Chapter 509 Imprinting Ceremony

The unsmiling Cardinal Oban led Hao Ren and the others out of the palace and through a secret path to a church facility near the cathedral. Hao Ren looked at the surrounding scenery curiously along the way. He discovered that the palace and the cathedral were very close to each other - in fact, they were almost a pair of twin buildings, separated by only a wall. It is difficult to see this kind of scene in other kingdoms: the two authorities are so closely linked, with no barriers between imperial power and divine power, and they each play a role in ruling the country in their own fields. It seems that Horleta is indeed a unique place.

At this moment, the night has fallen, and everyone is walking on a secluded path, so the surrounding atmosphere is very quiet. The tops of the exquisite brass lampposts on both sides of the road shed soft white light, illuminating the road while also outlining the shadowy outlines of the shrubs on the roadside. A little further away, you can see the tall and majestic outer walls of the palace looking like shadows in the night. Standing like a cliff, two moons are rising from the tallest spire of the palace. The moon's big red spot looks at the earth like the eyes of an indifferent giant.

Lily was a little excited under the moonlight. She twitched her ears gently, listening to the noise of the night market coming from the distant streets, and her golden eyes reflected the shadow of the moon. She took a deep breath and swung her tail: "Ah - fresh air. The wind is blowing and the moon is like frost. I check the old clothes under the window - I remember that I had a house in Peking and I could see it every mid-month. The best moon, tsk tsk, but unfortunately I stopped living there after the war. Then I haven’t seen such a good moonlight for decades... This world is actually pretty good, at least it has more moons than the earth. "

The people around him suddenly looked at Lily as if they were looking at a monster, which frightened the latter: "Why are you looking at me?"

"Did you have a bad stomach just now?" Vivian kept two meters away from Lily, as if she was afraid of being bitten by a big dog, "Why did you suddenly become like a female literary youth from the Republic of China? And who did you steal those two poems from? of?"

Lily glared, gritted her teeth and threatened: "I am originally a young and artistic woman! No matter how severe your amnesia is, you will not forget this, right? And what do you mean by stealing from someone, I can write it myself!"

Hao Ren glanced at Lily with a twitching corner of his mouth: "I know you are a female literary youth, but your usual image is too deeply rooted in the hearts of the people... Please let me know in advance when you switch forms next time, and listen to the husky suddenly chanting a few words under the moon. Poetry can easily scare people, you know?"

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 of people walked and chatted all the way. Archbishop Auburn, who was leading the way, was able to keep his gaze straight the whole time. This bald man with a barrage of comments on his face was as unsmiling as a wooden man, and he did not show any indifference to the foreigners behind him. mood. It wasn't until he led everyone to a building built like a small monastery attached to a cathedral that he stopped and reminded Hao Ren: "This is the place where sealing ceremonies are held and priests are trained. There are twenty people in the whole city." With two such places, it is an honor for many clergy to be able to perform the tattoo ceremony in the royal capital."

Despite being serious, Archbishop Auburn still explained a few more words very thoughtfully.

Then he gently knocked on the door of the small monastery, called out the priest on duty to explain a few words, and then walked forward: "Come on, a new believer is receiving the seal. You can see how a mortal is." Accept the blessing of the goddess and become the spokesperson of divine power."

Everyone walked into the monastery and saw the bright lights inside.

The Huiyao Sect is very large, with countless clergy, and "stamping" is a ritual that even the most basic priests must perform, so these small monasteries have people receiving this blessing almost all the time. Newly promoted priests study holy scriptures, learn various mystical knowledge, and undergo a series of training and tests in these small monasteries. Once they reach a certain "standard", they are selected and tattooed in the monastery's chapel. After being stamped, they are eligible to enter the cathedral to meet the pope and assume various teaching positions.

In the brightly lit chapel of the monastery, a sacred and strange ceremony is taking place. Hao Ren and the others were brought into the scene through a side door by a page boy. Archbishop Auburn told them not to make any noise and just watch quietly.

