He changed Tiwat

Although they successfully completed the final step of the "Triangle Road Ritual," ascended to the top of the tower, and saw the true form of the "Great Sun Imperial Carriage," all those who had guided them through the ritual—the "Abyss Order," Aki, and those "ritual snapshots"—had all vanished...

It seems like none of the people present know what to do next.

Actually, it's not that nobody knows.

Han Fulai dared to confront Yuan Shang and Aqi before the ceremony ended because he was confident that he could complete the ceremony without their guidance.

He raised his hand and pointed to the "Sea God Envoy" statue in front of him, which looked like a decoration.

“Ying, take out your three ornament fragments and put them in the statue’s tray. Then take out the ‘Blood Coral’ you got from those two dragon lizards and replace the coral in the statue’s hand.”

Abe no Yoshihisa placed a statue of "Umi no Goshi" in this place, which was definitely not just for decoration—it clearly had a special purpose.

The parts of the statue that most likely contain "mechanisms" are the balance scale in its left hand and the coral branch in its right hand.

According to Kong Ge, those ornament fragments are the keys to obtaining the power left behind by Orobas. By completing the "Triangle Road Sacrifice" and combining the three fragments into one, one can obtain the power left behind by Orobas—"The Eye of Oath".

Agi stated that the essence of the "Sea God Spirit Festival" held at the Coral Palace was to use the remaining life force of the Serpent God, namely "Blood Branch Coral," to forcibly awaken the Serpent God's second familiar, "Coral King Mushi," who lived in the Abyss Palace.

The disc, judging by its size, is roughly the same as the three fragments of the ornament when pieced together, and is very likely used to hold the ornament. The coral branch is even more telling; Ying's "blood coral branch" is probably intended for this purpose.

Although Ying didn't quite understand what the statue was for, she had great faith in her "external brain," so she did as she was told without hesitation.

The instant she placed the fragments of the ornament and the "blood coral" in place, a silver band of light, which they were already quite familiar with, appeared on the stone statue of the "Sea God Envoy".

The statue began to speak.

"Do you want me to become the god of the abyss?"

A giant, pure white snake looked down at the boy before it.

"I chose to flee to the unknown sea because I was unable to defeat the God of Noble Gold and the God of Narukami. If you still expect light, you will surely experience loss again in the future."

“My death is nothing to speak of; I have had enough of the shame of living a life of dishonor and the disgrace of disgracing my name. But you have no need to follow someone like me.”

The boy stared silently and resolutely into the giant snake's eyes and nodded forcefully.

The giant snake showed the boy a pearl that resembled a snake's eye.

"Then take your oath before this 'Witnessing Eyes'."

"This is how I formed an alliance with the coral reefs."

The boy's companions were all talking about it:

Have you forgotten the teachings of your teacher, Spartacus?

"We cannot worship God; we must rely on ourselves for everything!"

The white snake remained silent, respecting the will of the people of the abyss.

If the ignorant worship of the "Son of the Sun" is overthrown by a new "faith," it is undoubtedly an insult to those who are resisting.

But the boy named Yuna, who did not give up the fight after the death of his teacher Spartacus, reached out to the strange giant serpent on behalf of his companions.

He once ventured alone to the "Snake Intestine Road" to destroy the "Dragon Bone Flowers" that eroded people's will. Now, he too is alone, reaching out to the serpent god from outside.

The moon does not emit its own light; it needs to reflect the sun's rays to illuminate the darkness.

The boy reached out and grasped his sun.

"To save my country, I swear to you to become your servant. Please lend me your strength so that the people shrouded in eternal night may see the light of the white night."

The giant serpent stared at the boy's thin arm and slowly said, "Then I will also swear an oath before this oath-bearing sage."

"Just like when I lost everything."

Chapter 348: The Great God of the Sea【4k】

"Time flies, the island is completed, the dragon lizards have retreated, and the affairs of the sacred land have been governed."

"The Coral Palace family, the Earthly Officials, and my envoys—my great wish before my eyes has been fulfilled."

"From now on, if any two or more parties are dissatisfied with the affairs of Yuanxia, ​​or if there is another solution."

"When the Tower of the Great Sun hears your decision, it will collapse on its own, obliterating everything from the past."

"After saying his last words, the Great God led the remaining people to the sea to fulfill his vow to the Heavenly Capital."

The statue of the "Sea God's Envoy" read out the final message of the Sea God in a rough, rock-like voice.

The history told by the statue is like the text carved on a stone tablet, straightforward and without any embellishment or emotion—but the charm of history lies in the fact that it can be breathtaking without any pretense or affectation.

From the statue's mouth, the group finally completed the last piece of the White Night Kingdom's history puzzle and learned the origin of the "Oath-Witnessing Eyes."

It was originally a testament to the oath between Orobas and the first "Sea God," a young Spartacus rebel named Umei.

