Chapter 1338: The Blessing of the Salt God, the Wisdom of Rune, and the Sky Breaking

Gods are born sacred, and their birth is naturally different from that of humans. They were born in the vision of heaven and earth caused by the union of Amaterasu Tsukuyomi-no-Mikoto, the god of thunder Baal, and the goddess of salt Heulia.

They emerged from thunder, from the ground, from the sea, from under the trees... Then, the first batch of gods combined with each other and gave birth to the second batch of gods.

The power of each generation of gods will degenerate, their strength and ministry will become weak, and finally some gods will become monsters and demons that have been contaminated by the essence of gods.

Some of the degenerated descendants of gods became the first humans of Izumo Province.

It's for the royal family.

Some of the royal family became shrine maidens and priests, and then split into noble families and common people without surnames.

In Izumo, thunder and salt are sacred.

Thunder is the beginning of a bountiful harvest of wheat and rice, and is also the supreme authority. Salt is a sacred object that removes filth, and offering salt can gain the blessing of the salt god.

Even the death brought from the underworld can be purified by salt.

Both the major and minor purification rituals require salt or salty sea water that represents the nurturing of life.

When returning from a funeral, people would sprinkle salt on their bodies to prevent the filth of death from entering the house.

At restaurants and other places, there are beautifully shaped triangular pyramidal salt pillars at the entrance. This is the "salt pillar", representing the pillars that once emerged from the salt island to support the world.

People count by one or two people, but God counts by one pillar or two pillars.

Because all gods are meant to support the world like the original pillars.

The world is above chaos, and in chaos there is a dark void. Humans are protected by the gods, and the underworld, the land of "death", is the filthy and ominous place closest to the dark void.

The "Salt Pillar" is also placed in front of every house as a pillar to represent the place where God will descend, so people pray for God's protection and His coming.

At the same time, it can cleanse filth and ward off ghosts and monsters wandering around at night.

Forbidden knowledge also flows in the Izumo Kingdom. Craftsmen forge magic soldiers. The magic soldiers are bloodthirsty and murderous, thirsting for the blood and souls of the living, and severing memories and existence with one sword.

The Onmyoji, who controls the elements and the shikigami, is ordered to encircle and suppress demons in various places and collect the magic soldiers from all over.

The imperial city is located in "Heian-kyo", where people pray for peace in the face of unrest.

The Demon Locking Tower and the Demon Suppressing Tower are guarded by the strongest Onmyoji from each Onmyoji's room. There are even evil demon kings such as the Yamata no Orochi, the Two-Faced Buddha, and Shuten Douji in the tower.

The entire capital city is surrounded by a huge formation, using dragon veins to suppress demons and monsters from all over the place.

This day is the grandest festival.

According to legend, it is the day when Amaterasu Tsukuyomi-no-Mikoto meets the god of thunder and the god of salt. Because the gods have to search for each other eight times before they become husband and wife, the festival lasts for eight days plus an extra day.

Human beings have retained the custom of hide-and-seek, and people often disappear during the game. Of course, this is not a gift from God, but rather demons and monsters who have stolen God's name and robbed children and young girls.

However, in this festival, no one will "disappear". Even if they disappear, they will appear at dusk on the eighth day.

Because that’s when hide and seek ends.

People can also pray for the return of relatives and friends who have disappeared during the year during the festival.

As long as they haven't committed any heinous crimes involving human feuds, kind people who have strayed into the monster kingdom or the dark kingdom can find their way home.

The floating life Amaterasu Tsukuyomi, who goes by the pseudonym Jiang Yi, appears at the festival with Baal and Heulia.

Fireworks bloomed in the sky, and red strings and bells rang crisply in the streets.

Red, white, black, yellow... Darumas of various colors were swaying, and on the big tree wrapped with ropes, the ink on the prayer papers was not yet dry.

Young boys and girls can enjoy the atmosphere of the festival while wearing yukata and holding the amulets they prayed for at the shrine.

Even late at night during the festival, demons and monsters did not dare to enter Heian-kyo to cause trouble.

Because the dazzling bright moon illuminates the entire world and the underworld.

"She was a slightly different Inazuma." Shin showed a look of nostalgia.

"There is indeed such a country in my memory, but it is hazy as if there is a layer of gauze between us." Jiang Yi found his name again over the years, but did not get his memory back completely.

The Dharmakaya and Yuanshen that transcend time and space, and are eternal, indestructible and unchanging, allow him to go through countless calamities and remain one with his true self.

For Jiang Yi, if the time dimensions of the different mythological worlds were leveled, then his time in Jiangyang Realm was the day before yesterday, his time in the Garden of Eden world was yesterday, and his time in Takama-ga-hara was today.

The time periods of other myths also occur in different time periods of these three days.

Of course, because the vortex of time is moving forward and backward, from the perspective of the Avenue Tree that evolves the universe and all realms, except for the original Jiang Yang Realm, all other worlds seem to be born at the same moment.

"It will be the annual blessing again!" Jiang Yi looked at the high altar and the dance to invite the gods became more grand and solemn.

According to tradition, every year, after people offer sacrifices, they will bestow blessings.

The festival is a day of joy and fun for many people, but for the powerful and wealthy it is actually the most stressful time of the year.

Report the achievements of the year to the heaven and pray to Amaterasu Tsukuyomi-no-Mikoto to bless the country and humanity.

God will send messengers to punish good and evil. If the royal family makes mistakes that displease God, and their sins are very serious, then on this day, the royal family will need to abdicate, and a new family will be granted divine blood to take the throne.

The sacrifice to the Thunder God is to pray for good weather and a good harvest in the new year.

