Only a few moments in any person's life really mattered. The bitter truth was that 99% of the average person's life was routine, predictable, and otherwise pointless in the grand scope.

Waking up, eating breakfast, going to work, completing mundane chores, conversing about inane gossip, dealing with one's family...

For better or worse, most of an ordinary person's life had little to no impact on the fate of the world. In truth, it was the remaining 1% of a person's life that mattered. This tiny fraction of time determined a person's life trajectory and their karmic weight in the afterlife.

This seemingly insignificant percentage encompassed brief moments that usually happened without warning and were sometimes disregarded. One could pass through the fabled "Crossroads of Fate," as it was called by the elderly, without even knowing it. A single word in a random conversation had the potential to push a person's destiny toward a lifetime of felicity or...

Total despair.

As Laude nervously observed the rapidly congealing mass of liquid Spiritual Qi, he wondered if he had made the correct decision. Whether he liked it or not, he had stumbled into the Crossroads of Fate today and had been forced to make a choice that would affect his destiny and that of everyone in White Dew Society. Despite comprehending the potential consequences of attempting to play God, he chose to aid Head Elder Ohtal instead of stopping him and aborting their runaway project.

It went without saying that this was not the responsible choice. Had Laude a shred of logic in his head, he would have chosen to shut down the project immediately. A logical, sensible Laude would have never risked the lives of his fellow disciples under any circumstances, even if it meant destroying all of the hard work he had built up for months on end. Nothing outweighed the safety of his friends' lives, period.

Unfortunately, Laude was not a strictly logical being. He was a human being; as such, he was almost always possessed by his emotions. No matter how hard Laude tried, he was unable to fight his urge to see his project through to the end, come hell or high water. His innate curiosity, deep-seated stubbornness, and general unwillingness to abandon the fruition of his efforts overtook what rationality remained in him.

After he began repairing the convergence nodes that Ohtal assigned him, the enormous Spirit Stone altar began to shimmer like a gigantic firefly in the darkness. And with each pulse of light, the sphere of Spiritual Qi above the altar condensed further and further until it shrunk to roughly the size of a human being.

When Laude and Ohtal noticed the change, they laughed wildly and hugged each other. Laude hugged Belladonna and spun her around in delight before saying, "Woohoo!! We're drinking the good hooch tonight, Bella! I'm gonna buy you all the dresses you want! Shit, I'm gonna buy you the whole damn shop next time we head out to town, haha!"

Belladonna had been rendered speechless. In all the time she had known Laude, he had never seen her behave in such a manner. He was so full of pure joy, energy, and youthful passion that for a split second, Belladonna actually disassociated Laude from himself. It was almost as if a completely different person had suddenly possessed his Laude's body.

Where had this Laude been the entire time? And why had it taken so long for this side of Laude to appear? In any case, Belladonna thought to herself that she could get accustomed to this new version of Laude quite easily...

"So, is it safe to say that the danger has passed? Have you succeeded in... doing whatever you were doing?" asked Belladonna as she skeptically observed the glowing sphere of light above the Spirit Stone altar. Despite what Laude had told her, she still found it hard to believe him.

After all, how could Man create a God? Was not every creation myth ever told a story about a God creating Man? How could such lowly, mortal beings such as Men aspire to do the work of a transcendent being?

If the Lanternbearers, the largest religious Society in the world of Oseo ever caught wind of what had transpired in White Dew Society today, they would stop at nothing to obliterate Laude and everyone even remotely associated with him from the face of the planet. It would not be an understatement in the slightest to say that would reduce the Janusphere Empire to a smoldering pile of ash.

The Lanternbearers believed that natural law was the edict that governed the world before Man first established civilization thousands of years ago. Thus, they claimed that Man was obligated to adhere to and heed natural law above all else.

For Man to create a God? Even the mere whisper of something as heretical as that would result in grave consequences for anyone foolish enough to utter such a thing. The Lanternbearers would not sit idly by and permit anyone to potentially threaten their deep faith...

Laude gazed at his heretical creation in rapture and said, "Yes, yes... the danger has finally passed. Not only for today, but for all days henceforth. Today marks the dawn of a new era for White Dew Society, Bella. Now go and fetch the Patriarch, please. We're going to need him here for the next part of the plan..."

