Chapter 278 New Year Festival, the King's Will

The blazing sun continues to rise, emitting infinite light and heat, shining on the magnificent Great Temple Pyramid. The shadow cast by the pyramid gradually shrank, leaving only the deep darkness inside the temple. The figure of the elder disappeared in the darkness, the high priest's arm was raised in the light, and the ceremony gradually reached its climax!

One by one, the blue sacrifices climbed onto the high platform, and bursts of warm cheers resounded through the sky. The sun god opened his eyes indifferently. He gazed at the bright colors and admired the picture of life; He smoked the curling smoke of the gods and asked for tribute from the soul; He licked the burning flames and devoured the flesh and blood sacrifices. Finally, under the high-pitched chanting of the priests, He let out a contented sigh, shook the heaven and earth like thunder, and sent the incarnation to the world!

"Boom, boom, boom!..."

On the gun mount made of pure gold, three thick new wooden cannons were pointed at the sky and ignited, suddenly erupting with a shocking roar! The artillery wind swept across, and the flags of the three gods were fluttering behind the artillery mount. The three images of Huitzilopochtli are painted on the flag in sequence: the main god sitting on the throne, the sun god wearing a golden crown, and the god of war holding lightning. This symbolizes that the wooden cannon in front of you is an artifact given by the gods!

The violent sound of cannons brought awe-inspiring power, making the sky shake, the earth tremble, and everything fell silent! All the people in the square immediately fell to the ground in awe under the divine power, and the envoys from various countries also knelt down in fear and saluted. The high priest then loudly announced.

"Praise the Lord God! The incarnation of the Sun God, the Grand Tratoani of the Alliance, the supreme king, comes to the festival!"

With a grim face, Avitt walked to the edge of the pyramid of the Great Temple, holding the staff in his hand. He wears the attire of a king with a sun painted on it, a fine obsidian crest on his head, and a gorgeous cloak inlaid with gems on his back. For today's ceremony, he came to the side hall next to the main temple very early to prepare. He waited until the immortal elder left before he appeared as the only king.

At this moment, the king climbed to the top of the mountain, looked down at the ant-like crowd, and enjoyed the kneeling and admiration of all the people. A faint smile formed on his lips. He glanced around the pyramid, at the thick wooden cannons that were still smoking, as well as the royal cannons busy loading, and nodded secretly.

"This kind of roaring wooden cannon can shock people's hearts! It is suitable for use in festivals to declare the power of the royal family!"

Ever since he first saw the power of the wooden cannon, Avitt had completely fallen in love with this new weapon. Rather, he admired the loud roar of the explosion.

In the eyes of the king who controls the hearts of the people, the power of the wooden cannon itself is actually not amazing. However, in this ignorant age of devout gods, if the wooden cannon is given the cloak of divinity and used as an artifact given by the gods, it can directly hit people's hearts on the battlefield and accomplish a task that is difficult for thousands of warriors to complete! This time during the battle with the Tlaxcala Legion, the roar of wooden cannons successfully damaged the opponent's morale. And the aerial cannons used in the festival can also shock all peoples and states!

Avitt looked majestic and looked down for close to a moment. The crowd in the square remained motionless and prostrated in awe for a long time. It wasn't until he saw that the gunners had finished loading that the king raised his staff and shouted loudly.

"With the blessing of the Lord God, the battle between gods is great! I offer the most precious sacrifice to the supreme Lord God! That is the king of Tarasco, Kasonchi of the Prepecha people, and the divine king Suangua!"

"Sacrifice to the King of Tarasco, Suangua!. Boom, boom, boom.!".

Hundreds of priests chanted in unison, followed by three more cannon shots that sounded like the roar of gods. The community priests shouted God's will, and the 250,000 people in the capital gradually became quiet.

Then, the distant bamboo flute sounded at the end of the main road. Surrounded by nearly a hundred warriors, a full forty strong men carried a wide wooden platform on their shoulders and slowly approached from several miles away. They walked past the houses of common people, through the gardens of nobles, and past the pyramids of priests. Under the gazes of tens of thousands of people and the fanatical shouts of the people, they finally arrived at the Temple Square!

Shusok clenched his spear, opened his eyes wide, and looked at the wooden platform that was getting closer.

