Tet's heterochromatic eyes glead with mysterious light as she looked toward Furina on the holographic projection, her slender palm supporting her cheek, lips curled into a faint smile.
Supre God?
Her potential… it didn't seem limited to just that.
A very long ti ago, Tet had discovered sothing truly enigmatic.
The Gift Ga was part of the cosmic order—an unspeakable part, even.
Even sothing as monuntal as activating a Cosmology, which involved many Gods-above-Gods, was decided via the Gift Ga.
What did that imply?
It implied that even Gods-above-Gods participated in the Gift Ga.
A god's potential height depended on how much the universe recognized the path they walked.
And she, Tet, was the God of Gas. Originally, gas were a weak concept. But in Teyvat, they had beco an absolute law of the universe, even determining the distribution of divine authority.
That was, in a roundabout way, universal acknowledgnt of her.
To others, the Cosmology Gift Ga was a grand event to summon the Pseudo Star Map Creation and construct a Divine Collective.
But to her, it was the gods of the entire universe—even Lord Heavenly Principle and the Gods-above-Gods themselves—endorsing her very existence.
What level can I reach in the future? I'm really looking forward to it.
Tet felt the universe's blessings upon her and couldn't help but grow more excited.
Gas had beco so powerful now. The rules related to gas had fully revealed themselves before her, easily grasped.
Unlike other gods, she didn't even need to comprehend them.
As the variety of Gift Gas expanded, so too did the rules she could master.
In fact, the rules she had already obtained long ago had already reached the threshold for advancent.
She had only been stuck due to insufficient rit.
Originally, there was no such thing as a "Exceptional God-King."
The gap between God-King and Supre God was greater than the gap between human and god.
Tet was currently the only exception at the God-King level—her true strength had already reached the level of Supre God.
"What? Tet's already touched the edge of Supre Godhood?!"
Azril's voice snapped Tet out of her thoughts. Tet bead a bright smile.
In Azril's eyes, although Tet had beco a God-King earlier than their creator, Lord Artosh, it was simply because she benefited from the Gift Gas.
In a real battle, Tet, the God of Gas, could never defeat Lord Artosh.
But Supre God was a different matter. Even non-combat-oriented Supre Gods could deliver dinsion-reducing blows to lower-tier gods.
Azril puffed up her cheeks, her wings drooping behind her, looking defeated.
"How is this even possible?! You—soone who just plays cards all day—is about to beco a Supre God?!"
"Does that an gods with weak concepts are better at understanding the rules than those with strong concepts?!"
Tet crossed her arms behind her head and replied playfully, "Little Wings, don't forget you still owe three million Fontaine Divine Coins from our last card ga."
Azril jumped like her tail had been stepped on. "I-I told you I'll pay! I'm the eldest of the Flügel—how could I default on a debt?!"
Then she choked up.
"Ugh… just working unpaid for a few thousand years… it's nothing…"
You damned God of Gas! I swear I'll beat you one day. The Flügel never admit defeat! I will one day defeat the God of Gas through a ga!
Tet chuckled. "Ocain, Artosh, you two keep chatting. I'm going to find Lady Furina and see how the Gift Ga is progressing."
Ocain waved a hand. "Please, hurry up and go. I'm uncomfortable whenever you're around."
Artosh nodded coolly. "Indeed. God of Gas, stay out of this. Every ti you ddle, it drives the divine fla insane."
"I've had enough of you. If we ever have a combat-enforced Gift Ga, I'll team up with Ocain to beat you down."
Ocain took a huge swig of wine. "He's right. 'God of Gas,' huh? Your card skills are trash and you're always cheating."
Tet stuck out her tongue and grinned, "Where did I cheat? Did you catch cheating? No? Then it's not cheating—it's just legitimate gaming tactics."
"Fine, if I'm not welco, I'm leaving. Bye-bye."
In gas, if no one caught you cheating, then it wasn't cheating—it was just skillful play.
"Heh, I'll take your piece. That knight is mine now."
"I already know what you're planning, Ocain."
Ocain and Artosh were playing a ga of chess while Azril slumped her head and left the ga room, heading back to work at the Marechaussee Phantom.
She had lost too many card gas against Tet. The Marechaussee Phantom had already advanced her salary for seven thousand years. For the next seven millennia, she wouldn't receive a single coin.
