第七章第三十五条，主乐于见到人们用交易的方法达成目的。

Chapter 7, Article 35: The Lord delights in seeing people achieve their goals through trade.

The bishop meant that they must charge these betrayers of the Lord sanctuary fees at the current market price.

※※※※

Li Mochen was unaware that many similar situations were occurring in the mortal world; he was still focused on the battle of Gaia and the others.

Shortly after Artemis joined the Heavenly Mandate Pantheon, the battle situation changed again. Odin's divine kingdom 'Asgard' and its core 'Kristakov Battleship', the 'Heaven' of the Radiant Lord, the 'Eternal Night Gate' of the Night Goddess Nyx, and Ahura Mazda's 'Realm of Light and Goodness' suddenly descended upon the center of the battlefield.

This plunged Gaia, already at a slight disadvantage, into a difficult position. Two of the three Hecatoncheires guarding her were killed and could not revive immediately.

Athena, the goddess of wisdom who had always guarded Gaia, was even mortally wounded. Yet at the brink of death, she simultaneously manifested truth-level 'Wisdom', pseudo-truth-level 'Knowledge', and pseudo-truth-level 'War', severely wounding Hermes with her wisdom spear, shocking the war god Tyr and Apollo who were besieging her.

But this did not change Gaia's overall situation. The primordial mother goddess could only barely hold on with her unparalleled regenerative abilities. Earth, Life, Creation, Eternity—these powerful divine offices and authorities allowed her to recover unscathed even under the combined bombardment of several god-kings.

And the World's Primal Core provided her with inexhaustible power.

"It seems the time has come."

Thetis's lips curled coldly; "If he doesn't act now, he wouldn't be Zeus."

Ever since the nature goddess Artemis appeared here, she was even more certain that the pair of grandfather and grandson would turn against each other.

At that moment on the battlefield, the 'Thunderfire Spear' that had been striking the Goddess of Freedom suddenly changed direction. It pierced through the void, ignoring a distance of thousands of kilometers, and struck directly at Gaia's back.

"Zeus!"

Gaia's shrill cry instantly filled the battlefield, unleashing a massive wave of sound.

But her voice held anger, killing intent, and regret, yet no surprise.

"You have made a mistake! A huge mistake! Zeus, you bastard from the outer realms! Eris!"

The Goddess of Freedom Eris, who had been 'fighting' Zeus, let out a soft laugh.

"Have you finally made up your mind? Gaia? Then in response—"

She raised her finger, causing Zeus to lose partial control of the 'Thunderfire Spear'. This greatly reduced its power, preventing it from unleashing his truth-level strength, and Gaia easily brushed it aside as she turned around.

At the same time, the Goddess of Freedom stood before Zeus's chariot, wielding a small shield, directly resisting Zeus's spear.

With a thunderous blast, Eris's body was shattered into countless pieces, but Zeus also lost partial control of his own flesh, his hands and feet proliferating with abnormal tissue.

The former recovered in an instant, standing gracefully dozens of kilometers away.

"My lord, you are far more powerful than before. Great Goddess Gaia, I fear I cannot hold him off for long."

At this moment, both Zeus and Nyx had pale, bloodless faces. The Night Goddess, in particular, looked extremely grim.

She knew what her daughter had done: Gaia had used part of her authority over the Source to secure Eris's defection.

"Do you know what you are doing? Eris? You will make all our efforts come to nothing. You might let her get what she wants. Do you think you can keep your share of the Source?"

"What does it matter, my mother?"

Eris laughed: "At least I've got a ticket now, haven't I? If Gaia truly has such power, then we can join forces again, can't we?"

As they spoke, Eris had already blocked Zeus three times. Though the Goddess of Freedom's aura grew weaker each time, Zeus had not once managed to reach Gaia during this period.

Meanwhile, Gaia's body began to expand, transforming from a maiden's form into a colossal stone giant nine thousand meters tall.

"Did you think I had no precautions against you? Zeus? Ahura, I accept your offer now!"

Ahura, incarnated as a sun, immediately transformed into a golden human figure, flapping several pairs of wings behind him, and like a javelin, he stabbed toward the Radiant Lord, who was incarnated as another sun.