The sacrifice to the Salt God is to pray for good luck and a good marriage in the coming year.

The Salt God is the most people-friendly god.

In fact, every wedding ceremony of the newlyweds has her blessing.

This blessing can be traced back to a long, long time ago, to before this world was born, when Heulia was no longer in her original body, but during the Demon-God War, when she once walked the land of Liyue.

She once distributed bouquets to her people as a way of bestowing blessings.

Later, the tradition of this flower ball spread to Liyue and became a hydrangea used in wedding ceremonies.

The bride will throw a bouquet of hydrangeas to the guests who come to the wedding. Those who catch the hydrangeas are said to have good luck for the whole year: businessmen will have good fortune, poor people will be blessed, unmarried men and women will meet good marriages, and married couples will treat each other sincerely and no longer quarrel over the bumps in life.

Therefore, she is actually the oldest god of marriage.

In today's world, she is even more so.

Because she represents the first marriage in the world.

Moonlight, thunder, salt like snow, and God's blessing descended upon the land of Izumo.

The heaven and earth are clean, and all filth is gone.

But... in the underworld, it seemed that a dark sun was rising.

……

Asgard, the king of gods, the god of knowledge - Odin, came to the world tree with a strong desire to pursue knowledge.

The wise giant guarded the holy spring next to the tree and demanded that Odin pay with one eye in exchange for drinking the water from the holy spring, which is the Well of Wisdom.

Without a second thought, Odin hung himself upside down on the tree for nine days and nine nights.

"Nine nights hanging from a windswept tree, wounded by a spear; I was offered as a sacrifice to Odin, to myself, on a tree no one knew! No bread to satisfy hunger, no water to quench thirst. I looked down, picked up the runes, cried out as I picked them up, and fell from the tree."

A crystal blue spear came from nowhere and pierced Odin's eyes.

All his powers were sealed, and he became a dying mortal.

At this moment, just like at that moment, in the forgotten past, in the past named Jiang Yi, he had already offered his right eye to the sky, was pierced by the nail of punishment, and became a mortal on the verge of death.

So... the ceremony began, reversing cause and effect, grafting time and space.

This is one of the three main roots of the World Tree. This World Tree is connected to the Tree of the Great Avenue that opened up the universe and the World Tree in Teyvat, and thus, endless information and knowledge are pouring in.

All the memories of Teyvat above and below the ground, the joys and sorrows of all civilized beings, the crystallization of wisdom, the mysteries of the gods returning to the elemental cycle... all flowed into the broken eyes.

Those are words that carry destiny, words that carry magic, the most original words on the World Tree, words that have the power to rewrite the rules and transcend the level of the elements.

Ancient immortal seal characters, alchemical runes, abyss spells, stone root characters, the languages ​​of the seven countries... countless characters that still exist in Teyvat or have been lost on the land and in the sky of Teyvat today form the "Runes".

"Rune" is the name given to this spell in this mythological world, not its original name.

But it doesn’t matter. The name is just a code in front of such words and will not affect its power.

If such a spell is engraved on wood, stone, metal or any other material, dust will become treasure and ordinary soldiers can kill gods.

Transformed into language, it is the "spirit of words" that rewrites the world.

Odin, who had gained the intelligence to write runes and manipulate words, fell from the World Tree and drank the holy water of the Fountain of Wisdom. The indigestible memories and knowledge turned into hard blocks like stones in his mind, making it impossible for him to think. But when the water of wisdom flowed into his body, his mind became clear.

The blocks of knowledge were washed away and turned into flowing, thoroughly understood knowledge.

He completely acquired the "wisdom of Rune".

A wise person who has attained omniscience.

At the same time, he has also achieved omnipotence and is an omnipotent person.

He is tall, with a dark grey cloak on his shoulders, the edge of which is inlaid with shining stars, and a wide-brimmed hat as blue as the clear sky, reflecting the afterglow of the setting sun in the sky. His deep, piercing single eye sees through the mystery of life and death, wise and serious.

He changes between youth, middle age, and old age, holding in his hand a spear made from a branch of the World Tree - Gungnir.

He has returned to Asgard.

The God-King who controls prophecy, kingship, wisdom, healing, magic, poetry, war, and death is supreme, and no one and nothing in this world can oppose His authority.

Just like in another world, there is Zeus, the king of gods, who can string all the gods together and pull up the earth and the ocean with a golden rope easily with one hand, and no one can defeat him.

"Jiang Yi... Jiang Yang..." The God King murmured something that did not belong to this world. The World Tree in Teyvat recorded Jiang Yi's information, but not Jiang Yang.

He looked down at everything in this world, and then fell into a deep sleep.

On his shoulders, two crows, representing "thinking" and "memory", fly around the world every day and report everything they see and hear to Odin without reservation. At his feet, two big wolves, representing "greed" and "gluttony", eat all the meat offered by mortals for him and lie on both sides as guards.

"I will wake up at the dawn of Ragnarok, and my many incarnations will disguise themselves as humans and wander the world in many disguises."

The words left by the King of Gods echoed in the temple.

At the bottom of the world, a black dragon named "Despair" and countless other snakes were entwined and gnawing at the roots of the World Tree, and the fire of catastrophe was spreading under the World Tree.

……

Kunlun Mountain, Emperor Xi’s Palace.

The Great Compassion Tree King slowly put his clothes back on. His pointed ears were still red from being licked. He tied up his long silver hair to wipe away the red marks on his white neck.

Emerald eyes wavered like water: "Are you still having those strange dreams?"

Jiang Yi seemed a little embarrassed today: "I think those dreams should be about the future."