It wasn't that Su Mo had intentionally forgotten about the World-Honored One.
Although the battle had ended yesterday, the cleanup afterwards was no small task.
Just as the Twin Goddesses had said, the destruction of Christianity would have a massive impact on the Little Garden. Even if Su Mo himself didn't particularly care about this impact, Christianity was now under his command, so he had to manage it to some extent.
Thus, Su Mo became the hands-off boss, delegating everything to Michael. It would be a waste not to use such a perfect tool.
For a creation, the creator's command is the meaning of their existence. The more tasks Su Mo assigned, the more it proved their value.
Therefore, Michael fully embraced his nature as a sleepless angel, working tirelessly day and night. He single-handedly managed everything from internal reorganization of the pantheon to external communications.
So, despite the myriad of tedious matters, Su Mo himself hadn't worried much.
The real reason he had forgotten about the World-Honored One was because he had been engrossed in something else last night.
An inspiration from the battlefield had given Su Mo the key to his next advancement.
The details of the matter will be omitted for now, but suffice it to say, after a night of contemplation, Su Mo had achieved quite a significant result.
Under these circumstances, he had naturally, subconsciously, overlooked the World-Honored One whom he had sealed. It wasn't until Shiroyasha brought it up that he even remembered.
---||---
"Lord Su Mo, you've come."
Within the equatorial starscape of Virtual Star Tai Sui, the World-Honored One finally breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing Su Mo appear before him.
A night of waiting was nothing to him. In fact, if the Little Garden weren't on the verge of a historical transition, he could have waited here for a thousand years without issue.
His main concern was that Su Mo might have changed his mind and decided not to release him.
It seemed now that this God, or perhaps Savior, was a man of his word.
"As promised, I will let you go. Of course, the spoils of war, Three Thousand Worlds, will not be returned," Su Mo said, getting straight to the point.
Since he had dared to make a move against him, he deserved this much of a lesson.
"...As it should be." The Buddha put his palms together and nodded, a faint wince of pain on his face.
His Divinity Power had already been restored, and he could leave at any time. But he didn't leave immediately. Instead, he spoke.
"Previously, Lord Su Mo, you seemed to have questions about the Son of God's actions and were dissatisfied with our support for him. Since we have this rare opportunity, would you allow me to explain?" he asked, looking at Su Mo with a hint of expectation, clearly not having given up on persuading him.
Realizing this, Su Mo's interest was piqued slightly.
"I'm listening."
From his observations, this Buddha before him didn't seem to possess the same ambition or desire as the Son of God. If so, why would he support creationism?
Facing Su Mo's curious gaze, the Buddha's expression turned serious.
"Lord Su Mo, you have most likely already realized one thing: the pantheons of the Little Garden have become corrupt."
His words were nothing short of shocking.
To start by delivering a conclusion that would surprise many was unexpected. He himself was an innate god, a buddha, yet he spoke so ill of the pantheons.
"How so?" Su Mo asked calmly.
Just a moment ago, he was the one who had been harsh with the pantheons, yet now he seemed like an outsider.
"As human history entered the modern era, human faith is far from what it once was. Correspondingly, the pantheons have gradually grown weak and greedy, losing the divine radiance they once possessed, and are no longer able to guide humanity's development," the World-Honored One stated calmly.
"If this were the dawn of the Little Garden, for what you did, Lord Su Mo, you would have surely faced a siege from the Heavenly Armies and the pantheons behind them. But now, they only hide in the distance, watching the battlefield. They were clearly too afraid to act, yet they deceived themselves in the end, so easily accepting the conclusion of a 'Christian internal conflict' to cover up the fact that they have long lost their enterprising spirit."
Compared to the chaotic era of the Little Garden's dawn, the Heavenly Armies of this age were undoubtedly far too weak.
So much so that even Indra, the kind-hearted leader of the benevolent gods, could pass for a member of the martial faction.
Hearing this, Su Mo was slightly surprised. He hadn't expected the seemingly peaceful Buddha to have such radical ideas. No wonder he was the only one who had dared to intervene before.
Though he had acted like a peacemaker, looking back, he seemed to be the only one in the pantheons willing to do anything.
"Are you saying modern humans are to blame for this?" Su Mo asked.
"No." The World-Honored One shook his head. "Since the birth of the pantheons, the divine mission of the gods has always been to guide humanity forward. Even if human faith has been corrupted, the divine mission of the gods remains unshakable."
His words were as hard as diamond.
