Lord of Mysteries 2: Circle of Inevitability

Mr. Fool tapped the edge of the bronze table a few times with his finger.

"To understand the difference between godhood and humanity, we must first understand what godhood is and what humanity is.

"What is godhood?"

Hearing Mr. Fool's question, Madam Magician contemplatively answered, "The godhood of ‘all things possess godhood’?"

"A crazed, chaotic spirit filled with destructive desires?" Lumian also tried to answer, based on his own situation.

Mr. Fool let out a chuckle. "This can be divided into true godhood, apparent godhood, and the vague conception of godhood that many people have.

"True godhood naturally comes from true deities. In a narrow sense, only the Oldest One-the original Creator, the different personas split from Him. His direct offspring, and the first beings nurtured by the Great Mother can be called gods.

"The indestructible spirit left in their sefirot and corresponding Beyonder characteristics is the godhood that every later arrival must contend with- the essential godhood."

Sefirot... Split-off different personas... Lumian had too many questions he wanted to ask, but ultimately chose the most important one at that moment.

"The godhood that we who have consumed potions and advanced on the path of the divine must contend with is the indestructible, indelible spirit left in the Beyonder characteristics by the original Creator?"

For most 'paths of the divine', that is the case, at least for you, for her, and for me too." Mr. Fool glanced at Madam Magician, his words tinged with a touch of amusement, "But not entirely."

Without giving The Chariot Lumian and The Magician Fors a chance to ask further questions, the Mr. Fool enveloped in gray fog said with a touch of sentiment, "The original Creator is the collective of all. He is crazy, but also rational; He is confused, but also lucid. He created everything, and He destroyed everything. He loves all things, and He also hates all things. He has the most intense of all desires, yet He is indifferent and unaffected by anything. All His actions are random, even He Himself cannot predict them.

"He created the entire world, created all things, and finally split into six sefirot, sixteen Uniquenesses, and countless Beyonder characteristics. From this perspective, all things possess godhood.

"The extreme loss of control for most Beyonders is when godhood gains absolute dominance, transforming them into the state I just described, completely losing their sense of self.

"But this is not the full extent of the godhood we must contend with."

Recalling his conversation with Mr. Fool in the dream city, Lumian had a rough understanding of what else they had to contend with.

"The different personas split off from the original Creator, who are also true deities, have left their psyche in the corresponding Beyonder characteristics. Uniquenesses, um, sefirot, and that is also the godhood we need to contend with, such as, that of the Celestial Worthy?"

Mr. Fool nodded slightly and said, "Yes, after the original Creator awakened, He naturally disintegrated, and before that, His mind and consciousness had already completely split, with different spirits controlling different sefirot, Uniquenesses, and Beyonder characteristics.

"Among Them, the Seer, Apprentice, and Marauder pathways belong to the Celestial Worthy, the Spectator, Sailor, Reader, Secrets Suppliant, and Bard pathways belong to the primordial God Almighty-They are all personas of the original Creator. As for the great existences corresponding to the other personas, I do not know Their names.

"I can only tell you that the Celestial Worthy is the embodiment of Sefirah Castle, the primordial God Almighty is the symbol of the Chaos Sea, and the other sefirot include the City of Calamity of the Hunter and Demoness pathways, the River of Eternal Darkness of the Sleepless, Warrior, and Corpse Collector pathways, the Knowledge Moor of the Mystery Pryer and Savant pathways, and the Key of Light of the Fate pathway-all of these originate from the original Creator.

"In other words, the godhood that Beyonders on the Seer pathway must contend with is a combination of the primordial Creator's residual psyche and the Celestial Worthy's residual psyche and spirit.

"Similarly, the godhood that Beyonders belonging to different sefirot must contend with varies, with different focuses, reflecting the characteristics of their own pathways and corresponding sefirah."

The City of Calamity... why is it an ancient well and a malevolent dragon? And Mr. Fool only mentioned six sefirot and sixteen pathways... Hearing this, Lumian suppressed his doubts and asked to confirm, "The godhood I need to contend with has crazed, chaotic overtones, leaning towards destruction, conquest, and yin-yang coupling? The Beyonders under the Great Mother may need to contend with the crazed aspects of fertility?"

"I see…" Madam Magician also largely grasped her own situation.

Mr. Fool nodded and answered Lumian's question,

"Yes.

"This is the general outline, but there are still some details to be addressed.

"For example, the Beyonders of the River of Eternal Darkness pathways actually need to contend with a mixture of the Celestial Worthy's mental imprint, because in the ancient era, in the First Epoch, the Celestial Worthy had accommodated both the River of Eternal Darkness and the Nation of Disorder."

"Can one accommodate multiple sefirot?" The newly advanced Lumian, weaker in emotional self-control, blurted out in surprise.

