The desire to create an Aeon—let alone days or years—even if it took tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of years, would be completely understandable.
After all, it was the grand undertaking of a mortal creating an Aeon-level being.
Moreover, unlike an accident like Zandar, it was a truly feasible and controllable plan.
She never expected that in Su Mo's hands, it would reach the final stage in just a few days.
This left Ruan Mei, who had been struggling on this path, feeling quite incredulous.
Seeing the classical beauty's slightly bewildered look, Su Mo spoke with extreme calm.
"I've said it before. To become an Aeon, time or accumulation is not actually important. Fulfilling the corresponding conditions is the most important thing."
The birth conditions of each Aeon are unique, but they all have commonalities.
"The first necessary condition is to climb to the highest point in the Path corresponding to the concept. Only then can one have the qualifications of an Aeon candidate."
"The second necessary condition is to find the correct Path. If the Path manifests, a living individual will naturally be selected as the Aeon."
The former determines that if this Path gives birth to an Aeon, it will inevitably be the individual who has gone the furthest in the Path.
The latter determines which Path will manifest and ultimately give birth to an Aeon.
For Ruan Mei and others who have reached the extreme in their own conceptual fields, the first condition is not difficult to meet.
If the interstellar civilization were to truly give birth to an Aeon of Life...
Then, the most likely one to ascend would be Ruan Mei herself.
The reason Su Mo recruited her was precisely because he saw her talent and special qualities in this area.
However, simply having the first condition, no matter how far one can go in their chosen concept, it is impossible to truly become an Aeon.
All this time, Ruan Mei had been stuck at this node.
If an Aeon of Life was not to be born in this world, then no matter how much Ruan Mei continued to improve herself, it would be useless.
Whether in the field of research or the realm of gods, choice is greater than effort.
Therefore, the real key to becoming an Aeon lies in the second condition.
"The correct Path, how do we judge that?" Ruan Mei asked with a puzzled expression.
If the so-called Aeons were the strongest representatives or controllers spontaneously chosen by the Path when it opened...
Then, what caused the Path to open?
And by what means could they interfere with the opening of the Path, and even the birth of an Aeon?
"Civilization."
Su Mo cut straight to the core.
"All things in the world are born from nothingness, and they resist returning to nothingness. Therefore, anything that can resist destruction and nothingness is a result that civilization is happy to see."
As Su Mo had said before, Aeons, as gods of interstellar civilization, are influenced by the changes and developments of that civilization.
If it were during the most turbulent and changing historical transition period of interstellar civilization, it would be a stage grand enough to allow for the birth and even fall of multiple Aeons.
"And it just so happens that we are now at the turning point of the next historical transition, at the key node where the trailblazing forces are triggering the third prosperity."
The right time, the right place, the right people. The cosmic trend at this node is destined to see the birth and fall of Aeons.
Su Mo's idea was to use the current cosmic trend to give it a little push and achieve his own goals.
Since an Aeon was going to be born anyway, why couldn't it be one of his people?
"So this time, what we need to achieve is the second condition: to amplify the turning point of this interstellar civilization and, with this great trend, help you become an Aeon!"
At this moment, Su Mo finally laid out his plan.
Just as Christianity had once used the rise of the Roman Empire to develop into a monotheistic religion that ruled half the planet...
He also intended to use the upcoming events to elevate Ruan Mei to the position of an Aeon.
"The third prosperity, the Astral Express... I see."
With Ruan Mei's intelligence, after a little thought, she connected Su Mo's actions.
If the Astral Express could really trigger a third prosperity, allowing interstellar civilization to enter a historical transition period on the level of the Twilight Wars or the Swarm Disaster, and if this stage could be used well, it would indeed be enough for a new Path to manifest, creating the objective conditions for the birth of an Aeon.
Understanding this, she could roughly understand why Su Mo had such a good relationship with the Astral Express and valued those nameless guests so much.
But there were still things she didn't understand.
"Lord Su Mo, why the Xianzhou?"
"Because of its sheer size and influence," Su Mo answered immediately. "From the conditions of the Hunt's birth, it can be seen that the Xianzhou Alliance's influence on interstellar civilization is enough to independently give birth to an Aeon."
