Chapter 2 Divine Artifact

"Shush—"

In the Spirit Realm, Laine added the final stroke to his painting and looked at his work with satisfaction.

The Divine King was impaled through the chest, but his expression was not fierce. He spoke softly and gently, as if imparting wisdom to his own child.

Opposite him, the Time God holding the knife appeared shocked and furious, while the Titans' expressions varied. Below the scene, Laine thoughtfully added face-like cracks to the earth, representing Mother Earth who was paying close attention.

The next moment, although Chaos was reluctant, the Source Power of artistry and painting still connected with the Spirit Realm. Unlike the stars that were tangible, Laine couldn't possibly devour all of Chaos's star Source Power. But now, if no god symbolizing "Artistry" appeared within the next three hundred years, Chaos would never birth such a god again.

"It can't be said that way, perhaps there will be a 'god of painting' born with superb technique but utterly lacking in creativity."

After sensing the situation of the Origin absorption, Laine once again confirmed that he found it hard to absorb Source Power related to material things, which was determined by his original Origin.

Unless one day he could stand above the realm of Great Divine Power and thoroughly comprehend the root of all things.

Apart from "Artistry," there was also a surge of "Art" and "Inspiration." The former was stronger and could last a thousand years before being drained. The latter, pure "Inspiration," along with "Memory," was already within Laine's grasp.

"You are the world's first painting; the Origin of 'Artistry' should favor you; you are the first piece of art in existence, 'Art' regards you as its source; you record the end of an era, 'History' should also include you," he said.

Thus, the Source Power in the Spirit Realm began to converge on the scroll. Without a surprise, after a thousand years, when the Source Power related to Chaos was entirely consumed, a Divine Artifact would be born.

With one step, Laine's figure vanished from the palace. The next moment, he appeared out of thin air inside an empty cavity in the mountain.

There was nothing extra here, only a small pool in the center, with a fountain spewing a substance that seemed both illusory and real. Laine casually placed "The Death of the God-King" into the pool to nurture it on its own.

The pool was an external manifestation of the Origin of the Spirit Realm; several other yet-to-be-born Divine Artifacts were inside it.

Laine looked toward the pool. Situated around the fountain were the three transformed Oracle Stone Tablets.

"This is the 'Genesis Artifact,' in essence, it's a sacred artifact that is on par with 'Great Divine Power.'"

"Even in the records of later generations, few such powerful creations exist in the Chaos World."

Feeling somewhat emotional, Laine knew that Gaia had never realized the true power of these three Oracle Stone Tablets.

Unlike other Divine Artifacts, the Oracle Stone Tablets were rough drafts that only revealed their inherent power little by little as they were 'used.' In the original History, Themis used them to write the Codex, hence she was respected by the gods, and the envious Hera never dared to offend her. The wise Metis used them to create Hydrology, hence her child was once Destined to be the Divine King.

But now, they became possessions of the Spirit Realm. Even though the last Stone Tablet was not yet perfected, their power was still extraordinary.

After looking at the slowly changing Oracle Stone Tablets, Laine turned his gaze to their surroundings. Three slightly inferior embryos were revolving around them—all Divine Artifacts spontaneously nurtured by the Spirit Realm.

"'Time,' 'Space,' and 'Life.' It's a pity, the Source Power of space is still too little, after all, I didn't acquire the corresponding godhood before."

Laine shook his head. Although the three formless embryos were all powerful, the one for "Space" was clearly not on par with the other two because the spatial Origin in the Spirit Realm came solely from Cronus.

Even so, once it was born, it would at least be a High-Grade Artifact, enough to drive any deity mad with desire.

The other two, the part for "Time" had integrated the temporal Origin and Chronology of Cronus, along with symbols of the past, present, and future represented by History, calendars, and Prophecy.

It was very close to a Genesis Artifact, but still lacking a bit. Laine estimated that after one or two more eras of temporal erosion, it could make up for its shortcomings.

As for the embryo of "Life," it was nurtured by a great portion of the Source Power seized from the "Life Vase."

A complete "Life Vase" would grow stronger with the prosperity of Chaos, and it was supposed to become a Genesis Artifact symbolizing the beginning of all things. However, having lost most of its Origin, it was destined, just like the one nurtured in the Spirit Realm, never to breakthrough to the final step.

Unless in the future, they could gain powers outside of the "Life" domain.

Aside from these, what remained in the pool were ordinary Divine Artifacts scattered around the edges, similar to the new scrolls that had been added.

Some were conceived from the concept of "Moon," others were born from the Source Power of "Transformation." They were still formidable within their own domains, but in terms of power, they were far inferior to the previous ones.

As for the even lower-grade sub-artifacts, those latter-day creations would not be found in the Spirit Realm at this time.

Any true Divine Artifact contains the corresponding Origin Force. Even gods blessed with Great Divine Power would not overlook their existence.

"If I hadn't created the Spirit Realm, I wouldn't have been able to obtain so many Divine Artifacts in one go. After all, only a world can directly nurture Artifacts with Origin Force," Laine remarked.

"However, our new Divine King would probably love to kill me—"

With a light chuckle, Laine glanced once more at the embryo nurtured by space-time Source Power, then returned directly to the palace he had been in before.

The floating mirror of space-time in mid-air was now completely empty; in the span of that brief moment, Mother Earth and the Titans had returned to Mount Othrys.

Laine did not continue to pry into their actions. After all, the battle was over, and his level-11 Divine Power was not sufficient to make his spying undetectable.

But without looking, he knew that the Titans were off to celebrate on Mount of the Gods, perhaps mixed with some distribution of power.

Cronus, although the second-generation Divine King, was also the one with the weakest Divine Authority. Unlike Zeus, he didn't have legions of offspring and lovers to solidify his Divine Court. Nor like Heavenly Father, did he have supreme Divine Power to suppress those who defied him.

Under his rule, Chaos would fall into a 'feudal' age lasting tens of thousands of years. The Titans would be unrivaled in their respective domains, and the third generation of deities would be born during this time.

Now, because of Laine's intervention, Cronus, already deprived of his Origin, was even less likely to do anything extra. Barring the unexpected, he would first content himself with being a 'King Zhou.' It would be at least a thousand years before he tried to do anything else.

"But he will send someone to find me. It's not just because of the two agreements but also because he needs mortals to reinforce his kingship."

"If he cannot make the gods bow in worship, then making mortals, who resemble the gods, revere him as king is not a bad strategy."

"Besides, creation itself is an action favored by Chaos."

Laine silently chuckled; he was actually quite looking forward to creating life.

The Spirit Realm is ultimately a world of spiritual life; Chaos is the ultimate destination for all creatures.

The seed that endows creatures with souls, when that soul grows old and dies, all of it will return to the Spirit Realm. This is what Laine wanted, a way to continuously draw on the power of Chaos.

"And then there is Faith."

Feeling the meager power coming from the lives in the Spirit Realm, Laine's expression was somewhat strange.

First, he had 'chopped' Cronus with a blow, and now Zeus was also suffering. For this unexpectedly good turn of events, Laine decisively expressed, the more the merrier.