Chapter 680: Free Experience Potion for a Limited Time
By the time all the cardinals were seated, the sky outside was almost bright.
At first, Aiwass felt quite excited, but after a few hours, he began to feel slightly bored.
Fortunately, he brought Isabel with him. With nothing better to do, he grabbed her hand and played with it, whispering about the latest developments in Avalon and trying to harass Sherlock, who was not present.
That's how it is among friends - whoever's not there becomes the topic of conversation for others.
The other cardinals didn't react much.
After all, with the long lifespans of the Immortals, they must learn how to waste time, so as not to let their lives fall into emptiness and fatigue. And a required course in this is to wait patiently.
The only problem is that there's no clean water here. If you're thirsty, you can only drink.
Because when communicating with the gods, being too clear-headed is not a good thing.
Being sober means being rational, which in turn means being sensible, analytical, and disenchanted. That is also disrespectful.
For this reason, in various of the most ancient ritual classics, there is always wine or other ritual aids with similar functions at the banquet, so that the ritualist can quickly enter a psychedelic state that is detached from reality.
This is also because the existence of "wine" itself is sacred - it requires a large amount of precious grain to brew, and in an era when food is scarce and not everyone can eat enough, wine is a luxurious and unnecessary existence.
...For this reason, they are also regarded as a "easy to obtain but very precious" resource in ritual studies, symbolizing "the essence that enables people to survive."
Just as bigger bait can catch bigger fish, more expensive lottery tickets give people the feeling that the probability of winning is higher - ritualists use more valuable offerings, and they feel that the ceremony will become more sacred and the pillar gods will be more likely to respond to their prayers.
Of course, this is just a "ritualistic" explanation. In "theology," there are often opposite explanations.
Because the Pillar Gods don't actually require sacrifices, and they don't necessarily like to drink. They often just want to observe the attitude and determination of the ritualist.
To put it another way, even Hengwo, who loves drinking the most, still has the magical wine brewed by the host.
This is a bit like, "I heard he really likes computers, why don't you spend 2,000 yuan to buy him a graphics card?" Just like if someone really likes computers, the computer accessories they buy are likely to cost far more than that... It's certainly not the place for mortals to offer sacrifices to gods for their own favorite things.
The Theocracy clearly understood this principle. Therefore, all the wine they brought out was for the bishops to drink, and not a single glass was offered to the Pillar God.
But there are some exceptions this year.
Aside from Aiwass, almost no cardinal ever drank the wine in front of them. Instead, they stared straight ahead with serious expressions or whispered to their attendants.
This situation is definitely abnormal.
It was like a high-profile reception hosted by a high-ranking leader, and then there was complete silence. It was even quieter than the office, and almost no one was drinking; everyone was eating with serious expressions.
This would definitely leave outsiders with a chorus of questions: What's going on? Is this the Last Supper? Or is this an annual meeting doubled as a memorial service?
The reporters in the background recorded this scene one after another, and each of them speculated in their hearts about the reason for the cardinals' unusual behavior.
Is it because they're unhappy with Aiwass, a human, becoming a Cardinal? Or is it because they disagree with the White Saint ascending to the throne? Or, is it because something has happened to the Pope? It's impossible that the Theocracy is about to disintegrate, right?
But these were ultimately just speculations. I absolutely dared not discuss them with anyone else—who knew the cardinals' hearing was good, or whether the ceremony was recorded or videotaped? If someone accidentally overheard it, it would be bad luck; if it was accidentally broadcast live, I might not see the sun again.
So finally, when the sun rose, Isabel had finished telling about Avalon's recent situation.
After drinking four bottles of wine, Aiwass had entered a state of intoxication.
In addition to the blush on his cheeks, even the depths of his pupils shone with a golden-red glow... Although he looked slightly tipsy, he gave people a sense of unruly divinity.
It's not that Aiwass is too much of an alcoholic.
But the Holy Tree No. 1 here tastes completely different from the "legacy" of Queen Sofia that Isabel brought back—the bottle of Holy Tree No. 1 that had been cursed with immortality.
At first, Aiwass had thought it was just a good bottle of wine. Although "Holy Tree No. 1" was brewed from the blood of the Candlestick's apostle, the "Giant Tree," and even Aiwass and Isabel, who didn't like alcohol, found it good, it was just that good. It couldn't even compare to the exorbitant price it fetched on the black market.
At first, Aiwass thought it was simply a matter of profiteering merchants monopolizing the supply and speculating on the goods. He thought these goblin merchants were really good at it; they'd already figured out the allure of "limited-edition luxury goods for the wealthy" in this day and age...
Now Aiwas realized that it was because the curse poison added by Minister Droste had completely destroyed the balance of the power of the Tao within the "Holy Tree No. 1", turning it into a fairly ordinary bottle of wine.
This wine has a very strong power of dedication.
The power of the Tao within it is purer than even the blood of Evans when he first used the shepherding method to tame the Shadow Fiend at the first energy level; it is even similar to the shepherding method after Evans obtained the [Devotion of Flesh and Blood]... Considering this point, the giant tree back then probably also had the Tao characteristic of [Devotion of Flesh and Blood].
This was a "sacrifice" from the giant tree, and its original purpose was likely to enhance the strength of the other devotees who received this bottle of wine. Even a phantom demon from the path of sacrifice would probably be madly attracted to it.
If a first-level devotee obtained a bottle of wine like this and drank it completely, they would probably be directly elevated to the third level. Even though Aiwas was already at the fourth level, he could feel his level slowly rising.
It is worthy of being the divine wine that even the Eternal Pope can only drink a bottle of every time he wakes up.
There is no doubt that this is the real treasure!
It's a pity that this wine is only effective for devotees, otherwise he would definitely give Lily and Isabel a few bottles as well.
When Aiwass drank the first cup, he suddenly understood - he completely understood Monkey King at the Peach Banquet.
——A limited-time free drinking feast of experience potions, available only once every three hundred years. Anyone who doesn’t drink up is a fool!
(End of this chapter)
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