Chapter 562: Passive Time Authority

The Earth Elemental Plane, one of the four major elemental planes alongside Wind, Fire, and Water.

Described in planar guides as a realm full of riches but also fraught with peril, the Earth Elemental Plane is both a treasure trove and a graveyard for the unwary traveler.

This is where hidden treasures lie buried.

This is the wall that repels all enemies.

This is the tomb of the greedy.

The Earth Elemental Plane is a solid environment composed of rock, soil, and stone. From relatively soft dirt to denser, more valuable metal veins, it includes layers of granite, volcanic rock, and marble interwoven with fragile crystals, soft chalk, and sand, all housing endless wealth. These riches perpetually draw intelligent beings to this plane.

However, those who come unprepared or are not vigilant may find themselves entombed within this vast and unyielding realm, crushed to death under its weight.

The master of the Earth Elemental Plane, the deity the gods sought, was Guron, also known as the Earth Elemental Lord, the Eternal and Unmoving, the King of Lofty Mountains and Abysses, and the Sovereign of Earth's Roots. Among the deities targeted by the Pantheon, Guron was considered one of the most formidable, especially within his domain. Like other elemental lords, he had no distinct divine kingdom because the entire Earth Elemental Plane essentially served as his domain.

Within the Earth Elemental Plane, Guron was nearly omnipotent.

With a sharp crack, the crystalline barrier sealing the Earth Elemental Plane under Guron's will began to fracture under the Supreme Deity's fierce purple-gold sword strike.

Much like Garon and the other deities invading the Palace of Sorrow, Garon's true form and his allies leapt through the breach in the plane's crystalline wall, descending into the realm.

Arriving were:

- Garon Aurelian, the Dragon of Eternity and Time.

- Bahamut, the Metal Dragon God.

- Silvanus, the Lord of Nature.

- Chantea, the Earth Mother.

- Corellon, the Elven God.

These five mighty beings, renowned across the multiverse, appeared in the Earth Elemental Plane.

Their combined divine and draconic might crushed the surrounding terrain into dust and rubble, spreading across an immeasurable area. Their presence was unambiguously hostile.

"Earth Elemental Lord Guron," Bahamut's deep voice reverberated through the plane, "During the Second Dawn War, you led your forces to ambush our Pantheon's high councilors, aiding the Primordial Wild God and committing acts that disrupted the order of the multiverse."

"If you are a wise deity, you will surrender now and accompany us to the Pantheon for judgment, arbitration, and punishment."

As the gods' power cleansed the space, dirt, rock, metal, and sand spontaneously generated and eroded their auras, maintaining a stalemate.

Meanwhile, yellowish rocks began to coalesce and form.

An unyielding deity, exuding an aura of eternal stability and solidity, manifested in the gods' perception.

Mountains and boulders formed his body, with two gleaming rubies as eyes, and vast, intertwining mountain ranges as arms. Various gemstones and veins of precious metals grew upon his majestic stone form like plants, giving him an imposing and unbreakable presence.

"What's between me and the Wind Elemental Empress is a personal grudge from primordial times. What does it have to do with the Pantheon?" he said slowly, his voice rough and gravelly, as if stones were grinding and colliding in his throat.

Amidst the endless domain of earth and stone, the silver dragon's gaze settled on the Earth Elemental Lord, his eyes narrowing.

"The essence of time," Garon muttered to himself, noting the presence of time's power in the gems and metal veins adorning Guron's body.

He wasn't surprised. Before this confrontation, the gods had gathered extensive information on the Earth Elemental Lord, largely provided by the Wind Elemental Empress, who had battled him for countless ages.

In addition to his primordial earth-like power, Guron had developed dominions over:

- Rock.

- Earth.

- Iron.

- Metal.

- And Time.

However, his authority over time was singular, embodying the characteristic of eternal immobility, representing the cessation of time.

The animosity between Guron and the Wind Elemental Empress stemmed mainly from their conflicting doctrines.

Guron sought an unchanging, stable world. For his followers, any pursuit of change was a blasphemy against his divine dignity. Changes in landscape, societal upheavals, even shifts in political and moral realms, were all resisted by his devotees.

Under Guron's rule, the Earth Elemental Plane remained unchanged. Every grain of sand, every rock, and every mineral vein stayed in their fixed positions, regenerating or returning to their original places if displaced, according to Guron's will.

He abhorred, even despised, change.

The Wind Elemental Empress, as the embodiment of constant change, stood in stark opposition to Guron's ideals. It was no surprise that they became bitter enemies.

"Around him, time stands still, unchanging and eternal," Garon noted, his platinum eyes reflecting the rugged visage of the Earth Elemental Lord.

