Chapter 2: Creation
The god, born from nothingness, possessed consciousness, an innate master of the universe, an embodiment of the laws. The moment he opened his eyes, golden pupils swept out spiritual waves in all directions, radiating unparalleled power.
He drifted in chaos for countless days, his form constantly shifting from youth to old age and back again. The flow of time had no effect on him; he could manifest any form, for he was eternal.
Until his turbulent emotions subsided, his physical form settled into its youthful state.
The god's thoughts and dreams were all real; he could see through lies, discern the past and the future, and thus hesitated to create.
He gazed ahead, his divine eyes seeing only chaos and darkness.
Without creation, there is no past, present, or future; for millennia, this place will forever remain the same.
All things slumber within the rules, life awaiting its awakening; the master of the world could not bear to abandon them. Born a god, destined to be revered by all things, and cherishing all things in return, he was moved by this and slowly spoke.
"Let there be light."
His divine voice resonated in all directions, and golden light, centered on him, expanded ever wider. Particles that loved light floated lightly towards him, entwining themselves around him, while those that disliked light kept their distance, yet stubbornly remained in the farthest corners, refusing to leave.
With a thought, the god realized that having provided shelter for light, he should also provide refuge for darkness.
Even in places where light cannot reach, endless desires surged.
He pointed into the air, and a golden 'book' appeared before him, imbued with concentrated divine power. The god named it the 'Book of Creation,' a book that recorded matters beyond the written word, the creation of time and space. He pondered deeply, and the Book of Creation trembled slightly; marks began to appear on its previously blank pages.
The manifestation of divine thought was transformed by the Book of Creation, forming a script that only God could understand.
The Book of Creation wrote a long passage in divine script, expressing its excitement at its first encounter with God and its supreme praise of God's appearance.
God paused, touched the spine of the book, accepted its praise, and then veiled his true form with holy light.
The journey of creation was inevitable; He did not want any living being to see his true face. Although God told himself not to worry, that dream had left a certain shadow on him.
The self-control of creation is unreliable without being tested. He could not afford to expend too much energy on creation and fall into slumber. Before absolute power, the world, especially the nascent world, was extremely fragile; He had to watch over it constantly.
The Book of Creation obediently opened its pages, presenting blank pages to God.
[Light and Darkness]
Golden characters shimmered with light, instantly establishing rules. Light, luminous elements rose, while somber, shadowy elements descended. He used divine power to give darkness a place to dwell, and from that moment, the world was divided into heaven and earth.
Under the influence of divine power, the sky rose higher and higher, revealing a vast expanse of clouds and shimmering golden light weaving through them. The sky seemed to sense the god's joy, its surging waves a breathtaking sight.
The god withdrew his gaze from the sky and looked down. Below, the sea was a clear, mirror-like azure, and the earth lay hidden deep beneath its surface.
[Do you choose to dwell in the heavens or the earth?]
The Book of Creation asked. The god stood on the water's surface, his golden eyes gazing at the sky. Waves surged beneath his feet, seemingly roaring in pain yet daring not to wet even a patch of his robe. The Book of Creation sensed the god's intent and immediately sketched out a draft of the seven heavens. The god slightly shook his head.
The seventh meaning is perfection. He had originally planned to establish seven heavens, but upon recalling the scene in his dream where the seven heavens were conquered...
He decided to reside higher and farther away.
"I am God, and shall dwell at the highest point of the heavens."
As his words fell, the heavens were divided into nine layers. The vast clouds, which had previously gathered in a chaotic mass, now had blurred boundaries. God ascended from the lowest layer.
"The first day, the lunar heaven, is the land of eternal night. I will place the stars in the celestial canopy, and all celestial phenomena will reside here," said Meow Meow.
The Book of Creation records that the faintest particles of light and dark are not much different, the only difference being that they are drawn to light, thus receiving God's mercy and gathering to form the first heaven.
"The second day, the Mercurian heaven." God stepped into the second heaven. The holy light appeared even more sacred amidst the gray-white expanse. The second heaven, feeling ashamed of its inadequacy, dared not linger, using a ladder of clouds to guide God to the third heaven. The god ascended the cloud ladder, glancing back at the dimly lit, misty, and unappealing Second Heaven, as if looking at a taciturn and reserved child. His golden eyes softened for a moment.
"Mercury Heaven can serve as a place of punishment; it will surely fulfill its duty,"
he said to the Book of Creation, thus deciding the fate of the Second Heaven. The Book of Creation swayed, praising the god's mercy; originally, the spiritual energy of this level of heaven was destined not to catch the god's eye.
The third Heaven, Venus Heaven, was a hazy yellow. The clouds drifted lazily to and fro, some even clinging to the god's white robes, a decadent and flamboyant atmosphere that made the entire heaven's atmosphere extremely ambiguous. The god frowned subtly upon seeing the Third Heaven. The spiritual energy here was much more abundant than the first two heavens, but it contained more impurities.