"For the Celestial Worthy, obviously not." Mr. Fool seemed to have thought of something amusing. "I'll explain that knowledge later."

"Yes, Mr. Fool." Lumian restrained himself.

"I can't see who else has accommodated the other sefirot, but I can speculate that the City of Calamity was once accommodated by the primordial God Almighty." Mr. Fool continued, "The godhood you need to contend with will also include a portion of His psyche."

The City of Calamity was once accommodated by the primordial God Almighty? Lumian suddenly recalled the images of Grisha and Peng Deng in the dream city, the arrangement he saw through the magic mirror Arrodes, the fact that the Blood Emperor and the Primordial Demoness were created through the guidance of the Angel of Imagination Adam, and that he himself was also arranged by Adam, whose current godhood was obviously dominated by the primordial God Almighty's residual consciousness and psyche!

Thinking about this, Lumian suddenly felt a chill run down his spine.

This feeling was quickly suppressed by the courage of a Weather Warlock.

Mr. Fool's voice returned to a gentle tone, "What I just talked about was true godhood.

"When we have to use the vast majority of our energy, emotions, and feelings to contend with and suppress true godhood, the external manifestation will be different:

"Some are indifferent, some are gentle, some steadfastly execute a single intent and eliminate any obstacles. Of course, there are other manifestations as well.

"This is what I call apparent godhood."

Apparent godhood... Lumian suddenly felt a sense of emptiness in his heart, like a fist that had been cocked and was waiting to be thrown out, very likely to land on empty space.

"Then what is the vague conception of godhood in the general public?" Madam Magician asked curiously.

She seemed quite accustomed to this kind of conversation and exchange with Mr. Fool.

Mr. Fool sighed and said, "Let me first explain what humanity is."

This has something to do with the vague conception of godhood? The Chariot Lumian guessed silently.

Mr. Fool continued, "In my understanding, humanity has two layers.

"The first layer is the most basic-the self-awareness of a living being's core and various instincts: selfishness, greed, survival, indifference, only caring about oneself, only doing things beneficial to oneself, not influenced or constrained by group morals, group interactions, or group perceptions.

"This layer, in fact, the great existences like the Celestial Worthy also possess, but since we've defined Them as true deities, we don't need to include Them here.

"Innate Mythical Creatures like Amon, the Hidden Sage, and Red Angel Medici also possess humanity, which is the first layer of humanity. If They didn't even have self-awareness, how could They contend with true godhood? They would have long ago become confused, crazed, and extreme, Their bodies hotbeds for the revival of great existences like the Celestial Worthy, allowing them to be completely occupied.

"The vague conception of godhood that many people have is just this first layer of humanity: indifferent, selfish, utilitarian, with the main goal of one's own continuation and empowerment. When true deities have resided at Sequence 0 for long enough, weathered by the passage of time, seeing the anchors of Their past strong emotions and important experiences gradually disappear, Their humanity will also gradually degrade to this layer.

"In a sense, this is also the 'godhood' we need to contend with.

"And high-level beings with only this layer of humanity will likely become passive in contending with true godhood, until they are defeated-this is an inevitable outcome in the long run.

"In this regard, innate Mythical Creatures like Amon and Red Angel Medici, due to Their mode of birth, growth experience, strong relational interactions, and the team requirements and conquest desires brought by Their own Beyonder characteristics, may have some aspects that go beyond the first layer of humanity, such as the Red Angel's pride and unyielding side.

"In contrast, the Hidden Sage suddenly came to life, and His interactions with other beings were just about imparting knowledge and accepting supplications, so He has mostly remained at the first layer of humanity. He didn't feel that begging for mercy is shameful, He didn't even have the concept of dignity and pride, which is something that human or human-like groups and societies have-He only had the instinct of survival and continuation.

"Because we often battle and contend with innate Mythical Creatures and high-level beings who have degraded to the first layer of humanity, we will vaguely perceive this as godhood."

The Chariot Lumian and The Magician Fors both understood and agreed with what Mr. Fool had just said.

Mr. Fool let out another laugh, his tone seeming a bit lighter. "The second layer of humanity is the widely recognized humanity-the love, benevolence, courage, sacrifice, compassion, justice, and concern for others that we learned in our brief lifetimes.

"Of course, there are also negative aspects of humanity at this layer."

"I understand, Mr. Fool," Madam Magician and The Chariot Lumian responded in unison.

Mr. Fool leaned back in his chair and then turned to The Chariot Lumian. "Are you still wanting to ask what sefirot are, and why I only mentioned sixteen paths of the divine just now?"

"Yes, Mr. Fool, please enlighten me." Lumian intuitively felt that what was about to be discussed was the purpose for which Mr. Fool had summoned him above the gray fog.