Aztec Civilization: Destiny to Conquer America!-Chapter 1653 - 1179: The Lost Divine Object, the Greatest Secret of the Mayans…

The jungle night envelops like ink, and scattered torches ignite within the temple. The glazed "Ancient Saint's Skull" is offered on the golden altar, gazing at the high dome and the stars. Meanwhile, two descendants of the Serpent Divine silently sit facing each other in a dimly lit side chamber.

"Ti'aj Kin, light the divine smoke..."

The Maya Kuhuajaw Ti'aj Kin nodded silently and lit the sacrificial Maya divine smoke in the clay basin. Soon, the rich smoke permeated the stone chamber. Old fox Tikalo took a deep breath, revealing a rare expression of comfort and puzzlement. He gently swayed his long hair, reminiscing about the turmoil of his childhood after the fall of the Mayapan Royal Family, the dreadful attacks of the Xiu Clan, the face of his father that was long forgotten, and the clan secret his father had told him before his passing!

"Uncle? ... Uncle? ..."

"Oh! ..."

"..."

"..."

In the stone chamber, the two gazed at each other. Seeing Ti'aj Kin's eager longing and expectation, Tikalo sighed faintly and spoke softly.

"With the Serpent Divine's blessing and the spirits of forebears, we now have a chance for revival... Ti'aj Kin, you are the clan leader and a Maya king! You must remember: the rule of the divine descendants depends on human hearts and force, upon food and weapons! ... Though divine objects are sacred and can influence people's leanings, they do not actually decide anything; otherwise, the Divine Capital Tikal would not have fallen..."

"Yes! Uncle, I understand... Well... about the secret of the Ancient Saint's skull, the divine object?..."

"Phew! The secret of the Ancient Saint's skull is passed down mouth-to-mouth by the descendants of the Serpent Divine. It is the greatest secret of the Maya world!... And those who know this secret, besides us Tikal branch of Serpent Divine descendants, perhaps only the Xiu branch might grasp some scattered fragments..."

"Oh, Serpent Divine! I was planning to take this secret to the Netherworld… But since you have asked, at such a crucial time for the clan… Ti'aj Kin, should you clash with the Mexica and be stranded in a swamp… perhaps this genuine ancient secret could save your life from the Mexica's grasp!..."

"Ah?! This, save my life?... Uncle..."

"Shh! Listen to me sing..."

Old fox Tikalo hushed softly, signaling his nephew to be quiet. Then, he solemnly raised his long head slightly, as if trying to see the stars through the heavy stone ceiling, yet seeing nothing. In the silence of the stone chamber, only the old man's hoarse chant remained.

"'The Ancient Saint never speaks, but the descendants of gods can hear His voice. The sound comes from the divine skull, flowing into the minds of divine descendants, and the words turn into images... He perished beneath the divine tree of the kapok, his body merged into the trunk, flickering majestic light... Ultimately, the Ancient Saint left only the immortal skull, forever gazing at the starry sky...' This truly ancient hymn passes through divine descendants. Yet, this song is not complete! The Serpent Divine descendants who possess the Ancient Saint's Skull have also inherited the subsequent half that details the divine power of the skull!…"

Within the drifting divine smoke, Tikalo spoke again. This time, he sang in the ancient, unpolished Golden Age Maya language, with a timeless and rustic elderly tone, singing perhaps a hymn known only to himself…

"Oh, the skull of the Ancient Saint, gathering the divinity of the world, containing the power of the divine spirits! Serpent Ancestor's Great Prophet lifts the immortal divine object, which flashes a bright light!…"

"The elusive sounds emanate from the endless and ethereal divine realm, causing the Serpent Ancestor to gaze vacantly… It's the voice of All Gods: incomprehensible, indistinguishable, unrecordable… The Serpent Ancestor craves divine guidance, yet can only remember the dazzling stars with a blurry longing… Indeed, the starry sky is truly the vast river! Whereas the world is merely a water droplet, with gods residing somewhere in the starry river…"

"Exceptionally clear voices emanate from the nearby human realm, making the Serpent Ancestor grasp human hearts… It's the voice of the mundane, filled with desire, ignorance, prayer… The mundane awaiting the Ancient Saint's guidance, listening to His voice, just as they did when He was alive… On the pyramid, the Serpent Ancestor lifted the skull! Henceforth, He became the Ancient Saint, no longer needing words to be heard…"

"Ah! Oh, this!…"

Upon hearing this, Ti'aj Kin trembled all over, his face showing true astonishment. He finally couldn't help but speak, his voice filled with almost burning eagerness!

