Goddess Kaleidoscope

However, this newly born god was truly weak, so weak that he couldn't even defeat a human mage. Adding to the problem, a traitor among his followers tipped off the Holy Light Church's knights. Before this newly born god could even begin to develop his power, he, along with the old astrologer and his secret cult, were wiped out by the knights who stormed into their home.

Interestingly, Lud initially thought the Primal Flame resided in the old astrologer, and since he had been killed, it must have either disappeared along with him or fallen into the hands of the Knights of Light. However, he later discovered that he could always see specks of light before his eyes.

Back in the deep mountains and forests, Lud's eyesight had been fine until they reached a village. He could vaguely see some things, but instinctively thought it was just because he was starving. It wasn't until the light spots became clearer and clearer, and no matter how much he rubbed his eyes, he couldn't get rid of them, that he finally realized he was seeing what was called "faith," and that primordial fire was hidden inside his current body.

Prior to this, Lude had not felt anything unusual in his body, and the Primal Flame had never appeared in Lude's memory. The child had no idea that his teacher had inserted such a great treasure into his body.

In short, the two key items, the Primal Flame and the Research Notes, are now in the hands of Lud, the transmigrator. The old astrologer has also passed away. This has given Lud, who is new to this world and still feeling lost about his future, a path that seems worth trying.

At that very moment, another event occurred that also affected Ludwig, allowing him to completely let go of his last trace of confusion.

For the first two months after arriving in the other world, Rud stayed in a small village called Ulun. It was far from the center of the kingdom, but also some distance from the real border. The local people seemed quite simple and honest at first glance.

Lude lied, claiming he was a refugee who had fled after his family suffered a disaster. The village chief saw that he was a young man, strong and capable, and also literate, so he took him in.

At first, Lud got along well with the villagers. He knew a little basic medicine and could treat some minor ailments. He discovered that the locals had very poor hygiene habits. They lived in low, damp mud houses and were reluctant to bathe, so skin diseases were one of the most common ailments in the area.

So Lud tried to "civilize" the people, using the advanced knowledge he brought from Earth to improve the local people's lives. But before he could officially begin to take action, a missionary from the Four Seasons Goddess sect arrived in the village.

Because of his past life's professional habits, Lude was disgusted by this bald charlatan who kept saying "believe in the goddess and you will have eternal life" and was always trying to trick the villagers into donating money to the church. He instinctively tried to sabotage the man's preaching, hoping to help the villagers see through his greedy nature.

Unexpectedly, this greedy charlatan was more cunning than Lud had imagined. He astutely seized upon the flaws in Lud's words and seized the opportunity to label him a "blasphemous heretic," successfully inciting the villagers.

Fortunately, there was a boy in the village who was on good terms with Lud and tipped him off in advance. Lud managed to escape from the village before the villagers with pitchforks surrounded him. Otherwise, the consequences would have been unimaginable!

End of this chapter

The ordeal in Wulun Village made Lu De realize that he was currently in a magical world where gods existed. He had only recently transmigrated, and many of his beliefs, habits, and ways of speaking hadn't yet adapted. He feared that a single slip of the tongue could lead to his demise.

In fact, at first, Lu De subconsciously thought that he should be like the protagonists in many time-travel novels, using the advanced knowledge and ideas he brought from Earth to educate the working masses of the other world, lead the people to revolution and achieve a better life, and then reach the pinnacle of life as a leader.

But harsh reality slapped him hard in the face. The knowledge in his mind was far too advanced for this world, so advanced that in the eyes of others he was an absolute madman.

This is the magical Middle Ages, where over 99% of the people are illiterate. If you try to preach "overthrow feudal rule and let the people be masters of their own destiny" to these ignorant masses, they will absolutely not think you have any merit. Instead, they will think that this idiot might be suffering from heatstroke and his mind is a bit off. They would rather tie him up, take him to the river, and have a burning at the stake—a spectacle that the masses love—to bring him to his senses!

So Ludwig, after much agonizing reflection, continued his journey to the remote border regions of the kingdom, while carefully studying the old astrologer's research notes, and gradually a plan took shape in his mind.