Thinking of this left her utterly despondent.
"Damn you, God of Gas..."
As a special-case God-King, Tet naturally heard Azril's curses.
She didn't mind in the slightest.
Just as she was about to head to the Hydro Temple to ask Furina about the Gift Ga's details, she paused mid-step—her gaze caught sothing.
That face…
A man, looking like an ordinary Lower God, was strolling casually down the street. He seed to be searching for a dessert shop to try out Fontaine's famously civilized sweets.
He appeared like a Lower God, but that face—
Even stripped of all divine radiance, Tet felt a jolt in her heart.
He… He…
Anyone who had participated in the last Divine Assembly and ranked above True God had seen the face of the Heavenly Principle.
In this form alone, it would be impossible for most to recognize him now.
But Tet had heard Lord Heavenly Principle's voice the mont she was born.
There was a certain mory imprint—so even if he disguised himself as a regular mortal, she could recognize him instantly.
Tet crept forward nervously, her posture timid and awkward.
In Fontaine, Tet stood at the second tier of the divine pyramid—just below Neuvillette, Focalors, and Furina.
If any god recognized Tet and saw her in this sheepish state, they would think their eyes had broken.
Noah looked toward the girl approaching shyly—sowhere between a loli and a young maiden in build.
She wore a large checkered hat. Her heterochromatic eyes bore shapes of squares and walnuts. She was dressed in a pink jacket and blue shorts.
"Oh~ So you recognized , little God of Gas?"
Noah smiled at the half-grown loli in front of him.
It seed Tet had beco aware of her uniqueness.
Besides the four supre rules of Life, Death, Ti, and Space, what was Teyvat's fifth strongest concept?
Without a doubt, it was Ga.
He intended to train Tet, the God of Gas, to serve as the referee of the Gift Ga—akin to the position of the Moon Rabbit in Little Garden.
Of course, this position was far more powerful than that of the Moon Rabbit.
Tet would essentially be the Chief Referee of the Gift Ga—equivalent to the Floor Master in Little Garden.
Seeing the timid Tet, Noah felt a flicker of disappointnt.
In his expectations, after thousands of years and an environnt entirely favorable to Tet, she should have advanced significantly—she was practically playing with cheats enabled.
Frankly speaking, the entire universe had been giving her buffs; she was sitting on top of settings tailor-made for growth.
And yet, despite these golden conditions, she remained stuck at the God-King level without a breakthrough.
The rits required to ascend to Supre God could've been earned during the Great Expansion Era. Conquering just 100,000 star systems or establishing several dozen god-level civilizations would've been enough.
Such conditions were tough for most God-Kings, but for a God-King with special privileges like Tet, they should've been manageable.
Creating a god-level civilization might sound extravagant, but it only ant cultivating several to a few dozen True Gods within the colonized star regions.
As the founder of such civilizations, one would be granted an abundance of rit by Pan-Human History—endless, continuous rit.
It was a venture that most divine systems' top deities pursued zealously.
Noah had been planning to grant Tet judicial authority from the Cosmic Nexus over the Gift Gas once she reached Supre Godhood.
But now, he was disappointed.
It gave him the sa frustration as tending to a flower, only for it to grow crooked.
"Tet pays respects to... Lord Heavenly Principle."
Tet wrung her hands nervously, twirling her index fingers together.
She had forced herself to co over. Seeing Lord Heavenly Principle smile at first made her breathe a sigh of relief—but in the next mont, she clearly sensed the weight of displeasure.
Then ca a cosmic pressure, as if the entire universe was pressing down on her.
Her knees buckled. It felt like soone had dumped a basin of cosmic glacier water down her spine.
Uuuu... Should I not have co to greet Lord Heavenly Principle?
He's angry… I'm dood.
She suddenly rembered the words she had heard upon her birth—that if she had chosen a male form, she would've been scrapped and remade.
If Lord Heavenly Principle wished to reconstruct her, it would only take a single thought.
Visible tears welled up in Tet's eyes.
Is Lord Heavenly Principle dissatisfied with now?
Old Deus determine their outward appearance at birth.
That appearance, in turn, defines their gender and ntal disposition.
She swore that she had followed Lord Heavenly Principle's will when choosing her appearance.
Noah looked at the trembling Tet and suppressed his inner displeasure.
