He remembered that in a certain game from his previous life, there had been a so-called dream world.
It was managed by a group of big green lizards.
So—was it necessary to build a dream world?
Liu Che considered it.
Dreams are illusory.
But what is illusion, and what is reality?
For a god,
what he wills as illusion becomes reality.
Then building a dream world
would simply be adding another path and further perfecting the Realm of the Gods.
The world was incomplete.
Liu Che had already noticed.
After a long while, he sighed to himself: "It seems that when I slowly approach perfection, only then will I be able to step up to the next tier of worlds."
When the goddesses from the Saints' Cemetery had finished breaking through,
Liu Che gave instructions: "You can try intervening in the administration of the little underworld. Anyone who breaks past the god-rank boundary may be permitted into the Realm of the Gods."
"Yes."
Ying Xiaoxiao answered obediently.
Her large, limpid eyes watched Liu Che without blinking,
as if trying to express her feelings.
Although several women wanted to serve him that night, Liu Che had no time for them. The ones attending him this time were Li Xiuning and Altria, the taciturn king.
The pair who served him this time
would be assigned to travel to the world of Journey to the West.
Yang Jian's faith was now abundant, and the monkey had been drawn by him; the goddess could descend under her own power.
Both of them belonged to the heroes of the present age.
The task for this descent was to assist Yang Jian in unifying the Three Realms.
Of course, this was merely the vanguard.
Other goddesses and high priests would come in due course.
The sacrifices and vast materials contributed by the Saints' Cemetery alone had expanded the Realm of the Gods severalfold, and had armed tens of millions of soldiers.
As for a celestial plane like Journey to the West—
what would it provide him?
Liu Che looked forward to finding out.
In the Skybright Pool,
two women, neither particularly imposing in figure, sat together, washing one another's backs.
Now and then, soft laughter drifted out.
Li Xiuning smiled. "This time you get to serve in bed and also descend to the lower realm. Won't that other empress die of jealousy?"
Altria rolled her eyes.
"I didn't expect you to gossip like this."
"Once in a while I have to keep up with matters between gods and women, or it would be too dull…"
At that, the Lion King couldn't help recalling the moment she'd received the order.
Nero's blank look—then the booted stomp against the wall in a flare of temper.
She almost laughed.
Everyone knew she and Nero clashed, but only a few understood how close they truly were.
They were both kings in loneliness.
Even at death, neither had tasted love; each had devoted her entire heart to others.
Such feelings—
only a king would truly understand.
Though the god's affection now came to them only in scant measure, the two women were deeply content.
After all, without the god's word,
they might have remained dust in history.
How could they not be satisfied with what they had now?
In fact, being a salted fish was not impossible.
Many goddesses, knowing their looks were merely ordinary, chose a salted-fish life—playing zither and singing by day, feeding beasts from time to time.
They lived quite comfortably.
It would be months between summons to the bedchamber.
And even that was already good fortune.
Song Yuzhi and other women were much the same.
They had no heart for contention.
By joining Shi Feixuan's faction, they had actually become salted fish.
First, their leader goddess had no love for fighting.
Every day brought cool breeze and crescent moon,
an immortal's refinement.
Gradually, the goddesses under her command began to emulate her, and over time, a whole school of "dove goddesses" emerged.
Altria rinsed herself, then dropped into a crouch behind Li Xiuning and smiled. "As for her, that's just her character—she wants beauty in all things, and she has to overwhelm others to be happy. I'm simply playing along with her—that's all for fun.
"Otherwise, if Nero keeps going like this, it won't do."
Li Xiuning nodded, stood, and dressed.
They helped each other.
One donned a pale pink dress; the other wore black.
Together, they headed for the bedchamber.
…
Elsewhere,
Nero and Baguio had begun a match.
Just as Altria had said, the empress had nothing to occupy her, so her heart naturally soured with displeasure.
She challenged Baguio.
One excelled in dark magic; the other, in martial combat.
The fight was fierce.
Against Nero, who could replicate others' techniques,
Baguio seemed pressed, and her curses were ineffective, for both were goddesses.
A god-body came with innate immunities.
So they could only rely on skill.
As time passed,
Baguio revealed a flaw that was not a flaw.
"Hey… I have to win… Bloom—Golden Theater…"
Nero was overjoyed and unfurled her Noble Phantasm.
Her momentum surged by thirty percent; the grand stage set changed around them.
At the same time, a hundredfold gravity suppression erupted.
Like a meteor,
she streaked toward Baguio.
As they closed, Nero saw that Baguio's face held no fear; instead, a smirk curved her lips.
Uh-oh—trap!
In the very next instant,
Nero found herself frozen in place, limbs and body immobile.