"If the Xianzhou's influence on interstellar civilization is reasonably amplified, the magnitude of the changes it causes would be enough to provide the soil for the birth of a second Aeon... There are very few forces of a similar scale in the entire observable universe. Considering the Path you want to ascend to, the Xianzhou is the best choice, bar none."
In Su Mo's theory, the birth of Aeons was to promote, or conversely, to counter-promote the development of civilization.
The opening of a Path, from a macro perspective, was to promote the development and stability of interstellar civilization.
Even the Aeon of Propagation was merely exploring the possibility of whether pure proliferation, abandoning intellect, could break the end of days.
Just like software program and function updates, they are either to add new functions or to fix bugs.
The birth of Lan, the Aeon of the Hunt, was mainly to correct the mistakes of the Path of Abundance, a type of bug fix.
That was why Lan was so highly bound to Abundance, fighting to the death.
"The best choice... an ally of the Hunt... you mean, our goal is related to Abundance?"
Recalling the few pieces of information Su Mo had revealed, Ruan Mei quickly guessed his plan.
"Mm." Su Mo nodded. "The conceptual field you are involved in has a deep connection with the Paths of Abundance and Propagation."
"If you want to become an Aeon, it's almost inevitable that you will become enemies with these two Paths."
"In that case, it's better to strike first, devour their Paths in advance, and use them as nourishment, along with the interference of the historical transition, to help you become a new Aeon!"
It just so happened that Propagation was not around right now. Even if he wanted to do something to its Path, it had no ability to resist.
"Devour the Paths of two Aeons to become a god?!"
Hearing Su Mo's plan, Ruan Mei's eyes widened in shock.
He hasn't even become a god yet, and he's already planning to make enemies of two Aeons. Even if the Aeon of Propagation has almost fallen, this disregard for Aeons is too intimidating.
Jibril, on the other hand, raised her head proudly, as if to say, "as expected of my master."
"No wonder you had me liaise with the company..."
Suddenly, Ruan Mei understood what Su Mo's previous task meant.
It wasn't to build a good relationship with the company, nor was it for public welfare. It was simply, like mass-producing Stellarons, to pave the way for the plan to create an Aeon.
Even though their plan was unprecedented, she couldn't help but feel ninety-nine percent more confident.
With Su Mo's guidance, even creating an Aeon was not out of the question.
Realizing this, Ruan Mei no longer had any other worries.
After gaining confidence in the plan, she only had questions about herself.
"Lord Su Mo, you said before that the birth of an Aeon and the opening of a Path require participation in the historical process and guiding the development of civilization as necessary conditions."
Aeons who couldn't do this were either devoured like Tayzzyronth or fell into slumber like Propagation.
So the question was…
"The Aeon of Life, what kind of role can it play for interstellar civilization?" Ruan Mei asked the most crucial question.
There were countless concepts and unknown Paths in the world. If Su Mo hadn't pointed this out, she probably would have never thought that to become an Aeon, one must conform to the general trend of civilization's development.
In fact, other Aeons might not have known this before their ascension either. It was just that their own Paths naturally conformed to the trend, so they could ascend without knowing it.
But Ruan Mei was different. Even knowing this, she still didn't know what the Aeon of Life could bring to interstellar civilization.
Come to think of it, this was probably why she had been unable to ascend all this time.
For Ruan Mei, this question was a considerable obstacle. With her aloof personality, she was not interested in interstellar civilization and naturally never thought about what she could bring to it.
But for Su Mo, this question was simply too easy.
"Let me ask you a question. What do you think the current universe lacks? Or rather, what is the big difference between now and three thousand years ago?" he asked casually.
"Lacks?" Ruan Mei was slightly taken aback. After a moment of thought, she shook her head. "Besides the threat of the Aeon of Destruction, it doesn't seem to be lacking anything. The current universe is generally peaceful. Compared to three thousand years ago, the power structure of interstellar civilization hasn't changed much."
After the Swarm Disaster, the Emperor's War, and the Denizens of Abundance War, the appearance of many Aeons had actually curbed a considerable amount of turmoil. Besides the Antimatter Legion, there were no crises that could affect the entire interstellar civilization now.