"It seems these particles aren't climbing very diligently," he criticized.
Laziness kept him here, but God, who loved diligence, did not wish to linger. He took another step upward, and suddenly a brilliant white light shone forth. The particles of light in the fourth heaven became active. God saw that this place was bathed in daylight; having witnessed the previous heavens' semi-darkness, he was overjoyed to see this place illuminated by the entire sky. He casually planted the Tree of Life here.
"The Fourth Heaven, the Sun Heaven," the Book of Creation records that God lingered in the Sun Heaven for quite some time before continuing upward.
"The Fifth Heaven, the Mars Heaven," the light particles of the Mars Heaven were powerful and solemn. God was pleased with the rigorous atmosphere of this place, and seeing that the northern wilderness was suitable for the south, he made a plan and continued upward.
"The Sixth Heaven, the Jupiter Heaven," the particles of the Jupiter Heaven were not as powerful as those of the Mars Heaven, but they were the lightest and purest. God loved the lightness and versatility of this layer and granted it permission to remain forever in the sixth heaven, unharmed by other powerful particles.
"The Seventh Heaven,"
God stood for a long time before finally naming it the Saturn Heaven. The Seventh Heaven truly lived up to its name as a perfect heaven; its power of light was so strong that, had God not intended to establish the Nine Heavens, He would almost have built a sanctuary there. Even so, God still set up a throne there, granting the Seventh Heaven the supreme glory and blessings of what was originally the Crystal Heaven. The world favored the Seventh Heaven because of God's blessing of light.
Seven represents the perfection of the world; beyond it, God could not break through on his own. God shattered the limits of the heavens, creating the Eighth Heaven above the Seventh Heaven. In the Starry Sky Heaven, fierce winds raged, and there was nothing else. Without God's permission, even particles would be torn apart. Above this was the Ninth Heaven.
"The Crystal Heaven"
God stood at the true pinnacle of the heavens, gazing down into the distance. The Grand Cathedral rose majestically behind him, rising from the clouds.
With the Nine Heavens established, the corresponding Nine Hells were created simultaneously. Unlike ascending to Heaven step by step, God did not descend to Hell himself. He stood in the highest Heaven, his golden eyes piercing through the blue ocean, gazing into the pitch-black abyss. "The first layer, the border, the boundary of which is a bottomless abyss."
Hell joyfully cracked open, howling winds rushing through it, thanking the gods for their blessing.
Lust, desire, gluttony, greed, rage, heresy, strength, violence, deceit, betrayal—all were present. Bone-chilling winds, chilling rain, black poisonous pools, scorching flames, lakes of blood and filth—all were hidden within.
This is Hell, containing the most evil, the most wicked, the most sinister, the coldest of all. The gods glanced at it and did not wish to look again. Hell accepted the decree and gave thanks, but it begged the Creator to treat all equally, without favoritism. What Heaven has, Hell must also have.
The gods did not refuse. Heaven and Hell each have their own domain; he had already made his plans.
After creating Heaven and Hell, he opened a third realm between Heaven and Earth: the mortal world.
The mortal realm was neither as spiritually rich as Heaven nor as violent as Hell; everything was gentle and perfectly balanced, like the most obedient child. Thinking of this, a smile appeared on God's face. He gently parted the sea, revealing the land, and then, following the image of the Tree of Life, caused all sorts of plants to grow on the mortal earth, making the land more beautiful.
The plants growing on mortal soil were fragile. Unlike the Tree of Life, they couldn't take root easily in any cloud of soil. Without divine protection, they quickly withered.
God descended from the ninth heaven to the mortal realm. The surging power of light startled the surviving plants from their death throes, but before their final moments of light could last long, they happily vanished in the extreme power of divine light.
The first batch of planted plants either died or withered, leaving God alone on the bare earth, sighing silently in the wind.
"My God, have they died from excessive sunlight?"
'They are my people, they only thrive in the light.'
Though God said this, he knew in his heart that this was probably because mortal plants grew in the soil of hell.
It seemed his plan to cultivate plants that thrived in perpetual daylight had failed.
The midnight sun would cause water sources to dry out excessively, causing plants to die of thirst; the midnight sun would allow the frost of hell to rise from the earth, attacking and devouring the plants' lives. To ensure their healthy growth, a proper balance was necessary.
Therefore, he divided day and night according to the plants' rhythms, so that daylight wouldn't dominate the entire sky, and he scattered stars in the night sky to make the night less dark.
The plants finally thrived, but although they were beautiful and 'easy to care for'—able to multiply rapidly with the right methods—they were still rooted in the soil, unable to run or jump, making their lives somewhat monotonous.
Often, God didn't like to talk, but when needed, he desperately craved liveliness.
You provided the author, Twilight, with a tale of the arduous journey of creating a world within the framework of Hebrew mythology.