"Uncle! Are you saying… as long as I hold the skull of the Ancient Saint, I can command the Ancient Saint's power, directly communicating with gods and mortals?!…"

"Yes. But also no… Hmm, certainly not! It's not that simple…"

Old fox Tikalo pursed his lips, solemnly shook his head.

"Ti'aj Kin, I know what's in your heart… Yet, besides the initial Serpent Divine descendants who personally served the Ancient Saint and received enlightenment, and the Serpent Ancestor's Great Prophet, countless generations of Serpent Divine descendants cannot harness the power of the Ancient Saint's skull, nor hear even the faintest sound… Instead, certain extraordinarily wise, stars-tracking scholars with focused minds, can briefly make the skull flicker…"

"In reality, after the Serpent Ancestor's Great Prophet died, this truly divine object withdrew all its light, lost all divine power, and became a sacred symbol entirely… Ancestors worshiped it, offered to it, much like the images of All Gods, until the Golden Age collapsed, and the blood-weeping Serpent Divine descendants migrated north…"

"Ah! No longer can any ancestor wield the power of the divine object, until the collapse of the Golden Age and the clan's northern migration?…"

Upon hearing this, Ti'aj Kin's eyes suddenly brightened, slightly lifting his chest. Clearly, he possessed a youthful confidence, believing himself to be the true chosen one, different from past ancestors...

"Uncle! You've said so much… But where exactly is the genuine divine object, the Ancient Saint's skull?!…"

"The genuine divine object… was lost at the end of the Golden Age… a thousand years ago, when the Teotihuacan Empire captured the Divine Capital Tikal…"

"Ah!… Ah this?!…"

"Ha! Ti'aj Kin, your expression? Surely you were cursing me silently… Don't hurry, though the divine object was lost, the Mayapan Royal Family has always strived to scout its traces… ultimately getting an approximate location…"

"Uncle! Please don't circle around the tree like a slow snail… Tell me directly, where is the divine object!…"

"Haha!"

Old fox Tikalo chuckled, then sighed deeply, his voice solemnly singing.

"Sacredness though has an end, even ancients face mortality… Oh, Tikal's Divine Capital! Fell into the highland army's hands, a great fire burned beneath the stars... The Stargazing Temple plundered, the Ancient Saint's skull lost afterwards…"

"A thousand years ago, the Teotihuacan army captured and plundered the Divine Capital, Ancient Saint's skull, along with numerous divine objects from the temple, were taken by the savage Teotihuacans..."

"To preserve the secret, to display the legitimacy of divine descendant inheritance, Serpent Divine ancestors at least twice forged fake Ancient Saint skulls… But the true divine object, harder than jade, cannot be destroyed or broken, nor will it decay in the river of time… Its extraordinary nature cannot be hidden!...

"Having obtained the divine object, perhaps the Teotihuacans knew its secret, but more likely, they knew nothing. Meanwhile, after carrying off the Ancient Saint's skull, in merely a few decades, the once mighty Teotihuacan Empire suddenly fell into decline, then mysteriously collapsed and vanished!"

"In the eyes of Serpent Divine ancestors, the Teotihuacan's demise was indeed due to offending the ancient divine object, suffering from the Ancient Saint's curse, leading to endless disasters, droughts, internal strife, plagues… In the end, aside from ancient stone ruins, no bloodline heritage was left by the Teotihuacans…"

"And the Serpent Divine gazed, pursued by ancestors through generations!… This Maya Golden Age divine object likely lies buried alongside numerous holy relics looted by the Teotihuacans, in their most revered City of the Gods, buried in their most glorious and divine capital city, also the ancient holy site revitalized by the Mexica, the eternal Teotihuacan!…"