In the living room, Lil Pea became the final winner in the fight for TV remote control. With the remote control in hand, the little mermaid was lying on the coffee table watching her favorite program—the Ocean World. There was a reason for the little mermaid’s victory. Before Y’lisabet could grab the remote control, her dad had ordered her to study “the Emperor’s Theory.” Meanwhile, Rollie was just a lackey of the little mermaid. That left Lily in a lone-fight against two prankish kids. Feeling a little embarrassed, Lily gave up. With the wave of her hand, the husky maiden told them she was going back to her room to finish her writing.
The “war” in the living room ended. Next to the window sill in the corner of the living room, the conversation between Hao Ren and Lorissa had just started.
The elven queen was surprised to hear what Hao Ren said. “I knew you were interested,” Lorissa said.
“I’m investigating in the Plane of Dreams. Knowing the religious activities on planet Holletta from 10,000 years ago would help me understand how the divine power worked in your universe before the death of the goddess of creation.” Hao Ren smiled. “And more importantly, I am also very interested in the goddess of creation, especially her changes in behavior before the outbreak of the deicidal war. It would probably reveal her mental state at that time.”
“Do you know, if you had said this 10,000 years ago, our priests would have been enraged because it was disrespectful,” Lorissa said, glancing at Hao Ren.
“I could not care less. I am a pope; what is wrong with me discussing gods? My goddess is not particular about rules. Do you mean the goddess of creation was fastidious about her authority?”
Lorissa shook her head. “No, the goddess did not care about how the mortals viewed her. Worldly remarks did not affect her a bit, just like the mortal’s words could not affect the sun, the moon, the stars, and the truth. God is magnanimous, but we mortals are not. The ancient Holletta was developed under the guidance of the church, the influence of the goddess was infused into the blood veins of every living being since the lifeblood from the Seed of Origin. Religion and faith have been with our society. It has become an important tool for us to maintain social order and stability. Even if teachings have been keeping pace with the times and the church becomes more open and inclusive, the authority of God must not be shaken—at least in our time.”
Lorissa was now calling her planet ‘Holletta’ just like Hao Ren did. But she still stuttered a bit every time she mentioned it because the word ‘Holletta’ still sounded foreign to her.
“How much influence did the leaders of the religion of the goddess have in the secular society compared to the mage emperors at that time?” Hao Ren asked out of curiosity.
“The mage emperors were the heads of the religion of the goddess in a kingdom,” Lorissa said with a smile. “We implemented a system of dual cardinalships. Each kingdom had two cardinals. One was presiding over the church with authority limited to the ecclesiastical affair of the church. The other was governing cardinal. The mage emperors assumed the cardinalship in governing their respective kingdoms. These governing cardinals had the same voice as the ecclesiastical leader. Above these cardinals were the pope, the person closest to the goddess and could usually talk to the goddess directly. As the Pope was constantly immersed in the thoughts of the goddess, he did not interfere with the governance of the secular world. Such was the situation of Holletta 10,000 years ago. Of course, there are a lot more details if I were to delve into it, but it would take me some time to explain.”
Hao Ren asked because he was curious, not that he wanted to study how the church in Holletta worked 10,000 years ago. He could have borrowed a few working notes from his colleagues if he wanted to know about the details. “How did you usually communicate with the goddess? Was it difficult? Did you hear her voice or merely sense her presence?”
“Everyone who is created by the goddess has a sense of belonging in the blood. We knew from the beginning who created us, so we knew to whom we prayed. With that in mind, we would be able to communicate with the goddess. It was not that difficult. It was just that ordinary prayers could not hear the voice of the goddess directly because she had to keep an eye on the entire universe and could not listen to every voice of her children. In most cases, we could only sense her presence, or get a standard answer when we asked a question.”
“I know, it is an automatic answering machine. Our goddess uses it too. Answers are preset. It gives an instant reply to the prayer and saves time for the goddess. But our goddess uses this stuff mainly because she is too lazy to listen to complaints,” Hao Ren said.
Lorissa automatically filtered out the disrespectful, last part of what Hao Ren said. “Oh? Do other deities do the same? How does the Goddess Raven usually respond to prayers?”
“The goddess you call is not in the service area. Or don’t be afraid, just do it! If you have time to call your mom for help, you’d better fight it. If you lose, I will take revenge on your behalf. Honestly, the first automatic reply sounds more graceful.”
“Forgive me, do you really believe people in this universe believe in her?”
“Give it a try, it ‘s free after.” Hao Ren spread out his hand.
Lolissa was dumbfounded.
“Ahem, let’s get back to business,” Hao Ren said. He knew that his goddess was a weirdo and nobody in their right mind would think otherwise. So Hao Ren quickly shifted Lorissa’s attention. “Has anyone of you guys talked to the goddess of creation directly? Who could do that? What was a direct dialogue like? Please tell me the details.”