Her Noble Phantasm's effect had been stripped away.
"Well now… Little Sister Nero, your combat strength is decent, and even deploying your treasure is quite formidable, but do you know?
"Your elder sister walks the Dark God path.
"How could you use normal methods on me…"
At this moment, tens of thousands of black, divinely woven threads bound Nero. Moving was out of the question; even twitching a finger was hard.
She forced her gaze downward.
And suddenly it made sense.
Her treasure had been deployed, but the black threads on the ground had shredded it, so the gravity suppression had been undone.
But what about the threads now ensnaring her body?
"Sis, I know you're angry, so I agreed to fight you, but…" Baguio's tone shifted cold. "Since you dared to go all out, you must understand I will too. Your flaw isn't lack of strength—it's your unsteady mind!"
Then, from who-knew-where, she produced a small leather whip.
She smiled at Nero.
"Hey… what are you going to do!!!"
The thing wasn't very harmful,
but it was extremely humiliating.
She did not want to be struck by it.
"Call me 'Sister,' and I'll let you go!"
"I…"
In desperation, Nero changed her usual manner.
Given the circumstances,
she surrendered without hesitation and said, face crumpling, "I'm sorry, Sister!"
"Mm. A teachable child."
Baguio dispelled the spell, then stepped over to straighten Nero's collar and the tangles in her hair.
Her expression was utterly serious.
"You—stop flying into rages at every turn. The gods, naturally, make the arrangements. Jealousy can exist, but it can't be excessive. Learn from the East—from Huaizhu. It's by such practice that one learns the true Way."
"…All right, I was wrong."
A stick first, then a candied date.
Nero responded well to it.
And in truth, Baguio hadn't meant to humiliate her; she simply wanted to help Nero calm down.
Then the two sat together and began to chat away the time.
…
Elsewhere, the Eastern Huaizhu whom Baguio had mentioned—
after Liu Che had obtained the Fire Law,
her strength had begun to rise steadily, and in her heart she longed to visit her kin in the lower realm.
Now she had reached the final step to Eight Stars.
Within her slender body,
a sphere of flame burned violently.
Pure Sun Flame.
Under the blessing of divine power, it had become a searing fragment of law.
Comprehend the law, perceive the law, refine the law—
this was what the goddesses were doing.
Whose talent was greater?
That one's strength rose faster.
Dongfang Huaizhu was among the finest of them, but previously the Fire Law had been incomplete, making her cultivation relatively difficult.
Yet in under a month,
her strength had climbed to its current height.
It was clear that talent alone was not enough; one had to work hard.
An hour later—
"Hey… Huaizhu actually broke through!"
Liu Che's consciousness drifted toward the Yanlin Hall and saw the countless fire-laws condensing; within, the goddess used her flesh as a furnace to temper herself.
Once Huaizhu woke,
her eight-star strength would be assured. 973
Should he help her?
And perhaps hasten the progress of the Tushan sisters—Yaya and company—as well?
Liu Che thought.
A splinter of prismatic flame, divided from the Law, slipped into Huaizhu's body.
Then the whole sky answered it in resonance.
"Hey… a sister has broken through to Eight Stars!"
"Who is it?"
"I don't know—the aura is veiled by the power of law. Seems like a sister cultivating the Fire Law."
"I think it's Sister Dongfang Huaizhu."
Tosaka Sakura was one of the few gentler souls among the goddesses.
She got along with almost everyone.
A few days ago, she'd heard that Dongfang Huaizhu was about to break through.
It seemed that moment had arrived.
Whoosh.
Before a stick of incense could burn down, the flame began to shrink.
Dongfang Huaizhu opened her eyes; divine fire burned within them.
The sacred fire mark between her brows had long vanished.
A holy aura flowed from her; every smile held an ineffable charm.
Just as she was savoring this new power,
a gentle voice entered her mind.
"Come to the Temple of Dew to Sleep. In three days, you may return to the world of the Fox Demon."
"Yes, Lord God."
Her pretty face could no longer hold the fairy-air from moments before.
It turned sly and sweet.
…
Three days later,
Dongfang Huaizhu and several others vanished amid divine radiance.
Altria and Li Xiuning appeared in the world of Journey to the West.
And Dongfang Huaizhu returned to the home of her heart.
No matter the distance,
she always missed her father and her younger sister.
She lifted her nose to catch the faint scent of mud.
Dongfang Huaizhu conjured a glazed paper umbrella with a flicker of magic and murmured to herself, "I wonder how you're doing."
A light drizzle fell through the air.
The believers kneeling around the altar watched the goddess descend from the heavens.
Surprise lit their faces, one and all.
They had received no notice; they had simply seen the sky open.
Only then had they gathered to worship.