Chapter 1

On a fine, sunny day, Hao Ren was summoned to the "Celestial Realm" by Duya 12345.

Usually, when he came here, he would encounter Duya 12345 causing all sorts of trouble. The mansion would either be blown full of holes, or cut in half, or even the entire Celestial Realm would be turned into ruins. But this time, he found that his goddess's house was perfectly normal. The magnificent mansion stood tall in the center of the garden, the surrounding gardens and plants were thriving, the fountain in front of the mansion was gurgling with clear springs, and the arcane servant known as "Big Blue" was busy in front of the flowerbeds, injecting arcane power into those extraordinary flowers and plants.

It seemed like it had been a long time since he had seen the Celestial Realm looking so "normal." Hao Ren's first reaction was to feel like he had walked onto the wrong set.

"You're here?" Duya 12345's voice awakened Hao Ren from his daze. The goddess was standing at the garden entrance, waving at him with a serene smile. "Come on, I have something to talk to you about."

Hao Ren was stunned on the spot, feeling that the entire Celestial Realm and the goddess in front of him were different from usual. He blankly followed Duya 12345 into the depths of the garden, arriving at a secluded courtyard surrounded by green walls. Lush greenery was all around, the fragrance of flowers wafted in, and a clear stream flowed along the corner of the green walls into the courtyard, meandering past the lawn. A set of exquisite and gorgeous stone tables and chairs were placed in the center of the lawn. Fresh and unidentifiable melons and fruits were placed on the table. Duya 12345 gestured for Hao Ren to sit on the bench.

"Sit down," Duya 12345 said with a smile, "Let's talk about the report you sent last time."

Hao Ren sat down, stunned. He looked at the surrounding environment, and then at the gentle, calm, and smiling lunatic goddess in front of him. He finally couldn't help but open his mouth: "Um... are you really 12345?"

"Of course," Duya 12345 raised an eyebrow, "Is there something wrong?"

Hao Ren really didn't know how to explain the sense of disharmony in his heart. He could only laugh dryly: "Hehe... nothing, I just feel like your style isn't quite right today. I usually don't see you looking so gentle – and your garden is so clean."

Duya 12345 just smiled slightly upon hearing this: "Don't be so surprised, someone came to inspect today."

Hao Ren's various guesses were immediately blocked in his trachea: "... Huh?"

The goddess continued to maintain her serene smile, extended her hand and gave a thumbs-up: "I spent two days cleaning up in advance, and this morning I even specifically solidified a serene smiling emoji on my face. Can you see any traces of post-processing?"

Hao Ren immediately felt that the style of the whole world had returned to normal... Although looking at the female lunatic's serene appearance still gave him a heartfelt sense of awkwardness, he could finally speak normally: "Oh my god, I thought you ate something wrong."

Duya 12345 gave a middle finger with a serene smile: "I'm a goddess, at least. Can you be a little more respectful when you speak?"

"Quickly get rid of that emoji on your face," Hao Ren's sense of disharmony was almost bursting out, "Anyone who sees you talking with that face will be terrified."

"I told you it's a solidified effect, it has to be maintained for at least a few days," Duya 12345's expression was as unchanging as if her nerves were dead, but she waved her hand casually in action, "Let's talk about serious business – first of all, the crystal core, I have to urge you again, don't be careless about this. Secondly, I've already read all the reports you sent."

Speaking of serious business, Hao Ren finally perked up and was able to slightly ignore the circle of strange atmosphere surrounding the lunatic goddess. He leaned forward: "What are your instructions after reading it?"

"You really give me surprises every time," Duya 12345 raised a finger and shook it, "Really, I don't usually praise people casually, but you're such a troublemaker who can attract events is truly rare in my life. How can you stir up so many things just by going out to find something?"

Hao Ren didn't know what kind of praise this was, but he still put on a straight face and waved his hands repeatedly: "You flatter me, it's nothing, just bad luck."

"It seems that it was indeed right to entrust you with the affairs of the Dream Plane," Duya 12345's current solidified serene smile made her every word and action quite deceptive. It was really impossible to tell whether a sentence was a genuine compliment or a complaint, "Perhaps you really have a connection with these events... Let's not talk about these, I already know about the Origin Ark, and I also understand the situation regarding the Ultimate Absolution and the truth of god-slaying. Now I want to confirm some details with you again."

Afterwards, Duya 12345 asked several questions based on the report Hao Ren had submitted earlier. They were all very normal inquiries, and she gained an in-depth understanding of the details of the entire event. After these routine questions were finished, Hao Ren casually mentioned: "By the way, what do you think of this 'Ultimate Absolution'?"

