Ding!

{[Evolution!]

[Free of your personal influence, the Four Realms and your children alike have begun to evolve. Changes of all kinds have begun taking root, for better or worse. Growth rate of the Four Realms exponentially increased.]

[Creation!]

[A dozen new mortal races, based on the Elemental template, have appeared in the Four Realms. Congratulations! The Four Realms is currently the most diverse universe in this iteration of the [Deity Trials.]}

I barely even registered Mr. Boxes' notifications, gawking at the Four Realms as I was. Things felt different, and while I'd been gone for over a century there was no reason the changes should have been this big.

Why were the seeds I'd planted budding? Eight little baby Trees, Mountains, Valleys, and Rivers orbited around the central structure of the Realms, expanding its size by a fairly decent amount. They hadn't been supposed to bloom for another thousand years though, let alone grow to the size they already had. I could even sense the Mad Scientist down there, tending to one of the Trees with an aura that was borderline immortal. Had she rushed her cultivation to immortality? Was the blooming her fault?

Also, why did it feel like spring? Not just in a planetary sense, but the entirety of the Four Realms felt like spring had come, a freshness in the energy that indicated a time of growth and change. The Four Realms didn't have seasons, so what was going on?

And also, was that twenty new Dao Stars I saw hanging in the sky? A quick count confirmed that there were twenty new Daos approved and hung in the sky beside the others, eight of whom were created by Immortals. Now there were nine total Dao Progenitors.

Seems my absence was more beneficial to the Realms than I could have ever predicted. As if to prove my point, thirty seven thousand strands of karma binding me to parts of the Four Realms instantly resolved themselves, the energy that comprised them sinking into the base energy of the Realms.

Then there was what I was sensing from my children themselves. Such massive changes, in such a short amount of time…

"Statera," Rising Wind, Crashing Waves said, the great stag staring at the Sun and Lunar Star as the two celestial objects orbited around us. We weren't that close to them, but the sheer power they radiated was more than any of the other gods' celestial bodies. Save for maybe Shin's Guiding Light, and the Progenitor's Greenhouse, but those were fundamentally different than a true Realm Sun. "Is that a soul I sense, in the center of the sun? Its shape is odd."

"Yes, it is. That is Fang Xu, a mortal…or, well, ex-mortal who, in essence, managed to take the place of the Sun." I said.

"Is that a red string of fate binding the Sun and the blue one…the Moon? Together?" Yueya asked.

"The Lunar Star, and yes!" I corrected, beaming at her. "That is Fang Xu's lover, Celene. The first two souls to have been bound by a red string of fate in the entire Four Realms. She chased him into the skies above, to be reunited in eternity."

"How romantic," Yueya said genuinely, smiling fondly at the two bodies. "I would try that in my One World, but forcing romance never works."

"You're going to have to start explaining things quick, because this is going to be a lot, I can tell." Reilly deadpanned.

"The cyclical nature of the seasons seems new," Shin added softly, tugging his hood up higher over his head, casting his skeletal features further into shadow. "Though I could be wrong. The concentrated energy here makes things blurry." That prompted everyone else to start spouting their own opinions and questions, a thousand different comments thrown at me in rapid succession. I held my hands up, effectively silencing them all, and spread my arms. Below I could sense my children gathering, the gods and goddesses of the Realms coming together to greet the guests.

All of them. Every single one. Excluding Morgan, of course, who I could sense was hiding away in the Hidden Realm. More importantly, however, was what I was sensing from my children.

"I will get to answering your questions, but thankfully there are plenty of others capable of guiding you through the Realms. My children, many of whom you have met before." I introduced, gesturing around. Taking the movement as their cue, the entirety of my deific children, as well as the angels and holy beasts, appeared around us in a spherical circle. My first four children appeared beside me, their changed auras making me want to demand answers from them, but I held myself back for the sake of the tour.

They could bet on an intense grilling session sooner than later though.

"We greet the guests of our Father and Mother," they said, a sentiment that was echoed by all the other gods and goddesses at once. Fu Hao and Stilicho, my two angels, appeared beside me in a flash of light, their hands clasped before them as they cast critical gazes out across the assembled origin deities.

"This is quite the change for your plus ones. Even the so-called mortal, the...Mad Scientist? I can't even tell what she is, my senses are telling me she's trying to be an immortal mortal? Also, that's a lot of gods. Also, a lot of angels. It's just a lot, and I have so many questions," Reilly deadpanned, not even bothering to pretend to drink from his gourd.

"It is true that Statera Luotian's realm is small, but I believe that it dwarfs all of ours in terms of raw energetic output, and number of high-tier beings." The Progenitor intoned. "Which, is truly, impressive."

"What the hell did you do to your mortals?" The Emperor demanded, and I grinned at him.

"That is a story for later. Right now, I want everyone to make incarnations. Your true bodies will be accompanying me to my palace, while the rest of your incarnations will be split up to accompany my children to their respective Realms. I do encourage you to explore on your own as well, if you can manage it. Just avoid Morgan's Hidden Realm unless you have me to accompany you." I warned. They immediately began doing so, multiple incarnations splitting off from each god to group up with my children and also run off into the Four Realms on their own.

Sehuyun, predictably, did no such thing. The great dragon stretched and leapt her true body over to Alexander's side, my child watching her with cool, confident eyes. She did not make any incarnations – such an action was beneath her, I assumed, but she did sneer at the two gods clinging to Alexander's back. The God of Fire and goddess of water were stuck on Alexander's back and glanced at each other as Sehuyun approached, shrugged, then went back to flirting, scrabbling all over Alexander's back.