I saw a silent young man sitting on a gorgeous wooden platform, surrounded by four beautiful girl priests. He was wearing Tarasco's Condor King uniform and a forked kingdom feather crown on his head. Although his expression was pale, he still carried a bit of the power of being in a position of power for a long time. Under the guidance of the priest, the wooden platform deliberately detoured from the area where the envoys gathered, causing waves of shocked sighs.

"Really, really the King of Tarasco, Suangua!"

"He was actually captured alive here as a sacrifice for the alliance!"

"The Kingdom of Tarasco, which has been strong for two hundred years, ended up like this!"

"Ah, Your Majesty!"

The wooden platform passed by slowly, Suangua lowered his head and remained still, as if he had fallen asleep. It wasn't until he walked through the blue sacrificial procession and heard the familiar shouts that he couldn't suppress that he opened his eyes again. Familiar and unfamiliar figures of the great nobles of Tarasco appeared and disappeared in front of the king's eyes, causing his lifeless eyes to waver again.

"The descendants of the Kingdom, the King of the Condor, go to the Kingdom of God together and face the ancient ancestors, how wonderful!"

The wooden platform slowly walked to the front of the big temple, and then landed heavily on the ground. Su Angua smiled miserably, stood up from the wooden platform, and faced his destined fate calmly. Step by step, he climbed up to the 60-meter pyramid temple; step by step, he passed hundreds of priests and warriors. All the way to the last step, the blazing holy fire reflected his pale and calm face. Not far away, Avitt raised his crest high and smiled broadly, like a joyfully welcoming Sun God.

Suangua turned his head and watched the sun rise into the sky, with no clouds in sight. Then, his eyes followed the sunlight downwards, illuminating the tens of thousands of tiny people under the pyramid. Tens of thousands of faces looked up at him with excitement and anticipation. A realization of fate arose in King Tarakos's heart. He suddenly recalled a fleeting thought he had while watching the "House of Winds" sacrifice a long time ago.

"It turns out that the Mexica's world-famous sacrificial ceremony actually looks like this! I actually saw the spectacular New Year's Eve ceremony in this way."

Suangua suppressed the sadness in his heart and glanced at the line of sacrifices for a long time. He saw several of his sons, several brothers from the royal family, but not the small figure of Chatigny. King Tarakos nodded silently and finally climbed up the last step, truly facing the king of Mexica for the first time.

"King of Tarasco, blood of the condor, Suangua, greets you! King of Mexica."

Suangua lowered his head, clenched his fists on his chest, and performed the courtesy of meeting a king.

"The master of the world, the bloodline of the Lord God, Avitsotl, accepts your greetings! The former King of Tarasco."

Avitt stood upright, without moving his arms, and just nodded slightly. The joy of revenge turned into a smile at the corner of his mouth, filling his chest!

"Suangwa Kasonchi, remember your promise!"

"Well, King of Mexica, please remember your promise."

Avitt nodded slightly. Then, he finally couldn't help but raise the staff high and laughed out loud. The laughter was filled with uncontrollable joy!

"Haha, hahaha!"

Right in front of Avitt, Suangua slowly knelt down without being forced by any warriors or taking any medicine!

"King of Tarasco, Suangua, surrenders! The king of Mexica is the master of the world! This is the promise of the Lord God!"

The high priest watched all this closely, and then shouted loudly. Soon, hundreds of priests repeated it again, followed by five thousand warriors and tens of thousands of city citizens. Waves of sound swept outward one after another, accompanied by the shouts of thousands of people, from the temple in the center of the capital to the edge of the floating island in the lake.

"The king of Mexica is the master of the world!"

Hundreds of thousands of people in the capital fell into complete frenzy. Deafening shouts rose from under the pyramid, making Avitt's smile brighter. He laughed, reaching out and grabbing Suangua's hair. Then, he looked solemnly, looked into the other person's humiliated and angry eyes, and said calmly.

"The Sun God is both stern and merciful. Suangua, do you have anything else to say before going to the Kingdom of God?"

Hearing this, Su Angua closed his eyes and thought silently for a while before sighing and chanting.

"I have always compared myself to a condor, not a mediocre rat fish, but the kingdom perished in my hands!"

Ah, I am driving a big boat through the water! The ship ran aground and was damaged, and the heavy rain stirred up wind and waves. The crocodile opens its mouth and bites back, while the cardinal flees in fear. Only the loyal hummingbird fell before me, and its withered wings are sad.

