Chapter 13: Descent of the Divine
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The Celestial Dome Star System, Celestial Dome Star
During the era when civilization grew wild and unchecked, Shen Xing was constantly developing new ways to manipulate the laws of existence.
Through this period of experimentation, Shen Xing had gained control over several neighboring star systems.
In other words, Shen Xing’s true form could now be regarded as the consciousness of an entire cluster of galaxies.
...
Celestial Dome Calendar, Year 5540
Shen Xing had long watched the development of civilization upon his own star in silence.
At this moment, he finally decided to intervene in the evolution of life on his planet in an entirely new way.
He created the body of an infant, sending it down to a peaceful land at the heart of the central continent of Celestial Dome Star.
In an ordinary village of the Starry Nation, a baby was born, bearing the mark of destiny.
This child was endowed with a fragment of Shen Xing’s consciousness, and in his eyes flickered a light of wisdom unlike any other.
A fisherman, returning from the sea, discovered the baby. With confused curiosity, he lifted the bamboo basket in which the infant lay.
[His name is Shen Xing. May someone of kind heart take him in.]
“May the Father of Stars look down on us, what a pitiable child. You’ll stay in our village from now on,” the fisherman sighed, and carried Shen Xing back to the village.
Thanks to Shen Xing’s many divine revelations, the faith in the Father of Stars had been handed down through generations of the Starry Church, resulting in an exceptionally low crime rate on this planet. In most hearts, faith in the Father of Stars was deeply rooted.
Everyone in this small fishing village cherished the little one, and prepared to take him to the nearest temple for a blessing ceremony.
Whenever an infant was born, the temple priests would perform the rite of benediction, signifying the birth of another life blessed by the Father of Stars.
When the infant incarnation of Shen Xing received the blessing, a strange phenomenon appeared in the sky.
The stars arranged themselves into a wondrous picture, and then silvery starlight poured down upon Shen Xing’s body. The glow flowed and shimmered, making Shen Xing seem as if he radiated starfire himself.
The entire temple, and everyone in the surrounding region, was deeply shaken by this vision.
Elsewhere on the other continents, the phenomenon was likewise observed. All sought to interpret the will of the Father of Stars.
In the remote temple on the central continent, the priest leading the ceremony cried out, “He is the God-gifted child chosen by the Father of Stars!”
The story of this infant began to spread, and people believed he was the messenger chosen by the Father of Stars.
...
Meanwhile, at the other end of the central continent,
A scientist named Wen Jing put forward a subversive theory: that Celestial Dome Star was not the center of the universe, but revolved around the Sun.
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This knowledge, which should have been understood long ago, had only now been spoken aloud by a scientist, thanks to the strict suppression of the Starry Church.
Since this theory directly challenged the Church’s doctrine, Wen Jing’s ideas were seen as a blasphemy against the Father of Stars.
“The Father of Stars created Celestial Dome Star! All the stars ought to revolve around it! You heretic! How dare you profane the Father of Stars!”
After his arrest, Wen Jing roared passionately at the tribunal:
“I have believed in the Father of Stars since I was a child! I am now forty years old, and my faith has never wavered!”
“But the Father of Stars is the Father of Stars—the Starry Church is the Starry Church!”
“The doctrines of the Starry Church were written by us humans, as we tried to understand and guess at the greatness of the Divine Father. They do not represent the absolute will of the Father of Stars!”
“And humans are prone to making mistakes!”
“The Father of Stars created all things, and made us the lords of creation, but that does not mean the world we live on is the center of the universe!”
“The Sun is the center of the star system! I calculated this based on all I have learned in my life! And what I have learned was taught by the academies founded by the Starry Church!”
“Are you saying that the knowledge taught by the Starry Church is false?!”
The local priest coldly pronounced Wen Jing’s sentence: “Blasphemy.”
This was the gravest crime on Celestial Dome Star; Wen Jing was sentenced to life imprisonment.
On Celestial Dome Star, only the Father of Stars was believed to have the right to decide life and death, so there was no death penalty. In this way, Wen Jing narrowly preserved his life.
“O Father of Stars… Was I truly wrong?” Wen Jing’s face was shadowed with despair. He passed many long years in prison, but never gave up his pursuit of science. With nothing to record his thoughts and no one to witness his “blasphemous” research, he conducted countless calculations in his mind.
And if he forgot, he would simply start again.
...
Time passed, and the infant incarnation of Shen Xing grew into a young man.
Celestial Dome Calendar, Year 5560
At twenty years old, Shen Xing opened his eyes and awoke in the dormitory of the Starry Church’s academy.
“It is about time.”
Over the past twenty years, Shen Xing had gathered all sorts of information, and the conclusions he reached left him troubled.
For thousands of years, as Shen Xing appeared in divine revelation, the Starry Church purged the disloyal and the doubters, and the majesty of the Father of Stars had become unassailable.
The power and prestige of the Starry Church grew ever greater, becoming more and more like a traditional religion.
Bureaucracy was rampant, and corruption flourished in a hundred forms.
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The Starry Church was unified across the world, but the highest governing bodies of the five continents remained separate.
Thus, the power of the state could not touch the status of the Starry Church, nor could it challenge it.
Once, on Celestial Dome Star, the division of power was clear:
Divine authority was divine authority; royal authority was royal authority.
But with the ever-increasing dominance of the Starry Church, that balance had long since been lost.
The clergy of the Starry Church were, after all, ordinary humans.
There was a saying on Earth: absolute power corrupts absolutely.
As the Starry Church became ever more unchecked on a global scale, the priests issued all manner of decrees without restraint, slowly encroaching on the power of every nation.
In some regions, the Church had even begun to enforce mandatory donations and forced labor, imposing harsh edicts upon the people.
The entire Starry Church seemed to be sinking from its lofty temple, slowly descending into an abyss, steadily corroded by power and greed.
Within the Church, many were joined together in collusion, shielding each other from justice.
So, over the years, the Starry Church had grown increasingly brazen, ever more above the law.
“The Starry Church was meant to be an institution to govern humanity, but now it has become so filthy.”
“It is time for these people to understand that mankind should worship the Father of Stars, not the Starry Church.”
As he pondered this, Shen Xing slowly floated upward, heading toward the Central Temple.
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Central Continent, Central Temple
Shen Xing’s figure descended openly and without concealment, witnessed by many. Soon, the area around the Central Temple was abuzz with commotion. Even within the Parliament of Central Continent, built at the foot of the temple, the highest officials of the land came out to see.
They gazed up at Shen Xing’s exalted figure, dazed. Then they saw him slowly raise his hand, and from the heart of the Central Temple flew several priests, grotesquely fat, flailing their arms in the air. Suddenly, their necks twisted sharply, and they were thrown down at the steps before the temple.
People cautiously gathered around, discovering these were the high priests of the Oracle Council and the Tribunal, those who had once issued the harshest edicts.
Shen Xing descended before the gates of the temple’s inner sanctum, and spoke softly, his voice seeming to echo instantly in every ear.
“The Father of Stars is greatly disappointed.”