Aztec Civilization: Destiny to Conquer America!-Chapter 1516 - 1061: "Feudal Superstition" and the Sacrifice at the Olmec Holy City

"The god has arrived! He transforms into the blood-red eye in the sky, watching over you! Watching over your Blood Oath and conversion!..."

The "Eye of the Spirit" with its blood-red patterns hangs high in the sky, a "gigantic eye" several meters in diameter overlooking everything on the ground, as if the true Chief Divine is watching! And upon witnessing such incredible "miracle," all the leaders of the Jungle tribes were utterly shocked, prostrating their bodies on the ground, emitting cries of fear and reverence.

"Ah! In the sky, it's the eye of the Divine! The Chief Divine of the Mexica has actually appeared!"

"That blood-red eye! So high! So large!... Has the Chief Divine truly arrived?!..."

"Feathered Serpent Divine! Could it be, could it be... that the Chief Divine of the Mexica is the true god who can manifest incarnations..."

The hot air balloon of the Copper-Stone Age ascends, so mysterious, yet so awe-inspiring! And whenever such "miracle" appears, even the most stubborn and unruly leaders, the most steadfast in the old beliefs, will helplessly bow down beneath the pyramid, engraving reverence for the Chief Divine in their minds and planting the seeds of faith in their hearts!

For this reason, the vast majority of rubber production in the Kingdom of the Lake was used to try to make larger and larger hot air balloons to further enhance the grandeur of the "Eye of the Spirit." After burning and crashing over a dozen hot air balloons, the crafting technique at the Kingdom of the Lake's Divine Revelation Place gradually matured. The Divine Revelation Priests, full of hope, began attempting to create a large hot air balloon capable of carrying people, so that the relatively small-sized Chief God Priest might briefly soar into the sky!

And should such live-flight, such "ascension miracle," come to pass, able to be witnessed by countless tribespeople, the effect of spreading the faith of the Chief Divine would surely be unimaginably high!

"The Chief Divine bears witness! 'Feudal superstition' is indeed advanced productivity; it is the foundation of divinely ruled Kingdom of the Lake and the Mexica Alliance, the most essential ruling cornerstone!...''

Xiulote raised the Divine Staff, looking down upon the kneeling crowd below the pyramid, feelings of sentiment arising in his heart.

Regardless of whether it was Alliance or Kingdom, the legitimacy of their rule actually comes from the "Divine," more accurately from the "Supreme Main God." As for the established form of rule, it would be the more advanced feudal system, replacing the ancient tribal system, achieving centralization in the core areas, while establishing fiefs in the distant border regions, inland jungles, and mountains...

"Chief Divine protect us! These Jungle Totonac tribes, Jungle Soc tribes, are all scattered, residing hundreds, even thousands of miles deep within the hinterland jungle... With the roads of the tropical jungle of this era, trying to directly govern these various-sized Jungle tribes is impossible. Asking them to convert to the faith of the Chief Divine, accepting the Ancient Holy City as Holy Land, and regarding the Kingdom of the Lake as suzerain, is already the limit for now!"

"From here on, it would be controlling inland territories along the north-south flowing Great River, establishing a chain of diverse-sized fiefs in the jungle, transforming tribes into feudal states... Leading the charge are the Hidden Snake River outside Hidden Snake City, Sunrise River at Sunrise Village, and Red River at Red Lake Town..."

Xiulote slightly lowered his eyes, looking down at the small figures below the pyramid, patiently awaiting the ascension and descent of the hot air balloon miracle. The exalted prayers and hymns of the Chief God Priests echoed throughout the entire ancient Olmec ruins!

One row after another of abandoned temples and observatories, everywhere the mottled blue stone walls are depicted with strange snakes, birds, and jaguars. Right here, three thousand years ago, the initial Olmec city-state flourished for a time, scripting the nascent flame of a primitive era!

"But this wisp of nascent flame, after burning for a full three thousand years, finally has the possibility to become a vast prairie fire with my emergence!... I must guide them, like a true Great Prophet!"...

Xiulote murmured quietly, his eyes flickering with confidence and determination. He then once again raised the Divine Staff, shouting loudly and sternly.

"The Divine has arrived! Blood is the vow of allegiance to the Chief Divine! Life is the hymn of homage to the Chief Divine!... Come, bring forth the sacrifices for the Blood Offering! The esteemed Water Serpent Divine Descendant, Crocodile King Aayin!..."

