Under Zeus's lead, the gods at once assumed their most majestic bearing, turning into streams of divine light and heading for the summit of Olympus, to the grandest supreme temple used for divine deliberations.
The Pantheon.
When Zeus and the chief deities were seated, Themis gave a slight nod to the Three Fates standing behind her.
The three great goddesses who govern the fate of all things and beings in the universe immediately joined forces and activated the "Divine Order," which gathers the power of the gods and already covers the entire cosmos.
The temple, vast to begin with, began, silently and invisibly, to expand and fold its interior space in an unimaginably marvelous way.
From the outside, the temple's size did not change at all.
But the interior space had become a "living" existence.
No matter how many deities it needed to hold, it would adjust to be just right—neither empty nor crowded in the least—changing its size and architecture by itself in accordance with the number and rank of the beings inside.
This might seem simple, but it was enough to horrify to the extreme those deities who still did not understand the "Divine Order."
Bear in mind that many great gods in the hall at this moment were themselves mighty law deities!
Each of them is the embodiment of one, or even several, complete laws, closely linked to the entire universe, and most of them are the very foundations of existence.
Yet the Three Fates could still, without affecting them in the slightest, silently and fundamentally alter the structure of spatial existence.
If they could do that, then under this "Divine Order," if one wished to destroy those deities' divine bodies, the deities would have no power to resist either.
Unless they chose to have their divinity return directly to the source of the law, they would have no strength whatsoever to oppose it.
The invincible God-King had become even more invincible.
However, the Olympian gods present, long accustomed to such things, were utterly unruffled.
After all, this authority was also in the God-King's hands, and to him, such minor methods were no longer particularly meaningful.
To the gods, this wasn't worth fussing over. With or without such a system, if the God-King wished to act, none of them could resist anyway.
There was no need to make a fuss, as if without this thing they would be able to stand against the God-King.
Once all within the hall was prepared, the great gods sat poised upon their thrones, and the four winds together raised a storm that swept the world.
With a peal of thunder that rang through the universe and announced itself to all gods, those many deities and nymphs who had long waited respectfully at the foot of Olympus from the three realms and three domains—together with many powerful, high elemental spirits—straightened their raiment and, with tense excitement, set out to climb Mount Olympus.
Flight was certainly forbidden, and any other shortcut was likewise not permitted.
They could only set their feet upon the ground and climb step by step.
This was an audience with His Majesty the God-King, supreme above all. They had to maintain absolute, utmost respect.
On the climb up Mount Olympus—which is level with the vault of heaven and serves as the center of the universe's order—the higher one went, the harder it became.
Those various deadly gale-winds, easily able to grind minor gods to powder, would sweep unannounced through the mountains.
As altitude rose, the various aetheric elements grew denser and more active, like an invisible ocean omnipresent everywhere. The heavy pressure made it extremely difficult for many deities even to operate their divine bodies.
Moreover, the higher they climbed, the more terrifying the intangible yet very real pressure of divine might from the great gods upon the summit became.
The pressure of divine power was like a range of moving mountains, making all climbers feel a tremendous suppression arising from the hierarchy of life itself.
Before they had even met the God-King and the great gods, the various pressures already inspired the deepest awe in them.
Of course, the merciful God-King had not deliberately made things hard.
He had already swept aside those potentially lethal gale-winds and the cloud-mists that blocked their sight.
Moreover, by the God-King's command, the four winds gathered up the god-wine "nectar" and turned it into a fragrant golden rain that fell along the route to nourish every climber's body, bringing them a steady flow of strength and constantly increasing their divine power.
In fact, after half its height, Mount Olympus is the sacred abode of the gods and forbidden to mortals.
It is the place where the sacred domains of many great gods interweave, and any being entering without permission is absolutely barred.
Now, the fact that these deities could continue the arduous climb upward was itself the result of Zeus personally relaxing the restrictions and generously bestowing great blessings.
In the long time of waiting for the Assembly of All Gods to open, those who arrived early received unimaginable fortune.
Zeus's great union with the three goddesses was the evolution and perfection of the universe's supreme law.
