Codex

"What an unforgettable experience."

Inside Lopes Temple, Themis drank the last mouthful of wine, and her originally fair cheeks had taken on a faint flush.

Ordinary drinks were not enough to affect divine beings, but clearly, those Ryan had brewed using the Divinity of Wine were not ordinary.

"If you're interested in it, you can take some back with you." Setting down the crystal-clear wineglass, Ryan waved his hand and summoned dozens of barrels of finished wine.

"I haven't seen Cronus in a long time either, since we last parted. Consider this wine a belated gift congratulating him on becoming the God King. I imagine he'll like it."

"Then I'll accept it on Cronus's behalf."

Themis gave him an apologetic smile. She had no idea about the grudge between Ryan and Cronus over the Space-Time Origin.

She thought Ryan was using this to remind Cronus not to forget their two previous agreements. In truth, the Goddess of Justice was also somewhat displeased by her younger brother's repeated failure to fulfill his promises.

Over the past three hundred years, she had passed by Mount Othrys several times and visited the Earth Mother, who had recovered some of her vitality. From the Mother Goddess, she had learned that Cronus had once refused to go to the Abyss and release his six oddly shaped younger brothers, using the excuse that he had "yet to fully control the God King Divinity."

The Earth Mother had been furious about this, but she was not the God King, after all. Thus, she did not know whether Cronus had been deliberately making excuses or whether he truly was still far weaker than Uranus had once been.

Because of this, the Earth Mother had left Mount Othrys and settled for years in a place near the eastern ocean of the continent, staying with her second son.

The five Ocean Gods who had descended into the world one after another were born during this period.

"Honored Highness Ryan, thank you once again for the dinner. However, I have come this time to ask you for a favor."

The Goddess of Justice, who had removed her blindfold three hundred years ago, composed her expression and looked Ryan straight in the eye as she got directly to the point.

Ryan smiled faintly. Although he had already made his calculations, he still pretended not to know.

"Please, go ahead, my lady. I'm also curious what made you come to my door after traveling for three hundred years."

Themis's heart stirred at his words. Although she had not concealed her movements, it was clear that Ryan had an unknown way of observing the land.

But the Goddess of Justice did not care about that. She directly explained why she had come:

"Over the past three hundred years, I've traveled to many places. In Khaos's world, I discovered that the chaos and madness left behind at the beginning of creation had not all flowed into Tartarus. Instead, they still existed within the laws."

"I sought a way to resolve this, and in the end, the Divine Office of Law responded to me. I need to establish laws for the rules of the world, allowing the laws themselves to expel the chaos and madness."

"But what does that have to do with me?" Ryan asked with a smile.

"Because I also need an artifact capable of bearing those laws. I'll use it to communicate with the world and inscribe my laws into the origin of the world."

Themis looked solemn. She could feel that the advancement of her Divine Office depended on this matter. As long as she could perfect the world, the Divine Office of Law would rise dramatically, enough to support her becoming a powerful divine being above Divine Power Level 18.

"I visited the Mother Goddess and asked her for the Divine Decree Stone Tablet, that mysterious artifact born at the beginning of creation. But the Mother Goddess told me that thousands of years ago, it had already come into your possession as a wager."

"I've come to you so presumptuously because I hope to borrow this Divine Artifact from you."

As she spoke, Themis looked toward Ryan.

"Yes." Meeting the goddess's gaze, Ryan nodded.

"It is in my hands. But it is no longer a divine decree."

He raised his hand slightly. The next moment, as spatial ripples flashed, a huge bronze book appeared out of thin air in his hand.

Without the slightest concealment, the powerful aura of the Codex of Creation was instantly sensed by Themis.

There was no doubt that this was a terrifying high-grade Divine Artifact. It even faintly gave her the feeling that it was something greater.

"Things are different from what the Earth Mother told you, Lady Themis." Ryan calmly ran his right hand over the spine of the Brass Book. "The essence of the Divine Decree Stone Tablet is beyond her imagination. The order contained within it even approaches most of Tartarus's chaos. I used three tablets to create three Divine Artifacts. What you see is the second."

Themis furrowed her brows. She knew she would most likely return empty-handed. The aura of the Divine Artifact before her was comparable to that of the Life Treasure Bottle, and no one would casually lend out such an artifact. But driven by her desire to perfect her Divine Office, she still spoke.

"If you're willing," she said, "what would I need to offer in exchange for borrowing this Divine Artifact from you?"

She was already prepared to swear an oath and work for Ryan in the future. In truth, she had little else to offer. But, unexpectedly, Ryan gave her an answer she had never anticipated.

"Nothing." He said, "You only need to swear to the Spiritual World and acknowledge my undisputed sovereignty over the Codex of Creation. Then, it will be yours for the next thousand years."

Looking at the goddess's stunned expression, Ryan offered no explanation. He merely handed over the book that seemed to be cast from brass.

He believed she would not refuse.

Themis was somewhat taken aback, but just as Ryan had expected, when she saw the Divine Artifact being offered to her, she hesitated for a moment before reaching out to accept it.

Divine beings and their Divine Offices influenced each other. Faced with the temptation of advancing her Divine Office, Themis could not refuse.

····· chatting for a few more moments, the Goddess of Justice soon left the Divine Mountain with the Divine Artifact she had borrowed.

After sending Themis out of the Spiritual World, Ryan also went to a palace behind Mount Sinai.

That was his sleeping palace, Elas Temple.

Sitting on the soft couch, Ryan watched through a temporal mirror as Themis headed toward the surface, confusion and puzzlement in her eyes. He knew she was going to seek the God King's Edict.

To establish laws for the world, the God King's approval was also an indispensable step.

"Once the laws are established, this Divine Artifact will be preliminarily complete."

Glancing at the stone book in the goddess's hands within the mirror, Ryan murmured softly.

In his original plans, the Codex of Creation should have been the recorder, perfecter, and creator of all the world's rules and laws. It was indeed possible for laws to connect with Spirituality. However, the problem was that the Goddess of Law had already descended into the world long before Ryan opened the Spiritual World.

Ryan could absorb the world's stellar origin, and he had already absorbed almost all of it. But that was because the true Star God had yet to be born, while Coeus was merely the god of the Lightless Celestial Body. Law was different.

The Codex of Creation had previously been powerful only because of the origin of order within the Divine Decree Stone Tablet. Its own portion belonging to law came from only a tiny amount of Time Sequence.

But as Themis established laws for the world, the origin of Khaos's laws would rise significantly. Half of it would flow into the Codex of Creation that bore it, while Themis would obtain only the other half.

After this matter, this powerful artifact, which by itself was already close to a Creation Artifact, would be completely mature.

"There's also the chaos and madness expelled by the laws after the codex is established."

"Power itself is neither good nor evil. What matters is using it in the right place."

Watching Themis arrive at the surface and head toward Mount Othrys, Ryan dispersed the temporal mirror.

He could silently observe Themis, whose Divine Power Level was 13, but that did not mean he could observe the God King, who was gradually securing his position.

He no longer needed to worry about what came next. For the sake of her own advancement, the Lady of Justice would put all her effort into completing everything related to "establishing laws."

His mind sank into the origin of the Spiritual World, and Ryan continued digesting the different origins. For a long time to come, this would remain his main task.

The two names of the Divine Mountains and the two temples of the protagonist were adapted from names of places elsewhere. I also left a plot thread that I don't know whether I'll write later. As someone terrible at naming things, I had no choice but to borrow from the wisdom of the ancients—Western ancients, in this case.