Nevertheless, the battle between these two sacred objects (referred to as the 'Holy War') wasn't the least bit intense or spectacular. Bluntly speaking, it was akin to a tiny snake competing against a bean sprout. Moreover, 99% of the battle was spent in a stalemate.
Ultimately, the sapling 'Stairway of the Sun' desperately absorbed energy from the meteorite fragment, exhausting the fragment completely. Finally, it dissolved and absorbed the coiled serpent completely. However, it paid a disastrous price. Its originally sparkling and translucent stem was now surging with blackness, akin to a cup of clear water being poured into a blob of ink. Its leaves and tentacle-like tendrils drooped down.
At this moment, Old Aram finally heaved a long sigh of relief. Wiping away his sweat, he was brimming with relief. Right now, only his vitality was injured, and his foundation wasn't harmed. With proper recuperation, it probably wouldn't affect his lifespan, and could even restore his youth. Observing Sheyan's conflicted expression, Old Aram pondered carefully and hesitated for a moment before speaking.
"Outsider, your current situation is exceedingly rare. You only obtained the sapling of the 'Stairway of the Sun', but not its withered leaf. You can no longer utilize conventional methods to obtain the strength of the 'Stairway of the Sun'."
Sheyan could only smile bitterly. How could he possibly support the shady business of entering the ruins to harvest the withered leaf of the 'Stairway of the Sun'? Instead, Sheyan quickly understood the underlying meaning behind Old Aram's words. He immediately turned to Old Aram and asked in astonishment.
"Don't tell me you have other methods?"
Old Aram pondered a little before replying.
"Within our Ndipaya royal family, there is an ancient ritual passed down from a long time ago. This ritual is called 'Babu-Babu-Ra', a unique method of utilizing the 'Stairway of the Sun' of our royal family. The Coiled Serpent and Sun subtribes both borrowed the strength of the withered leaf of the 'Stairway of the Sun', while 'Babu-Babu-Ra' utilized another method."
"You should know by now, the 'Stairway of the Sun' motherplant is an exceedingly cruel plant. It would personally kill its own sapling. Our ancient ritual is actually used on those dead saplings of the 'Stairway of the Sun'. However, those saplings were all killed by the mother plant. Not only is your saplings in a half-dead state, it has also been bitten by an Ouroboros. I cannot guarantee that the ancient method will be effective. More importantly, even if the Babu-Babusar ritual is successfully performed, the mortality rate of this method is similarly high, and it will be very painful! "
"What happens after you succeed?" Sheyan suddenly asked, "Since this method has been passed down, it must be useful. What will happen if it succeeds?"
Old Aram recalled briefly before replying.
"I'm unable to use your words to describe the power obtained after success. It's completely different from the power obtained by the Sun subtribe and Coiled Serpent subtribe. The changes to their bodies aren't huge, but they can cause thousands of people to lose their lives unknowingly."
Sheyan pondered for a moment before taking a deep breath.
"Tell me the method first. I'll think about it."
After freeing himself from the coiled serpent's clutches, Old Aram's mood was exceedingly good. Thus, he agreed to Sheyan's request. Instead, he fished out an exceedingly ancient rope from his back. That rope was densely packed with different knots. Upon witnessing this scene, Sheyan instantly recalled an ancient custom he had heard of – 'Knots to record history'!
Such a method of passing down history and culture may seem unimaginable, but it actually existed in many ancient civilizations with long histories.
The Book of Changes had a saying – 'In ancient times, knots were used to govern. Later, sages used books to govern. Officials used to govern, citizens used to observe.'
The knots were usually tied in accordance with the principle – 'Large matters, large knots are used as ropes; small matters, small knots are used as ropes. The number of knots depends on the number of objects.'
Moreover, such a custom wasn't unique to China. The Indians had similar practices as well. Of course, to decipher those knots of different sizes into words, one could only rely on the incantations passed down from generation to generation.
Old Aram's coarse fingers stroked through knot after knot. Gradually, he immersed himself in the realm of communicating with the gods of his ancestors. His mouth emitted a mysterious and distant language, with a hint of sanskrit. Even if one couldn't understand a single word, a bizarre melody would seep into one's heart.
After a long while, Old Aram finally spoke to Sheyan.
"Babu-Babusar's method is very cruel, and once it starts, it can't be stopped. If it doesn't succeed, then you will become its food and slowly watch it devour your body. This process will even last until the sun rises and sets twice. Are you sure you want to accept it?"
The sun rises and sets twice, an entire 48 hours had passed. Sheyan listened to Old Aram's sluggish voice and couldn't help but feel a chill in his heart. He coughed and asked.
"Then …... I'm referring to what will happen if I can't endure it any longer and attempt to forcefully stop it?"
