A bit of nonsensical rambling.

"If oxen, horses, or lions had hands, and were able to draw with their hands and do the works that men can do, horses would draw the forms of gods like horses, and lions like lions, and they would make their bodies in the image of their respective shapes."
………………
When I wrote: [Before the human race was born upon the earth, were the gods also in the likeness of humanity?]
When I wrote: [This goddess of knowledge attained her first consciousness and ego, opened her eyes, and looked down upon the mortals on the continent who worshipped her and chanted her name—those "mortals" possessing mountainous, gigantic physiques, accompanied by wings and scales.]
When I wrote: [Some pensive elven children asked with curiosity: "Why is Aoin, the Omniscient Mentor, in the likeness of us elves?"]
At that very instant, I genuinely felt it—a fleeting tremor of the soul.
For a period in the past, I was wildly obsessed with science fiction, yet I could not articulate precisely which elements of it I loved.
I could clearly feel that what I loved was not cyberpunk, nor quantum mechanics, nor colossal mechs and starships, nor the laser swords wielded by heroes while exploring interstellar space.
In the sci-fi works I adored, something else shook my soul—that quintessential, exquisite thrill that makes one's mind suddenly snap wide open, prickles the scalp, and sends electric shivers down the spine.
· In Ted Chiang's *Exhalation*, a mechanical race that survives on air pressure differentials and lung-like chambers serves as the primary perspective, using the metaphor of [an ever-decreasing pressure gradient] to represent [infinite entropy increase];
· In Liu Cixin's *Mountain*, an alien civilization dwelling within the underground hollows of a planet recounts the history of their civilizational development—their superstitions, their journey of scientific exploration, and the shifting perceptions of their world, bearing a striking resemblance to human history of science. And at the end, the revelation that, "Perhaps the entire universe itself is merely a gigantic hollow," leaves one's back chillingly cold.
Until now, I have come to understand what this quintessential thrill truly is—
[Employing a transcendent perspective to deconstruct things with which we are familiar, arriving at a conclusion that "defies intuition yet perfectly conforms to rational logical deduction," and deriving a momentary, breathtaking ecstasy from the delicate and aesthetically pleasing contrast between rationality and sensibility.]
For instance, perhaps when aliens first arrived on Earth and discovered that primitive humans possessed ten fingers, they believed this to be a "hopeless race."
Because: "Such a race will only ever develop a decimal system as its mainstream counting method, and will never be able to reach the pinnacle of the mathematical temple like we who use duodecimal, nor develop a brilliant civilization that traverses a sea of stars."
Regardless of whether such a conclusion is right or wrong, the mere mode of thinking itself possesses such a rich flavor!
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In fact, this flavor is not solely confined to science fiction stories, nor does it strictly have to be tied to high-tech elements such as quantum mechanics, massive machinery, interstellar spaceships, biological mutation, or cosmic voyages.
It represents an element closer to the essence of [science]—a rational, deconstructive, logic-based, and transcendent perspective.
Much like Ted Chiang's special sci-fi tales such as *The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate* and *Tower of Babylon*, which do not involve any high-end science and technology; the time-crossing alchemist's gate and the tower reaching toward heaven are nearly magical.
Yet embedded within them is that exact same mode of thought.
Even fantasy fiction, theoretically, can provide me with the exact same excitement.
For instance, in the pseudo-D&D world I am currently writing, the universe possesses the concept of "alignments," where the cosmic will judges all living beings for goodness, evil, law, and chaos.
Alignments genuinely affect the operation of many spells, influence the attitudes of planes like the Abyss, the Nine Hells, and the Celestial Realms toward visitors, and dictate how mortals reincarnate as petitioners after death.
As a pragmatist and a technologist, as Elian the truth-seeking mage, how would he view this natural cosmic judgment?
How would he view an unyielding, immutable cosmic moral code versus a progressively evolving society? How would he study the laws of "alignment judgment" from a purely rational perspective?
How would he utilize this alignment system to artificially control alignments, and even reshape the cosmic laws of judgment for petitioners reincarnating after death?
"When morality and ethics become cosmic laws, they are—just like 'an apple falling from a tree'—a part of the natural regularities that we need to study and can utilize."
There is immense room for expansion here.
To return to the book *Two Hundred Years of the Magic Empire*.
In far too many fantasy tales, authors depict an era such as this—
[In the primordial years, dragons, elves, and other transcendent races ruled the earth, and the gods walked upon the land. Humanity had just been born, a weak race devoid of innate transcendent power, struggling humbly for survival.]
For instance, the "Dark Epoch," the Second Epoch of *Lord of the Mysteries*, is a typical example of this setting.
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Even the Honghuang-style settings that draw inspiration from fantasy similarly feature an era prior to the battle between the Sorcerers and Demons, back when the human race had not yet risen.
In conventional works, this ancient era serves merely as background decoration before the formal story unfolds—a myth so distant that it is hardly traceable.
Few authors truly describe it in detail or use this ancient era as the main stage for the storyline.
Yet, I want to write about such an era!
An era before humanity became the masters of the land.
I want to write of the primordial years, to write of humanity's step-by-step rise, to write of how Elian develops humanity's earliest city-states into a great empire that spans all the planes of the cosmos and conquers all deities.
Much like how the Ancient Sun God led the rise of humanity in *Lord of the Mysteries*, walking out of the Dark Epoch so that light might exist henceforth in the darkness.
Starting from this ancient era, I have the opportunity to witness the shifting of all things.
For example, writing about the protagonist creating a level 1-20 progression system from scratch, compiling the *Monster Manual* and Challenge Ratings... writing about how transcendent classes such as [Druids], [Paladins], [Cloistered Clerics], [Bards], [Warlocks], and [Psions] are born within the empire, and how they diverge from history under Elian's influence to evolve toward directions more advantageous to the empire... writing about the Raven Queen usurping the position of the God of Death to ascend from mortality to divinity... writing about the emergence of golemancy and elemental binding technology, transforming the setting into a high-magic realm akin to Eberron... (These won't necessarily all be written, just some sparks of inspiration that surfaced.)
To write about how "the things we are familiar with in modern fantasy tales" came into being and gradually evolved into their current forms.
I have never written a theme like this before, nor do I know whose books to reference, and I am unsure whether the road ahead will be smooth.
Fog shrouds the path ahead, thorns cover the ground, and the journey is long and obstructed.
May the wind be at our backs all the way.
Journeying with you until the end of time.
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