Ah, then I knew: This is the three gods who want to defeat me. It is not the fault of losing the battle, but the destined final chapter! "

Listening to the king's last poem, Avitt was slightly moved. He waved his hand, and one of the priests took out a pen and paper and copied down the poem in shorthand.

"Don't worry, Suangua! Your poems will be sung in the epic and will be immortalized together with the Mexica's military exploits. Now, my old acquaintance, please let me personally send you to the Kingdom of God!"

Suangua nodded. He took off his royal robes and traditional feather crown. With a calm expression, he walked to the sacrifice stone and lay down. The five priests and elders skillfully held his hands and feet and suppressed his body. Then Avitt personally raised the obsidian dagger and drew a shining arc!

"ah!."

The bright sunlight quickly dimmed in an instant, and the cloudless sky had no deep end in sight. Su Angua trembled violently for a while, and his eyes completely lost focus. His soul turned into a wisp of blue smoke, flying along the deep sky to the distant kingdom of God and to his lost ancestors.

"The respected and glorious Tarascoca Sonchi, the descendant of the Jiao people, and the brilliant King Suangua, the divine descendant, have gone to the kingdom of the sun god!"

The high priest shouted passionately, and the sacred declaration echoed throughout the temple.

"He left a final verse: I will follow the will of the Sun God and face the failure of the God War calmly. The Prepecha people are destined to join the alliance. This is the final chapter of fate! Praise him, the heroic king! He converted to the Lord God before he died and will enjoy peace forever in the Kingdom of God!”

The chants of the high priest spread far and wide, once again triggering cheers like a landslide and tsunami, and almost crazy prayers!

Avitt stared at Suangua's fallen body, smelled the blood on the tip of his nose, and let out a long, faint sigh. At this moment, when he looked at the bright red stain on his old friend's left hand, he felt inexplicably lost, and his sadness passed away in a flash.

"Your Majesty, this poem?"

The priest holding the pen wrote quickly and recorded the high priest's version of Suangua's poem again. He then looked at two different versions of the poem and asked for the king's decision.

Hearing this, Avitt's expression became solemn and he instantly regained his composure. He took out the original manuscript of the poem from the priest's hand, read it one last time, shook his head slightly, and plunged into the blazing holy fire.

"Just do as the high priest said, record the epic and sing it throughout the world!"

The following sacrifices were just as grand and glorious, bloody and gorgeous, enthusiastic and unforgettable as before. The ritual sacrifices of duels between nobles, the tearful dance sacrifices of girls, the performance sacrifices of the main gods, and the harvest sacrifices on the lake. The nobles and royal families of Lake Patzcuaro were wiped out, and the old rulers went to the kingdom of God, taking away the old dreams of the Kingdom of Tarasco.

Waves of sound rang out in the wide square. There were excited cheers from nobles, heroic roars from warriors, sincere hymns from civilians, and fearful screams from foreigners. When the sun slowly set in the west and the sky reflected red clouds, the sacrifices stopped temporarily.

Avit solemnly raised the staff, and the shouts of the priests sounded at the right time.

"The sun god showed a red smile. He is satisfied with the sacrifice of the noble! Now, all the states of the alliance, pay tribute to the king! All the tribes in the world, pay tribute to the king!"

Under the guidance of the warriors, the envoys of the states of the alliance stepped forward and presented this year's tribute to the supreme king. When they walked to the front of the pyramid, they took a look at the head of Quius held high, and they were inspired and proud of the strength of the alliance; when they looked at the hanging head of Tepetl, they were afraid and in awe of the king's strength.

Xiusok's expression was solemn, frozen like a sculpture. The noble envoys of the alliance passed by him, and their eyes were both awed and alienated. It was not until Balda of the Lake Kingdom passed by that he stopped and bowed respectfully to the deputy leader. Xiusok nodded gently in return.

Following the team of envoys, Balda climbed the magnificent Great Pyramid. On the platform in the middle, he presented the tribute of the Lake Kingdom: a solid bronze middle armor, a close-fitting bronze dagger, two sacrificial brass ritual vessels, two boxes of shining huge pearls, and several ancient collections of the Tarasco royal family. Then, the Eagle Warrior took out a thick paper roll and handed it to the king's guards, which recorded the details of the large tribute.

Soon, Avit on the pyramid unfolded the paper roll. He only glanced at it and saw the words "six thousand catties of copper", then he raised his staff and nodded with great satisfaction. Barda then fell to the ground and paid homage to the king standing high, then turned back.

