The Power of the Codex of Creation

As soon as he finished speaking, Hyperion no longer hesitated. Vast divine power surged from him, resonating with the celestial bodies in the starry sky.

Now that he had made his decision, he had no intention of continuing to test the waters. The great sun in the sky erupted with hundreds or thousands of times its former heat. Every sentient being in Khaos could see that the sun, which had originally hung in the middle of the sky, had begun to deviate from its position, descending toward the earth faster and faster.

As the first Sun God and a Titan God of Great Divine Power, Hyperion did not need a Sun Chariot to drive this celestial body. Or rather, relying on external objects to control the symbol of one's Divine Office was itself a sign of insufficient strength.

At the same time, the Titan Ancient Gods Theia and Crios secretly activated their authorities. Though they did not attack directly, light and the sun were perfectly compatible, and the celestial phenomena could also amplify the sun's power. The sun's radiance grew tens of millions of times more intense. Following the pull of divine power, it charged straight toward Ryan.

Under the combined might of the three Titans, the power of Hyperion's strike rose by more than a single level. Even the few beings of Great Divine Power present could not help but look solemn.

Although Hyperion's divine power had fallen back to the threshold of Great Divine Power after the birth of the Firstborn, this attack, which drew down the great sun, was enough to make any god present retreat.

"You can still give up now," Hyperion finally smiled as he looked at Ryan atop the Divine Mountain.

"Once the sun sets, you won't have a chance to regret it."

Ryan raised an eyebrow. He had to admit that Theia and the Sun God truly were a match made in heaven. Working together, they had already faintly approached Divine Power Level 19. If Hyperion had not dug his own grave, Ryan truly would not have dared to remain where he was.

Of course, being unable to withstand it did not mean he could not evade it. The great sun had faintly locked onto this space, but it ultimately did not possess authority over space and time. As long as he traveled through history and crossed through space and time, Ryan could retreat at any moment with ease.

However, compared with evading it, he had a better solution.

"Nothing is absolute, Hyperion. Gods must pay the price for what they have done. Uranus did so, and you are no exception."

"The lesson of history is right before your eyes, yet you have never learned a thing."

Ryan shook his head slightly and responded calmly. In the next moment, the passage of time around him was instantly distorted. Under the effect of his authority, one second was stretched into more than a quarter of an hour.

This was merely a basic application of the power of time. With sufficient time, he slowly raised his hand, and the Codex of Creation floated into the air and began turning its pages on its own. In the blink of an eye, countless pages covered in divine script flipped past. At last, it stopped at the section describing the laws governing the movement of celestial bodies.

All things had their order. Even the God King would be punished by the world for abusing his authority, let alone a Sun God.

And with control of the Codex of Creation, Ryan could make this punishment more concrete, more severe, and more effective.

The sun descending into the mortal world was actually no great matter. As long as Hyperion controlled it properly and did not let it truly collide with the earth, the backlash he had to endure would be almost nonexistent. But the Sun God had suppressed his Firstborn for hundreds of years, keeping the celestial body that should have risen in the east and set in the west suspended in the sky. That was his greatest violation of order.

Moreover, on this Divine Mountain where "legislation" had just been completed, the remnants of the laws of the mortal world would further amplify the power of the Codex of Creation, causing those who defied order to receive doubled punishment.

"The sun and moon move according to their regulations. As stated in the 'Codex,' each shall follow its own course."

As his voice fell, Ryan's divine power flowed into the book in his hand and was absorbed by this powerful creation, which had already come close to becoming a Creation Artifact. In the next moment, the crisp sound of rattling chains rang out in the void. The sun, which had been charging toward Ryan, suddenly slowed down, completely losing its initial momentum.

As the Sun God, Hyperion also discovered that the farther the sun deviated from its original orbit, the stronger the force became that obstructed its movement.

Although the great sun was still drawing closer to Ryan, the power of this strike had already been reduced by more than half.

"Hmph. Just a cheap trick."

With a cold snort, Hyperion glanced at the Mother of Light beside him. Theia understood his meaning at once. The two began urging their divine power simultaneously, and the sun's descent accelerated once more.

If Ryan were also a being of Great Divine Power or held a complete Creation Artifact, Hyperion would definitely turn and leave. But now, even if he had to use nearly half his power to resist the Law Chains, he still had sufficient confidence.

Yet even at this moment, he still had not realized how serious the problem was.

"Those who violate the rules are guilty. Those who are guilty shall receive punishment."

Accompanied by Ryan's second proclamation, Hyperion initially paid it no mind. Then his expression suddenly changed.

He had already prepared himself to resist the power of order once more, but just now, he had discovered in horror that his control over the sun was actually weakening.

Aside from Khaos, no one could shake a god's authority. Hyperion thought he was hallucinating. But immediately afterward, he suddenly understood where the problem lay.

"Helios? What did you do to him?"

Hyperion cried out in alarm as he understood. It was not Khaos weakening his divine authority. Rather, there had always been a problem with the sun itself.

Ever since Helios was born, the sun had had two masters. One symbolized its existence, while the other symbolized its movement. But because of the oppression of the Firstborn, the sun had never truly moved since the day of his birth.

There was no doubt that this was a violation of the order of the mortal world. Under normal circumstances, however, as the original Sun God, a mere few hundred years would have been far from enough to make Hyperion pay the price. But under the effect of the Codex of Creation, the feedback of order had been magnified.

Hyperion's control over the sun began flowing toward his child. Although this transfer was reversible, he was still forced to stop the sun's descent.

He could continue attacking, as long as he had sufficient trust in Helios. But evidently, there was no such thing as trust between this father and son pair of Sun Gods.

Although Helios had always obeyed him without question in daily life, Hyperion only needed to think of his own experience to know that he could not trust him at all.

For the Sun God, who had personally acted out "a benevolent father and a filial son," daughters were one thing, since there was no conflict between their Divine Offices. But as for his son Helios, he had long since taken precautions.

"Good. Very good. Themis, is this your justice?"

Knowing that he could only return empty-handed today, Hyperion glared at his sister beside him.

Ever since the Divine Decree Stone Tablet had been reforged, it had become completely different from before. Even the Ancient Gods on the Divine Mountain who had once seen the divine oracle failed to recognize the Codex of Creation as the stone tablet it had once been.

"This originally belonged to His Highness Ryan. I merely returned it to its rightful owner."

Themis frowned slightly but still explained herself.

Given his relationship with our Titan Gods, would he kindly lend you a Divine Artifact?

With a cold snort, Hyperion ultimately had not been blinded by rage. He gave Ryan one last look, then turned and left.

Any more harsh words now would only become a joke. But this matter was not over! Watching Hyperion leave, Ryan shook his head slightly. He could more or less guess what the other party was thinking. Unfortunately, you could decide when to make your move, but when it ended—that would be up to me.

Thus, in the next moment, he reached out and took out a gift that had been stored for fifteen hundred years.

Regarding yesterday's question about Divine Power Level: since everyone thought it should appear in the narration rather than the dialogue, I went along with public opinion and changed it. For at least the next epoch, I won't mention numbers in the dialogue between the gods of Khaos. But I don't know why—the comments there were automatically wiped after the edit. In any case, I didn't delete them. If anyone was accidentally affected, blame Qidian.

Also, you all said I would end chapters at cliffhangers, but honestly, a novice author like me really can't do that. I can't even control a chapter to two thousand words. When I read books myself, every chapter costs 20/10 coins, like they were timed to end at the perfect moment. I just can't learn to do that.