activa-t Chapter 18 The Great Sacrifice! Transfer of Faith!
Chapter 18 The Great Sacrifice! Transfer of Faith!
The new ancestral hall has been completed.
The entire village fasted and bathed.
The sun rises in the east.
Lin Shi guided the way.
Sun Ming and the entire village stood solemnly, silently praying in their hearts.
The jade dragon statue, covered with red silk, was carried by eight of the strongest and most virtuous men in the village. They carried it slowly from the carving workshop into the main hall of the ancestral temple and placed it on a stone base that had been prepared in advance, slightly higher than the stone toad statue to the side and in front.
Lin Shi unveiled the red silk.
Sunlight streamed through the specially designed window lattice of the temple, casting its rays upon the jade dragon statue! The luster of the jade blended with the sunlight, making the entire statue seem to come alive, its scales shimmering and its eyes sparkling with life!
At the same time, the water in the clear pool moved without wind, and three clear, melodious waves rang out, as if in response!
"Auspicious omen! A very auspicious omen!"
Sun Ming was so excited he almost fainted.
The villagers all knelt down and performed the three kneelings and nine kowtows ceremony before the solemn statue of the dragon god.
Lin Shi suppressed his excitement. He was about to reach a crucial point on his path to becoming a god. Three days later, on the first full moon after the completion of the new shrine, the first formal grand ceremony would be held. Whether the dragon could replace the stone toad statue and directly absorb the power of faith would soon be revealed.
Shixi Village.
An atmosphere of anticipation and solemnity permeated the air.
It was not clear.
All the villagers gathered in the square in front of the ancestral hall.
Solemn silence.
The main gate of the ancestral hall is open.
The offerings on the altar were more abundant and cleaner than ever before.
Fresh wheat, fresh fruit, clear spring water, and scaleless cleaned fish are neatly arranged.
Incense and candles are all prepared.
The auspicious time has arrived.
The ceremony begins.
Sun Ming led the group to first bow to the stone toad statue to their side, expressing gratitude for its long-standing compassionate protection. Then, Sun Ming took a half step back and looked at Lin Shi.
Lin Shi, dressed in a clean, plain linen robe, took a deep breath, stepped forward, and faced the jade dragon statue that gleamed warmly in the morning light. He then recited a new and more complete prayer aloud:
"We humbly acknowledge the Lord of the Azure Pool, the Supreme Dragon God who brings rain and wards off evil, who manifested as a fossilized toad, bestowing blessings upon our land; and who dwells in the abyss, whose power shakes heaven and earth. Now that the temple is completed, his true image is reverently enshrined. All of us believers devoutly take refuge in him. We humbly pray that the God will accept the power of our faith, increase his virtue and power, and forever guard this place, bestowing upon us lasting blessings!"
Lin Shi carefully considered the matter, and the key point was to clearly point out that the "true appearance" is the main body of the dragon god image "accepting this faith power". Only when the name is correct can the "speech" be legitimate, and it cannot be taken lightly.
After Lin Shi finished reciting the prayer, he led the villagers to kneel and worship the Qingyu Jiao statue.
The devout thoughts of hundreds of people, as if drawn by an invisible force, began to converge on the statue.
"Please, God!"
"Accept!"
Lin Shi was highly focused, and his voice suddenly rose in pitch.
The dragon's clone at the bottom of the pool opened its vertical eyes, and a wisp of its original aura and a powerful divine soul swept through the void, forcibly infusing it into the jade dragon statue.
Vision!
It happened in full view of everyone!
Under the sunlight and the gaze of hundreds of devout eyes, the interior of the jade dragon statue suddenly shone with a soft yet clear pale golden light.
As if originating from the depths of the jade, flowing along the carved lines, especially bright in the eyes, dragon horns, and reverse scales, instantly filling the entire statue with an indescribable spirituality and sacredness!
It was as if it had truly "come alive," breathing and absorbing the faith offered by everyone!
Meanwhile, the stone toad statue next to it, though still ancient, appeared somewhat "dimmer" in comparison, as if some invisible luster that originally surrounded it was weakening and shifting.
