The timeline to invasion speeds up

Veron had paid very close attention to the breakthroughs of the inhabitants of his world. He called them the first generation, and he made sure that they were recorded in his worlds history short as it is. He didn't know exactly which techniques each race would be given after the first tower run, but he was more than satisfied with the results of the core's evaluation system. 

The core had kept an eye on every single member of each species that climbed the towers, granting them a specific cultivation technique that suited their species perfectly. This was done to ensure that people didn't get screwed over by a random role of the die, no the rewards were targeted. And boy everyone was glad that they were.

Seeing that things were going well Veron decided to go back home with his wife. He had wasted his whole mortality away from her and he was eager to make up for it. 

Once he returned home Richard met him at the door holding an envelope. Richard extended it towards him without saying anything, but it was clear from the look on his face that it wasn't good news.

Taking Eliza by the hand Veron led the way to their private quarters, sitting before the fire place he read the letter aloud to her. He was not one to hide things from his wife, regardless of what it was.

"To the Exalted Veron, 

Congratulations are in order, it has come to the attention of the counsel of gods that you have recently wed. We would like to extend our greetings to you and your new bride, and wish you well in growing your family.

We do however have some distressing news. The protection border that is normally set around new domains is failing, we believe it is because your world core advanced to the liquid stage so quickly. The parameters for deeming it a new domain have been broken and thus the border is weakening. 

Thus we must caution you that the first invasion into your world will be happening within the next 7 years. And while I know that this may seem like a lot of time, let us remind you that the initial protection period normally lasts for 70 years.

We hope that your preparations are going well, but in light of the circumstances we have felt it prudent to allot you a line of credit in the amount of 1000 divine crystals. This line is interest free and does not require repayment until after the first invasion is over.

Thank you for your time, and may the blessings of your father be with you."

Several minutes went by before either of them spoke. To be perfectly honest Veron knew already that it was supposed to be 70 years, his studies into the invasions had pointed that out to him rather early. With this in mind he had decided to take a more relaxed approach to his world, he knew very well the potential of the beings he had made, as well as the unfathomable power of his world core. But this news changed everything, 'I had thought that 70 years would have been more than enough to be ready, but now with only a tenth of that time I am going to need to accelerate.'

Eliza could see the growing tension on Veron's face, she had hoped to monopolize him over the coming year but it looked like those plans would have to wait. The one thing she knew they had was time, so she wasn't too worried about waiting for a while. 

"Do what you need to do love, I will be here when you are done."

Eliza's pure smile and comforting words gave Veron the kick he needed to get down to work. 7 years was not a lot of time to prepare for a full-scale invasion, but he would be damned if he didn't do his best anyway.

The first thing to know about the cultivation of true gods is that it takes divine energy harvested from the growth of their domains to progress. Simply absorbing divine energy would be useless as the gods' core wouldn't accept it. The very fact that Veron's core had broken into the liquid stage was unheard of, but neither had anyone ever fused their core with their world let alone their spouse.

Veron had stepped onto a unique path that was fit only for him, but the same general rules would apply, at least when it came to external sources of divine energy.

Veron's cultivation also varied from the mortal one in that his technique was focused solely on creation. He could make anything within or under his own rank from this energy, and with enough support from external sources, he should be able to go 1 stage above himself. But the costs for doing so were prohibitive, even for well-established domain gods.

Knowing this he thought of a way to prevent the invasion forces from simply overwhelming his world. The towers were the way for these types of invasions to be facilitated, that law was mandated by the fountains of creation itself. But what Veron could do was use the 1000 divine crystals he got to put something in place that might just save them all.

He looked deep into Eliza's eyes and gave her a gentle kiss. "Thank you my love, I'll return to you as soon as may be." With that said he vanished, returning to his domain to begin the work of what would later be called, the Citadel project.

Veron appeared just outside of his worlds atmosphere and immediately sent a summons to the 7. It took only a few moments for them all to arrive as they left a few last instructions to their children before departing.

"My children, I have just been made aware that we do not have nearly as much time as I thought before the first invasion. Our 70 year timeline has just become a 7 year timeline, and we need to have everything in place before that day dawns."

The news was disconcerting to say the least, these 7 had developed a preparation plan for their children on the scope of 70 years. They took into account possible population densities, martial forms, rate of tower formation, and many other factors. To strip that plan down to 7 years was practically impossible, if the information about the first invasion is to be believed they needed every single day in order to be ready. But that was just no longer possible.

"I have something that might help us though my children, I will not leave you all to perish. You are mine and I will fight your battles with you in every way I can. Therefore I will be spending some time in the core to make some adjustments. Please keep your children away from the towers for now, you will understand why."

Once that was said Veron vanished once more, reappearing within the bowels of his world core. Once there he sat before the core itself and reached out his hand to make a connection with it. The moment his energy came into contact with the core a voice sounded in his head.

"Welcome back father, I can feel your anxiety and frustration, have I failed in some way?"

This was the voice of his worlds will, Genesis, world cores don't normally develop wills until much later in their cultivation. But due to the extraordinary circumstances of Veron's world core, it developed one almost at the beginning.

"You have performed wonderfully Genesis, it is nothing that you have done that worries me so. I have just been made aware that the timeline for the invasion has been cut to just 1/10th of the time we thought we had. So I must now step in to ensure that you, and all my other children have a fighting chance."

"And what do you propose to do?"

"I am going to continuously channel divine energy into you to accelerate the process of tower construction. I will also be using some of this energy to construct great cities and fortresses around these towers. These cities and forts will be designed to defend this world from the towers, giving those on this side a distinct advantage. They will be the choke points of our world, our very own hot gates if you will. And within these cities, we will grow to be the greatest domain in this or any other universe."

"Well done Father, I am wholeheartedly on board and will surrender control of the core to you for the process. Please inform me which tasks I will need to perform."

"You will be in charge of world maintenance and stabilization, as well as tower generation. Please make the amount of each rank of tower equal in every continent, 100 million rank 1, 10,000,000 rank 2, 1,000,000 rank 3, 100,000 rank 4, 10,000 rank 5, 1000 rank 6, 100 rank 7, 10 rank 8, and finally 1 rank 9. The difficulty of the towers within each rank should be elevated by 20%, increase the rank of rewards by 50%, and begin natural generation of specific energy matched to the cultivation techniques stored in your vault. I will maintain a constant stream of energy for you, and I will also build the cities surrounding each tower. I know we have the room for it, each continent on my world is nearly the size of my previous one, don't hold back Genesis. I have got 1000 divine crystals just burning a hole in my pocket, lets use them all and just do what we must do."