Chapter 76 Awakening Ceremony, Divine Incense (1000 plus more)
With the ringing of the bell, Lettuce Island ushered in another New Year.
Ryan and his son personally used fire runes to perform a fireworks show, feasting the eyes of the islanders.
After a sumptuous New Year’s meal, the awakening ceremony that had been suspended on Lettuce Island for more than ten years was finally held again.
In the middle of the square in front of Hongya Castle, on a high platform built of marble, a bonfire was burning, and five large silver plates inlaid with various gems were lined up.
The silver plates contained Qingling bamboo leaves, golden japonica rice, Hongya rice, Qingzhu rice, and Pingyang mushrooms, all of which were witchcraft (spiritual plants) harvested on the island this year.
Surrounding the bonfire and the witchcraft medicine are groups of complicated patterns, arranged in an orderly manner according to mysterious trajectories.
Ren took the brothers Lake and Lehr, standing on the high platform with their chests and bellies exposed in the winter, grass skirts around their waists, and feather crowns on their heads.
Below the high platform, seventeen young men and women participating in the awakening ceremony, wearing thin linen clothes, were shivering, but looking at the three of them expectantly.
On the outer edge, villagers and serfs were indistinguishable from each other, forming an orderly circle, all cheering up and looking forward to it.
"Islanders of Lettuce Island, in the past year, we have had a bumper harvest of five witchcraft medicines including Hongya rice, Qingling bamboo, and Pingyang fungus..."
Len's deep and majestic voice , echoing over Hongya Fort.
Li Qing stood on the top of a barren mountain, looking at Hongya Castle in the distance. His true energy circulated into his eyes, and everything appeared in detail.
As for the awakening ceremony, Li Qing has heard Ren introduce it many times, and it is roughly divided into three steps.
First, the lord announced the harvest of witchcraft medicine, and led the people to sing and dance to celebrate the harvest, praying for good weather in the new year, luxuriant growth of witchcraft medicine, and a better harvest.
Then the lord led the rune warriors to hold a ceremony, activating the power of the runes and pouring it into the formations drawn in advance to communicate with a mysterious existence in the dark.
Finally, the witch medicine is used as a sacrifice to this mysterious existence and received blessings.
Compared with various complicated rituals in the world of cultivation, this awakening ceremony is extremely simple. The only occult element it contains is the formation of communication and sacrifice.
But Li Qing couldn't understand this formation pattern at all. I don't know what it refers to, nor what its meaning is. It's like a black box that doesn't need to be opened, but can be used once it's brought.
Li Qing was insensitive to this "mysterious existence" and was afraid of being watched by it, so he hid far away and looked inside, ready to activate the "Gate of Heavenly Dimension" phantom at any time.
Finally, Renne's harvest declaration came to an end. He turned around solemnly and raised his hands in the air.
"Dong! Dongdong!"
A few villagers who were related to the Lettuce family banged a few big drums vigorously, and then everyone danced exaggeratedly to the drum beats.
"Ulasso! Amido! Leon Lunachi..." Everyone sang an aria passed down from ancient times, but their meaning had long been unknown.
As the ceremony continued, the chaotic dance steps and the seriously off-key chorus gradually became uniform.
Li Qing's consciousness was suddenly touched. He keenly discovered that everyone's dance steps seemed to be subtly influenced by some mysterious force, and gradually became completely in tune with the drumbeats.
A vast and distant wave descended from the sky, like a pair of indifferent eyes, watching all this quietly.
Li Qing couldn't help but tremble in his heart. He was about to activate the "Tianwei Gate", but the Taihao Palace Picture in the Lingtai trembled slightly.
In an instant, the sense of crisis of being watched disappeared. Li Qing calmed down and gave up the idea of running away.
Finally, after the drum beat reached its highest peak, all singing and dancing stopped abruptly.
Ren was sweating all over, and walked to the bonfire with brothers Lake and Lehr with stern eyes. "Let's begin!" Ren knelt down in front of the bonfire, holding two formations with his hands, and the flame runes from his body spurted out, pouring into them continuously.
Rike and Reyer did not dare to neglect, and knelt down. The flame runes and the ice runes restored by fighting spirit were also poured into the formation pattern.
Li Qing couldn't help but raise his heart: I wonder if the Taoist martial arts and Dou Qi methods he modified through magic will be recognized by the ceremony?
After learning about this step, Li Qing thought about giving up the awakening ceremony.
After all, with his magically modified cultivation method, if he doesn't consider his future potential, he can still build a team of extraordinary people with a little effort.
But he was deeply touched by the sincere eyes of the Wren family.
——This is a historical turning point towards the revival of Lettuce Island after more than ten years of continuous decline. They wanted to use such a traditional ceremony to comfort their deceased ancestors.
Li Qing didn’t quite understand, but he respected it. After he sent the pregnant Anna and Kailin to a nearby desert island to settle down.
If something goes wrong, it must be that the fate is over.
Li Qing has been in this life for a long time and has experienced so many life, separation and death that he has long looked down upon them. After all, there are still three hundred years to come, who knows how many more people will be sent away?
Fortunately, there were no mistakes in the awakening ceremony. After absorbing the power of runes from Ren and his son, the array pattern suddenly bloomed with an indescribable brilliance that was dazzling.
The islanders had already received the instructions, and they all knelt down in fear and put their foreheads against the cold ground, not daring to peep at them.
Only Li Qing just turned his head. Although he did not look directly, from the corner of his eye, he inadvertently caught a glimpse of the radiance that contained infinite mystery.
Fortunately, the Taihao Palace Picture trembled again.
The half of the green wall condensed by Li Qing and a piece of gold tile on it glowed with a slight green gold light, blocking the influence of the array's brilliance.
In a trance, Li Qing seemed to "see" the indifferent existence in the sky, lowered his will, and the bonfire in the high platform suddenly rose.
"Sacrifice..." A majestic voice sounded in everyone's mind.
The three of them were shocked, as if they were struck by lightning, and they quickly poured the silver plates containing the spiritual plants into the bonfire one by one.
“Boom——”
The lightest Qingling bamboo thatch leaves burned out quickly, and a cool aroma, accompanied by curls of green smoke, rose into the sky.
Then came the Hongya rice and Pingyang fungi. The fire element and Yang energy contained in them made them burn fiercely.
The light red smoke, with a warm fragrance, lingers and rises, swirling to catch up with the green smoke, straight into the sky.
Golden japonica rice and green pearl rice burn very slowly, and the smoke they emit is green and yellow in color, turning into cloud-like shapes and slowly floating high into the sky.
"How does this look like the gods are enjoying incense?" Li Qing had a flash of inspiration, and an idea came to his mind.
"It's just that this god doesn't seem to absorb the willpower of the islanders. Instead, he seems to be simply enjoying the fireworks produced by the incineration of spiritual plants..."
Finally, all five plates of spiritual plants burned. When it was all gone, there was a "boom" of thunder in the sky, hitting the bonfire.
“Bless me, seven times!” The indifferent voice seemed a little satisfied, and when it resounded in everyone’s minds, it no longer made people feel uncomfortable.
(End of this chapter)