The latter had long been prepared; he blocked Ahura's longsword with his 'Sun Spear' while swinging a staff burning with golden flames at Ahura's waist.

The former was a gift from the sun god Ra, bequeathed before his grandfather's death. The latter, called the 'Was (Power) Scepter', was a mythical weapon the Radiant Lord had mastered since the era of Horus, symbolizing kingship, the staff of authority that shepherds the people.

In the Egyptian era, all kings revered Him as the protector of the royal house; when He became the Radiant Lord, all emperors of the Old World needed His recognition for their coronation.

When these two light gods clashed fiercely, everyone in the Magic Tower of Fate's Domain let out exclamations of astonishment.

"What am I seeing? A defection followed by another defection?"

"How interesting. Is this the so-called intrigue among god-kings?"

"I must say, it's a very clever move! Better than being eliminated outright."

"But she paid a high price, giving up at least fifteen percent of her authority over the Source Core."

"The situation hasn't improved much. Having lost her Source authority, Gaia's power has diminished. Look, even Odin alone is putting her under great pressure."

"So the outcome of this battle is still uncertain. Who knows how long it will last."

Thanks to his agreement with Gaia, Li Mochen could make a clearer judgment. The primordial mother goddess had lost at least twenty-two percent of her Source Core authority.

Moreover, her share of the Source was now even lower than that of the Radiant Lord.

But in a sense, the god-kings like Odin had already achieved their goal. They had forced Gaia to take a step back on the path to becoming the Supreme God, a step she might never have the chance to take again.

Thus, by this point, the battle between the two sides could have ended. The reason it continued was simply that several god-kings were unwilling to accept this outcome.

"This is a perfect opportunity, Your Majesty!"

The sea goddess Thetis urged with burning eyes: "If you join now, not only will there be little risk, but you also have a great chance to gain a larger share of the Source."

"I said I would remain absolutely neutral, Thetis. I will not break my promise before that."

Li Mochen could guess Thetis's thoughts; the goddess still hoped for a direct conflict between him and Zeus.

But he was not convinced. Wasn't it good to be a neutral? During this time, he had profited from both sides, gaining countless benefits. He had also brought powerful deities like Thetis, Hela, and Fenrir to his camp.

Li Mochen still needed time. His ancient god divine rank was only fourteen. His mastery of Time and Fate had not yet reached the true pseudo-truth stage.

The Gate of Truth was before his eyes, but Li Mochen had yet to touch it. Two years and the consumption of hundreds of millions of strands of merit energy still could not reach it.

Thus, the current battle trend and the balance among the god-kings were exactly what Li Mochen hoped to see. If one side had to win, at this stage, he would definitely stand with Isis and the Radiant Lord.

The reward offered by the latter was something he was utterly unable and unwilling to refuse.

Besides, now he didn't need to do anything to obtain seven percent of the Source authority—a share truly belonging to him, a ticket to becoming a God Above Gods, not shared with others.

"Now is not the time. Please be a little patient, Lady Thetis. I promised to resist the Olympian pantheon's claims over sea rights, and I promised to help Hela and Fenrir, but now is not the time."

Li Mochen continued to observe, and after seven hours, he knew the balance between the two sides would be hard to break.

So he directly drove the 'Fate's Domain' magic tower, leaving his Heavenly Mandate Divine Kingdom and descending into the center of the battlefield of the gods.

"Stop, everyone! It's time to cease—"

At that moment, almost all spells on the field lost much of their power. The magical radiance emitted by the Fate's Domain magic tower created a compression effect over thirty thousand square kilometers, driving away all nearby magical energy.

And Li Mochen's voice, full of authority, drew the attention of all the gods to the top floor of the Fate's Domain magic tower.

Zeus's eyes darkened to the extreme.

"Are you trying to break your promise of absolute neutrality, Lord of Fate?"

Odin locked his will and killing intent onto Li Mochen inside the tower.

Though the result of fighting might make things very difficult for their side, even costing them the chance to become the Supreme God, if that possibility truly occurred, He would first kill this sudden 'troublemaker'.

"No!"