“The goddess would occasionally talk to her children. She did not choose to talk to any specific race or individual. It was often random. We called this conversation ‘revelation,’ which usually happened in a dream. The dreamer would see a blurry light, and the goddess’s thoughts directly came into their spiritual world. The fact that the goddess had sowed lives in countless planets, whoever received the revelation was considered to be extremely lucky. Our records showed that there were only a handful of people who received the revelation throughout history. These people have become great priests or extremely knowledgeable pioneers,” Lorissa explained. “Other than this revelation, the devout believers in the church can also directly communicate with the goddess through a special ceremony, and only bishops get this opportunity. Through the ceremony agreed with the goddess, we can call on the goddess directly, then the goddess will come through a grand illusion.”s
“Illusion? What kind of illusion?” Hao Ren was curious.
“Not necessarily, it depends on the cognition of the prayer and the specific manner of execution of the ceremony. But it is usually an unrecognizable, radiant female figure, or an undefined light. It once appeared as a crystal tower, mysterious palace, boundless red ocean, and unknown starry sky. These illusions only appeared in a more special ceremony with many participants. Perhaps different mental resonances among the participants have caused the emergence of different illusions. Only participants could see the illusions. Those who saw the illusions felt that the illusion was as real as reality. Non-participants would not be able to see the illusions even if they stood next to the altar. They could only feel massive energy sweeping across the sky.”
“What you saw should be the scene on the Star of Creation. It seems that the goddess of creation has projected the image of the Star of Creation directly to the scene of the ceremony through the spiritual network of the First Borns. It is essentially a super-remote brainwave communication, whereby your spirit is linked with the brainwaves of the First Borns, and then connected with the control center on the Star of Creation,” Hao Ren said while nodding and visualizing the spiritual network of the First Borns in his mind.
Lorissa nodded and then continued. “We have been communicating with the divine realm using these methods all this while. But in the years before the arrival of the divine decree, before the outbreak of the deicidal war, we saw something different. There were never-before-seen scenes in the illusion.”
“What is it?”
“The illusions in the past were bright, motivating and reassuring, but in those few years, the bishops frequently saw patterns filled with dark and weird lines, as though there had been distortion. The image of the goddess has never appeared ever since. In all the illusions, there was one thing that constantly appeared—a crimson moon.”
Hao Ren’s heart skipped a beat. “A crimson moon? Are you sure it was a moon, not the Star of Creation? As far as I know, the Star of Creation is also red.”
“No, I am sure because I have seen it. It is definitely not the Star of Creation but a crimson moon.”
In the living room, Lil Pea became the final winner in the fight for TV remote control. With the remote control in hand, the little mermaid was lying on the coffee table watching her favorite program—the Ocean World. There was a reason for the little mermaid’s victory. Before Y’lisabet could grab the remote control, her dad had ordered her to study “the Emperor’s Theory.” Meanwhile, Rollie was just a lackey of the little mermaid. That left Lily in a lone-fight against two prankish kids. Feeling a little embarrassed, Lily gave up. With the wave of her hand, the husky maiden told them she was going back to her room to finish her writing.
The “war” in the living room ended. Next to the window sill in the corner of the living room, the conversation between Hao Ren and Lorissa had just started.
The elven queen was surprised to hear what Hao Ren said. “I knew you were interested,” Lorissa said.
“I’m investigating in the Plane of Dreams. Knowing the religious activities on planet Holletta from 10,000 years ago would help me understand how the divine power worked in your universe before the death of the goddess of creation.” Hao Ren smiled. “And more importantly, I am also very interested in the goddess of creation, especially her changes in behavior before the outbreak of the deicidal war. It would probably reveal her mental state at that time.”
“Do you know, if you had said this 10,000 years ago, our priests would have been enraged because it was disrespectful,” Lorissa said, glancing at Hao Ren.
“I could not care less. I am a pope; what is wrong with me discussing gods? My goddess is not particular about rules. Do you mean the goddess of creation was fastidious about her authority?”
Lorissa shook her head. “No, the goddess did not care about how the mortals viewed her. Worldly remarks did not affect her a bit, just like the mortal’s words could not affect the sun, the moon, the stars, and the truth. God is magnanimous, but we mortals are not. The ancient Holletta was developed under the guidance of the church, the influence of the goddess was infused into the blood veins of every living being since the lifeblood from the Seed of Origin. Religion and faith have been with our society. It has become an important tool for us to maintain social order and stability. Even if teachings have been keeping pace with the times and the church becomes more open and inclusive, the authority of God must not be shaken—at least in our time.”
Lorissa was now calling her planet ‘Holletta’ just like Hao Ren did. But she still stuttered a bit every time she mentioned it because the word ‘Holletta’ still sounded foreign to her.
“How much influence did the leaders of the religion of the goddess have in the secular society compared to the mage emperors at that time?” Hao Ren asked out of curiosity.