In the middle of the room was a thick leather mat with a diameter of more than two meters. The mat was covered with obscure and mysterious symbols painted with pale gold paint. Some of them were Leta runes, and the rest were more than Leta runes. Want ancient and powerful ancient runes. These powerful symbols shimmered, projecting vague words in the air. And a young monk wearing linen robes was lying in the center of the round cushion. He was the newcomer who received the tattoo today. Standing around this young man were three elderly priests. Each of these three priests was holding a heavy classic and were reciting the most sacred sentences in it softly-that is, the most inaudible sentences. Those chapters you understand.

The tattooing ceremony seems to have started when three teachers formed a group to slay an unlucky student.

The young monk noticed that unexpected strangers entered the scene, and even Archbishop Auburn appeared. He was subconsciously nervous. Archbishop Auburn shook his head at him, and he quickly gathered his energy and returned to the ceremony.

After reciting a verse, an old priest placed the holy scripture on the young monk's chest: "Pierre Raymond, servant who is favored by the goddess, do you have a strong mind that can see through all the evil deceptions in the world? Do you have a firm belief to follow all the teachings of the goddess, and do you have a strong will to face all the difficulties and obstacles you have to face in fulfilling your mission?"

"I swear in the name of the goddess, I will use my life to follow the path appointed by Him."

"Then you will receive the sacred blood, which is the wine given by the goddess. It will wash your soul as a mortal, so that you can hear the voice of God from now on, practice the greatest justice in the world, and it will also test you If there is a shadow in your heart, you will be swallowed up by this shadow. Pierre Raymond, silently recite the name of God now, and you will be promoted."

Lily watched the ceremony eagerly and suddenly muttered: "Why does it look like a cult scene..."

When Hao Ren heard this, he quickly covered the girl's mouth: Those few seconds of artistic young woman were indeed hallucinations. He couldn't let down his guard against this bastard for a moment! The Husky's habit of talking without thinking has not been beaten to death just because he is lucky, right?

But in fact, Hao Ren is not qualified to talk about others: his mouth is not much stronger. In fact, what Lily muttered was exactly the thought that was running through his mind at this time...

Fortunately, the sound here was very low, and even Oban, who was standing nearest, didn't hear it. In the center of the room, the tattooing ceremony has reached its final step.

A waiter brought a pale golden "magic weapon" to the old priest who led the ceremony. It was a weird long-necked container, half of which was made of gold, and the other half was made of transparent glass. You can see blood-like liquid sloshing inside the glass shell.

The old priest pointed the tip of the container at the forehead of the young monk who received the "stamping mark", and then gently pressed down: "May you be accepted by God."

There is a hollow needle at the tip of the container. It pierces the skin of the baptized person. The blood-colored liquid in the container immediately begins to release a faint light and is injected into the body of the young monk along the needle.

Almost at the same time, the round pad filled with mysterious symbols burst out with light, and the ancient runes with various efficiencies were activated one by one to assist in the ceremony. The whole body of the baptized person suddenly tightened, with thin golden and red threads. It spread along the small hole punctured by the needle on his forehead, as if the blood vessels under the skin were swelling one by one. A suppressed roar came from the young monk's throat, and his whole body trembled violently as if struck by lightning.

Something powerful was changing the structure of his body—especially his brain.

The whole process lasted for a few minutes, and then everything calmed down and the young monk completed the "blessing" smoothly. He sat up sweating profusely, and when he opened his eyes again, a strange light seemed to flash in his eyes.

"The goddess's voice is echoing in my mind..." the young monk said in disbelief.

"This is the tattoo ceremony," Archbishop Auburn's voice woke Hao Ren up. "The sacred blood will give this young man extraordinary power. He will be able to use divine magic that only the baptized can master, and from now on Hearing the voice of the goddess in my head.”

"What's in that bottle?" Vivian's voice was extremely serious. "I feel it is very familiar... It's like the 'source blood' flowing out of the eldest son's body."

Archbishop Auburn was silent for a moment and said in a low voice: "When we first learned about the 'Eldest Son', some high-level people in the church did speculate like this. This even caused a little panic, but we have found out from the manuscript found in the second sacred cave that that Not the 'origin blood' of the eldest son, but the more ancient and sacred blood of the root..."

Hao Ren suddenly realized what it was: "It's a sample of the original seed."