more bone-chilling to the observing Astral Gods.
"We do indeed need to do something," Aha of Elation said, no longer clinging to its original viewpoint.
"I understand why the Final Monarch is so anxious... If we allow the power of the Abyss to continue to swell, the Astral Gods may not even have the chance to welcome the true 'Finality'."
The universe will one day end.
Unlike the Ancient Beasts, the power of the Astral Gods was inextricably linked to the rules of the Tree; there was no chance for them to "survive" into the next cycle. But precisely because of this intimate connection, while they could not "survive," they might have the possibility of being "reborn" alongside new rules.
The premise being...
...that the Imaginary Tree, the rules themselves, was not too heavily eroded by the Sea.
"I agree."
A new starlight flared to life as another Astral God arrived in their true form.
"Xipe, the Astral God of Harmony." This god and their followers, [The Family], belonged to the "Lawful Evil" alignment. Xipe was not a single individual but a multi-faceted collective Astral God. The attributes of Harmony were filled with beautiful concepts: understanding, support, cooperation.
However!
[The Family], which held such noble principles as "the strong support the weak, the living die to protect life," had only one outcome for civilizations that refused assimilation: "complete annihilation."
Xipe's own power was only mid-tier.
But due to the special nature of their Path, as long as two or more members of [The Family] were not completely wiped out, they could be resurrected at any time. Although their power would diminish, this "resurrection" at the Path level made them extremely difficult to kill.
None of the major powers in the universe liked [The Family], but if even the extremely xenophobic Xipe chose to "agree" with the proposal of Qlipoth and Aha, then among the many Astral Gods present, those who still had the standing to object...
"Agreed."
"Agreed."
Fuli of Remembrance and Nous of Erudition, who had arrived in their true forms earlier, expressed their opinions simultaneously.
"I do not oppose this proposal," Yaoshi of Abundance raised a question. "But when it comes to actual implementation... while I don't know what plan Qlipoth has, some Astral Gods will have to personally venture into the Quantum Sea, won't they?"
"Besides the Monarch of Order and their Empire, who else is willing to undertake this duty?"
The Grand Monarch of Order had clearly communicated with Qlipoth long ago, and the Empire had shown its willingness to act as the vanguard.
However, although the Empire had repelled the forces of the Abyss several times, it had never dealt a truly significant blow to the Quantum Sea. While there was no proof, Yaoshi suspected that the Grand Monarch of Order had likely clashed with the Outer Gods, and more than once.
Given his power—capable of hunting down [Voracity] and [The Hunt], and even killing a Fallen Astral God—the fact that he had never taken the head of an Outer God...
...was enough to suggest that the Empire was definitely lacking when facing the Abyss's Astral God-level combatants.
"I concur."
"Mythus, the Astral God of Enigmata," also joined the conversation. This was an Astral God who had always acted with sublime altruistic goals, but whose methods were extremely "chaotic."
"'Lan's' Xianzhou has been all but annihilated."
"Among the followers of the many Astral Gods present, aside from the Empire's [Legions] and [Fleets], only a handful of [Galaxy Rangers] have any real experience."
Mythus's words were harsh, but their meaning was clear: "The followers of the Astral Gods present are basically a bunch of overgrown babies."
"You all should be aware," Mythus continued.
"For us Astral Gods, if we wish to act within the Abyss... the power of 'mortals' is indispensable."
Faith is also a crucial source of power for Astral Gods. In the Quantum Sea, cut off from the star-sea universe, the lack of faith would greatly weaken an Astral God's combat strength. This statement was a bit of a generalization, but it was true for more than half of the Astral Gods.
"If we were to rank the factions here by scale, the followers of Preservation should be duty-bound to act, but considering the nature of Qlipoth's Path—"
"They cannot perform this duty well."
As the name implied, defense, not offense, was the forte of the Path of Preservation.
"And as for Trailblaze, which should be the most suited for this..."
