Cardinal Orben led Hao Ren and the rest out of the palace and through a secret path to a church facility near the cathedral. Hao Ren looked around curiously along the way. He found that the palace and the cathedral were very close to each other. In fact, they were almost a pair of twin buildings, separated only by a wall. It was rare to see such a scene in other kingdoms: two authorities so closely linked, there was no gap between the imperial and divine powers, each ruling the country in their own fields. It seemed that Holletta was indeed a unique place.
Night had fallen, and they were walking on a secluded path, so the atmosphere was very quiet. The top of the exquisite brass lampposts on both sides of the path shed soft white light, illuminating the path and outlining the silhouettes of the bushes on the roadside. A little further away, the tall and magnificent outer wall of the palace stood like a cliff in the night. Two round moons were rising from the tallest minaret of the palace, and the big red spot of the moon was like the indifferent eye of a giant watching the earth.
Lily was slightly excited under the moonlight. She gently shook her ears, listening to the noise of the night market from the distant street, and the shadow of the moon was reflected in her golden eyes. She took a deep breath and wagged her tail. "Whooo — fresh air. The wind blows the veil, the moon is like frost, I look at the old clothes under the window. I remember I used to have a house in Beijing, and I could see the best moon in the middle of every month. Tsk, tsk. Unfortunately, I didn't live there after the war. I haven't seen such a beautiful moon for decades... This world is actually not bad, at least there's one more moon than Earth. "
People suddenly looked at Lily like she was a monster, and the latter was shocked. "Why are you all looking at me?"
"Did you get a stomachache?" Vivian kept a two-meter distance from Lily, as if she was afraid that the big dog would bite. "Why are you suddenly like a literary girl? And who did you steal those two lines from?"
Lily glared at him, bared her teeth, and threatened, "I am a young woman of literature and art! No matter how bad your amnesia is, you can't forget this, right? Also, what do you mean steal from whom? I wrote it myself! "
The corner of Hao Ren's mouth twitched as he glanced at Lily. "I know you're a hipster, but your usual look is just too deep … Please let me know before you change your form next time. It's scary to hear a husky reciting a poem under the moonlight."
Lily rolled her eyes at Hao Ren and patted her belly. "I'm full, so I'm inspired. Most of my works are written while burping."
The group chatted idly as they walked. Archbishop Orben, who was leading the way, was able to keep his eyes straight the entire time. This bald uncle with a face full of bullet screen comments was as unsmiling as a block of wood, and he didn't show any personal emotions to the foreigners behind him. It was only when he led the group to a building that looked like a small monastery that he stopped and reminded Hao Ren. "This is where the branding ceremony is held and where the priests are trained. There are twenty-two such places in the city. To be able to do the branding ceremony in the capital is an honor for many of the priests."
Despite being stern, Cardinal Orben still explained a little more thoughtfully.
He then gently knocked on the door of the small monastery and called the priest on duty out to say a few words before walking forward. "Come, a new believer is being branded. You can see how a mortal receives the goddess' blessings and becomes the spokesperson of the divine authority."
The group walked into the monastery and saw that it was brightly lit.
The Disciples of Glory was huge and had countless priests. The 'branding' was a ritual that even the most basic of priests had to go through. As such, these small monasteries had people receiving the blessing almost all the time. The new priests would study the holy scriptures in these small monasteries and learn all sorts of mystical knowledge. They would undergo a series of training and tests, and once they reached a certain 'standard', they would be chosen to be branded in the small chapel of the monastery. Only after being branded would they have the right to enter the cathedral to meet the pope and take on various duties.
In the brightly lit chapel of the monastery, a holy yet bizarre ritual was being carried out. Hao Ren and the rest were led to the scene by a page from the side door. Archbishop Orben gestured for them to not make a sound and just watch quietly.