Any thought he had would ripple through the cosmos.
His annoyance at Tet translated into cosmic hostility directed at her—she was facing universal-scale rejection.
Look at her—knees shaking uncontrollably. One more second and she might break down sobbing.
Though dissatisfied with her negligence, he acknowledged that approaching him despite fear, and daring to greet him, was comndable.
Noah reached out and lifted Tet's chin. His fingertip felt her jaw trembling.
He rembered the tis when he was just a mortal, holding his family's golden retriever by the chin in just this way.
"Tet, I am very disappointed in you. I had placed high expectations on you—but you've failed to et them."
Tet gulped nervously, tears streaming down her cheeks.
"Lord Heavenly Principle… please give another chance. I promise I'll make you proud."
So... so he wasn't dissatisfied with my appearance?
Noah continued, "I originally intended for you to serve as the Chief Referee of the Gift Gas—to oversee every match."
"These past few thousand years were enough ti for you to accumulate the rit needed to beco a Supre God."
"But instead, you shirked your duty."
Tet's eyes widened in shock.
What?! Chief Referee of the Gift Gas?! Overseeing every single one?!
She had thought Lord Heavenly Principle disliked her appearance—but it was this?!
But… but she didn't know!
Had she forgotten sothing? Or was there sothing she had yet to realize?
Now she understood why Lord Heavenly Principle was displeased with her.
Indeed, over the past few thousand years, she hadn't done much to accumulate rit, instead relying on her natural growth in strength.
Since she was bound to gas and the Gift Ga, her strength would continue to rise even if she did nothing.
Even though she had been stuck at the God-King level for quite so ti, her power continued to grow gradually.
Noah pinched Tet's chin. "With this much grace, even a pig would have already beco a high-ranked Supre God."
"Uuuu… Lord Heavenly Principle, I was wrong. Please give Tet another chance!" Tet regretted everything to her core.
Chief Referee of the Gift Ga for the entire universe—that must've been a role bestowed by Lord Heavenly Principle Himself! She had let such an imnse blessing slip by.
Why had she spent all these years playing cards instead of pioneering and earning rit?
If only she were already a Supre God, Lord Heavenly Principle would surely have been pleased with her.
Noah couldn't help but laugh at her trembling, tear-filled eyes paired with such blatant greed.
He pinched her cheeks.
"You're lucky I didn't punish you for dereliction. And you still want sothing from ?"
Tet gulped, letting Lord Heavenly Principle play with her face without resistance.
In truth, she wasn't completely terrified of Lord Heavenly Principle. After all, she had pestered Furina for stories about Him.
Unless one committed an unforgivable sin, Lord Heavenly Principle was known to be very kind and reasonable.
Of course, she had also learned about his tyrannical side.
That duality—His benevolence and severity toward gods—made her perception of Him very conflicted.
Noah continued, "If you fail to seize the opportunity given, you will lose it forever."
Tet went pale. Everyone in the universe knew: when heaven gave a chance and you missed it, it would never return.
She now wished she could go back in ti and smack herself.
Noah smiled, "Once you ascend to Primordial God, I'll consider giving you another chance."
The Chief Referee of the Gift Ga held authority equivalent to the Sustainer of Heavenly Principle.
Ga was the first concept, aside from Life, Death, Ti, and Space, to naturally evolve into a Law.
Tet's future potential could lead her to beco the Lord of Law.
Upon hearing that, Tet was overjoyed. "Yes, Lord Heavenly Principle! I will never let you down again!"
Noah slung an arm around Tet's shoulder. "Swear to the heavens. If you fail again, divine punishnt will follow. Rember that, Tet."
"Yes!" Tet replied nervously. Her heart was pounding—Lord Heavenly Principle had just put an arm around her. It felt like, if she leaned a little closer, she'd be in his embrace.
Before she could think too much, she heard his voice again.
"Hmm… those witches have been quite diligent. With the Abyss' support, Rhinedottir becoming a God-King is expected."
"Barbeloth has also beco a Primary God. Impressive effort. Mona has reached True God status as well."
"Echidna, Emilia… they've also beco True Gods and begun preparing to inherit the Divine Seats of Seven Deadly Sins."
"After cultivating them for so long, it's finally harvest ti."
Tet looked puzzled. Was Lord Heavenly Principle talking about the ultimate secrets of the universe?
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