"Homage to the Chief Divine, sacrifice Crocodile King Aayin!"

Layer after layer of shouts cascaded down from the high pyramid. The Priests first shouted in Mexica Language, then in Totonaq, a branch of Nava, and finally in the Maya-like Soc dialect. Hearing "sacrifice Crocodile King Aayin," recognizing this familiar Divine Descendant name, many tribal leaders below the pyramid, especially those of the Jungle Soc tribes, felt their hearts tremble, knees weak, and their reverence deepened once more.

Last fall, after the Mexica Death God Temple conquered the Hidden Serpent Holy City, annihilating the oldest sacred Totonac city-state, envoys were sent to the Jungle Totonac and Jungle Soc tribes to partake in the Olmec festival at the end of November!

Yet, at that festival, although each tribe sent representatives and brought tributes, nominally displaying reverence for the powerful Alliance, truly converting to the Chief Divine and submitting to the Kingdom of the Lake were only those Jungle Totonac tribes that witnessed the eastern expedition and knew the Kingdom's might.

These Jungle Totonac tribes maintained close connections with the Seaside Totonac tribes, intermarried, and even dispatched troops to join the eastern expeditionary forces of the Kingdom. They were aware of the Kingdom's formidable military strength, willing to join the newly formed Totonac Seaside Alliance. They were also willing to accept the faith of the Chief Divine and the guidance of the Chief God Priests while retaining most of the chieftain's autonomy...

This submission of the Jungle Totonac tribes also meant that the nominal control range of the newly birthed Seaside Alliance extended southward into the jungle by five hundred miles. The vast Seaside Alliance had already started substantial trade and interaction with the Oaxaca Valley and the Zapotec tribes of the Zapotec Coast.

The Oaxaca Valley, located in the southern Central America, is the main open-air copper mining area and one of only two known mined copper sites in the entire Central America. The Zapotec tribes here have used brass and red copperware for hundreds, even thousands of years, but have never developed the technology for bronze casting, and it remains the same now.

At this moment, accompanying the New Year festival and tributes, the first batch of copperware from the Oaxaca Valley had already flowed into the seaside, where the Kingdom's craftsmen added tin and lead to recast them into bronze weapons used by the warriors! This copperware channel was much more efficient compared to the thousands of miles of transporting bronze from the Kingdom, and it circumvents the need to pass through the territory of the Alliance...

"Ah! Heavenly Serpent Divine! Feathered Serpent Divine! Progenitor of the Moon and Sea!... The Mexica people, worshippers of the Evil God, attacked from the Northwest, casting a pall of blood and darkness over the jungle and the coast! And that fleet carrying gemstones was indeed the first gaze of the Evil God, a probing paw of the Evil Wolf! I, Crocodile King Aayin, should never have let go the probing gemstone fleet back then!..."

With snake-like tresses, Crocodile King Aayin cried out, issuing a cry of despair. He bears the noble bloodline of the Water Serpent Divine Descendant and is the supreme ruler of all city-states and villages encompassing over ten thousand tribespeople around Red Lake Town! The respected Water Serpent Divine Descendants govern the estuary of the Red River, intermarrying with the Soc tribes upstream and the Totonaq tribes to the west, forming a divine lineage that has lasted hundreds of years!

Since the eastern conquest of the Mexica people past Golden Bay City, Crocodile King Aayin has been keeping an eye on the news from the west. It was only upon the fall of Hidden Serpent City that he felt a palpable threat and terror, promptly dispatching envoys to pay tribute to the "Great Black Wolf Chief" who conquered Hidden Serpent City.

However, the brutal Great Black Wolf Chief ignored his envoys, instead bringing thunder and flames, large ships and the roaring Volcano Legion, appearing suddenly on the western jungle coast, west of Red Lake Town. The seemingly sturdy Red Lake Town barely resisted under the barrage of thunder and flames for ten days before being taken by the fearless Totonaq warriors! The revered Water Serpent Divine Descendants turned into captives, now to be sacrificed atop the pyramid to the Mexica's Evil God...

"Ah! Progenitor of the Moon and Sea! The strength and greed of the Mexica people are insatiable! They are the minions of the Evil God, the ancient Evil Wolf forever starving!..."

Before the sacrificial stone at the top of the pyramid, Crocodile King Aayin bared his full mouth of snake fangs and gemstones, issuing one last, piercing shout in the jungle's Maya Soc dialect.

"Chieftains of the Soc tribes! The day of my sacrifice is the morrow of your doom!..."