Aztec Civilization: Destiny to Conquer America!-Chapter 1535 - 1076: The Pyramid of the Moon, As Happy As Returning Home

April sunlight, the warmth of spring and flowers in full bloom. The Cloud Serpent Fortress stood tall and majestic among the mountains, overlooking the Tlaxcala Valley that stretched for tens of miles. Amidst this fertile valley, the black smoke from slash-and-burn agriculture could be seen, heralding the arrival of spring farming on the highlands.

Xiulote, dressed in a complex Chief Priest ritual robe, met with the Legion Commander of the Eagle Noble Battle Group, Giant Bear Stanley, who had come from the capital city to the main temple of the Chief Divine in the Cloud Serpent Fortress. This valiant general of the royal family was not only the most trusted family general of Avit but also a renowned warrior. He wore a long copper armor lined with cloth weighing forty pounds, yet moved swiftly and ran like a bear, kneeling respectfully on one knee to greet Xiulote.

"May the Chief Divine protect you! Your Highness Xiulote of the Divine Revelation, I have finally met you! The supreme God King has been waiting for you at the Lake Capital City for a long time, please accompany us on the journey as soon as possible!…"

Hearing Stanley's sincere "invitation to travel," Xiulote's eyelids twitched, offering a polite smile. He glanced at the dozens of Alliance Military Merit Nobles who came along with Stanley but did not see his father, Xiuxoke, the Deputy Head of the Eagle Legion. After a moment's pause, Xiulote nodded with a smile and agreed.

"May the Chief Divine protect us! Esteemed Eagle Legion Commander, let's depart as soon as possible!…"

Shortly after, Xiulote bade farewell to the Kingdom's Warrior Camp Commander Quetz at the Cloud Serpent Fortress, leading a thousand Imperial Guards down from the impregnable mountain city into the sprawling Alliance camps and legions. Fully armored, a thousand strong of the Eagle and Jaguar Noble Battle Group paid respects to the Wolf Banner of Death and the noble Highness. Besides these thousand Alliance Noble Warriors, there was also half a legion, four thousand direct warriors of the royal family, coming together to welcome Xiulote on their "journey." 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

"May the Chief Divine witness! To welcome me back to the capital city, the God King dispatched five thousand elite warriors… I have never been treated like this, I am indeed a bit overwhelmed by the favor!…"

Seeing this grand "welcoming" party, Xiulote laughed to himself, jesting a few self-deprecating remarks. Confronted with Xiulote's calm demeanor, Giant Bear Stanley sheepishly rubbed his nose, feeling a bit guilty. Actually, he carried a secret royal decree from the God King, to forcibly mobilize the legion to "insist" if His Highness was "unwilling to return" to the Lake Capital City.

"I have been campaigning in the Seaside Lands to the east for two years, and the villages and towns in the Tlaxcala Valley have regained quite a bit of vitality! Look at the busy farmers opening up the fields, their clothes and attire mostly from immigrants of the Texcoco Lake District!…"

"Your Highness Xiulote, what you said is correct! In recent years, the God King has repeatedly issued royal decrees, relocating the nobles of various states in the Alliance and the populations of their fiefs to the expansive Tlaxcala Valley. And in the area around the Four Snake City, except for the Cloud Serpent Mountain City occupied by the Kingdom of the Lake, it's the fief of His Highness Chimalpahin, which is also a key focus for development by the capital's royal nobles…"

At this point, Giant Bear Stanley turned to look at the towering, nearly impregnable Cloud Serpent Mountain City, which had taken the group half a day to descend from, and cautiously probed.

