Perhaps because he corresponded to the planet Venus, Quetzalcoatl's human form appeared somewhat feminine, perhaps an influence of the stars.
In fact, aside from him, most deities representing Venus across various pantheons were female, for example, Ishtar of the Mesopotamian pantheon, or Aphrodite, the goddess of love who belonged to Alaric.
After leaving the Americas, Alaric lingered over the oceans.
The gods of the Maori people there were mostly of the "essence spirit" type as well. It was not until he reached India that he finally encountered a fully structured pantheon.
Oh, although during this journey Alaric also passed by the land of Kyushu, he did not enter it.
At that time, the land of Kyushu was in complete chaos, the King in Yellow, giant octopuses… their chaotic battles with the local deities were something Alaric had no intention of getting involved in.
The Old Gods he would soon face in the World of Warcraft were already troublesome enough; there was no need to rehearse that disaster in advance.
Even though there were foreign mystical texts such as The R'lyeh Text, The Seven Cryptical Books of Hsan, and The Book of Zyl, which he could have studied, Alaric had absolutely no intention of touching them.
Better to leave those troublesome beings to the local gods.
However, even from a fleeting glance, Alaric understood why that land would later produce so many powerful immortals, surpassing all other regions of Earth during the same era in overall strength.
It was precisely because the Heavenly Court's pantheon was insufficient to deal with such chaotic threats that they began to pass their power on to mortals, and even developed immortal arts and technologies at a rapid pace.
According to Alaric's observations, the power of so-called "immortals" was essentially based on the same principle as the energy-materialized lifeforms he had created, namely, using the human body to simulate a divine one.
Their methods generally fell into two categories: one was gradual self-transformation through magic, or rather, immortal arts, while the more extreme approach involved direct modification of the human body.
In Alaric's view, although they might have gone astray in certain aspects, overall it was still a fairly effective method.
At this time, India had already passed the chaotic era of Karna and Arjuna from the Mahabharata, while the events of the Ramayana were still far in the future.
There was nothing particularly remarkable happening there.
Next came Persia, ruled by the Zoroastrian pantheon.
Ahura Mazda was the supreme god of this pantheon, also known as Ohrmuzd, the benevolent deity representing light, locked in a long-standing battle with Angra Mainyu, the evil god representing darkness.
The Zoroastrian pantheon might sound unfamiliar, but its other names were quite famous: Zoroastrianism, Fire Worship, and even Manichaeism.
Ahura Mazda's original name, the god of light Mithra, was far better known.
The war god Verethragna was also quite renowned, and even the demonic dragon Azhi Dahaka was a famous figure among dragonkind.
Even the dualistic explanation of the universe found in their sacred text, the Avesta, struck Alaric as quite interesting.
However, the most famous figure Alaric encountered here was neither the war god nor the dragon, but a legendary hero, Arash.
Yet Alaric did not form any connection with this great hero.
Because he had no opportunity to communicate with him at all. The only thing he witnessed was Arash's first, and last, use of his ultimate technique: the original "Stella."
With that ultimate arrow, Arash drew the boundary between Persia and Turan, splitting the land itself. The range of that shot reached an astonishing 2,500 kilometers, but as the price for performing such an impossible feat, his body was torn apart and he perished.
After parting from the shattered remains of Arash, Alaric continued westward and arrived at Canaan (known in Greece as Phoenicia).
This land was inhabited by the Semitic people, who worshipped the Canaanite pantheon. Though not particularly famous, this pantheon was far from weak.
While it could not rival the great divine domains such as Greece, Egypt, the Norse lands, or India, it could still be considered a first-rate pantheon, even capable of putting up some resistance against Egypt's Heliopolis pantheon.
It was precisely because of the Canaanite pantheon that, during Nitocris's reign over Egypt, the Semitic people of Canaan were not conquered. However, even now, they were heavily influenced by Egypt through trade, and a large portion of them were effectively under Egyptian control.
Unfortunately, even for gods, ignorance of commerce remained ignorance, unless a deity representing trade emerged within the Canaanite pantheon.
The Canaanite pantheon centered around the supreme sky god El.
El's wife was Asherah, the goddess of fertility and reproduction.
They had three sons and one daughter who were especially famous: Baal Hadad, the storm and war god; Yam, the sea god; Mot, the god of death; and Anat, the goddess of love and fertility.
Among the three brothers, Yam was most favored by El, who allowed him to build a grand palace, a symbol of kingship.
Later, Baal sought to overthrow Yam and gain the support of El and the other gods.
With the help of his sister, Baal ultimately defeated both Yam and Mot, becoming the chief god of the pantheon.
While the names Baal Hadad and Yam might not be widely known, Baal's alternate name, Baal (or Baal), and Anat's alternate name, Astarte, were far more familiar.
At this time, among the Canaanites, Baal had already completed his rise.
Although El remained the nominal ruler of the gods, Baal was the true power behind the throne.
Despite his dissatisfaction, El had no choice but to accept his sidelined position due to the might of Baal and Anat.
Thus, the pantheon existed in such a peculiar state.
In Alaric's view, El was a rather strange deity. Though he was the supreme god of the Canaanite pantheon, he lacked a clear domain, or rather, he governed everything and yet controlled nothing. This was precisely why he had been sidelined.
Because omnipotence often meant mediocrity in all things.
And yet, Alaric perceived within his abilities a certain powerful potential.
Although El was not particularly strong as an ordinary god, if he were to learn to strengthen himself through another method, this deity could reach a truly terrifying level.