With a voice as sharp as his gaze, Corellon, the Elven God, said, "Guron, had you fought the Wind Elemental Empress at any other time, it would indeed have been a personal matter between you two, irrelevant to the Pantheon."

"But!" Corellon's tone hardened, his voice resonating with authority, "During the Second Dawn War, while the Wind Elemental Empress defended the multiverse against the Primordial Wild God's invasion of the material plane, you seized the opportunity to attack the Wind Elemental Plane!"

"This, to a significant degree, aligned you with the Wild God against the gods."

"For this betrayal, the Pantheon will not stand idly by!"

Guron remained silent for a moment before responding in his rough, honest tone, "I didn't think of it that way at the time. I was targeting the Wind Elemental Empress, not the Pantheon."

At this point, Chantea, the Earth Mother, glanced around and smiled gently, saying, "Guron, right after the defeat of the Primordial Wild God and the end of the Second Dawn War, you immediately sealed the Earth Elemental Plane. Why?"

Guron fell silent again.

"Because you knew the Pantheon wouldn't forget your actions," she continued softly. "You not only anticipated this but calculated your moves carefully. Don't pretend otherwise before us."

"You gambled, hoping the Pantheon and the Primordial Wild God would destroy each other, leaving no one to hold you accountable afterward."

"That was a grave mistake."

"Everyone must pay for their wrong choices, even gods. Isn't that so?"

Chantea's words struck home with pointed accuracy.

"Surrender and come with us to the Pantheon."

"Or refuse and be taken by force, facing even harsher divine punishment."

"Guron, we give you time to think."

"You've already made one wrong choice. Don't compound your error," Silvanus, the Lord of Nature, said, his voice echoing like the rustling of leaves, his roots firmly planted in the elemental space.

Facing the imposing presence of five powerful deities, Guron stood motionless, his mountain-formed body entrenched in thought.

Garon glanced at Chantea, the Earth Mother.

This goddess appeared as a mature and beautiful woman, adorned in a gown decorated with vivid red, vines, grains, and rivers. Her face bore a gentle smile, her eyes bright and kind, exuding a comforting warmth.

"Consort of the Morning Lord," Garon thought, recalling how Chantea had tirelessly searched for the missing Morning Lord during his absence. Their relationship was deeply intimate.

Interestingly, after discovering the connection between the Eternal Sun and the Morning Lord, Garon sensed a whiff of dramatic fate.

The Eternal Sun's creation was driven by Chantea's plea for warmth and light during the primordial age. The goddess of White Night ignited the first sun, transforming into the Eternal Sun.

It was the light and warmth from the Eternal Sun that led to Chantea's true birth.

By the ties of divine kinship, the Eternal Sun could be seen as a father figure to Chantea.

Upon the Eternal Sun's fall and his reincarnation as the Morning Lord, Chantea felt a familiar warmth and light from him, leading her to become his consort. Despite occasional disagreements, their bond remained unbroken, their alliance the strongest.

After the Eternal Sun reappeared in the Abyss of Whistling Winds, Chantea sought Garon for information about the Eternal Sun and the Morning Lord, hinting she had guessed some truths.

Garon didn't reveal the full multiversal truth, only telling her that the Eternal Sun had ventured into another dimension, seeking the path to become the Supreme God.

"Does she love the Eternal Sun or the Morning Lord?" Garon wondered, curious but too polite to ask directly.

However, based on Chantea's focus on the Eternal Sun's whereabouts rather than continuing her search for the long-missing Morning Lord, the answer seemed clear.

Poor Morning Lord—or not. The Morning Lord and the Eternal Sun were one and the same, after all.

Sensing Garon's gaze, Chantea turned and smiled warmly at him, her expression kind and welcoming.

Garon smiled back, then refocused on the Earth Elemental Lord.

After a brief moment, Guron remained silent but suddenly, the pressure emanating from the Earth Elemental Plane increased. The atmosphere grew dense,

 pressing in on the gods as if invisible glue were binding their bodies.

"Guron, it seems you've chosen to persist in your error, continuing down this misguided path," Bahamut said gravely, his deep dragon voice rumbling like thunder in the clouds.

Guron's actions signified his intent to resist.

"I detest change."

"Your Pantheon claims to maintain the multiverse's order, but is that truly your aim?" Guron's voice rumbled slowly. "In reality, it's just a colossal entity created to perpetuate the Dragon Pantheon's supremacy."

"Judging by your typical behavior, I believe the Pantheon's hidden agenda is to scheme for multiversal domination, rather than merely maintaining order."

