However, the fragments of the Pantheon do not necessarily have to be stored within the Divine Soul. Diana doing this seems to be concealing something.

Curious, Eve took the core fragment of the Pantheon from Diana’s hand, and the moment she touched it, she instantly sensed a familiar power within it...

"This is..."

Eve looked at the platinum light, slightly narrowing her eyes.

The power is none other than the power of the Lord of Eternity, Yiteo.

No... to be more accurate, it’s Yiteo’s power projection!

In an instant, Eve understood what was happening.

The Lord of Eternity had reforged the Pantheon using the broken fragments, becoming the new Era Dominator, and the new Pantheon was also derived from the past Pantheon.

Hence, the core fragment Diana received probably formed some kind of resonance with the current Pantheon, automatically projecting part of Yiteo’s power.

Diana placing the fragment in her Divine Soul is probably for this reason. If not concealed within the Divine Soul, the projected power would be perceived by Yiteo, who would certainly retrieve the fragment to enhance the Pantheon.

Of course, now that they’ve entered Eve’s Divine Country, which can shield the perception of other gods, Diana naturally took the fragment out.

Holding the fragment, Eve’s mood instantly exhilarated.

Since this fragment can project Yiteo’s power, it indicates that the current core of the Pantheon is still derived from the shattered core of the past Pantheon. In other words, if Eve desires, theoretically, she has the ability to influence the current Pantheon through this core fragment!

Of course, it’s merely an influence, not control, but this presents Eve with an opportunity, a possibility...

Which is perhaps she could bypass the Pantheon and merge with the world’s essence suppressed by it!

Merging with the world’s essence is very important to Eve.

As the World Tree, although she has yet to decipher the specific method for ascending to greatness from the blue orb of light that seems to be left by King of Gods, Niou, one thing is certain: merging a world is a prerequisite for ascending to greatness!

At least, it is so for the World Tree.

With this thought in mind, Eve’s mood grew increasingly elated. She had been vexed recently about how to bypass the Pantheon to attempt merging with Segis’s essence, but Diana unexpectedly brought her a pleasant surprise!

However, the fragment’s role is not limited to these...

Observing the platinum light spreading over nearly ninety percent of the fragment, Eve’s eyes narrowed slightly, and she pondered.

This light... it’s probably a feedback from Yiteo’s process of ascending to great Divine Power.

In Eve’s acquired heritage, there was a certain connection between the Pantheon’s core and the location of great Divine Power. In some of the memories she witnessed, before the predecessor’s downfall, the Pantheon’s core fragment was almost covered by golden-green light symbolizing the World Tree...

From these inherited memories, it’s not hard to deduce that the progress of the Lord of Eternity’s ascent to great Divine Power might be approaching ninety percent!

Yet when Eve carefully observed the light changes in the fragment, she found that the change seemed to have stalled...

This discovery raised Eve’s eyebrows.

"Mother Goddess... you should have also noticed, this light symbolizes the progress of the Lord of Eternity’s ascent to greatness, and now... his ascent has encountered difficulties!"

Diana said.

Eve’s gaze suddenly sharpened.

She looked at Diana, and Diana continued:

"Mother Goddess, after the divine war ended, I accidentally learned some of Yiteo’s actions through his former archangel, and observed some phenomena through Imhettel’s periodic reports..."

"Speak."

Eve caressed the Pantheon fragment, saying.

Diana continued:

"Ever since the Lord of Eternity began grand preaching throughout the Segis Universe, the proportion of power projection in this Pantheon core fragment started expanding... I speculate that his method of ascending to greatness is likely related to his faith."

"However, his faith probably encountered difficulties, causing his progress to almost stagnate."

Upon hearing Diana’s words, Eve felt a stirring:

"This stagnation... approximately when did it start?"

"About four hundred years ago."

Diana replied.

Saying this, she sighed:

"If it hadn’t stalled four hundred years ago, he would likely have ascended to greatness by today."

Four hundred years ago...

Eve felt a stirring, beginning to review the continental history she knew.

During these years of her revival, she had read quite a bit, including the entire continent’s history, and after contemplating the history, Eve noticed an intriguing detail...

Four hundred years ago, indeed, something significant happened on the Segis Continent, which was the internal division of the Holy Maniya Empire.

At that time, the reigning Emperor, Heinrich, who had left no heirs, fell from his horse during a hunting accident, broke his spine, and died within a few days, leaving no will.

His two uncles started a civil war to seize the throne.

However, the ultimate victor was neither of Heinrich’s two uncles but rather an Electoral Prince family supported by the Eternal Church, sparking discontent between the royal family and the nobility.

Subsequently, the royal family broke ties with the Eternal Church, and the entire empire fell into a 30-year-long war of succession.

In the end, Emperor Heinrich’s young nephew seized the throne, but the empire’s southern region completely broke free and declared independence, formally establishing the Aries Kingdom, while the empire’s central power was greatly weakened, and the Eternal Church’s control over the continent began to decline from that point on... until today.

It could be said, it ended in a lose-lose situation.

Interestingly, in many of the "banned books" dissenting against the Eternal Church’s rule, it’s recorded that the church started its decline from that war...

War, division, decline...

Could the church’s downfall be the cause of the Lord of Eternity’s difficulty in ascending?

As soon as this thought occurred, Eve dismissed it, because if that were truly the case, as long as the Lord of Eternity remained lucid, he would naturally make adjustments.

Oh, no...

Wait...

Ulinos had once said that the Lord of Eternity seemed to be corrupted, suggesting he might already have lost the capability for self-correction?

Eve pondered within.

This indeed offers an explanation, yet vaguely, Eve felt that somehow it didn’t add up.

She felt as if she grasped something, but upon deeper thought, it appeared as if viewing flowers through the mist...

Nonetheless, one point is certain: the decline of faith does indeed impact the Lord of Eternity.

"However..."

Then, Diana changed the topic:

"Approximately six years ago, the ascent of the Lord of Eternity seemed to restart, albeit at a very slow pace."

Six years ago?

Eve’s heart skipped a beat.

Six years ago was precisely when she arrived in the Segis World.

If any major event occurred within the Segis Universe, it was only her return.

"Specifically, what changes occurred over these six years?"

Eve inquired.

"From slow to fast, yet... compared to four hundred years ago, still very slow, but if it continues to accelerate, within the next ten years it might return to its previous pace, and within seventy years, it may succeed completely, while if acceleration remains unchanged, it might be as soon as twenty years..."

Diana said.

Seventy years... twenty years...

Eve furrowed her brow slightly.

This implies that she has at most seventy years, at least twenty years, to ascend to great Divine Power; otherwise, the path ahead will be entirely blocked by the Lord of Eternity.

Of course, this assumes that everything proceeds smoothly for the Lord of Eternity and that his ascent speed won’t further escalate.

At this moment, Eve felt that perhaps she should accelerate her plans to merge with and subvert the Segis World’s essence...