Upon Mount Olympus, their sense of all this was naturally the clearest.
These deities who waited at the mountain's foot personally experienced those world-shaking cosmic omens. The more they experienced, the more they gained. Some even underwent an earthshaking transformation in the very nature of their divinity.
Even the dullards among them, under the universal blessing of the golden rain, gained vastly in divine power and divine body alike.
To enjoy, at such close range, the favor bestowed personally by the All-Knowing, All-Powerful God-King—this was a fortune beyond the wildest dreams of uncountable beings.
Furthermore, a few with exceptional luck were directly noticed by Olympian great gods, taken on as attendants and subordinate deities—and thus rose at one stroke to the heavens.
Within the Olympian sanctuary, all forms of combat were forbidden. It was an absolutely safe domain.
At the same time, it was the richest, most active aether cultivation ground. Those deities who came early and merely found a spot to sleep, upon waking, had already benefited immensely.
It may be said that for all deities who came to pay homage, the cost of this Assembly was only the hardship of the journey and the climb.
Yet their gains were the supreme opportunities that could change destiny, which they might never obtain in an entire eternity.
Even now, this climb—though arduous—would surely end in success if they persisted, for under the God-King's protection, they would definitely reach the summit.
To stand upon Olympus's peak and feel the God-King's radiance with their own beings—this itself was the greatest good fortune.
And the generous, compassionate God-King even commanded the winds to turn the god-wine reserved only for great gods into a fine rain for them—an immeasurable blessing beyond words.
The god-wine (nectar) and the divine fare (ambrosia) reserved for Olympian great gods are formed from the divine power of Mother of All Things Gaia together with the divine powers of the Olympian gods.
They are suited to the tastes of all beings and are the most delicious treasures in the universe.
The god-wine and divine fare will change flavor at will according to the drinker's preferences, shifting with their present mood and deepest longing, ensuring that each taste is the supreme flavor they like, love, and desire most.
The color of god-wine also changes with a deity's emotions: when Zeus drinks it, it presents golden thunder patterns; when Aphrodite drinks it, it shows a rose-violet halo, and her breath upon exhaling turns into flowers or rainbows.
Moreover, within them lies extremely rich divine power and pure divine qualities—the top sacred provisions reserved for Olympian great gods.
Never mind ordinary deities; even a great god of high birth but poor standing would not dream of enjoying them.
In Kronos's age, these were essentially a special supply for Mount Othrys; now, in Zeus's age, they are reserved for the Olympian gods.
For any being outside the Olympian great gods, to say nothing of enjoying them—merely to have the luck to behold them is already immense fortune.
What seems like casual daily food and drink to Zeus and the great gods is, in truth—not only to mortals but even to minor gods, nymphs, and spirits—the supreme divine substance that can remake them entirely.
The divine fare and god-wine contain mighty divine power, divinity, and immortal qualities that can grant the body eternal life and youth, immunity to aging, removal of disease, resistance to death, and can even grant divinity to mortals, elevating them into gods.
Even for deities, they can greatly increase one's divinity and power.
In theory, this increase has no upper limit. Keep consuming them, and you keep growing stronger.
Though for those mighty deities already at the universe's summit the effect diminishes, this so-called "too strong" standard is measured against those renowned Olympian chief gods.
For ordinary deities, this is a shortcut to rise in one stroke, beyond even their dreams.
Even for great gods, ambrosia and nectar possess extremely powerful healing properties.
When deities are injured, merely applying ambrosia to the wound will make it heal quickly, leaving no scar or aftereffect whatsoever.
They can also purify a deity's body and swiftly restore expended divine power.
Even without directly consuming them, the divine fare and god-wine exude extraordinary fragrance. Used as unguents or perfumes upon the body, they can make a deity's skin glow with a faint sacred luster and exude a captivating scent.
Put in terms of the East, these are akin to the Old Lord's Golden Elixir and the Queen Mother's Peaches—of the highest grade.
Now, merely by climbing Mount Olympus, one can enjoy the sweet rain formed from such divine substances. Even if not directly drunk, that alone is fortune beyond what countless eras of cultivation could attain.
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