"No change is the biggest problem," Su Mo said.
"The Xianzhou people spent a thousand years seeking longevity and five thousand years digesting this achievement. Since then, they have not evolved at all."
"In this aspect, other forces are far inferior to the Xianzhou. Whether it's the Family of Harmony or the members of the Interastral Peace Corporation, they have all stopped evolving for tens of thousands of years."
"Even those Denizens of Abundance who plague the universe have only obtained longevity. Their life forms have not changed for tens of thousands of years."
"From a macro perspective, ever since knowledge replaced biological instinct as the key factor in the inheritance of civilization, the evolution of life in the entire universe has completely stagnated."
When the evolution of life can no longer affect the elimination of individuals, the mechanism of natural selection naturally becomes obsolete.
In modern civilizations of other worlds, it is often said that humans are living a modern life with the physiological structure of a primitive society from hundreds of thousands of years ago.
This point can also be applied to the current Honkai: Star Rail universe.
If the scope were expanded to the vast majority of people in the Honkai: Star Rail universe, one would be surprised to find that the physiological structure of humans now is not much different from hundreds of thousands of years ago.
The evolution of life in this universe has been almost stagnant for hundreds of thousands of years.
"Have you ever thought about how much the entire interstellar civilization would change if we moved this pointer that has been stagnant for hundreds of thousands of years and let life begin to evolve again?" Su Mo asked calmly, his words enough to shake the entire universe.
If the life in the universe were to start evolving again, if humans had smarter minds and keener intuition, the development speed of the entire interstellar civilization would be rewritten.
Just like Nous, who directly ascended to godhood through continuous self-optimization and iteration.
At that time, even if people couldn't reach the level of an Aeon, they could still establish a civilization a hundred times more prosperous than the present.
If this plan could really be implemented, even without the trailblazing of the Astral Express, Su Mo would be enough to create a historical transition period in this universe that far exceeded the third prosperity.
"By guiding the evolution of life, thereby promoting the prosperity of civilization..." Ruan Mei's breathing became slightly rapid.
But soon, she looked up at Su Mo and reminded him, "According to the current Interastral Peace Convention, life engineering is a key controlled object. Even the Xianzhou may not be willing."
The moral and ethical issues involved in life modification projects were self-evident. Otherwise, Ruan Mei wouldn't have to secretly conduct experiments everywhere, even keeping it a secret from Herta.
Even if Su Mo didn't care about this, it would be extremely difficult to promote this matter.
Even with the Xianzhou's openness, it was unlikely that they would approve of a research project so similar to Abundance.
And if it couldn't be promoted, it couldn't affect the development of interstellar civilization, and thus couldn't create the conditions for the birth of an Aeon.
Hearing this, Su Mo showed a relaxed expression and said, "Who said that promoting the evolution of life requires going to the extreme at once and directly creating new life?"
"If I say, I just want to study a way to cure the Mara-Struck, do you think the Xianzhou Alliance will support it?"
"?!"
Cure the Mara-Struck?
As a native of the Xianzhou, Ruan Mei was stunned. She had no more questions.
If it were any other condition, the Xianzhou might refuse.
But if it was to cure the Mara-Struck... as long as it didn't excessively harm others, the Xianzhou Alliance would never refuse!
Su Mo's proposal hit the Xianzhou Alliance's soft spot!
He understood the pain of the Xianzhou people too well!
---||---
Before she could exclaim, Jibril, who was beside her, suddenly stood up and looked outside the spaceship.
"Master, I seem to sense energy of the same Path as mine. It seems to be in combat... Is it the Antimatter Legion you mentioned before?"
"Hmm, besides that, I also seem to sense a life aura similar to Ruan Mei's. Are those the Xianzhou people of this world? They look quite strong!"
Seeing Jibril's interested look, Su Mo closed his eyes slightly and opened them two seconds later.
"The Xianzhou Alliance's merchant fleet, the Antimatter Legion, and the aura of the Mara-Struck... with this level of swordsmanship, we might have encountered a good experimental subject and guide."
He and Jibril's figures immediately disappeared.
Then, they appeared before a slightly crazed, cold sword light.