Chapter 70: The Grand Journey |
The poet sailed swiftly on the sea’s surface, feeling as if he were racing with the waves, surging with the swells.
As he touched the sailboat, he learned about metal for the first time from the Dream Spirit.
Hard, smooth, resilient.
The poet had seen a kind of stone on his journey that emitted a similar luster, but he didn’t know if there was any connection between the two.
He touched the white sail, a creation of silk-like white softness that the poet could scarcely imagine.
They could be used to make many other things. In a flash of thought, the poet came up with several uses for them.
“If the Yinsai also had these things, could they usher in a new era?”
At this thought, the poet let out a sigh.
“I’m afraid only the power of the gods can create such divine objects.”
A journey that originally required many days was completed by the poet in just two.
When he once again passed through the Deep Sea Abyss and reached the waters of ancient Yesael City, he encountered the People of the Abyss again, the soldiers patrolling the area.
This time, Tito didn’t hide.
Instead, he actively stepped forward.
He wanted to see the king of the Abyss Kingdom again. He had some words he wanted to say to him.
A group of armed People of the Abyss charged out from the seabed, circling Tito’s sailboat. Leading them was a Prawn Knight.
They looked at the sailboat with suspicion and uncertainty, not knowing what this thing that could sail on the sea’s surface was.
At the same time, the Prawn Knight also recognized Tito.
This blind poet who had accompanied the previous king of the Abyss Kingdom through Yesael City.
Tito said to the Prawn Knight, “I want to see your king.”
He, too, had gained the power of wisdom and could directly communicate with these People of the Abyss through his mind.
Because of Tito’s relationship with the old king, the Prawn Knight didn’t dare obstruct him and immediately relayed the message to the royal capital.
The poet stood at the bow of the sailboat, waiting. Before long, more and more People of the Abyss emerged from the seabed. A force that could be called an army surrounded him and the sailboat.
Finally, the king of the Abyss Kingdom, wearing a crown, appeared before him.
“It’s you! The blind Yinsai man!”
“Where is he?”
The king of the Abyss Kingdom asked the poet while looking inside the sailboat, searching for the shadow of another person.
Tito knew he was asking about Old Stone Helm and said,
“He went with me to seek the God-Given Land. We set foot together in God’s paradise.”
“He was injured. As soon as we reached the foot of the divine temple, he died there.”
“We were fortunate, though with a tinge of regret.”
The expression of the king of the Abyss Kingdom instantly changed, first to shock, then to bewilderment.
Finally, a trace of sorrow welled up.
“He… died?”
He had feared the other’s return, but hearing that he had died in this way, he felt an indescribable sadness.
It was as if a huge hole had opened in his heart, leaving it empty.
The blind poet nodded. “Dead.”
“Died in the God-Given Land, eternally resting before the gods’ flower garden.”
The king of the Abyss Kingdom asked, “Did he say anything before he died?”
The poet replied, “He said he had found the answer.”
The poet sank into memories, once again recalling the peaceful countenance in Old Stone Helm’s eyes.
“He never said what answer he was seeking, but I can roughly understand some of it.”
He gifted the king of the Abyss Kingdom a set of the 《Hymn of the King of Wisdom》 he had engraved, then said to him,
“You originated from the God-Given Era, from Ense and Boon, the children of King Redlichia.”
“Just as your father said.”
“You, too, once had the love of God and King Redlichia, residing beneath the temple of the gods.”
Tito paused for a moment, then said earnestly, “You are not monsters, but people.”
The king of the Abyss Kingdom held the stone tablet, remaining silent for a long time.
After a while, he waved his hand, and all the People of the Abyss parted to open a path.
“Let him leave.”
Tito raised the sail and steered the boat away.
As he passed through the territory of the Abyss Kingdom again, no one dared to obstruct Tito’s small boat.
He once more passed by that Island of the Dead and even saw the brutal lord of the Sal Domain from afar.
The lord led his soldiers, watching from a distance, not daring to approach or offend.
The two gazed at each other from afar. Tito’s psychic power swept over and could see the shocked expression on the face of the lord of the Sal Domain.
This lord of the Abyss Kingdom never imagined that the naive and stubborn poet would truly reach the temple of the gods and pay homage to the deity shared by the Yinsai and the People of the Abyss.
Outside the God-Descended City, the people of the fishing village saw a strange object breaking through the waves from afar. The entire village was in a panic, thinking some monster had crawled out from the seabed.
Before long, someone rushed into the God-Descended City.
“He’s back!”
“He’s back!”
“That poet has returned from the God-Given Land. He even brought back treasures bestowed upon him by the Messenger of God!”
The God-Descended City was in an uproar. Countless people emerged from their houses, gathering by the streets.
Even the former lord of the city, upon receiving the news, led people out of the God-Descended City to the seaside.
The poet Tito had just docked his boat on the shore when the residents and nobles of the God-Descended City surrounded him in layers, each of them looking at him in disbelief, doubting the reality of his accomplishment of this great feat.
The city lord hurried over, excited, coming before the poet and placing a hand on his shoulder.
“You!” he exclaimed. “Did you truly find it?”
As soon as he finished speaking, he saw the poet’s blinded eyes.
The city lord was instantly stunned, his excited words abruptly stopping.
Then, a hint of wistfulness entered his voice.
“It seems you’ve been through a lot.”
Tito didn’t mind. “It was precisely because of those experiences that I reached the temple of the gods.”
“It was they who gave me the courage and drive to find the God-Given Land and complete the 《Hymn of the King of Wisdom》.”
Tito turned and boarded the sailboat.
“This is a treasure bestowed upon me by the gods, a precious object that can harness the wild winds and cross the ocean.”
“It was by relying on it that I was able to swiftly pass through the Deep Sea Abyss and the Abyss Kingdom to return.”
He took out the Redlichia Covenant stone tablet from the boat and held it high.
“This is?” Others didn’t know what it was, but the city lord, born of the royal lineage, guessed what this tablet was upon seeing it.
The poet nodded and said to everyone,
“A Covenant tablet personally engraved by King Redlichia, hidden beneath the Wisdom Palace.”
With this, no one doubted anymore whether Tito had ever reached the God-Given Land.
Everyone knelt before the Covenant tablet as if on a pilgrimage.
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