Li Mochen had already condensed eleven types of forbidden spells at the top of the magic tower. Except for 'Life Stasis' and 'Death Prohibition', the rest were all concentrated on the 'Longinus Holy Spear'. As the price for sniping his opponents, he had failed to retrieve the other two, so he only had one of them.

But even a single holy spear was enough to threaten most of those present.

"Ladies and gentlemen! As you can see, this world has been ravaged by your war. The will of the world and nature is enraged by this. Haven't you felt the Source's rejection of you? If this continues, either the world will suffer great harm, and no one will get what they want, or an outsider like me will benefit. What do you think?"

At this moment, except for Gaia, whose aura was gloomy, all the god-kings fell silent, each lost in thought. However, some still had eyes full of resentment and unwillingness, while others showed disdain.

"Are you asking us to cease fire?"

The Goddess of Freedom Eris let out a snicker: "But the problem is, Gaia has lost her largest share of the Source, and the Pantheon has lost its foundation. Many divine contracts based on the Pantheon will have greatly reduced effectiveness. Do you know what that means, boy? Olympus, Ahura, and the gods under Odin can now enter the material world without restriction and with impunity."

"So I hope all the lords here will bestow their blessings upon Lady Diana's Weave. Until the dispute over the Supreme God is resolved, Diana, you must ensure that you remain forever neutral."

Li Mochen smiled slightly. He didn't care about the Goddess of Freedom's opinion from the start, as long as the others present agreed.

"Trust me, ladies and gentlemen, I myself will make great sacrifices."

Eris's eyes instantly turned cold as ice needles.

She knew that under Li Mochen were already Fenrir, Hela, Thetis, Atlas, Achilles, and a host of other powerful gods.

He no longer had to worry about the advantage of the major pantheons in top-tier combat power. In terms of the number of main gods alone, the Fate Pantheon currently had the most.

But she, Eris, once deprived of the protection of the treaty separating gods and humans, would have no guarantee for her faith among mortals.

Diana was also moved, looking at Li Mochen with great surprise, and then her eyes showed deep gratitude. If the occasion weren't inappropriate, she would have given Li Mochen a hug.

She knew Li Mochen intended to remove her from this dangerous war of god-kings and thereby ensure the safety of mortals, which was exactly what she hoped for.

"If that's the case, I can accept!"

Nyx first glanced at Eris with a half-smile: "But on the condition that the vast majority of those present agree to your proposal."

"We can too!"

Isis spoke on behalf of the Radiant Lord: "But this is only a temporary peace; it won't last long."

She thought, why not? The Radiant Lord had already gained an advantage in the Source. Ending with this result as a temporary truce wouldn't be bad.

"I accept."

Ahura withdrew his sword and shield, retreating four hundred kilometers away. He was also one of the beneficiaries of this war.

Only Zeus and Odin remained silent, still deep in thought and hesitation.

But Gaia had already shrunk her giant body back to normal human size. She gave a light snort: "Though I am filled with resentment today, and anger burns in my heart, I was born in this world after all. I can accept a temporary ceasefire. You were right about one thing: if the treaty separating gods and humans can no longer function, the blessing of the Weave is imperative."

She looked at Zeus and Odin, especially the former: "Or you can leave and let me fight them alone?"

Zeus finally abandoned his will to fight: "Then Olympus can accept too!"

Odin, meanwhile, thrust his Gungnir holy spear fiercely into the ground. His one eye first glared at the Fate's Domain magic tower, then looked at Diana: "A blessing, is it? Fine, then let us swear an oath never to break it, witnessed by the gods here. If anyone breaks it, they shall die by the swords and spears of the gods here!"

Li Mochen was slightly surprised; he had thought he would need to threaten with 'oath-breaking' to force Odin and Zeus to yield.

※※※※

An hour later, the gathered gods had all dispersed.

Only Gaia with her many divine offspring and followers, Isis, and Prometheus remained. The former exchanged a glance with Li Mochen, who had manifested from the tower, her eyes showing mockery.

