If the so-called civilizational gods could truly draw faith through their cosmologies, then the structural gap between them and the Aeons would become negligibly small.
The greatest difference between the two would only be in the scale of their power.
And the difference in power scale was precisely the most obvious feature of the transmutation theory.
"If an Aeon is the product of the unconscious worship of all intelligent life in the universe, and a native planetary god is the product of the unconscious worship of life on a single planet, then such a huge energy difference between the two seems understandable," Herta murmured to herself.
In those primitive, unenlightened civilizations that still considered their own planet to be the entire world, their native planetary gods were often seen as comparable in scale to their world—that is, on a planetary level, like the various earth mother goddesses.
In comparison, the Aeons were merely beings on the scale of the world as seen by interstellar society—that is, the observable universe.
Both were on a world-like scale; it was just their understanding of "world" that differed.
Conceptually, the two were no different.
"The power of a native planetary god comes from the planet's ley lines, which is the planet's own energy. The power of an Aeon comes from Imaginary Energy, which is the universe's own energy," Su Mo continued, further solidifying Herta's understanding.
"The difference in their strength is also largely due to the difference in their power supply, brought about by the difference in the size of their stage."
Once a so-called native planetary god learned to use Imaginary Energy, the power gap between them and an Aeon would be greatly reduced.
Take Artosh, the God of War, for example, who could easily destroy dozens of planets, or even a small star system.
Of course, even Artosh couldn't truly reach the level of an Aeon.
As Su Mo had said before, his divine concept was too simple, at best at the level of a primitive tribal god. The gap between him and a civilizational god or an Aeon—the embodiments of philosophical concepts—was immense.
"That makes sense. If so, it not only perfectly explains the origin of the Aeons' birth but also their very existence," Herta nodded again, like a chick pecking at rice.
If these hypotheses could be confirmed, it would be enough to shake the entire universe, even overturn its very foundations.
If she had harbored some doubts before, she was now almost completely convinced by Su Mo.
But in the end, she still felt the need for one final confirmation.
"By the way, Su Mo, apart from all this, do you have any other evidence to confirm this theory?"
Science generally doesn't accept isolated proof. Although Su Mo's theory fit the existing framework perfectly, it was precisely because it fit so well that Herta found it incredible.
"For example, by using this theory to predict or explain other behaviors of the Aeons. You should know that a theory that can do that is a truly mature theory," Herta said, staring at Su Mo with expectant eyes.
A theory that could only explain known phenomena did not have absolute persuasive power in a practical sense.
Just as theological patches could be applied to almost any mythological loophole, these catch-all answers that could explain everything couldn't produce new conclusions. No matter how well-spoken, they were useless embellishments.
A truly excellent theory must be able to explain and even predict unknown phenomena.
"Of course I do." Su Mo nodded, not surprised by Herta's line of thought.
Back then, the theory of general relativity wasn't accepted by the whole world from the start either.
Its widespread acceptance was mainly built on three very famous experiments.
The first was explaining the residual precession of Mercury's perihelion of 43 arcseconds per century, a phenomenon that Newtonian classical mechanics could not explain. This was explaining a phenomenon that the previous system couldn't.
The second was predicting the angle of light bending in a gravitational field observed during a total solar eclipse. This was predicting a phenomenon that could only be observed in the future.
The third was predicting the phenomenon of gravitational redshift, something no other theoretical system had ever touched upon. This was an independent answer derived from its own system.
Only with these three experiments was general relativity widely accepted. Later validations, like the expansion of the universe, were just icing on the cake.
For a new system to replace an old one, it almost always had to do these things. Later, quantum mechanics did the same to supplant relativity.
Similarly, if Su Mo's theory were to replace the old one, it would also have to go through these steps.
So far, Su Mo had completed the first step: explaining phenomena that the old theory couldn't. But for the second and third steps—predicting future phenomena and producing new results—Su Mo had yet to show enough.
Of course, even reaching this stage was enough for a theory to shake the universe's understanding and be worthy of a seat among the geniuses.
However, Herta's intuition told her that Su Mo's limits were far beyond this.
So, she eagerly awaited his answer.
"Didn't we mention a phenomenon earlier? The explosive growth of Aeons is highly correlated with the development of interstellar civilization," Su Mo began.
"Mm," Herta nodded, curious. "From a statistical standpoint, that's correct. What about it?"
"Similar bursts of emergence are actually commonplace for native planetary gods," Su Mo explained with utmost calm.
"From native gods, to mythological gods, and finally to civilizational gods—these three stages of development for planetary deities are not a gradual progression. They are transformations that accompany geographical great discoveries, civilizational conflicts, and even the fusion of multiple civilizations and the establishment of an international civilized society."
