"Spiritual creature?"
"Yes. I remember that the ingredients of the golden branch are Taiyi, Beidou, Riyue, Hebo and so on. I can't understand it, but it is said to have a great effect. You should make it into a pill. Medicine, I heard that you have a rich Qi practitioner named Zheng, who spent a lot of money to buy a golden branch, and then refined the Foundation Establishment Pill and became a heavenly being. I'm still surprised, the Cathay Immortal Isn't the Dharma all about following fate? At that time, even 'lucky luck is considered fate'. I didn't quite understand it, anyway, the golden branches you bought can also be used to build the foundation."
"Is this thing so powerful? Isn't it very precious?"
"It's very precious. It can only be picked once in a generation. Except for the rich man who bought it last time, the other golden branches were taken away by ourselves. But it seems more practical to give them to you, our people But there is no way to reach the realm of 'Heavenly Man' by relying on the golden branch. It can only become a generation of forest king. This is the original purpose of the golden branch. As a result, it has been retribution now, and our 'lucky fate' seems to have been consumed by that sale. It’s all done. Because there are no old branches to guide the way, no one in this generation can reach the Lake Nemi sacrificial site. Oh, Mithras is on top.”
He clasped his hands together: "Fortunately, you suddenly arrived there yesterday. I was wondering if the Jin Yiwei specially sent you to save the scene. You are enough. If you join me as a participant, we can complete this heroic tour. As long as you If you can participate, the golden branch is yours."
"Wait, can I ask, what is the Heroes' Parade? And, are you sure to give me the Golden Bough?"
"These two are the same question - as long as you know what the Hero's Pilgrimage is, you will know the ownership of the Golden Bough. The Hero's Pilgrimage is similar to your monasticism, a way to gain strength. You can understand it as a Ritualized war. This ritual was first pioneered by Alexander the Great. His Eastern Expedition was a 'heroic pilgrimage' to Hercules. He dressed up as Hercules, just like Hercules. Hunting lions. Like Hercules, he dragged his opponent behind the chariot and paraded around the city. It has evolved to this day, and we have simplified it into an 'armour-wearing ceremony'. There is no longer a need for large-scale wars, only risks That’s it.”
He pointed at himself and then at Shangluo:
"Adventures only require a small team. Enter the mythology at night, put on the armor of gods or demigods, and experience what those extraordinary creatures have experienced. If you experience 'similar causes' with them, you can get 'similarity' The fruit'. Fruit is the result of war. The Golden Bough is the result of war, and the blood of Hydra is also the result of war. By winning the fruits of war in the Heroes' Parade, we can continuously expand the boundaries of human civilization. The results of war are also trophies, and of course they must be distributed to those who have made meritorious deeds. . It is this kind of 'extraordinary feudalism' that supports Rome. Anyone who is qualified to participate in the hero's parade can be 'enfeoffed' to extraordinary power. If you participate, then the golden branches of this generation will be enfeoffed to you - of course From the perspective of etiquette, it is not a enfeoffment for you because you are not a senator. This is considered sharing the spoils with our Cathay allies."
"I can participate because of the old branches? Then why don't they give the old branches to others?"
"Alas." Titus let out a long sigh, "Those you see are the second team of Hydra's army. The Golden Bough Ceremony not only requires challengers, but also some. How should I put it? In the amusement park There are cast members wearing doll costumes, right?”
"Are they NPCs?!"
"I don't quite understand the meaning of NPC. Is this a new word? In short, it is the cast and crew who need to cooperate with you to complete the game. The ceremony of picking the golden branches is very complicated and requires the cooperation of many people. But the golden branch ceremony must be completed, because since we Once you start a ritual, you must complete every subsequent ritual, otherwise terrible things will happen.”
"what happens?"
"." He thought for a while, "Are you sure you want to listen? I should tell you everything. But this is very important, and I only dare to explain it under the cover of darkness. Before I speak, you have to tell Styx The Great Styx swears. That's important. But there's no incantation, you just say 'I swear'."
"Apolonia" Shangluo lowered his voice, "Should I ask?"
Apollonia was silent for a long time. It seems that a decision has been made:
[Okay. You will always talk about this step. You swear, you need to know this too. 】
After a brief ceremony, Titus said something that needed to be sworn to secrecy even in the dark night:
"If the ritual fails, then we will lose the sacrificial forest of Lake Nemi forever. At the same time, the real myth will come to the world. In the sacrificial forest of Lake Nemi, the kingdom of the priest king will really appear, and People will be captured and sacrificed for blood. Those challengers and participants who fail to escape will become part of the myth. At that time, the fun will be great. We have even released more powerful things."
"For example. God?"
"No, no, no, no, absolutely no god was released. Absolutely not. I'm talking about Jack the Ripper."
Combining Apollonia's words, Shangluo already knew the answer. They definitely released gods because of their failure, but how the gods who returned to the sun from the mythical age turned into divine machines is another question. I guess I can't even ask.
But the Ripper's information interested him very much:
"So the Ripper, he ran away from the ceremony?"
"Not exactly. He is a kind of 'new myth' that we can't even remember to analyze. Because there has never been a god like 'Jack the Ripper' in history. That poor Akgeus, he didn't exist at all. Not a combatant, he was just a golden Roman noble. All we knew was that he loved taking pictures, but suddenly one day he turned into 'Jack the Ripper'. Now we have to perform the ritual on him. Malaca (Roman Yayan)! We don’t even know what the elements of the ceremony are. It’s not like the Golden Bough Ceremony where you can even find people to play the staff, and you have to figure it all out again.”
"Could it be that he liked to take pictures, so he photographed himself, which aroused the suspicion of other individuals and fell into the dark night? And there may be more than one individual."
"Huh??? How do you know the latest developments in the case? We just discovered that there are three of this individual."
"I heard it, I heard it. It's an urban legend."
"Yes, yes! It's an urban legend!" Titus suddenly raised his voice, "I don't know why, but the astrologers at Delphi discovered that there were a lot of messy stories running into the Akashic records. This is simply a joke. Storm! It knocked our old dialogue sequence to pieces. I heard that the astrologers at Delphi were so desperate that they began to seek help from the power outside the night, and even actively embraced the sun. In short, our situation is very difficult. . The golden branch is the reward, please help us complete the branch-breaking ceremony. It would be great fun if the Priest King ran out!"
(End of chapter)
