Within the Pantheon, Xipe heard and accepted the conversations of the people outside, but They did not halt Their advance.
After all, They were an Aeon. Why would They change Their mind because of a few words from mortals?
For a bluff of that nature to work on an existence of Their level, it would require a substantial display of actual power.
And in Their current assessment, They believed that, at least within Su Mo's Pantheon, They were virtually invincible.
In almost an instant, They completed the corrosion of nearly every Aeon in the Aeon sector, bringing the divine statues and the temple ground beneath them under Their control.
Only three corners remained before They could complete the attunement of all the Aeons.
However—
Looking at the Aeon of Nihility, Xipe shook Their head. The attunement of Harmony was uniquely ineffective against the vortex of Nihility.
They could destroy the divine statue before Them, but They could not incorporate it into Their melody.
The melody of Harmony could embrace all things in the world, but the shadow of Nihility denied the meaning of all existence.
Perhaps when They had assimilated the other gods, They would be qualified to turn the Aeon of Nihility into one of Their musical scores, but it was clearly not possible now.
Their gaze shifted, turning to the Aeon of the Hunt. Xipe shook Their head again. The attunement of Harmony could work on the Hunt.
Not only was the Hunt's power among the weakest of all the Aeons, but in their current state, the Hunt was merely an illuminated phantom, while They were at full power.
No matter how you looked at it, They could easily assimilate the power of the Hunt, but They still didn't dare to.
It wasn't fear of the Hunt's phantom, but of the Hunt's true form. Other Aeons might not care about the gifts they'd given away—even Aha hadn't said anything—but the Hunt was different.
To plunder a gift given by the Hunt to a friend was undoubtedly an offense to Them, and in Xianzhou culture, it was a trampling of Their very majesty.
If They truly made a move on the Hunt's statue, Lan, who believed in vengeance, might actually manifest in person, start an Aeon war, and shoot Them with an arrow.
Having obtained the Pantheon, Xipe had considered starting an Aeon war, but not now. Now, They hadn't even fully usurped the sovereignty of the Pantheon.
And so, Their gaze passed over the Hunt and landed on the final Aeon, Ruan Mei the Life.
This was the only divine statue in the Aeon sector of the Pantheon as vivid as Their own. The moment They saw the statue, Xipe felt the gaze of Ruan Mei's true form and couldn't help but feel Their scalp tingle.
For Xipe, the only risk in Their plan came from Ruan Mei. No one knew the true relationship between this Aeon of Life and her creator, Su Mo.
The Pantheon was too important, and the position in the Aeon Alliance was too crucial, which had prompted Them to take this gamble.
Now, it seemed They were very lucky. From beginning to end, Su Mo had not used the power of the Aeon of Life to resist. It seemed the relationship between the two was not as harmonious as the outside world speculated.
Under these circumstances, Xipe had thought Ruan Mei would not interfere.
But feeling the gaze of the Aeon's true form from beyond the stars, They still felt a chill in Their heart and backed down. Fine, I'll leave this one for now as well.
These three Aeon phantoms were, for the time being, beyond Their grasp.
Fortunately, these were just insignificant details.
As long as They could control the entire Pantheon, these divine statues would sooner or later become Their possessions. They might even become the key to Them devouring the true forms of these Aeons.
With that thought, Xipe's melody swelled once more. They used Their authority to attune all things, corroding outwards, intending to seize control of the entire Pantheon.
Xipe's invasion was unimpeded, but soon, something unexpected happened.
As Their invasion spread, divine phantoms appeared one after another. The Pantheon, which had only been partially manifested before, began to reveal more and more of its true form.
BOOM!
A bolt of lightning crashed down, stopping Xipe's invasion like a high wall.
Only then did the Aeon of Harmony notice that the strange god before Them exuded an aura on par with, and even completely surpassing, Their own.
Not only that, but this thunder god was just as vivid as They were. In other words, this was also an existence on the level of an Aeon? But why had They never heard of it?
Meeting resistance, Xipe hurriedly retreated and continued to invade in other directions.
And then, something that would horrify even an Aeon occurred.
An Earth Mother Goddess, a War God, a Thunder God, a Hero God of Steel, a Great Dragon, a Creator God...
Hundreds, thousands of divine phantoms appeared. The vast majority of these statues were completely vivid, proving that the Pantheon had achieved an almost complete mastery over these deities.
