The world annexation process automatically began.
There was no need for the system to run an analysis.
A world without magic offered little in terms of additional "World Power" or new "Rules" to the current Teyvat Universe.
While not entirely insignificant, its contribution was minimal.
For any annexed world that contributed less than 1% to the universe's growth, no full system analysis would be initiated.
However, a notification would still appear in the Cosmic Nexus.
Of course, this announcement wasn't visible to everyone—only Upper Gods or above, as embodiments of rules, could access it.
At that moment, the "Earth-type" world was gradually swallowed and merged into a timeline within the Chronicle of Ages.
Not just Earth, in fact—the entire solar system was annexed.
Even if the planet was mundane, its stars weren't illusory.
Interestingly, most of these "slice-of-life worlds" seemed to reside within the same macro-universe.
Still, annexing an entire solar system offered little boost to Teyvat's laws or rules, since most of the intake was purely physical matter.
Currently, the Teyvat Universe spanned over 3,000 light-years—roughly 3% of the Milky Way Galaxy.
With 400 billion stars in the Milky Way, 3% covered around 12 billion star systems.
So one solar system, in comparison, had minuscule value.
The real value lay in humanity—a life-bearing planet that enhanced the Chronicle of Ages.
Thus, the annexation concluded quickly.
As part of the divine hierarchy of Teyvat, those performing missions understood immediately that this newly annexed Earth was now under Teyvat's administration.
...
Tokyo.
With the dramatic events having fully concluded, the five girls had destroyed the Gates of Hell and become revered as heroes.
Rias and her team prepared to return but first said their goodbyes, helping the five girls fulfill their wishes.
Alice stood with arms crossed, looking down at the five kneeling girls, who were full of reverence.
"You all did great. Time to say farewell. The divine artifacts are yours now—but don't go misusing them. The consequences would be... tragic~."
Shinka Nibutani quickly replied, "We would never do such a thing, Goddess-sama." She couldn't even bring herself to squash a bug.
Sanae Dekomori nodded rapidly. "Yes! I'm the Righteous Thunder Hammer Wielder! Justice's ally!"
Yuuta Togashi and Kumin Tsuyuri also chimed in, reaffirming their resolve.
Rikka Takanashi sat formally, raising her head with hopeful eyes. "Goddess-sama... Can my father, on the other side of the boundary, return?"
Alice smiled gently. "I haven't forgotten your wish. Rikka, you can now visit your grandfather's home—your father is already there, waiting."
Rikka's eyes sparkled as she bowed deeply and energetically. "Thank you, Goddess-sama!"
"I did promise, after all," Alice replied, turning her gaze to the others. "And you four? What are your wishes?"
Yuuta Togashi raised his hand. "I just want my family to live long, healthy lives."
Alice blinked. "That's… surprisingly ordinary. I thought you'd wish to adventure through other worlds or something."
Yuuta scratched his head, now thinking he might've outgrown his chuunibyou phase.
Alice clapped her hands. "Very well. Your wish is granted."
She projected a spark of divine power across space, blessing Yuuta's family with a lifetime free of illness or hardship.
Sanae Dekomori raised her hand eagerly. "Me! Me! Goddess-sama, my wish is to save the innocent from suffering! Death!"
Alice's eyes widened. "Oh? That's your wish? Are you truly sincere?"
Sanae Dekomori lifted her chin proudly. "That's right!" she exclaimed, eyes sparkling with self-admiration. "Because it's just so cool, Death!"
Yuuta Togashi's mouth twitched. That was just too ridiculous…
But before he could say anything, a soft glow appeared above Dekomori's head.
Everyone turned toward her—and froze in stunned silence.
A Vision materialized within the glow, descending slowly until it hovered before Sanae Dekomori.
"Huh?!" Four shocked gasps rang out.
They weren't amateurs—they knew exactly what a Vision represented: a divine qualification for ascension.
Sanae hurriedly caught the Vision with both hands, stars sparkling in her eyes. "Wow! A Vision! It's beautiful!"
Alice smiled gently. "Looks like I don't even need to grant your wish now."
Next, she fulfilled the wishes of Shinka Nibutani and Kumin Tsuyuri. Nothing extravagant—just blessings for their families.
"Well then… goodbye."
With that, Alice waved, and her figure gradually faded into thin air.
Rias followed: "Farewell—and I hope your dreams are grand. Only then might we truly meet again."
The others also bid farewell before vanishing into the air like Alice.
...
In the timeline of the Chronicle of Ages, the golden divine ship drifted calmly through the void.
Everyone had returned to the Divine Ship.
Lumine stood proudly with her hands on her hips, addressing her team as they returned from Earth.
Though they'd spent two months on that Earth, to Lumine, only two days had passed—since time flowed differently between worlds.
"Excellent work. We've earned our first rewards as the Traveler Pantheon. Now go ahead and ascend."
"We're a quality-over-quantity kind of pantheon. Just keep racking up merits—sooner or later, we'll all be Primary Gods."
Rias's heart surged with excitement. The task had been light, and she'd accumulated enough merit to become a Lower God.
In the terms of the Devil Realm, that meant she was now a Satan.
Sona Sitri thumped her chest excitedly. She was also advancing—and slowly closing the gap with her elder sister.
Seven divine auras erupted within the current timeline.
Rias Gremory, Akeno Himejima, Koneko Toujou, Sona Sitri, Tsubaki Shinra, Asia Argento, and Rossweisse—all ascended to Lower Gods.
...
Meanwhile, Noah was surveying the progress of various pantheons conquering different worlds.
Each world had its own unique time flow and power scale, and thus required varying durations for conquest.
Some worlds demanded years of effort—unless a Primary God took the field.