Rudd felt that given his current living conditions, he probably wouldn't last long as a fugitive constantly on the run. Seeking refuge with nobles was one option, but it carried considerable risk. Most importantly, given his current beggar-like appearance, even if he actively sought refuge, the noble lords might not be willing to take him in. Therefore, Rudd planned to use the gifts left to him by the old astrologer to "start his own business" in the border regions.

Although Ludd was a staunch atheist in his previous life, he had no ill feelings towards normal religions. As long as you abide by the law and treat others kindly, believing in whatever you want is a harmless personal freedom.

Therefore, Ludwig planned to inherit the mantle left to him by the old astrologer and establish a new religion. Firstly, to improve his current miserable living conditions and build a place to settle down; secondly, to use the guise of religious faith to indirectly spread some advanced knowledge to the suffering masses of another world, which could be considered as accumulating good deeds and not forgetting his original intention.

Continuing his exile, Lud traveled to many places, secretly investigating local branch churches and learning from their operating methods. Finally, he heard about a place called Pine Village, where there was a dilapidated temple that no one wanted. The area was a settlement of settlers. Although it was adjacent to the territory of Earl Ramli, it was newly developed land and was theoretically a royal domain. It had not yet been granted to any nobles, making it an ideal "starter village".

And so, Lu De came to Pine Tree Village after hearing about its reputation, and using a "magical artifact" in his bag, he transformed his appearance into that of a kind-looking old man with a white beard, successfully gaining the trust of the villagers and settling down in the area.

When Ludd first searched his baggage, he didn't know how to use this artifact. He only felt that the stone mask looked a bit eerie, giving him the illusion that once he put it on, he would no longer be able to live as a human. Later, he found out from his notes that this thing was called "Hume's Smile," and it was an absolute artifact.

The term "divine artifact" refers to a magical device created by a god, possessing incredible abilities due to the use of divine magic. Hume's Smile is a disguise artifact created by the god of thieves, Hume. Once worn, the mask transforms the wearer into anyone they desire, flawlessly changing their appearance from head to toe.

It's worth mentioning that the old astrologer was defeated by the Knights of Light largely because he carelessly forgot to take this artifact.

The old man's original plan was to lure the pursuers away first, allowing his apprentice to take the research materials (and the Primal Flame) to a safe place. He then planned to use Hume's Smile to disguise himself, shake off the pursuers, and reunite with Ludd. However, before parting ways with Ludd, the old man accidentally grabbed the wrong leather pouch containing the mask and, instead of carrying a few pairs of spare underpants, ran off to his death.

During his first two months in Pine Village, Ludl kept a low profile, not rushing to preach to the local villagers, but instead focusing his energy and time on repairing the dilapidated temple. At the same time, he tried to build good relationships with the local villagers and understand their living conditions and customs.

The exact date of construction of the nameless temple in the village is unknown to Rude, but it can be basically concluded that it was destroyed in the famous "War of the Gods" three hundred years ago. This epic war ultimately led to the fall of hundreds of gods and reduced the population of various races in the mortal world by nearly two-thirds, a decline that has not been fully recovered even three hundred years later.

The location of the nameless temple should have been home to a sizable town three hundred years ago. The War of the Gods destroyed it, and the survivors fled south. The city's ruins were subsequently covered by an ever-expanding primeval forest. Only the temple, blessed by a trace of remaining divine power, barely survived the erosion of time and nature, finally welcoming the return of humankind.

Rudd considered this place "where the dream began" and devoted a great deal of effort to its restoration and renovation. During this time, he also discovered a hidden world behind the temple. In one of the seemingly inconspicuous empty rooms, there was a secret door leading to an underground cave, pitch black and its destination unknown.

Instead of rushing to explore the unknown underground space, Ludwig first blocked the secret door with a cabinet. As it turned out, his caution was entirely correct, because there seemed to be something else in the tunnel. One night, while he was organizing things in this room, the cabinet behind him suddenly moved without warning, startling Ludwig. He quickly found some heavy objects to reinforce it.

Meanwhile, as Lud settled down and gradually became familiar with everyone, missionary work was also steadily implemented in a subtle way.

