Chapter 167: Ch 167 : Nine Lives

Sunny’s gaze was fixed, his consciousness wholly consumed by the shimmering text that bloomed in his mind.

It was a tapestry woven from divine light, its words holding the weight of creation itself.

He read them again, a slow tremor running through him, the sheer audacity of the power it described threatening to overwhelm his senses.

[Talent Name: Divine Immortality]

[Grade: SS]

[Description: The Concept of death is a mortal concern, not a burden for a God to bear. An ideal God should be eternal, undying.

This talent allows you to return from the void of death endlessly. This divine resurrection will activate once your collective lifeforms generate one million faith points during your slumber of non-existence.

Each time you are reborn, the cosmos shall bless one of your existing talents, upgrading it by one grade, capped at the pinnacle of SS-Grade.

All lifeforms bound to your divinity are granted 9 chances of rebirth. Upon their death, they shall be immediately reborn at a location of their choosing, their bodies and souls perfectly restored.

You may expend faith points to directly revive any of your lifeforms beyond their nine given lives. The cost is proportional to the power and grade of the soul being recalled.]

“Is this… really just an SS-Grade talent?” Sunny whispered, the words barely audible in the silence of his sanctum.

A profound disbelief warred with a rising tide of elation. He had seen powerful abilities, commanded world-altering skills, but this felt different.

This felt like a fundamental violation of the natural order. “Apart from the upgrade cap, everything about this screams of SSS-Grade”

He knew how utterly, game-breakingly overpowered this was. The gift of resurrection was one thing, but to bestow it upon his entire civilization? And to gain a permanent upgrade with every personal death? It was a path to absolute power paved with his own demise.

His mind reeled, trying to contextualize the leap in power. He thought of his Divine Comprehension talent.

At S-Grade, it had magnified the comprehension of his lifeforms by five times and his own by a factor of ten, a formidable boost.

But upon reaching SS-Grade, it had exploded, amplifying his lifeforms’ potential by twenty times and his own by an astonishing one hundred times. The gap between S and SS was not a step; it was a chasm.

The chasm between SS and SSS-Grade was even more profound, an abyss that separated the mighty from the truly legendary.

His own talents, Divine Overgrowth and Skill-Resonance, were prime examples of this terrifying disparity. They didn’t just operate on a higher level; they rewrote the very laws of reality.

A dangerous, intoxicating thought slithered into his mind. “Will Divine Immortality upgrade a talent to SSS-Grade if the talent itself reaches that level?”

The dream was too perfect, too potent to be true. But if it was… a slow, predatory smile began to form on his lips.

If it was, he would not hesitate. He would throw himself into the maw of death again and again, returning each time stronger, his arsenal of talents reforged in the fires of rebirth until they all shone with the transcendent light of the SSS-Grade. He would become a pantheon by himself.

“First things first,” Sunny murmured, pushing the exhilaratingly dark thoughts aside for a moment. His eyes glinted with newfound resolve. “I should begin my preparations for the Grand Tournament.”

The smirk that had been forming on his face finally took hold, full of the unassailable confidence of a god who could no longer die.

Meanwhile, across the vastness of Veridia, reality itself seemed to hold its breath. A sudden, violent burst of energy detonated in the upper atmosphere, not with the chaotic fury of a demon or the ordered might of a god, but with the pure, untamed power of ascension.

The sound was a thunderclap that cracked the sky, a sonic boom that echoed in the soul of every living creature.

This was the work of Light.

For a century, he had stood at the precipice, gathering his strength, and now, he was taking the final step.

The process was not beautiful; it was agonizingly violent.

His skin, once flawless, fractured like sun-baked earth.

His bones, the very pillars of his being, dissolved into ethereal dust.

His blood, the river of his life, evaporated in a hissing cloud of steam.

For one terrifying instant, it was as if he had been utterly erased from existence.

Then, in the void where he had once stood, a single, infinitely small point of brilliance appeared.

It pulsed, a nascent star of pure potential, before expanding outwards with blinding speed.

Light, energy, and matter erupted from the singularity, weaving together to form a new, perfected body.