“The mage emperors were the heads of the religion of the goddess in a kingdom,” Lorissa said with a smile. “We implemented a system of dual cardinalships. Each kingdom had two cardinals. One was presiding over the church with authority limited to the ecclesiastical affair of the church. The other was governing cardinal. The mage emperors assumed the cardinalship in governing their respective kingdoms. These governing cardinals had the same voice as the ecclesiastical leader. Above these cardinals were the pope, the person closest to the goddess and could usually talk to the goddess directly. As the Pope was constantly immersed in the thoughts of the goddess, he did not interfere with the governance of the secular world. Such was the situation of Holletta 10,000 years ago. Of course, there are a lot more details if I were to delve into it, but it would take me some time to explain.”
Hao Ren asked because he was curious, not that he wanted to study how the church in Holletta worked 10,000 years ago. He could have borrowed a few working notes from his colleagues if he wanted to know about the details. “How did you usually communicate with the goddess? Was it difficult? Did you hear her voice or merely sense her presence?”
“Everyone who is created by the goddess has a sense of belonging in the blood. We knew from the beginning who created us, so we knew to whom we prayed. With that in mind, we would be able to communicate with the goddess. It was not that difficult. It was just that ordinary prayers could not hear the voice of the goddess directly because she had to keep an eye on the entire universe and could not listen to every voice of her children. In most cases, we could only sense her presence, or get a standard answer when we asked a question.”
“I know, it is an automatic answering machine. Our goddess uses it too. Answers are preset. It gives an instant reply to the prayer and saves time for the goddess. But our goddess uses this stuff mainly because she is too lazy to listen to complaints,” Hao Ren said.
Lorissa automatically filtered out the disrespectful, last part of what Hao Ren said. “Oh? Do other deities do the same? How does the Goddess Raven usually respond to prayers?”
“The goddess you call is not in the service area. Or don’t be afraid, just do it! If you have time to call your mom for help, you’d better fight it. If you lose, I will take revenge on your behalf. Honestly, the first automatic reply sounds more graceful.”
“Forgive me, do you really believe people in this universe believe in her?”
“Give it a try, it ‘s free after.” Hao Ren spread out his hand.
Lolissa was dumbfounded.
“Ahem, let’s get back to business,” Hao Ren said. He knew that his goddess was a weirdo and nobody in their right mind would think otherwise. So Hao Ren quickly shifted Lorissa’s attention. “Has anyone of you guys talked to the goddess of creation directly? Who could do that? What was a direct dialogue like? Please tell me the details.”
“The goddess would occasionally talk to her children. She did not choose to talk to any specific race or individual. It was often random. We called this conversation ‘revelation,’ which usually happened in a dream. The dreamer would see a blurry light, and the goddess’s thoughts directly came into their spiritual world. The fact that the goddess had sowed lives in countless planets, whoever received the revelation was considered to be extremely lucky. Our records showed that there were only a handful of people who received the revelation throughout history. These people have become great priests or extremely knowledgeable pioneers,” Lorissa explained. “Other than this revelation, the devout believers in the church can also directly communicate with the goddess through a special ceremony, and only bishops get this opportunity. Through the ceremony agreed with the goddess, we can call on the goddess directly, then the goddess will come through a grand illusion.”s
“Illusion? What kind of illusion?” Hao Ren was curious.
“Not necessarily, it depends on the cognition of the prayer and the specific manner of execution of the ceremony. But it is usually an unrecognizable, radiant female figure, or an undefined light. It once appeared as a crystal tower, mysterious palace, boundless red ocean, and unknown starry sky. These illusions only appeared in a more special ceremony with many participants. Perhaps different mental resonances among the participants have caused the emergence of different illusions. Only participants could see the illusions. Those who saw the illusions felt that the illusion was as real as reality. Non-participants would not be able to see the illusions even if they stood next to the altar. They could only feel massive energy sweeping across the sky.”
“What you saw should be the scene on the Star of Creation. It seems that the goddess of creation has projected the image of the Star of Creation directly to the scene of the ceremony through the spiritual network of the First Borns. It is essentially a super-remote brainwave communication, whereby your spirit is linked with the brainwaves of the First Borns, and then connected with the control center on the Star of Creation,” Hao Ren said while nodding and visualizing the spiritual network of the First Borns in his mind.
Lorissa nodded and then continued. “We have been communicating with the divine realm using these methods all this while. But in the years before the arrival of the divine decree, before the outbreak of the deicidal war, we saw something different. There were never-before-seen scenes in the illusion.”
“What is it?”
“The illusions in the past were bright, motivating and reassuring, but in those few years, the bishops frequently saw patterns filled with dark and weird lines, as though there had been distortion. The image of the goddess has never appeared ever since. In all the illusions, there was one thing that constantly appeared—a crimson moon.”
Hao Ren’s heart skipped a beat. “A crimson moon? Are you sure it was a moon, not the Star of Creation? As far as I know, the Star of Creation is also red.”
“No, I am sure because I have seen it. It is definitely not the Star of Creation but a crimson moon.”