Even more miraculously, the surface of Bibo Pool began to ripple rhythmically, with the center facing the direction of the ancestral hall, as if the underwater entity was responding joyfully.
"It's a miracle! The Great Dragon God has accepted our offerings!"
"Our faith was absorbed by the idol! I felt the idol coming 'alive'!"
"Look! The pool is responding! The true form is happy!"
The villagers were so excited that they could hardly contain themselves, tears streaming down their faces. They prayed even more fervently, offering up their most sincere beliefs without reservation.
Lin Shiqiang suppressed his excitement.
It worked!
The Jiao Shen statue directly absorbed more than 90% of the villagers' concentrated pure faith power, while the Shi Chan statue only absorbed less than 10% of it.
More importantly, the process of transmitting the power of faith absorbed by the Jiao Shen statue to the avatar at the bottom of the pool is extremely efficient with minimal loss! Almost 95% of the power of faith can be smoothly transformed into the power to nourish the Jiao Shen avatar!
Compared to the previous method of transferring power through the stone toad statue, which resulted in extremely high losses and the dragon only receiving 10% of the faith power, this represents a qualitative leap. This means that with the same devout worship, the power that the dragon's clone can now obtain is almost exponentially increased.
The ceremony has ended.
The pale golden light of the jade dragon statue slowly receded, and its warm and spiritual quality remained. It was clearly different from ordinary jade carvings, no longer just a simple jade carving. It carried the will of the divine ruler and was a sacred object capable of transmitting faith.
Lin Shi announced the new sacrificial ritual.
Villagers can perform daily worship ceremonies.
Upon entering the shrine, one should first pay homage to the stone toad incarnation. This is an act of gratitude.
We then worship the true image of the Dragon God. We offer our faith and strength.
Finally, they faced the Azure Pool and bowed in reverence to communicate with the gods.
The first and fifteenth of each month are the official days for worship.
It is hosted by oneself.
The entire village participated.
Those who are away from home should have the newlyweds in the family perform the ritual on their behalf and inform the Dragon God in person.
Standing in front of the Dragon God Temple, Lin Shi watched the endless stream of villagers devoutly worshipping the faintly glowing jade dragon god statue, and his heart was filled with clarity.
Building shrines and erecting statues is not just for ceremony and majesty, but also an upgrade of the "infrastructure" of the belief system.
The effects are becoming apparent.
From then on, the stone toad and the dragon god each had a name and title.
The dragon god is the principal deity. The stone toad is the secondary deity.
The Jiao God is no longer a simple local religious symbol, but a living and powerful guardian deity with divine status, combining compassion and majesty, rooted in reality and in control of nature.
This faith is perfected through integration, becomes unbreakable through the "personal presence" and "response" of the true deity, and becomes tangible and real through the construction of solemn temples and lifelike statues, deeply rooted in the daily life and spiritual world of Shixi Village.
More importantly, with the use of the new shrine, the flow of faith has undergone subtle changes.
The faith power gathered at the Jiao Shen statue is more concentrated and direct. The Zunqing jade statue is like a more efficient "faith power receiver" and "transfer station", continuously transmitting the gathered will power to the bottom of the pool in a way that seems to have less loss.
At the bottom of the pool, the dragon felt the pure power surging in like a torrent, almost without any loss, and felt so comfortable that it almost groaned.
Under the continuous impact of the powerful force, a loose link on the cold chain made a series of crisp sounds, and a tiny but real crack appeared.
The divine name has been established, the true form has been revealed, the temple has been built, the shackles that hindered the loss of power have been broken, and the efficient channels for absorbing power have been constructed.
It's time to gain more trust!
Only when this torrent of power becomes even more turbulent can it not only help the clone dragon break free of its chains as soon as possible, but also become the greatest reliance for dealing with future crises and moving towards a wider world.
Lin Shi's gaze seemed to pierce through the roof of the ancestral hall, over the fence of Shixi Village, and into a wider world beyond the mountains, where there were more unknown challenges, but also more believers who could gain more faith and power. He and his avatar dragon were ready to step onto a bigger stage.