"Although Akivili is gone, their followers can bear this responsibility," Qlipoth answered Mythus's unspoken question. "[The Nameless] have grown very rapidly in power over these millennia, and their ranks include followers of other Astral Gods as well."
[The Nameless] were allies of the Sacred Empire. During the Empire's expansion, the number of Nameless "hired" as "adventurers" had grown to an exaggerated degree. Many of the Sacred Empire's subsidiary civilizations had members of different races who had joined the ranks of the Nameless.
"Due to certain established facts... you should all be well aware of this plan's feasibility."
The reason for the Grand Monarch of Order's great power was no secret among the Astral Gods.
"Furthermore," Qlipoth added.
"A colleague has already volunteered to participate."
"?"
As another starlight shone, a radiance only slightly weaker than that of the ancient ones slowly brightened.
"The Abyss cannot corrupt my Path."
"I and my followers will join the ranks of Order."
"IX, the Astral God of Nihility"—the social recluse among the Astral Gods, who never interacted with others, who believed the existence of the universe was worthless. Their Path's attributes: sloth, weariness, meaninglessness.
No one could have imagined.
That IX, who was even more enigmatic than "Mythus," would take the initiative to participate in such a momentous event... This was even more astonishing than a dead Astral God coming back to life.
Of course, whether IX and their followers, [The Self-Annihilators], were motivated by a desire for "self-annihilation," hoping to reach the end of their Path by "dying in battle in the Quantum Sea," was anyone's guess.
"..."
"Alright, it seems there are no more objections," Aha remarked.
Trying to wait and see at a time like this was clearly unrealistic. Those who did not voice an opinion would be automatically included in the operation.
"The plan is simple," Qlipoth's perception swept over the growing number of Astral Gods revealing their true forms.
"We Astral Gods represent the rules of the Tree."
"The Quantum Sea may indeed be able to submerge the Imaginary Tree, but to completely erode it and make it lose an entire rule should not be this easy."
The rules of the Tree formed the multiverse.
The many Astral Gods supported the lush "canopy" of the Imaginary Tree—and this canopy was far more "sturdy" than one might imagine.
"Just as Ouroboros, an Ancient Beast, was able to become an Astral God."
"I suspect," Qlipoth offered his own theory.
"That a certain [Paradoxical Ancient Beast] that entered the Abyss has, under the influence of the Quantum Sea, fused the powers of an 'Ancient God' and an 'Outer God'."
"Their kind was already capable of adapting to the powers of both the Tree and the Sea. Using this as a clue, we might truly find the method used to corrupt an Astral God."
"Find, and then kill, this hypothetical Outer God of yours?" Yaoshi asked on behalf of the assembled gods.
"Correct."
"Without the means of corruption, the Quantum Sea will be unable to maintain its current level of erosion. The crisis that has been building for nearly ten thousand years will naturally be resolved."
"At the same time, we must also divide our forces to protect the universes on the Tree, ensuring that the various civilizations do not suffer a sneak attack in the process."
Xipe half-interrupted, picking up Qlipoth's thread: "An expeditionary force and a guardian force?"
"That is indeed your style. I assume you already assigned us to our teams before this meeting even began."
The Astral God of Preservation was a textbook example of the "Neutral Good" alignment. Indispensable fairness and strength combined to form Qlipoth's immense appeal.
"However, dividing our forces is a major taboo."
"And the danger levels of the two tasks are worlds apart... Are you certain your plan can convince all the gods?"
Facing this final challenge, Qlipoth displayed his mettle directly:
"I alone will guard the star-sea."
"If an Outer God truly possesses the ability to corrupt me, then the sheer power of that ability would render all resistance meaningless."
Even on an "individual" level, Qlipoth's combat prowess was in a league of its own... and one had to remember, this was not what the [Path of Preservation] excelled at.
His comprehensive combat power was enough to be on par with a fully-powered Final Monarch or Nanook.
"The followers of Order and Nihility will advance ahead to provide a beacon for your operation."
"As for everyone else..."
Qlipoth looked at the surrounding starlight, some bright, some dim.
"Prepare to advance into the Abyss."