Thanks to his past life as an undercover police officer, constantly battling wits with cult members and pyramid scheme leaders, Lu De was incredibly knowledgeable in this area. Now, having switched careers to become a master conman, he was far more sophisticated than the average swindler. Simply through his silver tongue, without ever demonstrating any divine powers in public, he convinced the villagers of his identity as a high priest!

However, in his missionary work, Ludd was indeed more pure than most missionaries in the world. After all, he genuinely had no intention of harming people, unlike those religious charlatans who only talked about "in the name of God," using deception and even threats to induce ordinary people to believe in their gods, with the real purpose of emptying the wallets of these believers.

Using wisdom and methods from another world, Ludwig's initial activities in Pine Village were very successful. Although the villagers didn't consciously perceive his proselytizing, most had already subconsciously come to accept Ludwig and his sect. They believed that a god of medicine truly existed in this world, one who "healed" and showed compassion to the suffering masses!

End of this chapter

By carefully reading the three study notes left by the old astrologer, Ludd himself summarized the three essential elements for creating a new god: concept, image, and, most importantly, faith.

The first step in creating gods is to establish a concept, which, in this world's local terminology, is called a "divine position." The existing gods each hold different divine positions, and some even hold multiple positions. These divine positions are related to the primary source of faith these gods receive.

The second step is to clearly define the image of the deities, giving them gender, appearance, and personality traits, and gaining the approval of the majority of believers. Only in this way can the deities in the hearts of believers become clearer and more three-dimensional.

The third and most important step is to collect faith.

Traditional astrologers believed that faith is a form of spiritual energy that arises from the emotional fluctuations of mortals towards deities. Theoretically, whether it is respect, affection, or fear, these emotions can generate faith, and the efficiency can be further enhanced through daily prayer and large-scale religious ceremonies.

When this shared spiritual energy gathers to a certain degree, there is a chance that a deity will be born from it. The Primal Fire is even more powerful; it's like a 5G signal base station. Within its range, it can not only accelerate the collection of faith, but also manually awaken a deity when the collected faith reaches a minimum threshold.

The advantage of creating gods in this way is that it is efficient. An old astrologer created a new god from scratch in just six months with less than two hundred believers. However, the disadvantage is that the newly created god is like a premature baby and needs further nurturing to gradually become stronger.

According to this theory, the earliest origin of gods should have stemmed from the ancients' imagination based on their awe of nature. They believed that behind all things in the world, there might be one or many extraordinary beings who were managing the operation of the world. Therefore, they called these great beings gods and tried to communicate with them, which gave rise to the earliest religions and the first batch of gods.

Ironically, mortals are unaware that it was their own delusions that created gods out of thin air. Rud didn't know if the gods themselves knew where they came from, but he guessed that even if they did, they certainly wouldn't tell mortals voluntarily, lest they be threatened with abandonment by their followers.

Of course! As long as there are enough believers, even if there are three or five troublemakers who like to cause trouble and threaten to leave the church, the gods will not care.

The above three points are the creation process of gods summarized by the old astrologer through continuous experimentation and exploration, and he personally tested it successfully. The old man even discovered that the new gods created in this way would form a special bond with the holder of the spark that awakened them, making it easier for him to control and intervene in the behavior of the new gods.

Lude, on the other hand, built upon the foundation laid by his predecessors, integrating Earth's deception technology to improve and perfect it, thereby further enhancing efficiency.

Firstly, in terms of concept, Lud had thought things through carefully and finally named the first god he planned to create "Medicine God"!

The medical field in this world is currently very backward, even primitive, mainly because this world has magic and divine arts, both of which contain healing-related skills. In particular, the divine arts system includes Divine Healing and Great Resurrection, two advanced skills that are incredibly powerful. The former can revive a person as long as they are not dead, while the latter can revive them on the spot even if they are already dead—they are simply unreasonable in their power.

However, whether it's magic or divine arts, these advanced healing methods are difficult to popularize on a large scale, and naturally, they have little to do with the vast majority of ordinary people. Ordinary people cannot easily come into contact with those high-ranking magicians and priests, so once they fall ill, they can only choose to rely on their own immune system to tough it out, or seek help from pharmacists or witches of varying skill levels, risking their lives for a chance.