As he spoke, endless amounts of dirt, rock, gems, and steel flowed like sand, merging with his already immense form.

In an instant, a colossal titan, whose eyes shone brighter than the stars, stood at the center of the Earth Elemental Plane. His presence was overwhelming, rivaling the celestial scale of the gods.

This godly form, immense and formidable, was only slightly less grand than what Garon had seen from the Nine-faced Dragon God and the Supreme Deity.

**BOOM!**

Countless billions of tons of earth, rock, and metal disintegrated, vaporized by the surging divine light as the gods assumed their own towering forms, though slightly smaller than Guron's.

The Earth Elemental Lord excelled in physical prowess and, in his domain, was formidable. Facing the five powerful deities, he exuded an overwhelming aura, undeterred by their combined presence.

"In my domain, you expect me to surrender?"

"Heh, let the Nine-faced Dragon God or the Supreme Deity come in person. You are unworthy," Guron declared, his words casting a dark shadow over the gods' faces.

"I am the sovereign of the Earth Elemental Plane."

"Born from the primordial elements of earth, returning to me as my power!"

"The boundless Earth Elemental Plane, heed my call. Transform into an abyssal grave, suppress and entomb these gods!"

As Guron's rough voice boomed, the rules of the Earth Elemental Plane bent to his will, amplifying his power while exerting intense pressure on the gods.

The gods remained impassive, their expressions cold.

Symbols of rules and laws provided by the Nine-faced Dragon God shimmered on their bodies, counteracting the plane's suppressive forces.

These imprints effectively reduced the weakening effects.

Gods are immensely powerful within their own domains primarily because they can amplify their own strength while weakening their opponents. This balance was now disrupted; the Earth Elemental Plane could only enhance Guron, not diminish the intruding gods, cutting the plane's advantage in half.

"The power of the Nine-faced Dragon God," Guron muttered, his gaze more cautious.

A hammer, formed of steel and rock, appeared in his hand, its obsidian head exuding a deep, heavy aura, its weight distorting the space around it.

It looked capable of shattering an entire starfield with ease.

Simultaneously, Garon, having assumed his massive godly form and tapping into the temporal flow of the Earth Elemental Plane, noticed something unusual.

It wasn't something about Guron, but rather, something within himself.

"I don't seem to need the Nine-faced Dragon God's rule imprint."

Sensing the plane's suppressive forces, Garon had a realization.

With this thought, he dismissed the protective imprint from his scales.

Guron's eyes narrowed, focusing intently on the silver dragon.

A golden opportunity!

Although puzzled by Garon's decision to remove the protective imprint, Guron saw it as a significant chance.

Under Guron's command, the majority of the plane's suppressive power converged on Garon, solidifying the space around him, making it denser than the strongest divine metal.

But to everyone's astonishment, Garon stood unfazed, completely unaffected by the Earth Elemental Plane's suppression, as if it were a mere breeze brushing past him.

Garon felt his body, deep in thought.

He realized that after his quasi-ascension to a powerful deity, he had gained a passive ability—immunity to all ongoing negative effects unless they took effect instantaneously.

In the gaps between his scales, the invisible, intangible river of time flowed, its shimmering waves naturally dispelling any sustained negative influences on him.

"How can this be?"

"Garon Aurelian... he's completely immune to the plane's weakening! Even with the Nine-faced Dragon God's rule protection, the others are still somewhat affected."

"And he's just newly entered quasi-strong deity status. How is this possible?" Guron's eyes widened, his mind churning.

In terms of biological level:

Quasi-strong deity status begins at level 100, and Garon was currently at level 102, just beyond the threshold.

In divine terms, one divine rank often equates to six biological levels.

Beings like the Nine-faced Dragon God, the Supreme Deity, the Lord of Terror, and Annam are at divine rank 20, equivalent to a biological level of 120, the pinnacle of divine beings.

With the Earth Elemental Plane's enhancement, Guron's biological level reached 119, an impressive figure.

The highest-ranking deity present, Corellon, who had recovered to divine rank 19 post-Dawn War, was at level 116, still below Guron.

Though biological and divine ranks are only references and not absolute measures of strength, they provide valuable insights.

Garon, newly a quasi-strong deity, could completely nullify the plane's suppression, a feat that astounded both Guron and his allies. Even the Nine-faced Dragon God could not entirely negate a divine domain's suppression, only significantly reduce its impact.

"In that case... could I exert my full power in the material plane?" Garon mused, suddenly realizing this possibility.

The material plane exerts the greatest pressure on gods and quasi-deities, yet this pressure is fundamentally a continuous influence.

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