"However, may the Chief Divine witness! The four snake cities are interconnected, forming an entire entity. The Kingdom of the Lake's occupation of the Cloud Serpent Mountain City, garrisoned with so many warriors, might not be appropriate…"

"Oh! Praise the Chief Divine! The Cloud Serpent Mountain City is the only chief divine sacrificial site of the Kingdom Priesthood in the Tlaxcala Land. The original Cloud Serpent Temple in the mountain city is the ancestral temple of the various tribes of Tlaxcala, its significance is extraordinary, it must be guarded and suppressed by priests and temple guards!…"

"Of course, this mountain city fortress will eventually be handed over to the Alliance High Priesthood. After some more time… Well, have high-output chinampas also been built in the rivers and lakes of this valley? It has indeed regained considerable vitality! With this vast new fertile valley, the core foundation of our Mexica people is becoming increasingly stronger!…"

Xiulote chuckled a response, deftly shifting the topic away from the impregnable Cloud Serpent Fortress. Currently, this mountain city fortress, conquered and refurbished by the Kingdom, was garrisoned with a thousand Kingdom's Warriors, two thousand Kingdom's Militia, stocked with food enough for three thousand people for five years, having also restored all the subsidiary forts between mountains while expanding the range of the mountain fields!

After resting at the Cloud Serpent Fortress for two days, Xiulote decided to leave the thousand Kingdom's Imperial Guards he led there. In doing so, this fortress not only had the capacity for defense but also the strength for small-scale offensives… The two thousand Imperial Guards he brought along were selected from various tribes as non-Mexica warriors. Leaving a thousand guards here could play far greater roles than bringing them back to the Lake Capital City!

"May the Chief Divine protect us! Beyond the towering, snow-white Smoke Peak Divine Mountain, is the beautiful and prosperous Texcoco Lake District, which is also my birthplace!…"

A thousand noble battle groups opened the way ahead, with four thousand royal warriors encircling on all sides, escorting the Black Wolf's Royal Banner and a thousand Kingdom's Imperial Guards, embarking on the path west. The Smoke Peak Mountain Range loomed high, cutting off east from west. Though there existed a direct mountain road linking Texcoco Lake District and the Tlaxcala Valley, merely two to three hundred miles long, it wasn't easy to traverse.

With six thousand legions dispatched at present, they could only take the northern main avenue, heading west to Oak Tree City, then exiting the Divine Pass from the northwest. Next, they would proceed to the Teotihuacan Holy City in the northeast of the Texcoco Lake District, finally reaching the grand Lake Capital City along the Great Lake. Altogether, this journey would take about ten days, traversing the heartlands of the Mexica Alliance!

"The valley is narrow and long, surrounded by mountains like jade belts. The forest thrives, mainly consisting of oak trees. The roads wind, and the passes are perilous… If an army comes from the west, it must split into two routes. One takes the northwest main avenue, the other directly into the mountains…"

With a meditative expression, Xiulote viewed the mountain paths along the way, reciting brief reflections. Yet, perhaps from years of warfare's ingrained instincts, he surveyed the familiar terrain along the way, for the first time calculating how to advance from the east of Tlaxcala Land towards the northwest Mexican Valley.

"The Divine Pass is a critical bottleneck! Beyond the Divine Pass, heading straight west, one can bypass the northern Golden Citadel and directly strike upon my birthplace, the Teotihuacan Holy City!…"

"The ancient Teotihuacan Holy City, my homeland where I grew up. The Sun and Moon pyramids, over sixty meters high, and the forty to fifty-meter wide Avenue of the Dead! These magnificent wonders still stand tall after two thousand years, but there are few familiar faces of old friends…"

Once the six-thousand-strong legion arrived at the Holy City, Xiulote proposed to Giant Bear Stanley to offer sacrifices to the Chief Divine and ancestors atop the Moon Pyramid, reporting to the ancestors the feats of defeating the long-standing Tlaxcala foes and pacifying the Totonac Coast.