"You have fulfilled your promise, Lord of Fate. Then we will transfer seven percent of the Source authority to you as per the previously established contract. However—"

She did not continue, but her eyes conveyed her meaning: the goal of expelling Gaia had not been truly achieved, so she and the Radiant Lord did not need to fulfill the previous agreement.

Li Mochen returned her an indifferent gaze, unconcerned. As long as this mother and son still sought to become the Supreme God, they would eventually have to come to him.

Or perhaps someone else, but Li Mochen had already obtained his rewards: the 'Thebes Sacred Shield', a large amount of Source matter, and a strand of Purple Merit Energy!

After he stopped this war, the seven-colored spiritual light on the 'Divine Fortune Purple-Gold Tower' quickly expanded to eight hundred and ten million strands, and then, as he expected, the fourth strand of Purple Merit Energy was collected into his possession.

After that, the amount of merit on the 'Divine Fortune Purple-Gold Tower' continued to grow until it stopped at around six hundred million strands.

Li Mochen knew this was likely the last strand of Purple Merit Energy he would collect in this world. It was hard to imagine how to obtain nine times the amount of merit.

But even just these four strands would allow him, when he truly pushed Fate and Time to the Gate of Truth, to further probe one of these two powerful divine authorities beyond the 'Gate', reaching the truth level.

In fact, Li Mochen had just tested it. His greatly enhanced Fate authority was indeed only a hair's breadth away from 'Truth'.

Besides this, Li Mochen didn't know if the other god-kings felt it. But through his Fate divine office, he perceived that the will of this world and the subconscious sea of all humanity across the world were inclining toward him, even favoring him.

Thus, Isis's promise, in his view, was indeed a gain if obtained, and if lost, nothing to fret over.

Isis understood his meaning. After smiling, her body dissolved into the void.

At this moment, Gaia still stared at him coldly: "This is what you wanted, isn't it? To drag me down and then think you have a chance?"

"I did have such thoughts, but I did not betray you like Zeus. I also kept my promise to you. I agreed to give you three years, but in the end I held out for three and a half."

Li Mochen met Gaia's gaze calmly: "Mother Goddess, you may think I overestimate myself, but I believe that now, at least, I have a better chance than the Goddess of Liberty."

"But now, everyone wants to kill you, and I will give you no help."

Gaia sneered: "So before you join the struggle, you must first, after losing my protection, protect your believers and the subordinate gods who have submitted to you. First stabilize your faith and keep your ticket, my descendant! If you covet what you are powerless to touch, you will pay the price!"

She then looked at Prometheus standing on the other side: "You also no longer intend to follow me, right?"

"Yes, Lady Mother Goddess."

Prometheus bowed: "I have fulfilled my agreement with you."

He knew that if Li Mochen had not intervened in time, he would have been severely wounded by the combined forces of Ares, the God of War, and Thor, the God of Thunder.

Zeus's betrayal, though temporarily unable to harm Gaia, put immense pressure on him, Diana, and several giants from the Olympian gods.

Prometheus was deeply grateful and indeed unwilling to continue following Gaia.

"Then take care of yourselves!"

Gaia made no attempt to persuade him. She knew that thousands of years ago, when she and Zeus joined forces to suppress Prometheus, she had already lost his respect.

After saying this, her figure also disappeared from Li Mochen's sight. But this time it was not a return to the Source, but a journey to the Pantheon.

—Thousands of years ago, that had been her divine kingdom.

However, Athena, the Goddess of Wisdom, also remained behind.

Li Mochen looked at her with some curiosity: "Does Lady Athena have something to say to me? Or, are you also planning to break away from Mother Goddess Gaia and Olympus? If so, I welcome you."

He hadn't expected that she had been hiding her strength all along, only unleashing it when pushed to the brink. Pseudo-truth-level war, pseudo-truth-level knowledge, truth-level wisdom, and a divine rank of nineteen—this was already enough to contend with the Goddess of Liberty, Eris. Her overall strength lay between a God-King and a Vice-God-King.

Thus, she had not exerted her full strength in the previous battle. Otherwise, Gaia would not have made such huge concessions to Eris and Ahura.

Of course, Li Mochen had no aversion to her. Among the many ancient gods, Athena was relatively friendly toward humanity.