"What do you mean, what do I think?" Duya 12345's eyebrows moved – under the condition of the solidified emoji, this seemed to be the only part of her face that could still operate independently. The other parts of her face didn't change at all when she moved her eyebrows, making it look eerily strange.

"As a god, do you think the 'Ultimate Absolution' is credible?" Hao Ren's expression was very serious, "Also, can the power of a god really be weakened by making the god deny himself?"

Duya 12345 didn't prevaricate this time, but pondered seriously for a moment, then looked up at Hao Ren's eyes: "Do you know that a god's every word and action has the power to change reality?"

"Um, I do know that," Hao Ren nodded, "I saw it in the employee handbook and some basic knowledge reference books."

"When I say 'Let there be light,' there will be light in the world. When I say 'Let the stars operate,' the celestial systems in the universe will start operating. This is not because I 'released' some power, but because a true god represents 'truth' itself," Duya 12345 tapped lightly on the white stone table with her finger, her tone unhurried, "If you regard a god as a super administrator operating above the rules of the universe, then the god's 'view' means the form that the universe will truly manifest. So, if a god believes that he is not suitable to be the god of this universe, his thoughts will inevitably have an impact: the god's authority will be shaken."

"It can really be like this?" Hao Ren widened his eyes, "So the 'Ultimate Absolution' is real? And the plan of that 'mastermind' is indeed feasible?"

"The credibility is over eighty percent," Duya 12345 nodded, "But it's not without any doubts. The biggest doubt is: how can a 'mastermind' who is not a god know so much about gods?"

"I've also thought about this question, but I don't have any clues. Could it be self-taught, researching the characteristics and weaknesses of the Goddess of Creation?"

"... Your assumption is about as likely as your husky suddenly becoming emotionally intelligent."

"Ahem... let's not do that, let's talk properly and not digress."

Duya 12345 leaned back in her chair: "If the secrets of gods could be so easily researched, then what dignity would there be for those of us in this line of work? Like the knowledge I just told you, I can tell you all the secrets of the symbolic power and the laws of authority of gods, but can you learn how to use them? 'Understanding' and 'applying,' the distance between them is not something that can be explained in a few words."

Hao Ren nodded, half-understanding, but another question popped up: "By the way, what do you think that 'mastermind' is? I've sorted through all the information I've collected several times, but I still can't figure out what that thing is... Is it some kind of creature?"

"The void hides endless secrets, and many existences cannot be described in words," Duya 12345 breathed a sigh of relief, "Some things you can't even classify. The various characteristics of that Primordial Fiend are all ambiguous. Even the Godslayer Sword itself can't explain what form its creator had, so I tend to think that the 'Primordial Fiend' is some kind of power that does not have a shape or entity. It should have its own will, but its way of thinking is probably completely different from any intelligence. It can influence the minds of mortal species, and even implant 'corruption' in the souls of demigod guardians... It sounds a lot like some kind of super powerful spirit creature."

"By the way, why did the Goddess of Creation hide such important things from her subordinates?" Hao Ren felt very puzzled, "This 'Primordial Fiend' is so dangerous, shouldn't she let everyone know? If there had been precautions, maybe the guardians wouldn't have been defeated so miserably. Now it seems that only specially manufactured guardians like Yggdrasil know about the Primordial Fiend, and guardians like Mu Lu didn't even know that the goddess had once had an ancient war with that kind of thing."

"Perhaps it's not that she didn't say it, but that she couldn't say it," Duya 12345 thought for a while, and suddenly said faintly, "For some transcendent existences, even just mentioning their names or having the world know of their existence is enough to allow them to break free from their cages and invade the present world. Gods can do this, and some things that are not gods can also do this, and that 'Primordial Fiend' should be even more adept at this: its power sounds like it is characterized by 'pollution.' Mentioning its existence would probably be very risky. According to the information currently available, I have deduced what the prison where the Goddess of Creation suppressed that 'fiend' should look like: it should be located in the depths of the universe, an extremely empty and quiet place; there should be few lives around the cage to prevent that evil force from escaping the cage by using the minds of mortals as a springboard; in addition, this prison should also have a crucial structure, it must be divided into multiple layers, and each layer must have different guards and monitoring facilities, and flow between outposts is prohibited, because suppressing such a dangerous evil force is extremely difficult, it is at risk of breaking through at all times, even a breach of the local defense line is a normal occurrence..."

Hao Ren frowned: "This sounds very reasonable, but there are too many areas in the universe that meet these conditions..."

Duya 12345 waved her hand: "I know, I didn't expect you to find it. I'm just analyzing it to show that I'm awesome."

Hao Ren: "..."