Chapter 112 The Golden Bough and the Priest King

Author: Carp Immortal

Chapter 112 The Golden Bough and the Priest King

"By the way, have you ever sold golden branches before?"

Shangluo suddenly thought of this question. If they often sell golden branches, wouldn't every generation be able to send a heavenly being to the court?

"Of course it couldn't be sold casually in the past. The branch-breaking ceremony is once in a generation, and each golden branch is a ticket for the next ceremony. It's because I don't know who was crazy and sold the golden branch to you last time, so let's let this

There was no way to start the ceremony last time, and more than a dozen apprentices couldn't find the path. There is nothing we can do this time, you are the only one qualified to participate, so I can't help you."

"What use does the Golden Bough have to yourselves?"

"Sorry, this is a secret."

[They took the Golden Bough to seize the power of the Forest King. This is the original use of the Golden Bough.] Apollonia directly reported the correct answer, [But since this has been said, you can ask other priest kings.

He should also be able to talk about things.】

Are there other priest kings? After getting the hint, Shangluo asked directly.

"You want to ask about other priest kings? Well. Since you know that there are other priest kings, there is no need to hide it. Indeed, the priest king around Lake Nemi is called the 'Forest' by us.

King'. This myth actually comes from ancient Greece and is a blood sacrifice to the moon goddess Diana.

Ritual. Originally, in Diana's blood sacrifice, all outsiders would be hunted and sacrificed to the moon god. In Roman Nemi, this myth has evolved. The objects of sacrifice are still outsiders, but they

You can get a chance to duel with the priest himself. The winner can become the new forest king."

"So you are starting from Delphi, not locally?"

"Yes. The element here is 'stranger', so entry into Nemi can only be seen from outside Rome as a sacrifice to the Forest King. In classical times, this Forest King did hold temporal power

.They were transformed from the "Witch-Kings" in primitive human society. Although they are mostly hidden in myths, they can now be revealed through hero parades. In Rome, they were forest kings, in Gloucestershire, Britain.

Then there is a wicker king."

"I seem to have heard this story. It says that the local Britons would put people in wicker sticks and sacrifice them to pray for rain?"

"Yes, this is contrary to the requirements of the Forest King. It is also a sacrifice. The sacrifices here are not foreigners, but locals. To be precise, they have to be sacrificed to lords with secular power. From the perspective of mystical history

, it may be that a Witch King first sacrificed himself here and produced miracles, and then later generations imitated it and used the form of 'wicker king' to create its imitation to pray for fertility and peace."

"Is there anyone really willing to be a sacrifice?"

"Yes. In fact, the Wicker King has existed longer than the Forest King. It has existed until the Viking Age. The last secular sacrifice occurred in 866 AD. But disasters don't come every year, do they? Even if they come,

The lord himself will not be sacrificed unless absolutely necessary. Therefore.

We don’t interfere much with the Wicker King’s ritual, because this ritual is only necessary when natural disasters occur in Gloucestershire. It only needs to provide disaster relief in the secular world; the Forest King is not the one we interfere with the most.

The most common one is actually the broad bean king."

"King of broad beans? What is that? Does it appear often?"

"Yes, he appears more frequently than any other mysterious phenomenon. Because his anchor point is not in the woods of Lake Nemi, or in the countryside of Gloucester, but in the metropolis of Athens. Because the ancient Athenians

It is believed that only those randomly selected from dyed broad beans are the absolutely righteous ones chosen by the gods. Therefore, the real legal lords of Athens should be drawn by lot, and whoever is drawn is who."

"So you are still drawing lots now?"

"That's not true. If you still use dyed broad beans to draw lots now, it will be considered to be engaging in performance art. So we now sell tourist lottery tickets in Athens. The lottery tickets are sorted with patterns of colored broad beans. The winning ones

You can experience the 'Priests of Athens' for one day with the cooperation of the inner guards

Tour activities. This one-day tour project is open on weekdays, and all tourists can play, but only the lottery ticket will be carried out by the inner guard to cooperate with the ceremony. That is very troublesome and cumbersome. It includes a donation to Athena.

Tributes, dividing sacrifices, etc. Of course, it’s quite fun as a tourist project.”

"Ah, it turns out that internal defense isn't easy either."

"Yes. Although it is troublesome, it is also the most properly performed ritual. It is hidden in plain sight and does not affect the daily life of the citizens. It also brings some small fun and festivals to the citizens of Athens.

Happy. But the Golden Bough's Forest King belongs to that kind of dangerous ritual that is extremely powerful and thrilling every time. We have never found a good way to contain it, and we have to fight the Forest King every time."

"Can't it be sealed?"

"Well, we also thought about sealing it, but this is our karma and the price of magic. Let me put it in a context that the people of Cathay are used to. What the people of Cathay are cultivating is the innate body, and we are cultivating the innate body.

What we practice is an innate method. Every time we perform a kind of magic, a miracle will inevitably be pulled into reality and become innate.

A reasonable natural phenomenon. Because if there is no miracle first, how can there be a manifestation of magic? What is common in Cathay is that from miracles to magic, you need to provide willing power to reproduce it. But we are inferring miracles from magic, so this is

There will be karmic retribution. If it is sealed without repaying the karma, the magic itself will not continue to exist."

"So you have already paid for the magic in advance?"

"It's an appropriate statement. The karma we have to face is karma. Alchemy, astrology and supernatural powers, these three powers will produce karma, and karma corresponds to magic one-to-one. Every time we conduct a hero parade, it is

We are opening up new areas of magic and expanding the territory of magic. After expansion, we must maintain it and maintain its operation, otherwise the magic will get out of control. If we cannot complete this Golden Bough Ceremony, the corresponding magic of the Forest King will become ineffective.

"

[He said it too lightly, maybe because he was afraid that you would raise the price. In fact, the magic is not in a parallel relationship, but develops in a tree shape, nested layer by layer. The golden branch is a very low-level magic, located at the base of the big tree.

Bit. The failure of the golden branch is equivalent to the failure of one of Newton's three laws in the field of classical physics, which will cause the magic building to collapse. Otherwise, the Romans would not try to repair it at any cost.】

"If I fail, will the Romans have a chance to complete the ritual?" he asked Apollonia.

[Yes, but a bloody sacrifice needs to be performed and there is no reward. Considering the relationship between Cathay and Rome, they will not dare to sacrifice you, so they can only sacrifice their own people. In order to avoid adopting the 'last plan'

, they can even use the Golden Bough itself as payment - but I'm thinking, they have invited Qi Practitioners here twice in a row.

To deal with the problem, will this ritual have to be handled by a Qi Practitioner every time? Then you will make a lot of money. Also, they have some forbidden spells that are 'seal after use' and are not kept on a regular basis.

You have to use Hero Pilgrimage to open it every time before using it, such as dragon tooth soldiers or something. If you are interested, you can borrow it and use it.】
Chapter completed!