The statue before them depicts the first "Sea God Envoy," Aki's ancestor, Youna. Aki's power to command the "Great Sun Imperial Carriage" through fragments of her ornament also stems from Orobas's final command.

The three fragments of the ornaments are things left behind by Orobas when he reorganized the court officials and reformed the system in the Abyss Palace after he decided to lead the Sea Gods back to the "Order of Heaven." They are three pendants, which were left to the Earth Official, the Coral Palace Priestess, and the Sea God Envoy, respectively.

Orobas did this so that after he "sacrificed his head," the Sea God Kingdom, having lost its god, could still maintain order and not perish in turmoil.

Therefore, he divided his divine authority into three parts, which were given to the Earth Official who represented the lineage of the Sea God nobles, the Coral Palace who represented the faith of the Sea God people, and his divine messenger, the "Sea God Envoy".

The Coral Palace holds administrative power, the Imperial Censor holds legislative power, and the Earthly Official, known as the "Armed Underworld Judge," holds judicial power. This system of "separation of powers" ensures that the three powers supervise and check each other.

A motion proposed by any one party requires the majority vote of the other two parties to pass.

In Orobas's vision, such a system would ensure that no single entity acts arbitrarily, and that tragedies like the "Son of the Sun" would never happen again.

When the statue tells this story, Han Fulai actually has a strong sense of déjà vu.

As far as he knows, the concept of "separation of powers" in Earth's history also originated in the ancient Greek city-states, and its source is the "separation of powers and checks and balances" concept proposed by the Greek philosopher Aristotle.

Aristotle believed that "the rule of law should be superior to the rule of one person," and that the three powers of government—deliberation, execution, and adjudication—should be separated to form a system of checks and balances among them, in order to maintain a balance of power in the state and prevent the arbitrary actions of any one agency or individual.

Orobas's concept perfectly aligns with this idea of ​​separation of powers and checks and balances.

"The Eyes of Witness" is a sacred oath to uphold the "separation of powers".

After expending a great deal of divine power to build the Sea God Island, Orobas sealed the remaining portion of its power within this "Witness Eye of the Oath," also leaving it to future generations in the form of "three parts," with each of the three families holding a piece of the ornament to inherit its power and continue to protect the people of the Sea God.

However, reality was clearly not in line with Orobas's vision.

The "Sea Gods' Envoys" are the retinue of Orobas. When the Sea God Omikami personally leads the army, his retinue naturally follows. As the armed force of the White Night Kingdom, the Earth Officials must also be at the forefront of the battle. On the contrary, the Coral Palace family, who are responsible for administration, need to stay behind to ensure logistics and appease the people.

As a result, after the war ended, only the Coral Palace family was able to remain largely intact among the three families, while the other two families were devastated by the war and later became virtually defunct.

Because of the passing of the Earth Officials and the "Sea Gods' Envoys," the ornaments bestowed by Orobas were also lost. The Coral Palace family couldn't even collect all three ornaments to retrieve the "Oath-Witnessing Eye," let alone inherit any power.

If it weren't for the Coral Palace family, who were priestesses, still possessing the "Undying Moonlight" originally used for ritual ceremonies during the Orobas era, and being able to gather the faith of some of the Sea Gods, Sea God Island might have even perished after the Eastern Invasion War two thousand years ago.

Thus, the only remaining family among the "Three Families of the Sea Gods"—the Coral Palace Family—inherited the remaining divine beliefs of Orobas and became "Living Goddesses of the Living," representing the Sea God Omikami in ruling the Sea Gods.

—Haigishima Island, which once underwent reforms and even possessed an advanced political system, has returned to the era of theocracy ruled by "humans, gods, and priestesses".

Although the Coral Palace family's rule was much better than that of the "Son of the Sun," in essence, it was still just a historical cycle repeating itself.

Although the Umi no Miko (sea creatures) have emerged from the dark depths of the sea to the surface, what awaits them is still barrenness, hunger, and a future of cruel exploitation by the Inazuma Shogunate...

Just as Orobas said when he made a vow to the boy Umei: "If you still expect light, then you will surely experience loss again in the future."

Of course, compared to having the entire Sea God Kingdom destroyed by Sky Island and barely surviving under the "Order of Heaven," at least they were still alive.

There is hope in life.

But if the people of that era were given the choice, many might have preferred to live their entire lives at the bottom of the abyss, rather than pursue the destined sorrow of the light...

After listening to the history told by the statue, Han Fulai was deeply moved.

In his view, the future development of Haegei Island is simply a historical inevitability.

Ultimately, a small island like Haigi Island cannot become powerful simply by implementing a certain system. The system must be adapted to the social realities of the country, not the other way around.

The old saying in Liyue, "A forced marriage is never sweet," perfectly illustrates this point.