"So, what does this have to do with you supporting the Son of God?"
"The Son of God's plan, while selfish, also had parts that were beneficial to the Little Garden," the Buddha explained patiently.
"Such as?"
"Such as rebuilding the Little Garden." At this, the World-Honored One's eyes shone brightly.
Hearing this, Su Mo pondered for a moment, a hint of surprise on his face. "Rebuilding the Little Garden means abandoning the current human history and starting anew. That naturally solves the first problem you mentioned. As for the second..."
"In return for supporting the Son of God, he promised me that after the new Little Garden is established, only five pantheons will be allowed to leave." The Buddha lowered his eyes slightly, his words like a thunderclap. "At that time, any pantheon that cannot prove its worth will lose the chance to enter the new Little Garden and will be destroyed along with the old one. This rule includes both the Buddhist and Christian sects."
He stated this incredibly cruel rule in a completely calm tone. He wasn't trying to escape with the Buddhist sect; he wanted to throw all the pantheons into a battle royale.
"Through this screening, the corrupt and fallen pantheons will be completely eliminated. Only the remaining pantheons will be qualified to bear the heavy responsibility of guiding the new human history."
"..."
After hearing the World-Honored One's thoughts, Su Mo was silent for a few seconds before commenting, "I think you're a little too radical."
To force the pantheons into a battle royale just to eliminate corruption, even willing to throw yourself into the mix... are you sure you're not a Last Embryo?
"Without such measures, the glory of the pantheons cannot be restored." The World-Honored One shook his head at Su Mo's assessment, then asked in return, "Are we to let these pantheons, who cannot even overcome the Eschatology, continue to hold the responsibility of guiding human history?"
Clearly, this idea of his hadn't just appeared overnight. It was likely born from despair at the corruption the pantheons had shown during the era of the Dystopia Demon Lord, or perhaps even earlier.
That was the only enemy in the Little Garden's history that had left the pantheons completely helpless. Many pantheons had even disgracefully chosen to side with the Last Embryo.
It was probably this long, drawn-out war that gave the World-Honored One the idea of completely purging the pantheons.
He wanted to cultivate pantheons that could overcome the Eschatology, just as they had before the appearance of the Dystopia Demon Lord.
Understanding his meaning, Su Mo asked, "If you are dissatisfied with the pantheons, why do you still support creationism?"
This question seemed to startle the Buddha.
"Without the guidance of the pantheons, how can humanity overcome the Eschatology?" he retorted without thinking.
Hearing this, an expression of realization crossed Su Mo's face.
"I see. I thought you were too radical, but it seems you're only radical on a tactical level. In truth, you're still a conservative reformist."
"What do you mean, Lord Su Mo?" The World-Honored One didn't understand.
"Simply put, your idea is that gods should and must guide humanity forward. The reason the gods failed to overcome the Last Embryo this time is because they are too corrupt. Therefore, you need to purge the pantheons and start over, reshaping the relationship between humans and gods, in order to finally overcome the Eschatology. Is that correct?" Su Mo summarized his thoughts.
"That is mostly correct," the World-Honored One nodded.
His idea was simple: if the corrupt pantheons couldn't do it, then replace them with uncorrupted ones, and eventually, the Eschatology would be overcome.
"But have you ever considered this: what if neither the corrupt pantheons nor the uncorrupted ones are qualified to continue guiding human history?" Su Mo proposed a question the World-Honored One had never considered.
"What if humanity can overcome the Eschatology on its own?"
Purge and reform the corrupt pantheons? Before that, shouldn't one first consider the necessity of the pantheons' existence at all?
"Impossible! How could humanity, with its own strength—"
Instinctively, the World-Honored One tried to deny this absurd possibility.
To this day, humanity had only survived under the guidance of the pantheons.
Without the gods' guidance, how could they overcome their difficulties?
But halfway through his rebuttal, a counterexample came to mind, and he abruptly stopped.
"Didn't humanity solve the problem of the Dystopia Demon Lord on its own?" Su Mo supplied the example the World-Honored One had thought of, and continued, "Perhaps the last remaining Last Embryo doesn't need the help of the pantheons either. As long as the pantheons don't get in the way, humanity might be able to defeat it on their own."
"..."
The World-Honored One fell silent.
Although Su Mo had only provided a possibility, if humanity really could overcome the Eschatology without the pantheons, then what was the point of the pantheons' existence?
And what was the point of all his efforts up until now?
Could it be that the ones who needed to be eliminated were not just the corrupt pantheons, but also himself?