So in a sense, taking medicine is the only way to save lives for the poor at the bottom of society, and to call medicine a god is naturally to call medicine a god for the poor!

In the process of subtly proselytizing, Rudd first established a relationship of trust among the villagers, making them believe that he was indeed a priest, thus gradually lowering their guard. This is the first step common to all scams.

To ensure his imposter status remained undetected, Lud told the villagers he was undergoing a trial given by the goddess, forbidden from using divine magic for three years. The simple-minded villagers, or rather, the naive ones, didn't suspect a thing, believing the old priest to be genuinely devout.

Subsequently, Lud successfully developed his first batch of more than a dozen believers in the village. Then, feeling that the time was almost ripe, he chose a fine, sunny day to gather all the believers together to hold a "blessing ceremony".

He required believers participating in the ceremony to take a bath, explaining that the blessing ceremony must be solemn, and that one must first cleanse oneself of all defilement, both body and mind, so that only with sincerity can one receive the goddess's blessing.

Lu De had previously investigated and found that the villagers were reluctant to bathe for two main reasons: firstly, they lacked a concept of personal hygiene, and secondly, local conditions did not allow them to bathe frequently. Ordinary households did not have bathrooms, and the village had no public bathhouses; therefore, the only way to bathe was to swim in the nearby river.

However, the local climate is between temperate and subarctic, with only the period around summer being relatively warm. The river originates from nearby snow-capped mountains, so the water is truly icy cold. One day, Lud wanted to take a bath, but after only five minutes in the water, his legs cramped from the cold.

The first group of a dozen or so believers and villagers, following Lude's instructions, built a simple shower shed by the river, then brought a large pot to boil water, and each person was given a bucket to scrub the mud with their own coarse linen cloth!

After all the believers had washed themselves clean, they had each lost about two pounds. Their skin was rosy and still steaming, looking just like freshly cooked shrimp.

Led by Rudd, the believers then danced the eighth set of broadcast gymnastics, which Rudd used as a "blessing dance," facing the distant snow-capped mountains by the river. This exercise, which was popular among those born in the 1980s and 1990s, allowed them to stretch their bodies, which were usually stiff from working.

Taking advantage of the group's improved circulation, Lu De quickly put on a standard charlatan's smile and asked if they felt much lighter and had a warm feeling inside. If so, congratulations, you have successfully received the goddess's blessing. As long as you continue to pray, this effect will last, making the believers healthier and less prone to illness.

After experiencing it for a while, everyone realized that it really was true, and in the atmosphere of collective blind obedience, they all wholeheartedly praised the benevolent God of Medicine.

In Lud's eyes, at this moment, strings of shimmering light spots were constantly floating from the foreheads and brows of these villagers, drifting towards the direction of the temple...

End of this chapter

Lud was very satisfied with the results of this test. He created a sense of ritual through "prayer activities" and then used the physical comfort brought by taking hot baths and doing radio calisthenics to make believers mistakenly believe that they had received a response from the goddess, which led to a significant increase in faith output in a short period of time.

This is similar to the principle of Zhao Xishan selling crutches; real-time positive feedback makes participants feel convinced, and you'll feel numb too!

However, although the villagers seemed to have been deceived, they actually didn't lose anything. Lud didn't seek money or kill anyone; on the contrary, he improved the villagers' previously terrible hygiene habits and found ways to improve their physical fitness. Therefore, Lud proudly believed that he had achieved a win-win situation.

As more and more villagers began to believe in the Medicine God, Lu De collected more and more faith energy, and a "five-colored auspicious cloud" gradually formed in the main hall of the temple, which only he could see.

Whenever he looked at this invisible, magical object, he couldn't help but feel a desire to reach out and touch it, but when he thought about how he hadn't finished his preliminary work, he could only restrain himself from reaching out.

Another important condition for creating a deity is establishing an image. This cannot be achieved by mere verbal descriptions; therefore, images and statues are needed to reinforce the impression in the minds of believers, letting them know what kind of appearance their deity actually looks like.