As she descended the Spirit Stone altar, Belladonna felt a deep sense of unease for some mysterious reason. There was something in the back of her head telling her that this day would be remembered by all, but not for the reasons that Laude and most people might have initially considered.

Atop the summit of the Spirit Stone altar, Laude and Ohtal stood beside the core of their project — Laude's plum tree branch. It was the one item that made their fever dream an actual possibility. With the plum branch and the assistance of an array of complex magical formations designed to amplify its innate power, they drew upon Spiritual Qi from deep within the world and constructed what they thought would be an ideal environment to birth a God.

Ohtal whispered, "It is most strange though, don't you think? The form the embryo has assumed is... unnatural for a mountain god, let alone a god born from nature. Most mountain gods take the form of beasts or plants..."

"It is probably because we only used human thoughts and desires to nurture it," said Laude as he observed the embryo slowly develop more refined features. "A natural-born mountain god is born from the desires of the wildlife that lives on the mountain. And because most of that wildlife is not intelligent, it takes centuries for mountain gods to be born compared to the mere decades that it can take for a human god to rise from a populated location..."

Most mountain gods served as guardian deities born from the rudimentary desires of wildlife and took on the forms of the beings who created them. They usually took on the form of mountain lions, tigers, bears, wolves, falcons, and on rare occasions, sometimes even took on the form of trees or flowers.

It was pretty easy to figure out which nature gods were friendly to humans and which were not. The scarier the form a mountain god took on, the more disagreeable they usually were with humans. A mountain or forest that was frequently overexploited and abused by Men usually gave rise to gods that assumed the form of predators.

In comparison, a location with limited human activity typically had benign nature gods. These gods often assumed the form of trees, flowers, and herbivorous animals such as forest mice, rabbits, or goats.

But a nature god that took on the form of a human being? This was unheard of; if anything, it was unnatural by design.

It was commonly accepted by all organizations, religions, and sides in the cultivation world that humanity had long since parted ways with nature. The moment that mankind founded civilization, the schism between Man and nature had emerged.

"We might've just created a very lonely being. The gods have all but died since the Spiritual Qi Crisis. It will also be a unique entity with no genuine kin, either. And it will have to shoulder that burden for as long as it exists..." said Laude.

"Loneliness... is... a small price... to pay..." said a soft, glass-like voice in broken speech.

As the voice spoke, all of the Spiritual Qi in the enormous cavern began to spin, flow, and tremble as if they were alive. Threads of Spiritual Qi slowly surrounded and crept around Laude and Ohtal in an inquisitive manner as it probed them, looking for something...

When a thread of Spiritual Qi skimmed the surface of the plum branch in Laude's hands, the god embryo above the temple descended until it hovered no more than a foot or two away from Laude's lovely face.

If so much as a drop of the condensed Spiritual Qi that made up the god had landed on his head, Laude would have suffered a fate worse than death. It would have passed into his head and liquefied his little brain into a soupy mess.

The god embryo twisted and contorted itself until it finally assumed an identifiable figure. An androgynous face that bore an uncanny likeness to Laude stared at its creator and said, "I see you. You... are the one. My reason... My burden... My... god."

Laude gave Ohtal a strange glance before he turned to the newborn god and said, "Do you... have a name? What should I call you?"

The nascent god cocked its head in curiosity and replied, "...Name? Is... that not your... responsibility? Or am I... not worthy?"

It went without saying that Laude had not expected to be put on the spot like that. It was already hard enough to give a newborn child a good name, so how would Laude fare giving a newborn god a name? He didn't exactly bring a book of baby names for such an unexpected occasion.

Truth be told, Laude had no faith that their most recent attempt would succeed. He expected it to be at least several years before their work would bear any tangible fruit. Alas, this would not be the case...

Laude scratched his head in vexation before he gave up and said, "I'll give you my family name since I can't think of a name befitting a god. Does the name 'Tellstar' sound agreeable to you?"

Tellstar remained silent in contemplation before it eventually said, "I... do not dislike it. It is a... great honor to bear your name."

A great honor for a god to bear the name of a mortal? Isn't that kind of backwards in logic? But I might be looking at that expression from the wrong perspective. Maybe Tellstar said that from the perspective of a parent and a child, rather than that of a god and a mortal.