Hearing this proposal, Giant Bear Stanley was initially reluctant to agree; he only wished to deliver the "hot potato" His Highness Xiulote safely to the Lake Capital City, into the hands of the God King Avit. However, Xiulote's ancestors naturally were also the revered ancestors of the entire Mexica royal family. Were he to refuse this reasonable proposal, it might offend a large batch of the royal family's elders…

"Respected Highness Xiulote, please keep everything simplified and complete the sacrifices as swiftly as possible… Once arrived at the Lake Capital City, the God King has already prepared a grand celebration, to offer sacrifices to the Chief Divine, and announce them to the divinely blessed Mexica Royal Family!…"

"Good! Praise the Chief Divine! Just give me one day!..."

Xiuluo nodded with a smile, agreeing to stay just for a day. Then, wearing a light and short ritual robe, he walked barefoot on the brick-paved Avenue of the Dead, as if he was stepping onto the road home. With a beaming smile, he ascended the high Moon Pyramid for the first time and joyfully shouted. It was a place he had longed to climb as a child, dreamed of pursuing, and attempted many times, but never had the chance to reach the top of the pyramid!

"How majestic and towering! So high!..."

"Climbing high to gaze at the sun! Is this the way back?..."

"Before me, I see no ancients! This person is already gone!..."

"And after me, no one is coming... Should I leave too?..."

Giant Bear Stanley watched in awe as His Highness Xiulote ascended the sixty-meter-high pyramid top, gradually becoming delighted and singing songs of divine words that no one could understand!

"This... is this? Have the Ancestor Spirits possessed him?..."

Giant Bear Stanley broke into a sweat as he watched His Highness Xiulote, dressed in a short outfit and long hair, dancing gracefully on the narrow pyramid top, as if seeing death as nothing. Many times, His Highness's actions seemed like he was about to leap and walk the road to the Divine Kingdom!

"Your Highness! Your Highness! You... You'd better come down!..."

"Oh? Come down? No, I can't! I still have to go home!..."

A thousand Military Merit Nobles stared wide-eyed, watching His Highness performing a sacrificial dance atop the pyramid, thinking of those tales and truths of Divine Revelation, their hearts inexplicably shrouded with an unknown sense of divinity and mystery.

But in Giant Bear Stanley's eyes, His Highness atop the pyramid truly seemed insane! The ancient sacrificial dance steps, leaping and descending, sticking to the pyramid's edge, almost danced with the God of Death. At this moment, His Highness didn't seem to care at all about the death that would come if he lost his footing!

"Your Highness! Your Highness! I beg you! Please come down!... The God King is still waiting for you!... The Princess is also waiting for you!..."

"Oh? The God King is waiting for me?! Hahaha! Hahaha!..."

Xiuluo, exuberant and unrestrained, laughed heartily, dancing the ritual dance. On the several dozen steps of the Moon Pyramid top, he felt, for the first time, an inexplicable sense of returning home. And a peaceful, harmonious homeland seemed within his reach in the sky, in the unfathomable depths of his soul...

He was fearless, striding to the pyramid's edge, spreading his arms, embracing the vast sky and the strong wind! He gazed at the sixty-meter-high vast ground, devoid of any barrier, and instead of feeling nervous, he inexplicably found peace.

In this tranquil manner, he embraced the sky and the sun and moon, as well as the accessible death. Atop this homeward pyramid, he had a vague premonition, or perhaps an indistinct illusion.

"Here... is death not an end, but a new beginning? Is this true?..."

Xiuluo blinked, suppressing the inexplicable illusions in his heart. Then he heard the name "Alisa," which made him shudder and quickly gather back his uncontrolled cheer and indulgence.

"Ah! Alisa is waiting for me... Everyone is waiting for me!... It's not time to go back yet..."

Xiuluo closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, they were clear and composed. He laughed loudly, portraying a fearless self in the face of death, showing the fervor akin to being possessed by Ancestor Spirits.

"Hahaha! Let me ask the Ancestors! Do they want me to go back!..."

"Ahaha! The Ancestors gave me the answer! It's not time to go to the Divine Kingdom!..."

"They want me to go back! Then I shall return!..."