Apollo seemed to think of something and waved his right hand and a ball of light gently floated toward Athena.
"What is this?" Athena instinctively caught it, her expression filled with some confusion.
"That is a portion of the Authority of Earth. If you manage to fully condense it, you will truly gain mastery over one of the Four Great Authorities."
Apollo explained softly to Athena.
"Authority of Earth, huh…" Athena nodded slightly.
She naturally knew about the Four Great Authorities.
In this world, or rather, in this universe, there were four supreme Authorities:
Sky, Earth, Ocean, and Death.
The Sky Authority was originally wielded by the Sky God Uranus. Later, the Sky God was slain by his son, Kronos, who inherited most of his divine authority. A small portion scattered and merged with the Earth.
Later on, Kronos himself was slain by Zeus, who then inherited a portion of the Sky Authority as well. The Earth Authority was once controlled by Gaia, the Mother Earth Goddess, but after her death, the Authority of Earth was likewise scattered throughout the land.
As for Ocean and Death, there had never been any being who truly held complete mastery over their Authorities.
Now, Zeus's ambition was for the Olympian Pantheon to take full control of the Four Great Authorities and reconstruct the entire pantheon hierarchy.
Once completed, the Olympians would reign above all gods.
And as the head of the Olympian Pantheon, Zeus himself would stand at the threshold of true transcendence.
"Buzz--"
Ripples surged across the void and in the next moment, the figures of Apollo and Athena slowly emerged.
"Alright, Athena. Remember what I've told you. I'm leaving now." Apollo said.
With Athena silently nodding and seeing him off, Apollo's figure disappeared from the Sanctuary. And once the onlookers realized the battle had ended, many of the gods who had been watching couldn't help but withdraw their gazes with disappointment.
They had expected a good show.
Unfortunately, Apollo had ruined it.
It seemed they wouldn't be seeing a life-and-death duel between two Olympian gods today.
Still, although a little let down, many gods wore smiles on their faces.
After all, based on Athena and Poseidon's current behavior, this matter was clearly far from over. There might be even more exciting drama to witness in the future.
Of course, what they didn't know at this moment, was that this wasn't just an Olympian power struggle anymore?
Now they had to start worrying about themselves.
As Zeus began aligning the entire Olympian Pantheon into a unified force, the Olympians had also officially begun their campaign.
Underworld Realm
The King of Hell, Hades, had launched a war to take over the entire Underworld Realm.
The first to bear the brunt of this campaign was none other than Lucifer, who resided within the Underworld Realm.
At this moment, the Underworld wasn't solely under Hades' control. There were many other gods who held power in the Underworld, and they were in no way weaker than the deities of the surface world.
Lucifer was one such god.
Once known as the Son of God in Christianity, Lucifer, the Morning Star, received supreme beauty and wisdom from the Creator God of this world and served as the chief Archangel in the Heavenly Realm.
However, because he attempted to seize a position higher than God himself, he was cast down into the Underworld Realm by the Archangel Michael, becoming one of its rulers.
In both status and strength, Lucifer was in no way inferior to Hades.
The instant Hades began his campaign, his gaze was immediately fixed on Lucifer.
After all, compared to the other Kings of Hell, Lucifer was not well-liked within the Underworld Realm. Removing him was something most beings were happy to see. And if Hades could devour Lucifer's share of the Underworld Laws, his own power would rise to the next level.
The war soon began.
And it immediately drew the attention of countless deities within the Underworld.
However, most were just watching for entertainment, some even considered taking advantage of the chaos.
But clearly, they were destined for disappointment.
From the moment Hades made his move, his actions were swift and overwhelming.
Lucifer's response shocked everyone as he didn't resist with all his might. Instead, he decisively relinquished his control over the Laws of Death, and his figure vanished from the Underworld Realm.
This unexpected development left all the gods of the Underworld stunned.
By the time they snapped out of their confusion, Hades's power had already risen to a new level.
Very quickly, several territories ruled by Underworld gods were devoured and Hades's divine laws began to spread even further.
Meanwhile,
As the King of Hell Hades acted, Poseidon also began to make his move across the seas. His divine authority began to spread rapidly. The expansions of Poseidon and Hades quickly attracted the attention of many gods.
But just as their attention shifted toward this expansion, a sudden and earth-shattering divine war erupted between Hades, Poseidon, and Zeus, the King.
This divine war lasted more than ten years, during which both Poseidon and Hades were severely injured by Zeus.
The tremendous scale of this battle left everyone so stunned that they no longer had the energy to worry about Poseidon and Hades's previous territorial ambitions.
Most gods began to feel a growing fear of King Zeus's overwhelming power.
After all, Poseidon and Hades were not weak by any means, even among the gods of the surface world, they ranked among the strongest.
Especially in recent times, as both had expanded aggressively, their strength had grown tremendously.
And yet, even together, they were no match for Zeus.
How could such a result not strike fear into the hearts of others?
Amidst this fear, King Zeus soon revealed a renewed intention to expand his dominion and authority.
At that moment, the gods everywhere began to grow restless. Most even began actively cooperating with Poseidon and Hades in their expansions.
Even those gods who hadn't cooperated now began to hesitate. The entire power dynamic of the world had quietly, yet completely, shifted.
But all of this was unknown to the man currently within the Sanctuary,
Jiang Chen's consciousness was fully immersed in his cultivation. That single drop of Athena's crystal-clear blood had given him help beyond imagination.
In just a brief ten years, his Cosmo had become even more refined and powerful.
Combined with the staff of Ophiuchus, his understanding of life and death had subtly reached a new depth.
At his current speed, it likely wouldn't be long before he broke through again, and stepped into the legendary realm of the Eighth Sense.
(End of Chapter)
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