Chapter 60: Expounding the Heavenly Orthodoxy, It Begins With Me

“Erin, Itachi said…”

Hōrai no Kaguya silently gazed at the sky, then turned her gaze back to her master with a peculiar expression.

Then she noticed that her master was staring in shock at some unknown distant horizon.

“How is this possible? Takamagahara was shattered in the War of the Gods!”

“How could it possibly be reforming now?”

“Master, is it strange that Takamagahara is reappearing?”

Hōrai no Kaguya was slightly puzzled; wasn’t it just a divine realm?

Didn’t her own [Father] already establish a divine realm of his own on the Moon Capital?

Even if Takamagahara was powerful, it was still just a stronger, larger divine realm—why such shock?

“Itachi are mistaken, Princess.”

Yagokoro Erin shook her head and denied it: “The claim that Takamagahara is merely a divine realm was merely a deception spread by the ancient gods.”

“Its true nature is the symbol of the world’s origin. Whoever truly masters it becomes the sovereign of the world, the embodiment of heavenly fate, wielding absolute power over the gods’ life and death!”

In the Honghuang, this is the Jade Disc of Creation; in D&D, it is the Board of Fate!

At this moment.

In Yagokoro Erin’s eyes, a vast celestial wasteland woven from countless rules was slowly taking shape.

Upon this wasteland, the world’s rules were perpetually being woven; every slightest change triggered massive upheavals in the world.

All the Dao and principles of the world intertwined within it.

Infinite cosmic mysteries evolved upon its surface.

This was Takamagahara—the origin of the War of the Gods.

Its shattering directly ended the Age of the Gods!

Now, under the will of an incomparably great being, it was once again coalescing and gathering.

Ultimately,

It transformed into a [Book] in the palm of this being—the Book of Heavenly Principle!

Takamagahara was merely the ancient gods’ perception; thus, this symbol of the world’s origin became the Celestial Wasteland.

Now, in Hermes’ eyes, it recorded all principles of the world, so it naturally took the form of a book.

The next instant,

The Book of Heavenly Principle in Hermes’ hand began to absorb all orthodox laws of the world—

In other words, without the Book of Heavenly Principle’s recognition, one is an illegal wild god, a heretical shrine!

Then, a majestic, solemn voice, like the origin of heaven and earth, the beginning of the Great Dao, echoed throughout the cosmos.

【Expounding the Heavenly Orthodoxy, It Begins With Me】

【I, the Primordial Great Celestial Sovereign, now that the heavenly mandate is settled, hereby bestow the proper titles upon the celestial stars】

【Heaven, Earth, Humanity, Gods, and Ghosts shall, according to the weight of their karmic fate and the rank of their merit, receive starlight and become Star Lords of the Celestial Sphere】

【This is the Heavenly Principle, the True Mandate of Heaven】

Hermes, by a single thought, took dominion over the world’s root, occupying the position of Primordial Dao in this realm, calling himself the Primordial Great Celestial Sovereign—there was nothing inappropriate about it.

As for the notion of being assimilated by other Primordials from other worlds, such as the Primordial Celestial Sovereign of the Honghuang realm?

There is no need for such baseless worry!

The Primordial position has always been there.

As long as someone in this world claims the name of Primordial, performs the deeds of Primordial, and embodies the Dao of Primordial, he is unquestionably the Primordial!

For the Dao of Primordial is but one corner of the world’s composition; if another Primordial from another realm questions this one, is he not questioning the very foundation of his own existence?

For Hermes, as long as he is not fully consumed by the Dao of Primordial, and merely regards the Primordial Great Celestial Sovereign as one of his identities, it is entirely inconsequential.

The new sovereign of the world issued decrees from the lofty heavens with radiant Daoic tones.

His voice reached the deepest recesses of every sentient being’s heart across the entire world.

Those who follow this Dao are the legitimate orthodoxy of the new age.

Those who refuse are heretical shrines, illegal entities in the eyes of the Primordial Great Celestial Sovereign, and must be ruthlessly purged!

His word is law.

Hermes in this realm became the Primordial Great Celestial Sovereign, the master of the Great Dao.

He expounded the Heavenly Dao, becoming the source of principle, the supreme Heavenly Principle.

The voice of the Primordial Great Celestial Sovereign spread throughout the entire world.

Every sentient being in the world became aware of the birth of a new order.

It was a vast tide of the age—those who follow shall prosper, those who resist shall perish.

Though the words were brief, even the slightly clever could grasp their meaning.

The Primordial Great Celestial Sovereign’s proclamation was open, upright, and unambiguous.

Only those who walk the path he established, follow his principles, and tread upon the orthodoxy he forged are his recognized subjects!

Those who refuse are blacklisted.

Blacklisted ones receive no protection from Heavenly Principle; if killed, they die without recourse, barely even guaranteed the right to survive.

Anyone who dares defy Heavenly Principle is immediately branded a heretic, and all may slay them without guilt!

In this world, where countless crossover fantasy and yokai realms converge, ordinary humans are as insignificant as grass.

In the wild, few villages survive beyond fifty years; even bandits and greedy nobles dare not come to plunder.

Because they never know when a yokai might overrun these tiny settlements.

Even former lords and nobles lived in constant dread.

For any act of oppressing the people immediately gathered resentment, drawing wave after wave of yokai…

For example, in this era’s human capital, this small city, two titans nearly approaching Yokai Kings—Nue and Hagoromo Gitsune—had gathered.

The tiny capital was truly a gathering of dragons and phoenixes.

Some shrine maidens and onmyōji who knew the truth could only grimace helplessly.

What merit had they earned?

If even the most prosperous human capital was like this, how could one expect other cities or villages to fare any better?

Therefore,

The moment people heard of the Heavenly Law being established, they seized it like a final straw.

Immediately, they focused their minds and prayed, desperately trying to gather even a single thread of good intent to attract the starlight from the heavens.

To become a Star Lord defending the Heavenly Orthodoxy for the Primordial Great Celestial Sovereign!

Not only humans prayed frantically; even gentle mountain spirits, sentient ghosts who retained awareness after death, and yokai weary of endless slaughter…

Even many great yokai at the pinnacle of power felt their hearts stir with excitement.

For even great yokai sensed the chilling aura of an impending cataclysmic slaughter—

A legendary bloodshed that would engulf all great yokai and Yokai Kings, culminating in a single, supreme Yokai Emperor emerging from a brutal, Gu -like carnage!

Of course, while some sincerely reverenced the Supreme Primordial Great Celestial Sovereign, others dismissed it with contempt.