The tributes from the states of the alliance were the same as in previous years, which could be divided into exquisite tributes presented to the royal family and large tributes paid to the alliance. Not long after the establishment of the lake country, food, wood and stone were in short supply. The tribute required by the alliance was mainly copper, a specialty of the lake area and widely used.

Then came the foreign envoys from all over the world. They wore various costumes, looked respectful, and climbed the pyramid to present gifts. Unlike the envoys within the alliance, these foreign envoys were afraid when they saw the head of Quius held high, afraid of the strength of the alliance; and when they saw the head of Tepetl hanging, the fear turned into fear, fear of the cruelty of the Mexica.

According to the relationship, the first to pay tribute were the loyal vassals of the alliance, the Chontals and the Huastecs. Next came the unfaithful vassal, the Mixtec Alliance.

The Mixtec envoy carefully presented a huge wooden board. Avit took a quick look and nodded slightly. Mixtec not only paid all the tribute owed during the Western Expedition, but also presented a large number of feathers, dyes, spices, fruits, gold and gems from the rainforest. The king raised the scepter expressionlessly, and the other party felt relieved and bowed to the ground.

The same was true for the Zapotec and Tlapanic people. Avit had long remembered these unfaithful vassals, but it was not time to settle accounts. It was not until the Otopan envoy presented tribute on behalf of the Otomí people and humbly submitted and worshipped. The king smiled faintly on his face, thinking of his long-lost brother.

"Tisoque, my brother, the Otomí people have surrendered to me."

After the vassal, it was the foreigners. First was the respected holy city of Cholula. Then came the Totonac people on the coast.

"Descendants of the Jiao people, envoys of the Totonac, meet the king of the Mexica and pay tribute to the jade ring inherited from the ancestors of the Jiao people! This is a sacred object from the last era!"

The clear chanting sounded loudly. The high priest held up an ancient yellow jade ring and showed it to everyone. Afterwards, the jade ring was packed in a silver box and carefully sent to the temple for collection.

The annual tribute of the Totonac people is ancient cultural relics. They occupy the ruins of the Olmec civilization, and they have as many ancient cultural relics as they want, and they sell them to foreign countries from time to time. This kind of tribute is beneficial and free of cost. The Mexica Alliance is willing to accept it, which is much more cost-effective than paying tribute to a large amount of gold, silver, cotton, spices, and grain.

What's more, even if the real ancient cultural relics are used up, they can make their own cultural relics. Of course, facing a powerful alliance, the Totonac people will not risk angering the king, and the tribute is all genuine.

This year's grand festival is particularly grand, with hundreds of foreign envoys, the largest number in history. Those who presented gifts on stage included the chieftains of the northern and southern Tekos tribes, the headman of the highland dog race, the chieftain of the eastern rain forest, and even the Mayan merchants who served as envoys!

The last to present gifts was the envoy of the eastern Tlaxcala people. This was also the first time that the Tlaxcala people sent a formal envoy to the alliance after decades. The envoy wore clothes similar to those of the Mexica people and bowed his head humbly. He presented precious tributes, then raised his hands high and presented a wooden board with patterns painted on it. Avit took it and examined it, but it was a picture album for peace.

"Praise the Mexica God of War! Present property and noble women, present the Tarasco princess, withdraw the border legions, kowtow and beg for peace."

"Haha, the four directions are coming to pay tribute, the overlord of the world!"

Avite laughed loudly. At this moment, he was the supreme king who dominated the world! The Mexica Alliance controlled a population of 4 million people from various states, and nominally vassalized 3 million people from various tribes. It was entering its heyday under his rule! And he, Avite, was the Great Tlatoani of the Alliance, the master of the world with 7 million people!

Amidst the hearty laughter, the king stood on the top of the tall temple, watching the sun go west. The sky and the ground in front of him were all a vast bright red, like the magnificent kingdom of God in mythology. As the incarnation of the sun god, he looked down at the "ant colony" on the ground and raised the scepter again!

"Boom, boom, boom!"

Three cannon shots shook the sky, sending off the sun's departure, and also made countless "ant colonies" kneel and bow their heads, turning into waves under the king's feet.

"I am the incarnation of the Lord God, I am the only king, mastering the sky, the earth and the lake!"

Avite shouted to the sky, holding the scepter high in his hand, and the people crawling under his feet. His eyes contained two balls of flame that were going to burn all over the four seas and burn the entire world!