And the most terrifying part was that the power fluctuations emanating from these divine phantoms were no weaker than an Aeon's.
How was this possible? How could there be thousands of Aeons in the world? Even Xipe couldn't comprehend it.
They had thought that the Aeon sector was the absolute core of the Pantheon, that the areas extending outwards were just weak, native planetary gods that could be easily controlled.
But as Their corrosion spread, as the map of the Pantheon was illuminated and its full picture was revealed bit by bit, Xipe finally realized that the so-called Aeon sector, the domain They considered the strongest, was nothing more than a remote backwater in the grand scheme of the Pantheon.
The divine statues in the other regions not only possessed power and numbers that surpassed the entire Aeon sector, but they also seemed to form complete pantheons, coalescing into an incredibly vast concept.
The Harmony's authority to attune all things had not yet failed.
But with Their own feeble power, They couldn't even break through the outer barrier of a pantheon.
Horrified, sensing that something was wrong, Xipe wanted to retreat to Their safe zone, back to the Aeon sector. But at that moment, through the power of attunement, They suddenly located the core area of the Pantheon.
Finding it wasn't difficult. As if in worship, all the divine statues They passed were facing this core area, proving that it was the truly important place in the Pantheon.
Realizing this, Xipe hesitated.
To be honest, They already felt a strong sense of danger. But the primal drive of Their Path prevented Them from leaving.
If Their goal was to attune all things, to attune the gods, how could They turn a blind eye to the gods laid out before Them?
With that thought, Xipe ultimately could not suppress the inner drive of Their Path and chose to go and observe.
Unexpectedly, the core area of the Pantheon did not have a cosmological barrier like the other pantheons. So, Xipe reached the core with ease and saw the phantoms within.
Both They and the onlookers outside were very curious: what kind of existence was worthy of standing above even the Aeon of Nihility, occupying the core of the Pantheon?
Soon, they had their answer.
"My God!" Witnessing the Son of God bearing the sins of all living beings, Sunday's eyes filled with tears as he felt a sacred calling once more.
"Is that... Lord Su Mo?" Seeing the savior riding a white horse, March 7th's eyes sparkled with excitement.
"What a compassionate Buddha!" Misha couldn't help but press his palms together, his face filled with sanctity, his form even becoming transparent.
"Wait! Don't reach enlightenment! You-you-you're not thinking of reincarnating, are you?" Gallagher quickly grabbed Misha, lest his foolish master be ferried away as an undead spirit.
"Such a warm sun." Even Sparkle had a dazed, warm, and fragile look in her eyes.
"The cycle of good and evil, the beginning and the end... is this the ultimate mystery of the universe?" Even Dr. Ratio was mesmerized, as if he had seen the truth of all things.
Everyone confirmed at the same time that these beings were undoubtedly sacred entities that surpassed the Aeons.
And the Aeon of Harmony naturally sensed this as well. In fact, as the only one present in the core of the Pantheon, no one could feel the vast aura emanating from the beings before them more keenly than They.
The universal truth that pierced through infinite dimensions was completely superior to the concept of an Aeon.
Before them, Xipe was as powerless as a mortal.
Therefore, Xipe also felt a crushing pressure and despair that no one else could perceive.
Faced with Their arrival, the Son of God showed pity, the Buddha chanted for their passing, and Kalki remained with closed eyes.
Only the Sun, that blazing sun, seemed to hang high in the sky, and yet also fall to the earth, its unparalleled light and heat making Xipe feel as if they were in hell.
The incredibly vivid Sun, manifesting as the White Night King, looked down at the insect before it.
The divine phantom met Su Mo's gaze, and the sun-brilliant young woman muttered softly, "You think you're worthy of laying a hand on our Su Mo?"
The moment her words fell, the Corona of the Blazing Sun descended from the heavens, devouring everything.
Xipe's divine statue instantly disintegrated, crushed into dregs.
At the same time, an endless tribulation fire brewed in the starry sky beyond.
The light of the corona spread from Penacony to beyond the nine heavens, to the abode of the Aeons.
Above all heavens, the stars trembled, and the universe wailed.
Three days after the massive tremor that had shaken the entire universe finally ended, the Interastral Peace Corporation and the Xianzhou Alliance jointly issued a notice.
Xipe, the Aeon of Harmony, had fallen!