Although her 'wisdom' could sometimes be annoying, one had to consider the goddess's perilous situation. Most of the time, she had to use her strategies to solve problems.

"Your Majesty, that joke is not funny."

Athena shook her head with a bitter smile: "My mother and my brother are still imprisoned by Zeus in his body. I cannot disregard them."

Her mother Metis was the earliest goddess of wisdom; her brother was Poros, the god of invention and opportunity. Since Metis was swallowed by Zeus, Poros was never born, but his divine name still exists.

Athena and her brother Poros were supposed to be the fourth-generation god-king who would overthrow Zeus's rule, as prophesied by Gaia and the first-generation god-king Uranus.

The prophecy predated Thetis and Achilles.

"I understand your situation."

Li Mochen looked thoughtful: "It seems you need help?"

"Indeed."

Athena nodded: "I will continue to follow Gaia, but I also worry about what Zeus might do to my mother and brother. Now, he can devour or even annihilate their souls at any time."

She tossed something toward Li Mochen: "This was prepared for my brother, but now I only want a promise from you. If Zeus dares to do anything to them, you must assist me immediately, going all out to take revenge on Zeus. I need you to swear by the Source, by the subconscious sea of humanity, and by Zeus himself."

"Source essence?"

Li Mochen looked at the object Athena handed over with surprise, then nodded solemnly: "I swear! If such a day comes, I will devote everything to help you kill Zeus! But in return, Lady Athena must join my pantheon in battle."

What Athena had sent was actually a source essence of 'Creation'.

He thought that this was the benefit of remaining neutral and playing both sides; crucially, his credibility was good enough to be trusted.

This goddess of wisdom was also sufficiently patient, secretly hiding such a source essence of 'Creation' without Gaia noticing.

For Gaia, who was seeking the godhood of the Creator, this source essence of 'Creation' was exactly what she dreamed of.

"That is my affair; of course I will not stand idly by."

Athena's figure had already vanished from before Li Mochen: "I wish Your Majesty victory in the coming war. I bless you!"

Li Mochen stood still for a moment, then also guided his Destiny's Domain magic tower back into his Mandate Divine Kingdom.

Beside his throne, the Moon Rabbit, who had been tense, let out a long breath: "BOSS, weren't you afraid? Just now, at least six of them wanted to kill you on the spot."

Perhaps if any one of those six had made the first move, her master might have fallen.

"I know, but I also knew the likelihood of them joining forces was slim. Without enough certainty, how could I have rashly intervened?"

Li Mochen shook his head, then sighed: "These powerful ancient gods are truly hard to kill."

This time, over 130 deities participated in the battle, yet only seven died. And even those seven might be resurrected before long.

This was because each pantheon possessed various powerful life-related divine offices and authorities, as well as numerous mythical treasures that could bring the dead back to life.

Of course, his Mandate Pantheon also had such resources, perhaps even more advantageous in this regard. But the problem was that they lacked a greater number of ancient gods.

For law gods and faith gods without physical bodies, the life and death divine authorities Li Mochen held, along with the Moon Goddess Artemis and two powerful healing main gods, could not play a significant role.

"You will have a chance to kill them soon."

Fenrir, lying at Li Mochen's feet, muttered: "We have trouble, Your Majesty. They are attacking without declaring war."

As he spoke, Fenrir's figure dissipated.

His true body had been stationed in Atlanta on Li Mochen's orders. What remained here was just a clone watching the excitement.

Li Mochen, who had already sent the source essence of Creation to Angela, also turned his gaze to Atlanta. The situation was indeed as Fenrir had said—it was on the brink of war. 'Lod, the God of Seduction and Desire' and 'Poseidon, the Sea King' had arrived outside Atlanta.

In fact, it was not just Atlanta; all his main churches worldwide were now in crisis.

From the Olympian pantheon: 'Crius, the God of Celestial Bodies and Astrology' (one of the twelve Titans), 'Phoebe, the Goddess of Radiance and Prophecy' (one of the twelve Titans), 'Poseidon, the Sea King', 'Hades, the King of the Underworld', 'Apollo, the Sun God', 'Ares, the God of War', 'Hermes, the Messenger God', 'Hephaestus, the God of Fire and Forging', 'Venus, the Goddess of Love, Beauty, and Desire', 'Dionysus, the God of Wine, Ecstasy, and Joy', 'Pandora, the Goddess of Disaster, Misfortune, and Hope', 'Heracles, the Mighty God', and 'Menoetius, the God of Violence and Wrath'.