What... a human-like sentiment for a god though, if that's true. It's somewhat comforting, but also mildly concerning too. Ah, it's probably nothing to worry about...

But before Laude could ask Tellstar why it considered it a great honor, a group of people descended upon the large altar and landed beside Laude and Ohtal.

When Alnus and the rest of the Head Elders arrived, Ohtal pridefully smiled and said, "Welcome, my friends! Take a look at all we have created and rejoice! Safety and prosperity have been secured for our Society! Think of all the possibilities we can accomplish now! Man has created God!"

"Easy there, Agathis," said Alnus with a complicated expression, "I congratulate you both for the achievement you have accomplished today, but we must not let this... remarkable development lead us astray from reason. There is much, much to consider and discuss before we even begin making any actions. You, of all people, must comprehend the seriousness of this unique situation. We cannot afford to be careless..."

Fraxinus gravely said, "Think of the greed, Ohtal. Think what the rest of the cultivation world will do to us if they ever caught wind of what transpired here. They will tear this Society to pieces. And think of what the Great Powers will do to us should they ever discover this, this... blasphemous thing you two have spawned. I-I can already see a sea of lanterns floating above the sky as far as the eye can see...! The flames they will usher will never go out! Never! Not until all is turned to ash!!!"

Ohtal snarled, "Then what should we do?! Keep our faces buried in the dirt and let this Society crumble away?! Should we just give up and accept our end?! I! Think! Not! What we have on our hands is a chance to rewind the clock, you old fool! What Laude and I have proven is that there is a path out of the fog that has shrouded the fate of our world! If the Heavens abandon us, we'll just build a Heaven of our own on this world!!!"

Fraxinus gazed at Ohtal with a stinging coldness in his eyes and said, "Look back and recall what happened to the last group of idiots that tried to cheat the Heavens. If you would have our Society go through the same horror, then I will not hesitate in putting you down for everyone's sake!"

Before anyone realized it, the bickering, shouting, and name-calling had engulfed the group of old fools. A group of cultivators who collectively had thousands of years of wisdom and friendship had been reduced to nothing more than a bunch of howling monkeys.

Laude helplessly stared at the ugly spectacle and understood that they had hit an impasse. He despised the bureaucracy that came with situations like this but also knew that it would've been wrong for Ohtal and him to continue acting as they pleased without any oversight. If left unchecked, Laude knew that they would have gone off into the deep end with their wild ideas.

And as well-meaning their dreams and ideas were, it was all too easy for such dreams to turn into nightmares...

What should I do? I mean, can I even do anything? I just know that the moment I butt into their quarrel, I'm going to get berated by all of them at once.

It's just like back home with my old folks — the moment someone from the younger generation speaks a word out of turn, everyone from the older generation will team up to put you back in your place. They will actually join sides just to shit on you. Old folks just can't stand admitting to young people that they were in wrong the whole time. After all, that'd mean that they'd be losing face to a kid.

God, I hate this older generation nonsense. Petty bastards, the lot of them. I had a gold Haligo every time I had to deal with an old bastard trying to save face, I'd probably be able to buy a castle and a shiny crown by now.

"I will... only do what... he wants me to do. That... is my decision," said Tellstar gently but firmly, as its voice echoed in the thick skulls of everyone present within the cavern.

In about a tenth of a second, the heads of every single Head Elder turned toward Laude and stared at him with such intensity that Laude felt his whole life flash in front of his eyes.

FUCK. ME. TELLSTAR, I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!

Laude knew what those hard stares really meant — they were all expecting Laude to agree with their viewpoint. Which naturally meant that he would be pissing off all the other Head Elders he didn't side with.

It was a classic dilemma that was as old as time itself... and it was also one that did not have a proper answer. No matter what came out of his mouth today, he was going to get on a lot of people's bad sides, so...

The young man took a deep breath, and with a brilliant smile on his face, he said, "I'm going to get piss drunk now. You're welcome to join me if you want. But if you want to continue bitching at each other in this musky cavern like dumbasses, feel free to do so."

Stunned, the Head Elders stared at Laude speechlessly as they watched him strut away with the confidence of a lord.

Laude had never felt more liberated in his life. He had never felt more alive in his life than right now...