But most Primary Gods understood the unspoken rule: unless the world had entities equal in power, they wouldn't rob their subordinates of credit.
"Hmm. Time for me to have some fun, too."
"Which of these two worlds should I visit first?"
"Let's go from weak to strong then."
A golden World Gate appeared before him. Noah stepped through it.
The scene changed instantly.
European-style medieval architecture, bustling streets, and the scent of another world's daily life greeted him.
However, unlike when he first watched anime, Noah felt no awe. He'd seen far too many otherworldly landscapes.
By now, the Teyvat Universe was populated with nearly every imaginable race—yokai, beastkin, demi-humans, elves, demons, devils, angels... you name it.
Noah blended in seamlessly with the world's people, calmly walking along the street while his divine will silently spread out.
In an instant, he had completely analyzed the world's structure.
This was a classic plane-type world—but a damaged one.
It had originally been capable of birthing gods, but due to various disruptions, its foundational system had been broken.
As a result, the world's operating system was now in chaos.
That chaos meant that the authority, rules, and concepts meant to give birth to gods had instead been scattered throughout the world indiscriminately.
The so-called blessed children of the world, those with divine protection, were actually just recipients of the scattered fragments of authority, rules, and concepts.
It was not unlike how Vision holders in Teyvat worked.
As for those who held the largest fragments of divine authority, they were beings who somewhat understood the world itself:
The Witches, the Sin Archbishops, and the Dragon—each one a key wielder of world authority.
As for the "other side of the Great Waterfall"—it was merely a region of chaotic space-time.
Much like the early days of the Teyvat continent, such areas attracted beings from outside worlds.
This world had already established a connection with another plane: Earth.
"At my level, these plane worlds have no secrets before me."
Noah sighed, knowing full well he could easily create entire plane worlds within the Dimensional Gaps of the Teyvat Universe.
In fact, the Four Shades and Esdeath could already do so.
With their current progress, Greater Lord Rukkhadevata and Aether would soon reach that point as well.
To true powerhouses, a "world" was no more than a playground.
He remembered reading Problem Children Are Coming from Another World, Aren't They?—and not fully grasping Shiroyasha's attitude toward using entire worlds as playthings.
Now, he completely understood.
To someone who could create a world, it wasn't even impressive to use it as a playground. You could even manufacture beautiful women for your own amusement.
Of course, Noah could do the same—but that would be no different from sculpting a clay doll.
After all, every part was handmade—there was no appeal in that.
Naturally conceived life was far superior.
With a small smile at that thought, he turned left into a narrow alleyway.
This alley led directly to the Kingdom of Lugnica—specifically, the royal capital's slums.
In a medieval setting like this, life was harsh for ordinary people. Unless you had some skill and kept your head down, surviving was difficult.
Actually, even staying out of trouble wasn't enough—random misfortunes could claim your life just as easily.
Still, by this world's standards, Lugnica was relatively peaceful—thanks to the current Sword Saint who upheld order.
The same couldn't be said for the neighboring nations.
Their lords frequently fought, inciting war to enslave the defeated.
With magic monopolized by the nobility, ordinary people stood no chance of rising through power.
For most, the only path to success lay in becoming merchants.
As a result, survival—whether through theft or robbery—was seen as perfectly natural.
As Noah stepped into the slums, his refined clothing did not attract hatred.
From a level of existence alone, no one in this world had the capacity to show him disrespect.
Even if he exuded no aura, appearing as an ordinary man, he could not be ignored.
Soon, he arrived at his destination.
Calling it a home would be generous—it was merely a ramshackle shelter cobbled together with rotten planks. The "bed" inside was a patched-up discarded sofa.
A young girl was tugging hard on a rope, trying to secure some loose planks, apparently attempting to repair a recent collapse.
She looked around twelve or thirteen, with messy short blonde hair, thin from malnutrition. Her fair skin was tinged with pallor, clearly lacking vitality.
Her height was also stunted due to poor nutrition.
"Ugh! Why does it keep falling down? Am I tying it wrong?"
Grumbling to herself, she pulled at the rope with all her might.
Hearing footsteps behind her, she immediately froze out of instinctive wariness—a survival trait she'd learned since childhood.
She turned.
A stunning face met her gaze, framed by crimson gem-like eyes.
In that moment, her cheeks flushed, and an unfamiliar emotion stirred inside—something called shyness.
Her voice came out stammered.
"Wh-Who are you? What are you staring at me for? Never seen a slum girl before?"
Strange… this guy felt weird. There was something magnetic about him, something she couldn't dislike. And…
Noah eyed her with interest, stroking his chin. "I've seen slum girls before—but it's the first time I've seen one I actually find interesting."
She wore black pants—only one leg intact—red cloth wrapped around her ankles. Her chest was bound by a makeshift bandeau, clearly cut from the pants' missing leg. Her faded vest was worn thin with age, and she had a scarf around her neck, a black band in her short hair.
Clearly a slum girl, but unusually clean and striking.
Felt dropped the rope and bared her small fang-like tooth with a grin. Despite the situation, she couldn't muster up any anger.
"What are you saying, mister? Interested in a slum girl like me? You reek of nobility. Looking for a mistress, are you? Sorry—not interested. I hate nobles. Get lost."
Noah chuckled. "Noble? I'm no noble. There are plenty who'd kill to have me fancy them."
Felt wasn't surprised. "With that kind of presence, I knew you weren't some average noble..."
The moment their eyes met, she froze.
Noah smiled gently. "Mm… Eyes are the window to the soul. Even if I do nothing, just making eye contact with a normal person..."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
40 Advanced Chapters Available on Patreon:
Patreon.com/DaoOfHeaven