Except for 'Hera, the Queen of Heaven', almost all of them appeared on the battlefield.

From the Aesir pantheon, aside from Odin's queen, they also moved out in full force: 'Lod, the God of Seduction and Desire', 'Vili, the God of Forging', 'Tyr, the God of War', 'Thor, the God of Thunder', 'Frigga, the Goddess of Love and Hearth', 'Sif, the Goddess of Earth and Harvest', 'Freyr, the God of Fertility, Prosperity, Love, and Peace', 'Loki, the God of Fire and Trickery', 'Heimdall, the Guardian God', 'Vali, the God of Vengeance', and 'Forseti, the God of Truth and Justice'.

—These were only the main gods and above; besides them, there were over a hundred other deities, most of them ancient gods. Their sheer number made Li Mochen's scalp tingle.

But this was inevitable from the moment Gaia was besieged. When the 'Treaty of the Human Body System' became void, it was the time for the gods to counterattack him.

And this time, the two pantheons were not targeting his divine kingdom but first striking at his faith in the mortal world.

The only thing Li Mochen was grateful for now was that Ahura and the Lord of Radiance were in a state of mortal enmity, temporarily unable to participate in this war.

And the relationship between Nyx, the Goddess of Night, and Eris, the Goddess of Liberty, was also in an extremely awkward state.

Now, under Li Mochen's command, there were also a large number of main god-level beings.

He now had 'Atlas, the Eternal Angel', 'Achilles, the Guardian Angel', 'Fenrir, the Angel of Strength', 'Roberta, the Angel of Battle', 'Christine, the Angel of Earth', and 'Hazel, the Angel of Calamity Dragon'.

Besides these six great angels, he also had the help of many powerful main gods: 'Jörmungandr, the World Serpent', 'Prometheus, the God of Fire, Prophecy, and Foreknowledge', 'Io, the Supreme Dragon God', 'Angela, the Goddess of the Underworld and Dreams', 'Artemis, the Goddess of Nature', 'Anthony Breiden, the God of Alchemy, Craftsmanship, Industry, and Machinery', 'Hela, the Goddess of Winter', 'Thetis, the Goddess of the Sea', 'Tweek Wood, the God of Storms and Floods', 'Anson Wood, the God of Guns, Shooting, and Quick Shooting', 'Field, the God of Travel, Adventure, Exploration, and Mercenaries', and 'Green, the God of Language, Fairy Tales, and Legends'.

Beneath them were gods like 'Dragon Vein', 'Tomson Beo, the God of Life, Self-Healing, Immortality, Regeneration, and Space', and 'Todd, the God of Wrath, Giant Strength, Infinity, and Trolls', who had not yet reached the main god rank but were exceptionally powerful.

Though inferior in quality to their opponents, they surpassed either of the two pantheons in quantity. If they only relied on defending his churches, they could still hold out.

"Your Majesty, please allow me to fight for you!"

Prometheus, who had just gone through a battle, stepped forward without hesitation: "Unless I make sufficient contributions to your pantheon, I cannot in good conscience accept the position of Vice-God-King from your throne."

"Of course! This time I truly need to rely on your strength, Prometheus."

Li Mochen nodded slightly: "Your old opponent, Thor, the God of Thunder—please help me hold him back!"

Among all the Vice-God-Kings, this one was undoubtedly the strongest tier; his destructive power far surpassed that of Poseidon, Hades, and others.

After that, Li Mochen once again guided his Destiny's Domain magic tower to the skies above the Pacific Ocean.

He manifested his true body outside the tower, looking up at the sky: "Two Majesties, if you wish to fight, now is the time to come!"

Li Mochen was prepared to resist two God-Kings simultaneously. Of course, he could not achieve victory, but as long as he could remain undying, that would be equivalent to winning.