Hao Ren looked straight into Raven 12345's eyes. He hesitated for a long time before opening his mouth, but he finally said it. He felt a sense of relief as he waited for an answer from the genuine goddess, whose unbelievably beautiful eyes glimmered in a mysterious light. After a moment, Raven 12345's eyes curved up slightly and she smiled. "What do you mean by 'forsake'?"
"Umm..." Hao Ren was a bit stuck. He suddenly realised he had been too rash. He did not even understand the many key definitions or criteria in mind. "Probably... not trusting you, denying that you're their creator, or simply worshipping other gods and the like."
"Oh, looks like the 'creation' you're talking about here is intelligent life," Raven 12345 said, snapping her fingers. Suddenly, the surrounding landscape turned upside down, the withered heavenly garden vanished in a flash, and the starry sky and empty space suddenly appeared as if it was a scene in a dream. A sense of weightlessness hit him. He found himself was already standing in space when he finally got a grasp of what happened. Some planets were rapidly zooming in, even though he did not feel he was moving. He realised that he was flying across space with Raven 12345.
"Creation... Although I haven't created the universe yet, I usually like to make some objects such as stars and planets, as well as larger nebulae. I think these things are creations, but they obviously won't produce what you call 'forsaking the creator' idea." Raven 12345 led Hao Ren flying past some stars, and gradually approaching a grey-blue planet. "During my free time, I also made some life... Sometimes from scratch, letting life evolve from a single cell organism. Sometimes as in the mythical story of humanity, creating a complete ecological circle, and planning everything for them so that they could start multiply and evolve right away. The former takes a long time to evolve and the latter will become as lively as the earth in just a short period. This is a very interesting work, not just a research project."
The surface of the planet zoomed in quickly before Hao Ren. He saw the planet was already full of vitality. A civilisation of swords and magic was multiplying on the surface. He could see soldiers riding on demi-dragons patrolling the lower atmosphere. Chargehands were hurrying some tall demi-humans to finish the construction of the walls. While the world's north pole had a magnificent tower, where several groups of army wearing different costumes fighting nearby. The thunderstorms that magicians had created were clearly visible in space.
"Oh, the four northern nations are fighting for Etainnia Tower. They believe that this tower will lead to the origin of the world. The power in the tower could fulfil any of the mortal wishes, including even eternal life, but soon they will find themselves making a ridiculous mistake... This tower is just a weather controller and it has been abandoned for a long time. The equipment has been removed. Now it is only a stone shell."
It was the first time Hao Ren observed a civilisation from this perspective, and a true God narrated next to him. A weird feeling rose from within his heart, but he quickly returned to his normal state of mind. "You created this place?"
"Yep. Thousands of years ago, completed with planet and the entire ecosystem," Raven 12345 laughed. "No earlier history and no biological evolution. This 'worldview' may be scientifically challenging in the eyes of the humans on Earth. But in reality, there are more than one such planet. The aborigines on these planets still live very well. As long as they can develop smoothly, sooner or later they will gain more knowledge from other planets."
Hao Ren looked at Raven 12345 curiously. "What all these have got to do with my question?"
The goddess smiled. "Everything— atheism is the predominant belief on this planet. They took down my temple many years ago. Of course, I had never contacted them even when the temple was still there. After all, they were doing very well, there was no need for intervene. So strictly speaking, they don't even know my existence. The original temple was just...hahaha, some weird stuff."
Hao Ren nearly fainted.
"Is it so incredible?" Raven 12345 smirked at Hao Ren's miserable reaction. "A world of swords and magic is more atheistic than many science-orientated planets. The reason is simple: They were exposed to supernatural power a bit earlier, and they had special talent. So from a long time ago they already had control some of the natural forces though a bit weak. They had got rid of the fear of natural forces and seen thunder in nature as merely a more powerful version of their lightning skill. They no longer believe the one living in heaven is God but a very powerful magician."
"...that's incredible." Hao Ren did not know what to say; he was in awe.
"This is the interesting part of genesis, because it is difficult to foresee how the things you have created would evolve. Sometimes two almost identical worlds will take on completely different paths of development; the biological 'intellectuality' is the reason for the difference. After all, the way that many races think is different."
Hao Ren had some doubts. "You didn't reveal yourself that you are the true God?"
"Why should I?" Raven 12345 hugged her arms. "They can solve their own problems in life; they don't need God. There is no problem with the operation of this planet, so I don't need to show up. Since neither side has the need for contact, should I reveal myself just to show off the fact that I created the planet? I'm very busy, you know—and Xi Ling disciples despise cheap behaviour."
What she said was so reasonable, matter-of-coursely. But Hao Ren still felt it unbelievable. After all, there was quite a variation in the image of many gods of the worlds. Raven 12345 could read his dilemma. But she just smiled indifferently. "Everything happens for a reason. Some races establish contact with God because they have this need. Some races rely on atheism to maintain their society; they have come to this stage of development. The civilisation on this planet may one day realise that there is a true God in this universe—for example, when they explore the deep universe and find the corrective traces, or when they discover the artificiality of the planet. But that would take a long time and their understanding of God will be very different from other races then... but anyway, that's their problem."
Raven 12345 paused, and shook her head slightly. "I did not create life to let anyone worship me, and I believe that neither the Goddess of the Plane of Dreams did so. Even though she looked half-baked, from your description, I can see her simple sense of purpose in creating life: on the one hand to explore the universe, on the other hand... simply to make the surroundings a little more exciting."
"I think I get it," Hao Ren got the drift. "It seems that to the true God, the forsaking of the mortal is a false proposition in itself... or it is something non-existent."
"No expectations, no disappointments. Sometimes gods are not just tolerant toward people but also simply a matter of different values. So they don't feel that humanity has forsaken or offended them. After all, religion is a humanly social activity, and God... is just a mascot to sizzling up the atmosphere of their activities, and would only do them some favour when feeling sorry for them. Anyway, that's my personal opinion. But I'm not going to discuss about the Galacticus Lords, they are a little different culturally." Raven 12345 pasted a smile on her face and spread out her hand. "Last year, at a whim I compiled all the prayers from the entire universe. Guess what was the most religious and heartfelt prayer of all of them?"
Hao Ren shook his head; how was he going to know?
"'Thank Goddess for the ten-day holiday'—a child's prayer!" Ravens 12345 forced a smile. "They celebrated religious festival once a year and the school closed for that celebration."
"... That is too realistic!"
"Most people are very realistic, especially when they know that praying to God would not help them realise their desire to conquer the world and achieve immortality, they rather pay more attention to those things that give them real benefits," Raven 12345 said, waving her hand and suddenly dragging Hao Ren flying to a side. "Let's get out of here. A dark elf has just assembled a telescope and is now trying out for the first time. It is looking in our direction."
Raven 12345 only stopped after flying out a distance. She squinted at a star on the horizon; on the surface of the planet below, an elf was watching the same starry sky with the telescope.
Raven 12345 thought for a moment. She then gently moved her fingers; the pattern of the starlight was temporarily changed. The starry sky seen from the planet suddenly became brighter, though it was barely noticeable to the naked eye but enough to give a little surprise to the stargazer.
"Let it see more clearly. It's not like there's always a perfectly clear sky," said the goddess with a wry smile on her face. "Anyway, they haven't accurately calculated the interference of the atmosphere with the starlight."