Chapter 209 The Seed of a Divine Domain
Evan froze. A flood of information poured into his mind, and yet he remained utterly calm throughout it, as though he were nothing more than a machine processing data. He worked through it quickly and understood at last — yes, this was the seed of a Divine Domain. He now understood how a god went about building one.
A god carved his Divine Domain out of the boundless sea of consciousness — not merely his own individual mind, but the consciousness shared by all living things. His own case, though, was different. This tree standing in his Sea of Consciousness — whatever it truly was — had let a single flower on it give rise to a Divine Domain. He had never heard of anything like it.
He had no idea where the tree had come from, and for a moment his mind went blank — yet at the same time his awareness was perfectly clear. Small as the flower looked, it carried an entire Divine Domain within it. His Domain was far from complete; it had barely begun. But he already knew that if he gave himself over to it fully, it would prove boundless, without end.
And yet he held the Domain fully in his grasp — every last flicker of change within it was his to sense. He had three thousand and fifty-two believers, of whom only seventy-three held true faith, and only four of those were devout in the deepest sense. Their faith converted swiftly into divine power, and most of that power, he found, was flowing into a single mind: Shuang's.
He reached out with a touch of his mind toward the four brightest points of light among them, and at once everything about those four surfaced in his thoughts. The sense of holding everything in his grasp was intoxicating. But because the Domain had just been sparked into being by the fragment of the Life Goddess's own thoughts, he understood in that same instant exactly what was happening — and understood, too, that if he let himself lose himself in that intoxication, he would become a god in name only, while in truth becoming his believers' slave.
A god had to master the rules governing his Domain, not simply awaken inside it and lose himself there. A god held a divine office — that was the path a god walked. Only through that office could he form his own rules, and only once those rules took shape did he become a true god. There was another path too, the one walked by the primary gods of a pantheon: they never formed a divine office at all, but their road was far harder. What they pursued was omnipotence and omniscience, and because rules of their own making so easily clashed with the rules of nature itself, they instead had to align themselves with nature's own laws, and only then, eventually, transcend even those.
Evan hesitated. All he wanted was to live forever — not to shoulder responsibility. Neither path seemed to fit what he was after. Was there truly no third road?
Somewhere in the back of his mind, he felt certain there had to be a third road. He thought, briefly, of devils — but devils too seemed to be chasing godhood in their own way. He stood at a crossroads with no path laid out before him, and a line came to him unbidden: there was no road here to begin with; enough people walking it is what makes a road.
He made up his mind at last. He still didn't know quite what to do with this Divine Domain, but one thing was certain — he wouldn't walk the same road the Life Goddess had. A thought stirred in him, and Shuang, who had been dozing above him — or pretending to — suddenly found the world blur before her eyes. She found herself somewhere else entirely: a boundless place, lit everywhere by a soft glow of white and green light. Standing within it, she felt strangely at home.
Where was this? Shuang was still puzzling over it when something stirred beside her — a shape took form, and heaven and earth seemed to peel apart around it as Evan appeared before her.
"Wang, where is this?"
"This is inside the Divine Domain — though it's only just been opened. It's a long way from finished," Evan said.
With that, he gave his sleeve a casual wave, and Shuang saw projections spring up around her — believers going about their lives, one after another. She found she simply knew their every thought, and the Domain's secrets besides; countless divine arts began surfacing in her awareness too. Shuang was stunned.
"You're becoming a god?"
"A god?" Evan shook his head. "Not for a long while yet. Some of the faith in here is yours too, and I don't want to manage it myself — I don't even know how I'd go about it. I brought you in here to get your read on it. I'll give you a projection of the Domain — you can hold it yourself."
"Me? Sure, that means more power for me!" Shuang said happily. "Ooh, this Decree skill is nice — whatever I say comes true. All right, I'll take charge of it."
Evan smiled, and his form began to fade. "Wait, where are you going?" Shuang called out — but before she'd even finished, the world shifted again, and she found herself back where she'd been lying the whole time.
Evan opened his eyes. Shuang was already airborne. "What just happened? Wang, why does it feel like you've opened up a Divine Domain?"
Evan looked at her. "Your instincts aren't wrong. I have opened a Divine Domain. Weren't you just inside it?"
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"That was real?" Shuang asked, doubtful.
"Try meditating and see for yourself. There's already a projection of the Domain sitting inside your own mind — no need to ask me," Evan said with a smile.
Shuang closed her eyes and sank into meditation at once. After a moment she opened them again. "It's true — there's a Divine Domain in my mind, an exact copy. Pity we've got so few believers. What should we name our religion?"
"Let's not get ahead of ourselves — we're only just starting out. We don't even have a single scripture yet." Evan couldn't help but smile at her enthusiasm. "Founding a religion isn't that simple. No religion takes real shape in under a century, and its name isn't something you just decide on a whim — it needs the believers' own recognition. Don't over-manage it. Just guide people at the key moments, and it'll take on a life of its own. In the early stages, it needs a prophet to lead the way. Given enough time, it'll settle into rules of its own." As he spoke, something seemed to click into place in his own mind. What he'd just laid out drew on the theory the Life Goddess Avna had left him, combined with everything he'd observed of the Creationist Church — and together, it amounted to his current understanding of what a god truly was.
