车生活

Seven layers of the Spirit Realm.

Familiarly passing through pavilions, she traveled along the winding corridors. Probably at the twelfth corner, there was a small tea table.

The pavilion built on the corner faced a fountain, with several fish leaping and diving within.

Though the fish appeared small, here, the concepts of small and large were meaningless.

As long as one had enough power, a life in the Spirit Realm could expand to be larger than the sun or shrink to be less significant than a roadside pebble.

Only in the material world did size matter for judgment; here, clearly, it did not.

“So, what are you thinking about, or should I say, is there something even you don’t understand?”

Choosing a spot to sit at random, Themis addressed the contemplative deity in black beside her.

In her memory, it was rare to see such a puzzled expression on his face; he usually seemed to have everything under control.

But for some reason, this thoughtful look made him seem more approachable.

A know-it-all is always hard to feel close to.

“Then you think too highly of me. There’s certainly a lot I don’t know.”

Without noticing the subtle change in the attitude of the Goddess of Justice, Laine simply shook his head lightly.

“The more you know, the more you realize how insignificant you are.”

“Especially during this transition of the Divine Kings, even a small change reflects an extraordinary influence. After all, common beings cannot cause a deviation in such high-level destinies.”

Nodding thoughtfully, Themis seemed to understand.

“Indeed, the mysteries of fate are beyond my imagination.”

“Yes.”

“The void that bears all things, the matter and spirituality that constitute all things, and the destiny that dictates the course of all things, are the four pillars on which the world rests.”

“Even though I hold the scepter of ‘Indeterminable Destiny,’ I still can’t completely change the course of fate due to the difference in power with the present world. And those without the scepter, even altering a minor detail, means they have touched upon the realm of Great Divine Power.”

Laine picked up the teapot, pouring tea for himself and the goddess beside him.

“Let’s not talk about this anymore, what do you think of your nephew?”

Furrowing her brows slightly, Themis took a couple of sips from her teacup, unsure how to describe her feelings.

“…I won’t comment on his style, but I do not like these methods.”

After hesitating for a while, the Goddess of Justice finally spoke out.

Previously, in the palace on Mount Sinai, using the miraculous mirror imbued with spatial power, Themis witnessed firsthand how her nephew won over the affections of the two Oceanides with his charming words.

When she suddenly saw her nephew, who was supposed to have been swallowed by his brother, the goddess felt surprised. She didn’t know how Zeus had managed to escape, but she knew it must have been Rhea’s doing.

Themis intended to guide and teach him, but Zeus’s subsequent actions made her feel that he hadn’t learned any of his parents’ virtues.

However, such behind-the-scenes observation wasn’t quite right, so before long, the Goddess of Justice left the temple.

“That’s quite normal, Themis, though you don’t like him, it’s hard to find reasons to reproach his behavior, isn’t it?”

After taking a sip of tea, Laine seemed to sympathize with her feelings.

Themis’s dislike was normal, as Zeus’s actions actually met the standards of the era but not those of the Goddess of Law.

So later, perhaps unable to bear witnessing similar incidents, Themis and Hera together established the traditions of marriage and betrothal, and Hera also became Zeus’s final wife, the rightly wedded Heavenly Empress.

Of course, Zeus’s behavior and whether it meets the standards of the times hardly mattered; he purely enjoyed the process and incidentally used it to expand his own influence.

Even Laine had trouble discerning which motive was the greater.

“Rules are not just about the world, but also about human culture, and the current moral standards are undefined. As the Goddess of Law, since you despise this imperfection, you can certainly try to establish norms for it yourself, and this too would further increase your power,”

“However, what I want to talk about today is not this matter,” Laine lifted his head to look at the goddess: “Do you remember I promised to help you avoid an annoying guy?”

“I remember… so you’re referring to Zeus?”

Themis was quick to react, or rather, a deity that is slow to react wouldn’t be able to distinguish between good and evil, or make fair judgments. Connecting Laine’s recent suggestion for her to observe Zeus’s behavior, she immediately knew who he was referring to.

“Yes, Zeus. Theoretically, before marriage was conceived, every goddess who had an intimate relationship with him was his wife. He should have had seven wives, but perhaps because the Spirit Realm had already claimed the number ‘seven’, now he only has five left.”

Laine slowly explained, but what he didn’t say was that this was precisely what had confused him previously.

One less Themis was normal, after all, he had already made various interventions in this matter, but who could the other one be?

The other six goddesses, Laine had no intention of meddling with. His intuition told him that such strange changes must be related to some significant accident. It could be Gaia, the Dark Overlord, or even the Lady of Night and the Sleeping Heavenly Father.

Only they would have the capability to interfere with even the slightest thread of fate.

“So, I was originally one of those seven?”

Themis didn’t appear to know of Laine’s confusion. She was somewhat surprised to learn she once had a romantic bond with Zeus in her original fate, but she didn’t get angry and casually accepted it.

If she hadn’t observed Zeus’s actions as a bystander, she might actually have been deceived by him. But Themis believed that even in her original fate, she would have left him after seeing his true nature.

As for now, the Goddess of Justice was even less likely to get together with her own nephew, and the idea of meeting with him was silently dismissed.

“Yes, theoretically, you would have birthed six daughters with him.”

Nodding his head, Laine explained:

“Three of them are destined to become the Divine King’s daughters, regardless of whether you are present. They symbolize the Indeterminable Destiny of All Spirits, but they are also just the executors of their own authority.”

“However, the other three, they each symbolize the seasons spring, summer, and autumn. Only as the Goddess of Law can you bring them into being.”

Gently nodding, Themis understood Laine’s meaning. She looked at the deity beside her, still with a calm expression, and asked:

“So how do you plan to solve this problem? I presume it won’t be as simple as just giving birth to them in advance.”

“Of course not,” Laine said with a smile: “Regarding this matter, I have an experiment in mind.”

“I once learned from the Lady of Night that before the Heavenly Father and Mother Earth conceived deities through union, the gods were born into the world in the form of Source Power.”

“If possible, maybe I can use your blood as a catalyst, using a layer of the Spirit Realm as a placenta, to bring them into being in this manner. If successful, I could also use this to gain a deeper understanding of the secrets related to godhood.”

“What do you think?”

If Themis refused, Laine still had other methods. On this matter, he greatly respected the will of other deities.

“Let’s do it, I have no objections. Being conceived by the world is an interesting concept,”

Themis nodded her consent, then thinking about her nephew, inquired:

“When do you plan to start?”

“Anytime is fine.”

Seeing Themis agree, Laine was also somewhat pleased. He stood up, raised his hand, and drew a portal to the fourth layer of the Spirit Realm.

“Right here, the new deities will be born. Perhaps the presence of these three deities could bring something new to this place as well.”