As for how to make the image of the deity memorable enough for believers and deeply rooted in their hearts, Lud believed that goddesses were definitely more approachable than gods. Therefore, the God of Medicine he created was not only a goddess, but also had to be young and beautiful in appearance, otherwise it would not live up to the word "goddess".

Here I must mention the astrologer again; he is practically a living example of the opposite.

In Little Lude's life memories, this old man was not only a learned and versatile master of miscellaneous knowledge, but also a doujinshi artist with unique tastes, a lewd old pervert who liked strange and unusual things.

This is evident in his research notes. He might be seriously studying the movement of celestial bodies one minute, and then suddenly a graphic image pops up on the next page—a naked, long-tailed orc loli with two eagles, making Lud feel like he's about to go blind!

It was precisely this perverse hobby of his that indirectly led to his underground church being regarded as a cult. He gave the god he created an extremely bizarre appearance, with many slimy and twisted tentacles and twenty-eight lumps stacked on his lower abdomen, just like the indescribable alien gods in Lovecraft's works.

What's most baffling is that this lewd old pervert always has a mysterious confidence, never thinking that the problem lies with him. He believes that people don't like or agree with his (heavy) tastes because their tastes are too strange and not as "common" as his.

It feels like you've met a bestiality enthusiast named Beifeng. After you've both learned about each other's fetishes, this guy immediately shows a disgusted expression and then says something to you in a very irritating tone.

"Hey! You actually like human girls who have no hooves, no tails, and no hair? Your sexual fetish is really weird!"

That's roughly the feeling of wanting to kill someone.

Therefore, in order not to repeat the same mistakes, the God of Medicine that Lu De created himself would definitely not cause these kinds of troubles; he would just be a very simple and unpretentious big-breasted beauty.

Despite being a proud police officer in his past life, Lu De is also a single, middle-aged anime/manga enthusiast whose lifespan matches his age. When not on duty, he spends most of his time playing games and watching anime.

In Lu De's own words, the main reason he hasn't found a girlfriend at his age is because he finds it troublesome, and he's also afraid that if something happens to him while on a mission, it will delay any potential girlfriends. As for the Lu family's task of continuing the family line, Lu De has a twin brother, Lu Cai, and he can just take care of his "paper doll wife" (a fictional character he's dating).

As a seasoned model kit enthusiast, Lu De not only buys figures, but he is also very skilled with his own hands. He has acquired a set of professional tools, draws and makes figures by hand, and has even posted tutorial videos on making figures. As a result, he is quite well-known in the otaku community.

However, Lud is currently in another world, and he didn't bring his tools and materials for making figurines with him, so everything has to be done from scratch. The entire preliminary preparation work alone took Lud two months.

He first sketched a rather rough sketch of the goddess on a wooden board using charcoal. Since he was in another world, no one would pursue copyright issues, so he directly referenced his ship spirit wife from a certain mobile game, giving the goddess immense "righteousness" and white twin tails specifically designed to appeal to "Chinese" fetishes. While the sketch, drawn purely from memory, wasn't a perfect match, it definitely had that "feel"!

Having a portrait wasn't enough; Ludwig planned to create a statue to be placed in the temple. However, the village only had one skilled craftsman, a carpenter whose skills were far from outstanding, capable of making only simple furniture. Therefore, Ludwig had to rely on himself for this task.

He first built an earthen kiln himself in the backyard of the temple. He had seen such things when he was a child in his rural hometown, because his grandparents were old workers who did this kind of work, so Lud had learned a little bit about it from a young age. After a few trials, the earthen kiln was barely usable.

However, Lud's first few attempts at sculpting ended in failure, because he wanted to create a life-size clay statue of a deity, not a 16:1 miniature figure like a figurine. He encountered various difficulties, but fortunately, he overcame them one by one.

After eleven failures, Ludwig finally succeeded in creating a satisfactory clay sculpture on his twelfth attempt. The beautiful goddess sat regally on a throne covered in flowers, holding a medicine bottle in her hands, gazing down with gentle and loving eyes.

After examining his work from head to toe, Ludwig couldn't help but smile with satisfaction, especially at the part on the goddess's chest, where none of the clay he had collected had been wasted in any way.

"Please, God, don't let it rain!"