"Fair enough. Are you only spreading the faith among the goblins for now? There's no prophet yet — how would you even recognize one?" Shuang asked.
"For now, it can only spread among the goblins. The continent of Taerxi has long since been claimed by the Creationist Church — the Maker's reputation there is too overwhelming, and every other faith is barely clinging to survival. If I tried spreading a religion among humans there, the Holy Inquisition would come knocking soon enough, and not even Hollingburton could hold them off." Evan paused suddenly, something stirring in his mind, and after a moment he went on. "The prophet — I have a feeling he'll rise among humans, but not on the continent of Taerxi."
"Where will the prophet come from, then?" Shuang asked, tense.
"In Ianzhou. I don't know the details yet." Evan went on. "Understand this, though — a religion is only meant to concern itself with the salvation of souls. Religious authority in this world runs deep, but that's never what a god actually wants; it's simply people using a god's name to further their own private ends. Remember that, Shuang, and you'll never wander onto a wicked path. Forget it, and all you'll build is a cult." Shuang hesitated for a moment at his words, then nodded.
Just then, someone knocked at the door. Shuang flew over and pointed her wand at it, and the door swung open to reveal Emma and Jessica. Evening had already settled in. They'd come to fetch Evan for a gathering with Lady Heathermere. Evan nodded and stepped out of the house, Shuang landing on his shoulder as he went.
Heathermere was one of the two Legend mages aboard Sky City, the other being Roland; the two of them presided over the central mage tower, while the four remaining towers were each overseen by an Arcanist. The whole delegation had already assembled and was waiting only on the three of them. Evan hadn't technically been part of the delegation, but since he'd come along anyway, Heathermere could hardly object.
Seeing the three of them arrive, Heathermere nodded. "We were only waiting on you. We're holding a dinner tonight — call it the delegation's first gathering. Make yourselves at home."
The three of them nodded and took the first open seats they found. The delegation, it turned out, was fairly sizable, and word was there'd be some kind of exchange program with the forest elves as well — though as an outsider to the official roster, no one bothered explaining the details to Evan.
Once everyone had arrived, the group settled in on the third floor of the mage tower, where a table was already laid out with an array of fine food, the space itself clearly having been magically expanded to fit them all. Evan took a quick look around and sorted the guests into three groups: teachers, students — though these were all upperclassmen close to graduation — and a third group he didn't recognize at all, though the magic radiating off them plainly marked them as people of some standing in the magical world.
Evan leaned over and asked Jessica who they were. She shook her head, not knowing either, but Emma spoke up. "They're representatives of the magic merchants."
Evan nodded. Heathermere began to speak. "Esteemed ladies and gentlemen, this visit serves two purposes: first, to deepen mutual understanding between our two peoples, and second, to strengthen our economic ties..."
Heathermere spoke for a good five minutes straight. It seemed that no matter where you went, one thing held true of anyone who led a delegation — they could all talk. When she finally finished, she declared the feast open.
Shuang had already flown down to the table well before Heathermere finished talking. The roasted meats held no interest for her, but the fruit did, and she dug in at once, polishing off an apple in no time before turning her attention to a slice of cake.
Evan himself had little appetite for the meal, but watching Shuang eat with such relish, he smiled and let her go at it. Whatever her stomach was made of, it never seemed to swell no matter how much she ate — though after finishing the cake she let out a satisfied burp and stopped eating altogether. Evan took that as his sign that she was full. He'd come looking for Heathermere with something to ask her.
Sky City continued on its way north. In this world there were no aircraft to speak of, and so no such thing as designated air corridors either — even though Evan had given them something not unlike a plane, his was the only one of its kind in existence, which meant there was no such thing as air traffic control, and no worry about mid-air collisions.
As the feast wound down, people drifted about in twos and threes, chatting among themselves. Shuang sat on Evan's shoulder while he carried a wine glass in hand, a third of it filled with deep red wine, and made his way over to Heathermere with a smile.
"It's an honor to be at this dinner, Lady Heathermere. Actually, I was hoping to find you — I have a few questions about cultivation I'd like to ask, if you don't mind," Evan said.
Heathermere had clearly already eaten and now held a cup of coffee in hand. At his words, she said, "I'm flattered. Go ahead, ask away — and if I can't help, there's always Master Roland."
Her modesty aside, Evan glanced around them, and Heathermere caught his meaning at once. She smiled faintly, and the space around them shifted — Evan saw himself and Heathermere standing right where they'd been a moment before, and no one else seemed to notice a thing, yet in truth the two of them had already been set apart from everyone else. He couldn't help but admire it. "Impressive. You swapped us out from right under everyone's noses, and no one was any the wiser."