Light opened his eyes, and the world seemed to bow.

“Finally,” he breathed, his voice resonating with newfound power. “After a hundred years… it is done.” He looked up at the sky, not as a mortal looking at the heavens, but as an equal gazing upon his domain.

A melodic cry drew his attention. Lina, his celestial beast companion, swooped down from the clouds, her form shimmering with joy.

She circled him, singing a song of triumph, to congratulate her master on becoming the first natural demigod of Veridia.

He was not alone. Nearby to him stood Anaske and Vel, his two grandfathers, their ancient eyes filled with a mixture of pride and profound gravity.

“Grandpa!” Light exclaimed, his composure breaking into a radiant, boyish grin.

He took a single step towards them, and the continent below him groaned. A tremor shook the earth, a web of cracks spreading from beneath his feet.

The very air around him fractured with each breath he took, and a casual wave of his hand produced visible tears in the fabric of space.

Anaske chuckled, a deep, rumbling sound that calmed the trembling air. “My grandson, I think it would be better if you learned to control that overflowing mana before you embrace us.”

Despite his casual tone, the old man’s chest swelled with pride. He was still the leader of the Cosmic Empire, but today, he was just a grandfather.

“Yes, your grandpa is right,” Vel added, his expression stern, though his eyes failed to conceal the glimmer of moisture within them. “Don’t even think of coming home until you can walk without shattering mountains. We are leaving.”

With a shared nod, the two ancient figures turned and flew away. They spoke of control and discipline, but their true feelings were laid bare in that fleeting moment;

a single, shared tear escaped and traced a path through the weathered lines of their faces, a testament to the love and overwhelming pride they felt for their grandchild.

Just as they departed, a new presence washed over all.

It was not a voice that spoke to the ears, but a divine decree that resonated directly within every soul in Veridia and within the entire Pantheon.

It was a voice that was both thunder and celestial music, the undeniable will of their creator, God Cosmos.

[My creations have shown me their faith. I have witnessed your tireless work in maintaining the world that I have forged.]

[Thus, I, God Cosmos, has decreed that from this day forward, the shadow of permanent death shall never again fall upon you. No lifeform, no demigod, no God who serves under Me shall truly perish, for I have gifted you all with Nine Lives.]

[This means that when your mortal shell is struck down, you will be reborn, your body and soul restored to their peak condition at a place of your choosing. You shall rise again, stronger and wiser.]

[And know this: even should you expend all nine of your gifted lives, your service is not forgotten. If your contributions to the well-being of the Cosmic Empire and the Pantheon are deemed worthy, then I, your God, shall personally call you back from death and give you another life.]

As these notifications blazed across their consciousness, one after another, the collective heartbeat of a billions of beings synchronized into the thunderous rhythm of war drums.

For the devoted lifeforms of Veridia, the first message alone was a gift beyond measure. To know that their God saw them, that their faith and contribution were acknowledged, was the only reward they ever craved.

But the subsequent decrees shattered their comprehension. Nine lives. A promise of rebirth, a shield against the finality of death.

And beyond that, the chance for personal revival by their God himself. What else could a mortal, or even an immortal, ever wish for?

High in the sky, Anaske and Vel faltered in their flight, nearly plummeting from the heavens as the sheer, unbelievable weight of the decree washed over them.

Light, floating in the air with his new power, completely forgot that he had just become a demigod. His own monumental achievement was rendered a footnote in the face of his God’s boundless generosity.

The demigods and lifeforms, while stunned, were somewhat accustomed to their God’s benevolent miracles.

But the Gods of the Pantheon were utterly, profoundly silent.

They were all from the same planet, same home. But one of them have reached such a grand stage that it made them proud.

How could one being possess the power to grant conditional immortality to countless souls across an entire empire?

This wasn’t a benefit; it was a rewriting of existence itself. And it was extended not only to his direct followers but to the lifeforms under their own patronage as well.

After what felt like an eternity suspended in silent awe, the dam of their disbelief finally broke.

The God Chat, exploded into a supernova of chaotic, ecstatic messages.

The Gods, humbled and overwhelmed, praised their Emperor wholeheartedly.

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