In the middle of the room was a thick leather cushion with a diameter of more than two meters. The cushion was painted with faint golden paint and was filled with cryptic and mysterious symbols. Some of them were Letta runes, while the rest were ancient runes that were even more powerful than Letta runes. These symbols that contained power flickered with a faint light, constantly projecting some blurry words in the air. And a young priest in linen robes was lying in the middle of the cushion. He was the new disciple for today's branding. Around the young man stood three elderly priests. Each of them held a thick scripture in their hands and were softly reciting the most sacred sentences, which were the few chapters that no one could understand.
The branding ritual seemed to have started when the three teachers teamed up to farm an unlucky student.
The young priest noticed that there were unexpected strangers entering the scene. Even Archbishop Orben had appeared. He subconsciously became nervous. Archbishop Orben shook his head at him, and he hurriedly gathered his spirit and returned to the ritual.
After reciting a passage of scripture, an elderly priest placed the scripture on the young priest's chest. "Pierre Raymond, servant of the Goddess, do you have a strong mind that can see through all the evil in this world? Do you have a strong faith that can carry out all the teachings of the Goddess? Do you have a strong will that can face all the difficulties and obstacles in carrying out your mission?"
"I swear in the name of the Goddess, with my life, I will carry out the path that she has designated."
"Then you shall receive the holy blood. It is the wine that the Goddess has bestowed upon you. It will cleanse your mortal soul and allow you to hear the voice of the Goddess. You will carry out the greatest justice in this world. It will also examine your heart. If there is a shadow in your heart, it will devour you. Pierre Raymond, now recite the name of the Goddess, and you shall be promoted. "
Lily watched the ritual as it proceeded. She suddenly muttered, "Why does it look like a cult..."
Hao Ren immediately covered the maiden's mouth. The few seconds that the artsy young man had been hallucinating, he could not let his guard down against this idiot for even a moment! The Husky's habit of speaking without thinking was probably due to its luck that it had not been beaten to death yet.
But in truth, Hao Ren did not have the right to talk about others. His mouth was not that strong, and in fact, what Lily muttered was exactly what was going through his mind...
Fortunately, her voice was very low, and even Orben, who was standing closest to her, did not hear it. In the middle of the room, the branding ritual had reached its final step.
A servant brought a pale golden "artifact" to the old priest who presided over the ceremony. It was a strange-looking, long-necked container. Half of it was made of gold, and the other half was made of transparent glass. Through the glass shell, one could see a blood-like liquid moving inside.
The old priest pointed the tip of the container at the forehead of the young monk, and pressed it down. "May you be accepted by the Goddess."
There was a hollow syringe at the tip of the container. It pierced the skin of the baptized monk, and the blood-red liquid in the container immediately began to emit a faint glow as it flowed through the syringe into the body of the young monk.
Almost at the same time, the round cushion filled with mysterious symbols shone brightly, and the ancient runes with various effects were activated one by one, beginning to assist in the ritual. The body of the baptized person suddenly tensed up, and thin golden-red lines spread out from the small hole on his forehead that was pierced by the needle, as if the blood vessels under his skin were swelling one by one. The young monk let out a suppressed growl, and his body trembled violently as if he was struck by lightning.
Something powerful was changing his body structure — especially his brain structure.
The whole process lasted for a few minutes, and then everything calmed down. The young monk had successfully completed the 'blessing'. He sat up, drenched in sweat, and when he opened his eyes again, there seemed to be a strange glow in them.
"The voice of the Goddess is echoing in my mind..." The young monk said incredulously.
"This is the Branding Ritual," Cardinal Orben's voice jolted Hao Ren out of his reverie. "The sacred blood will bestow upon this young man extraordinary powers. He will be able to use divine arts that only the baptized can master, and from then on, he will be able to hear the voice of the goddess in his mind."
"What's in the bottle?" Vivian's voice was unusually serious. "I feel that it's very familiar... like the 'lifeblood' that flowed out of the First Born."
Orben was silent for a moment, and his voice was low. "When we first found out about the 'First Born', the higher-ups of the Church did speculate that, and it even caused a little panic. But we have found out from the manuscripts found in the second sacred cavern that it was not the 'lifeblood' of the First Born, but the blood of an even more ancient and sacred origin..."
Hao Ren suddenly realized what it was. "It's a sample of the Seed of Origin."
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