Old Aram replied with certainty.
"The greatest possibility is that you and the host will perish together. Another possibility is that Babu-Babusar's ritual will fail, and you will be unable to obtain strength. The records of our ancestors are extremely detailed. This ritual cannot be interrupted by any external factors. Once it is interrupted, it will fail. "
Naturally, Sheyan was planning to immediately return to the nightmare realm and forcefully restore his body once he discovered something amiss with this ritual. However, it seemed like this plan could only preserve his life, and the ritual would definitely fail. At this juncture, he didn't have much of a choice. Clenching his teeth, he could only endure.
"Are you certain you wish to proceed with Babu-Babusar's ritual? Let me tell you, the larvae of the 'Stairway of the Sun' used by our royal family are all malnourished and dead. Unlike your current larvae, not only is it extremely robust, it seems like there's a chance of survival. Instead, the chances of a problem occurring is extremely high. "
"I understand, let's do it." Sheyan was already riding a tiger and couldn't back down.
Old Aram shrugged his shoulders when he saw Sheyan persisting.
"Fine, hold on. I need to search for the records regarding Babu-Babusar."
Sheyan took several deep breaths and shut his eyes to wait. After a full 10 minutes, Old Aram remained silent. Raising his head, Sheyan saw Old Aram scratching his head in shame.
"I'm truly sorry. The records regarding Babu-Babusar's ritual have been placed at home. Wait for me here, I'll immediately return to retrieve it …..."
Sheyan was speechless.
"...... wait!! Why don't you bring me along? "
Logically speaking, Sheyan wasn't allowed to stray beyond 5 kilometres from the Kijuju Marshland. Otherwise, he would be forcefully teleported back. However, under Old Aram's guidance, they broke this rule. Instead, the realm notified them that they could only move about within Port Qom, and would be teleported back to the nightmare realm.
At present, the pirates had already set sail and returned to the caribbean sea. They hurried to return when the winds were favorable, which would at least save them half a month of turbulence at sea. Returning with bountiful rewards, their morale was soaring, and they should be speeding up their voyage.
Without a doubt, Old Aram possessed absolute authority within the tribe. After returning to the tribe, he first instructed his clansmen to prepare some items. Then, he proceeded to search for some bizarre medicinal ingredients. Finally, after rummaging through his pointed roof straw hut for half a day, he finally retrieved an item from his basement. Upon seeing this item, Sheyan was astonished. It was shockingly a wrinkled skull!!
This skull had obviously undergone a special treatment, as it had strangely shrunk down to the size of a fist. Its surface was brownish red, and due to the oil seeping out from its skin, it appeared rather glossy to the touch, as though it had been waxed. Due to severe dehydration, its facial features were squeezed together, and it appeared as though it was grimacing in malevolence.
After seeing this skull, Sheyan finally realized that these barbarians of Port Qom were similarly savage cannibals. He reckoned that this frightening creature occupied the position of 'sausages' and 'cured meat' in the diet of these barbarians. Could it be that this old thing knew that his stamina would be greatly depleted, and wanted to replenish his stamina first?
Sheyan didn't expect Old Aram to be so reverent towards this skull. After prostrating himself on the ground and praying devoutly, he was even muttering some incantations. After a nearby barbarian introduced the skull, Sheyan realized that this skull belonged to Old Aram's grandfather. It was made like a shrine or a memorial tablet to express reverence.
After Old Aram picked up this shrivelled skull, he soaked it in clear water. One could observe large amounts of hair within the skull that had absorbed sufficient water, before extending into the water like a braid. When the clear water thoroughly stilled, the hair at the back of the skull had dispersed from the soaking, forming into a braid of knots.
Old Aram squinted his eyes, as he laboriously uttered some words that Sheyan couldn't understand. He appeared to be concentrating on identifying the knots of the braid, and analyzing the meaning behind them. At this moment, Sheyan wished he could toss a pair of reading glasses to Old Aram. If this old man remembered wrongly, wouldn't he be the one to suffer?
Observing Old Aram's actions, Sheyan couldn't help but sigh in his heart. Such a method of recording secrets was truly flabbergasting. Even if one stole away this shrivelled skull, one would never be able to comprehend the meaning behind it.
After a long period of time, Old Aram's lips twitched slightly, as he solemnly asked Sheyan.
"Are you certain you wish to proceed with the Babu-Babu-La ritual?"
Sheyan snappily replied, "That's right.
"Let me answer you for the last time, I'm certain."
*****
That day when I was censored, the title of the chapter was * * *. How many brothers have guessed correctly?
Haha, I hope you can recommend me. (To be continued.) If you like this work, I welcome you to * * (qidian.com) to vote for me. Your support is my greatest motivation.)
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