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

"That said, I, too will be accompanying you all through my Realms. After all, they need to tell me exactly what all has changed." I said, meeting Reika's eyes. My green-haired daughter smiled demurely at me, eyes shining with that same mischief I was so used to her having, but had been missing ever since the Sun War.

Reika had evolved, just like her other siblings. No longer was she the Goddess of Life and the Elements. Now, I could only describe her as the Goddess of Change.

***

Reika proudly led the way to the original Life-Giving Tree, providing an explanation to the Physical Realm's inner workings as she went. It was a great way to solidify the recent change in her own deific domain, as speaking out loud some of the things she was sensing and doing was doing wonders for her understanding. She spoke about how the Tree was once perpetually in bloom, but now would go through seasonal cycles. She talked about the ever-changing nature of the Physical Realm, and how that effected the mortals within.

And wasn't that a hot topic of conversation, the mortals. Or, more accurately, what they could do. The concept of cultivation seemed to be completely foreign to the origin deities, once again cementing how weird Mother was in how She had made the Realms and mortal life.

"As you can see below, cultivation is a process of absorbing energy to bolster one's own soul and abilities. This energy can be taken from the outside world, but in recent years more and more are beginning to utilize the energy their own soul produces; as it is purer. The Fae, Mother's creations, are best at this. Our peoples are catching up, however." Reika gestured down to the planet below as she spoke, the first planet Cradle slowly rotating around its miniature sun alongside seven other uninhabitable planets. This one was almost exclusively populated by her own Elemental Race, a few of the immortal Treants living in the forests.

"That, is very, odd." The Progenitor intoned. "Normally souls with truesouls, exclusively give energy to the world about them, not take away from it as well."

"It does explain the power level here. The Emperor's heaven was filled with power because his souls developed truesouls; Statera's here has truesouls throughout all of their creations, thereby creating a massive influx of power. Even if they take some of that energy back there is still leakage, as well as the fact that the stronger the soul the more energy is produced." MR-10 drawled, the drone it had sent on the expedition flashing its light once. Reika pouted at the robot. Couldn't she be the one to provide explanations for now?

"What's the end goal of it all?" Shin asked, meeting Reika's eyes. She smiled and clasped her hands before herself, taking a little step backward to give the group a better view of Pangaea, at the base of the Tree. Surely they had already sensed the immortals and Dao Progenitors living there, though she could not blame them for the confusion. "I will get by just fine without any true gods in my own realm. Is it like that, were the mortals build up power, only to die and do it again?"

"No. The point of cultivation is summed up in two words; chasing immortality. Mother left a path open for mortals to become immortal, and not just in soul." Reika said, nodding firmly.

"How did that come about?" Sylphina asked, the great butterfly's antennas twitching.

"It was an accident, if I am being bluntly honest. When naming the realms I forgot to dictate that this one should have mortals in it – thereby accidentally leaving a path open to immortality. Mr. Boxes told me I couldn't fix it, so I have to just live with it." Mother explained, folding her hands into the sleeves of Her robes.

"…so you're telling me all of this was an accident." Reilly deadpanned. Mother nodded, shrugging helplessly. Reika had known this, but seeing the others' perspectives was quite entertaining.

"That is absolutely ludicrous." The Emperor said, four arms crossed as Reilly threw his hands into the air, acting for all the world like he was just giving up. Yueya giggled, elbowing Mother gently and earning a little smirk at the beautiful woman. Reika raised an eyebrow at that little interaction, but didn't press the issue further. She had a job to do right now.

"I agree. Having gods is one thing, but there being actual mortals that ascend to something other than divinity is insane." Sylphina complained.

"Nyxteria wants a dantian!" the great bird crowed.

"It is not as bad as it seems. Take a look at Manu Ti, the floating city of cultivators beneath the boughs of my Tree." Reika said, taking a single step back and appearing over said city. Court was currently in session, the Celestial Empress having summoned the entirety of her immortal court to discuss the blooming Trees. Millions of other cultivators moved through the city and lesser floating islands as well, the great chains that held it in place since remodeled into a staircase to allow easier entry into the city. "The process of immortality comes in stages, and can effectively be broken down into different types. The energetic style of cultivation is commonly called Qi cultivation, the improvement of the fleshly body Body Cultivation, karma Karmic Cultivation, and so on. That is why Mother set up a series of Heavenly Trials for each stage and type of ascension. They effectively act as part of the divinity process – to become a god, you must throw away unfitting pieces. The Trials help mitigate or remove said pieces." Xing Wu was down there as well, somewhere. Reika was kind of disappointed, she wanted to introduce the man to the collected gods.

Ah well. She'd find him eventually, or he would find trouble himself.

Silence met her explanation, each and every one of them trying to absorb this information.

"While the process of gaining power is inherently incompatible with some of our universes, it nonetheless paints a very specific picture. My only complaint so far would be the relative size of the Four Realms; but that is resolving itself with the additional 'seeds.'" Shin explained, unblinking eye sockets staring her direction. Reika hid her mouth behind her sleeve and giggled a little.

"You don't know the half of it." She said. "I hope to get another eight seeds planted before the start of the next seasonal cycle. We need to expand greatly."

"I can be of assistance with that aspect. Your daughter Kei can tell you, but I have expertise when it comes to making extremely large universes." Yueya offered, liking one arm in Mother's. They smiled at each other secretively and Reika's eyes narrowed further, her words caught in her throat for just a moment.

…their closeness would require keeping an eye on, for now.

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