The Boat to the Realm of God

The Sky Beast's entire body was half translucent. Inside its air sacs, the people it had swallowed seemed to stand on nothing at all, suspended ten thousand miles in the air with the world visible through the beast around them.

Layer upon layer of cloud streamed beneath the beast's membrane as the young craftsman Stan rode it through a sea of clouds stretching ten thousand miles.

"Whoa!" For an instant the craftsman's eyes went utterly blank.

None of it felt real. This was a sight meant for the divine, and he could scarcely believe that a mortal like him was permitted to witness it.

Wild land swept past beneath his feet. At the far edge of the sky, a lake appeared so vast that it resembled a sea.

"Is that the Sacred Lake?"

Then a mountain rose before the Sacred Lake, and a temple appeared and vanished among the clouds.

"The Sacred Mountain too. And that... that's the Sky Temple."

He had never seen the Sky Temple, yet the moment it came into view, he understood why the elderly believers of the God-Descended City would journey a thousand miles on pilgrimage.

They came to die at the foot of the Sacred Mountain and sleep in the holy lake beneath the gaze of the divine.

At that moment, words welled up in his heart, giving voice to a thought.

"If I must die someday, then let me die here."

"At the feet of the divine, just as... King Redlichia did."

At last, the Sky Beast descended over the God-Servant City.

Still light-headed, he stepped onto the square before the royal palace. Together with the lord of the God-Descended City and the high priest of its Yinsai Temple, he passed through the doors of the towering, majestic palace.

At the doors of the hall, however, he stopped short and dared go no farther.

The high priest of the Yinsai Temple spoke to him kindly.

"It is all right."

"Come in, young man."

"Her Majesty the Queen is waiting to receive you."

Stan froze in confusion and could only stammer. "Her... Her... Her Majesty the Queen?"

The Tito family had come from the God-Servant City and once ranked among its most illustrious houses.

Stan himself, however, had never set foot here or stood before Her Majesty the Queen.

Frightened, unsteady, and thrilled all at once, he entered the palace and stood before Star Luo Queen. He tried to imitate the manners of those around him, but did it so poorly that one glance marked him as a rough country boy.

"Great Queen, Your Majesty!"

Her Majesty the Queen did not mind in the least. Instead, she regarded him with genuine interest and asked a question.

"What is your name?"

"Stan!" He gave his name, hesitated for a moment, then said it again.

This time, he added his family name.

He did so despite being only a commoner, with no right to any family name at all.

"My name's Stan. Stan Tito."

The lord of the God-Descended City spoke up from one side. "He is the great poet's descendant, the child of fortune who found the Final Chapter."

"Fate guided him here. This is the will of the divine."

"Naturally, its final glory must belong to the Great Star Luo Queen."

As Star Luo Queen studied the young man, she suddenly understood why the city lord had insisted on bringing him when he delivered the great poet Tito's Final Chapter.

Only this allowed the Xilong family to receive the saint's Final Chapter from Saint Tito's own descendants with rightful claim.

"You have done well."

Stan Tito's blood surged hot. He could not understand why anyone thought so highly of him.

Never before in his life had he felt valued and needed.

Over the following days, Stan Tito received the most orthodox training in noble etiquette, taught personally by the high priest of the God-Descended City's Yinsai Temple.

At last, he learned the true nature of the bone tablet he had found.

It was a holy relic left by his ancestor, the great poet Tito.

Inscribed upon it was the way to the Kingdom of God.

Doubt seized him at once. If he surrendered something that had belonged to his ancestor, what would that ancestor think of him?

The priest saw his doubt. "How can you know whether you found the holy relic, or the holy relic chose you?"

"The relic brought you to the Sky Temple. The relic wished to come before Her Majesty the Queen."

"It embodies the will of the divine. No one can defy the fate God has appointed."

The priest met his eyes and spoke earnestly.

"Stan, fate is not yours to choose. Fate has chosen you."

"That is why you stand here now."

The priest's words settled Stan's heart at once.

"If this is the will of God, then I am willing to be the one it chose."

One bright morning, sunlight streamed through the windows on either side and spilled across the floor.

Under every watching eye, Stan Tito climbed step by step to the Sky Temple.

Carrying the bone tablet in both hands, he entered the temple. As his ancestor had done before him, he offered the inscribed stone slabs and the Hymn of the King of Wisdom upon the altar at the feet of the image of the divine.

Before the most powerful figures in the Star Luo Kingdom, he knelt in obeisance to Star Luo Queen.

"Your Majesty, Great Star Luo Queen and agent of the divine will in the mortal world."

"All glory belongs to you, and to the great divine."

Star Luo Queen raised her scepter and pointed it at the craftsman Stan.

"Descendant of Saint Tito."

"From this day forward, you are Stan Tito."

"Heir to the will of the great poet Tito."

With a single word, Star Luo Queen settled Stan's standing. In an instant, he rose from a craftsman at the bottom of society to the summit of the Star Luo Kingdom's nobility.

The Volcano Kingdom's capital lay below the mouth of a dead volcano. A terrible Ruhe Beast sprawled along the crater's rim.

Pointing fingers and muttered remarks followed Weishi Hosen down the long corridor before the royal palace. At its end, he faced his father and several uncles and brothers.

His father sat rigid on the throne, his expression grim. Below the dais, Weishi's brothers openly delighted in his misfortune.

Always the favored son, Prince Weishi had now made a blunder vast enough to cost him his father's trust. It might even cost him his right of succession.

That was precisely what the others were delighted to see.

The king's cold gaze settled on the prince. "How dare you show your face here again?"

"What did you promise me before you left?"

"I gave you the Burrowing Demon Worm. I gave you our hidden agents in the God-Descended City. Is this how you repay me?"

Weishi Hosen knelt upon the ground. "The Star Luo Kingdom has the great poet's Final Chapter, that is true. Yet it gives them only the means to open the domain of the divine."

"We have not lost yet, Your Majesty."

The king was checked for a moment. "What do you mean by that?"

Weishi Hosen went on, "Opening the domain of the divine is only the first step. That gate already opened once, above the God-Descended City. What did it accomplish?"

"Did anyone enter it?"

He lifted his head, chin high and chest thrust out.

"But I know what it takes to enter the domain of the divine."

The king's face changed on the instant. "How does one enter the domain of the divine?"

The prince of the Volcano Kingdom answered, "A ship. A ship bestowed by the Divine Messenger!"

He drew out the copy of Tito's Travelogue he had won and cried out with passionate fervor.

"Everything is recorded here. Everything lies hidden where Saint Tito's bones are buried."

"The Divine Messenger who stands beside Yinsai, equal in rank to the Mother of Life, once bestowed a ship upon Saint Tito. A ship that sailed from the Kingdom of God into the mortal world."

"My king, our efforts were not wasted. Without that ship, no one need dream of entering the Kingdom of God."

Everyone in the hall rose, including the king of the Volcano Kingdom.

"The Divine Boat."

Understanding dawned on them all at once, and their thoughts raced ahead.

From within the Kingdom of God, Divine Messenger Tito had written the chapters that would be handed down forever. He had also piloted the Divine Messenger's ship out of the domain of the divine.

His Final Chapter recorded how to open the gate of the Kingdom of God. Surely, then, he had also left behind the means to enter it.

They cried out with one voice. "That is the ship that leads to the Divine Kingdom!"

Weishi Hosen nodded, and looked at his father.

"Exactly!"

"Great king, for you I am willing to seek out this Divine Boat that leads to the Kingdom of God."

"No one else in this world can find it."