First came the tribal gods. Through the struggles and fusions between tribes and the formation of early civilizations, they eventually merged into complex mythologies.
And different mythological beliefs would also clash, conflict, and merge. The decisive winners were the ones who became civilizational gods.
"The birth of these native planetary gods also almost always occurred in explosive bursts during periods of drastic civilizational change."
The gods of Greek mythology were mostly tribal gods who were the predecessors of the city-state civilization. The Son of God in Christianity was born during the expansion of the Roman Empire around the first century AD, and his prototype was closely related to the conquests of Egyptian civilization.
Overall, Earth's mythologies and the Aeons shared very similar characteristics. Both underwent intense bursts of emergence in the same periods.
"It's similar, far too similar! No wonder you made such a connection."
"The civilizational fusion brought about by the Leviathan invasion is very similar to the stage you described of native gods transforming into mythological gods. And the two great prosperities of interstellar civilization brought by Akivili the Trailblaze are also closely related to the birth of the Aeons."
"From this perspective, what Akivili the Trailblaze did was actually identical to the geographical great discoveries within a planetary civilization... According to this interpretation, the construction of an interstellar civilization and the construction of an international planetary civilization are so alike?"
"Apart from Akivili discovering planets and the great discoveries uncovering continents, is there almost no difference?"
At this point, Herta's tone became slightly dazed. History was no longer a linear picture before her but a repeating, nested doll.
All these years of human development, all these years of building an interstellar civilization—in the end, apart from a slightly different stage, what they did and the development the world underwent had hardly changed at all?
"The tribal native gods of the past, after the establishment and fusion of an international civilization, went through elimination and evolution, finally becoming the civilizational gods of their planet."
"And now, the planet's civilizational gods have been relegated to the status of native planetary gods. With the establishment of interstellar society, through elimination and transmutation, they have finally become Aeons."
At this, Herta gasped in amazement.
"The true meaning of 'Aeon'... isn't it 'interstellar civilizational god'? Apart from the different stage, the development from native god to civilizational god is exactly the same!"
Su Mo remained calm in the face of Herta's astonishment.
"What has been will be again; what has been done will be done again."
History has always developed in a spiral. As long as humanity doesn't change, this framework cannot change.
"What has been will be again..."
Herta repeated Su Mo's words, chewing them over. She asked with interest, "Is this also one of the philosophical views contained in the myths you mentioned earlier?"
"You could say that." Su Mo nodded.
"...You've completely conquered me!"
After a long moment of thought, Herta's eyes shone as she looked at Su Mo.
By now, she had been thoroughly conquered by Su Mo's theory, with no doubts remaining.
A truly effective theory should be this concise and beautiful.
"But speaking of which, what about the prediction? Weren't we talking about evidence?"
Coming back to her senses, Herta realized they might have gone off-topic.
Su Mo's theory was indeed very convincing, and it had indeed conquered her.
But the most crucial part—the prediction and empirical evidence—hadn't Su Mo mentioned that yet?
Hearing this question, Su Mo smiled faintly.
"Now that we've come this far, isn't the prediction already obvious?"
Seeing that Herta still hadn't recovered from her shock, Su Mo didn't keep her in suspense and said bluntly, "Since the birth of the Aeons is highly correlated with the development of civilization, doesn't that mean that by observing the development of civilization, one can observe the changes in the Aeons?"
After pointing out this theoretical basis, Su Mo shifted his gaze slightly, deliberately looking at Ruan Mei, who had been listening quietly to their conversation.
Ruan Mei was also looking at him. Their eyes met. The young woman's gaze was as calm as water, showing no abnormality on the surface.
At this moment, hearing Su Mo's point, Herta slapped the table, finally understanding what he meant.
"That's right! The interference is mutual, which means... as long as we can observe the development of interstellar civilization, we can predict the existence of the Aeons!"
The girl's eyes lit up with excitement.
What's the point of playing in the Simulated Universe when the real universe is so much more interesting!
If the theoretical basis Su Mo provided was correct, then—
"As long as we can interfere with the development of interstellar civilization, we might be able to interfere with the changes in the Aeons themselves, and even predict their actions!"
"If this interference is strong enough, we might even be able to—"
Herta was about to say that they could even interfere with the Aeons, making them act as she wished.
However, before she could get the words out, Su Mo finished her sentence.
"Even create an Aeon!"
In a tone of extreme calm, Su Mo uttered words of extreme hubris.
Even someone as wild as Herta was left dumbfounded upon hearing such words, her mind reeling from another massive shock.
And at this moment, Ruan Mei, who was being stared at intently by Su Mo, finally lost her calm, watery gaze. She shot to her feet, her eyes filled with crashing waves.
What did Su Mo just say?
Create... an Aeon?