Chapter 1512: Chapter 1510: Heaven Without People
The space flickered slightly as Richard appeared in Heaven.
He looked around, quickly taking in the sights.
At first glance, this was an incredibly vast half-plane, but calling it a half-plane doesn’t do it justice; it feels more like a complete world.
As far as the eye could see, there was no end to its expanse. It was many times larger than the largest half-plane Richard had ever seen—the Truth Society’s main shelter—even possibly larger than the Main Continent of the Wizard World, if not the entire Wizard World itself.
This is the Heaven where the True God resides.
Underfoot, the deep brown soil felt soft, with dense, delicate green grass growing like a fine carpet across the earth.
This "carpet" stretched endlessly, seemingly covering the entire ground, occasionally punctuated by blossoms and towering trees, which formed decorative patterns upon it.
Breathing deeply, the air felt damp and fresh, as if there had just been a light rain. Walking through this place lifted one’s spirits involuntarily.
Clearly, this was indeed a most habitable paradise.
However, there was a problem—everything around him was eerily silent, devoid of any person.
Richard frowned slightly... He knew the True God behind the Truth Society was aware of his attempt to enter Heaven; otherwise, they wouldn’t have repeatedly sent Silver Priests to stop him, like sacrificial lambs. Therefore, he expected that there would be a good chance he’d face a strong attack from the True God the moment he appeared in Heaven.
But now, there was no attack, not even a single shadow in sight.
What’s going on?
Richard pressed his lips together, took a step forward, his speed exploding, quickly crossing tree after tree, stream after stream, searching for clues.
But he found nothing.
Over half an hour later, Richard stopped before a delicate little town, squinting his eyes as he walked in.
He saw hundreds of buildings in the town, distributed along a few intersecting streets. Every building looked brand new, as if freshly built, and the streets were spotless, free of any dirt.
Following the street to the town center, there was a square with sculptures at its four corners and a small fountain in the center continually spraying clear water.
Opposite the fountain, to the east, was a church-like building. Inside, there were numerous statues.
One could imagine that usually, many people lived in this town, regularly coming to the church for ceremonies.
But now... the entire town was empty, the buildings, streets, square, and church all deserted and silent.
Frighteningly empty, frighteningly quiet!
Richard walked deep into the church, where there were some silver candlesticks and silver basins used for ceremonies on the wooden table, with half-burned candles snuffed out on the candlesticks and water not yet evaporated in the basins.
Evidently, not long ago, people were here and had used these items.
But now they had all vanished.
Where did they go?
Richard furrowed his brows even deeper, turning to leave the church, the town, and headed further out.
Next, as he wandered through Heaven, he came across more than a dozen towns of various sizes, all without exception uninhabited.
Did the True God and his people move overnight before he arrived?
Richard couldn’t help but wonder, then shook his head, denying his own speculation... Things couldn’t be that simple. He didn’t think the True God behind the Truth Society would surrender so easily, would so readily give up an entire world.
Rather than the idea of an overnight move, he inclined to believe they used some special method to hide somewhere in this world, coldly watching and observing him.
So how could he flush them out?
Standing beside a tree on the grassland, Richard pondered.
"Flap, flap..."
Suddenly the sound of wings beating arose, and a parrot with golden feathers flew over, landing on a branch of the adjacent tree.
Richard cast a scrutinizing gaze toward it, as it was the first living creature he saw in this world. He didn’t think this was mere coincidence; highly likely, it was sent by the True God to act as eyes observing him.
Certainly, he could also use it to draw the True God out.
Just as Richard thought of this, the golden parrot, as if possessing a Mind Reading Technique, suddenly spoke sharply: "Blasphemer, you want to meet the True God, right?"
"I am the True God’s pet and messenger, sent by the True God to see you. Now I am telling you, meeting the True God isn’t that simple," said the golden parrot. "Your persistent malicious conduct has committed great sins, leaving you unworthy to meet the True God, thus necessitating redemption. The True God is extremely merciful, arranging ten challenges specifically for you. If you can overcome them all, you’ll achieve redemption and gain the qualification to meet him."
Richard listened, slightly raising an eyebrow, feeling the urge to laugh... The parrot’s proposal reminded him of certain fixed patterns in Earth folklore... where mortals beseeched the gods for divine medicine to save their loved ones or weapons to slay demons. To test the mortals’ sincerity, the gods deliberately set difficult tasks. After grueling struggles, the mortals completed the tasks, impressing the gods, acquiring the divine items, and ultimately achieving a happy ending by saving their loved ones or defeating the demons.
Is this also what that True God plans for him?
Except... he’s no mere mortal now... And he really doesn’t view that elusive True God as a deity... Overcoming so many challenges, does he do it for a fairy tale ending...? How improbable?
However, Richard didn’t voice his thoughts; instead, he looked at the golden parrot with interest and asked, "What are the ten challenges?"
"It’s simple. First of all, the first one." The golden parrot turned its head, pecked at its body, and a slightly bent feather floated down, "You need to smooth this eternally unruly feather without damaging it, and keep it that way to pass."
Richard caught it in his hand, inspected the curled feather, and after a light stroke, the feather stayed flat only for a moment before curling back to its original state.
Smooth it again, curl back again.
The third smoothing, the third curl back.
After three tries, Richard discerned a clue... This clearly wasn’t an ordinary feather, imbued with some special force. Unless he found a way to break this force, it was impossible to keep the feather smoothly flat. Yet the nature of this force was incredibly complex, and breaking it would undoubtedly require significant time.
Holding the feather in his hand, Richard contemplated and looked toward the golden parrot: "Is the first challenge just like this? I do have a way to solve it. But before solving it, I’d like to see what the second challenge is; maybe they can be solved together."
"Do you really have a way?" The golden parrot spoke, expressing obvious disbelief, but, after staring at Richard for a while, it still left the branch and flew to the side, "Alright then, follow me and take a look at the second challenge."
After flying over a dozen meters, the golden parrot landed on the ground, pecked up a grass seed, and said, "The second challenge is to make this eternally dormant seed sprout."
Richard took the grass seed, finding it similar to the feather; the seed was not particularly special but surrounded by a force. It was this force that prevented the seed from sprouting naturally. To solve the seed problem, he must tackle this energy, yet couldn’t employ harsh means, or the fragile seed might be destroyed along with the force.
At this point, Richard could somewhat surmise the True God’s intention, but he still maintained his patience: "I have a lead on the second challenge, too, and I want to see the third challenge."
"Are you sure?" the golden parrot asked.
"Of course."
Hesitating for quite a while, the golden parrot flew further away: "Alright then, follow me."