Just like his recent "Meiji Restoration" implemented in the Inatsuma Shogunate, he did not abolish the old structure of the "shogunate" - because there is no "reform" in the world that can be accomplished overnight. All "reforms" need to have a realistic foundation. If the foundation is not mature, the "reform" can only be a castle in the air.

When he signed the "Li Hai Peace Treaty" with Xin Hai, he also made no mention of canceling the Coral Palace family's title of "Current Human God Priestess," nor did he make any move to force them to change their beliefs. Even though he actually needed the "wish power" of the Haiqi Island people, and Xin Hai was willing to contribute her "wish power" to him...

Countless martyrs of China have shown future generations through their own experiences that the path they explored was "a change of strategy when all other paths had failed," rather than a better method that they chose not to use.

Han Fulai also adhered to this principle when he reformed the Umijima Island and the Inazuma Shogunate.

The separation of powers designed by Orobas was indeed an ideal system, but the people of Haizhi did not have the power to maintain it.

Without the protection of the gods, the only practical system that Haiqi Island could implement was the "fish-like" governance described by Xin Hai: "Unity like a school of fish, overcoming the strong with the weak, is the way for Haiqi Island to survive."

At the same time, like a school of fish, when necessary, some members of the group are fed to predators in exchange for the survival of the majority...

For more than two thousand years after Orobas's death, Haigi Island endured this fate.

“Holy Land,” “Dark Calamity,” “Heavenly Command”… The weak Haiqi people endured two thousand years of passive acceptance of their fate.

until today.

"Until today."

Shenzi, Ying, and Paimeng all heard Han Fulai suddenly speak and say this sentence.

Han Fulai did not explain, but simply smiled.

"Alright, Ying, go and retrieve the 'Oath-Bearing Eye'."

The statue of the "Sea God Envoy" no longer speaks; its mission to convey history has been completed, but another mission continues.

The statue slowly moved its arms, raising the scales in its left hand high as if offering a sacrifice to the sky, while the "blood coral" in its right hand pointed to the ground, as if to sprinkle the blood of the serpent god, representing life force, onto the earth beneath its feet.

After it completed these two actions, a crack suddenly appeared on the statue's chest.

The crack begins at the statue's chest, extends up to the top of its head, and down to its hip bone, splitting the statue in two.

The statue's body slowly parted to the left and right, revealing for the first time since it was sealed away a treasure hidden within by the sea god Orobas—a pure white seashell.

Ying stepped forward, took the seashell, and examined it closely.

This is a very special seashell.

It was only about the size of two human hands, just the right size for Ying to hold in both hands. Although the shell was not large, its structure was extremely exquisite. It was carved with wave patterns symbolizing sea gods, torii gates representing deities, and a magnificent shell palace. Judging from its appearance, it was exactly the same as the coral palace they had seen before.

The shrine maiden Ruko had told them about the origin of the Coral Palace. The giant clam shell that built the Coral Palace was said to have been created by Orobas with divine power. The clam shell in Ying's hand was obviously also made by Orobas' divine power. Just by holding it in your hand, you could feel the elemental power fluctuations like ocean waves.

Under the watchful eyes of Han Fulai and the others, Ying carefully lifted the shell, and a dazzling golden light suddenly burst forth from it.

Ying felt as if she were holding a tiny sun, and even with her eyes closed, she couldn't block out its dazzling light.

It took her eyes several seconds to adjust to the sudden light.

The light came from a strange jewel, about the size of a fist, which shimmered with three colors—white like the sky, black like the ocean, and gold like the sun.

The three-colored light flowed endlessly within the jewel, together forming the image of a snake's eye.

This is the "bright eye of the oath".

With the birth of the "Oath-Witnessing Eye," Helios, the "Sun Chariot" behind it, seemed to sense it as well—as if echoing the light of the jewel, the cube at the core of Helios suddenly accelerated its rotation, and the "sunlight" it emitted became even brighter.

At the same time, the entire "Dainichi Mikoto" tower began to tremble, and even the platform at the top of the tower where everyone was located showed signs of instability.

Meanwhile, in the three corners of the entire Abyss Palace, the "Spirits of the Mortal World" hidden in the earth veins or the "Illusion of Yang Flame" also revealed themselves at this moment.

All the "Spirits of the Mortal World" craned their necks, gazing up at the tall tower in the center of the Abyss Palace.

"What happened?!" The sudden change startled Paimon.

"The Tower of the Great Sun, upon hearing your decision, shall collapse on its own, obliterating all that has passed." — Han Fulai recalled the dying words of Orobas spoken before the statue.

Orobas imagined that the moment when future generations would retrieve this "Oath-Witnessing Eye" and seek the power of the Great God of the Sea, would likely be a critical juncture for the survival of the Sea God Island.

The invasion of the East was initiated by Ourobas. Before that, the Thunder Sisters and Ourobas had lived peacefully, with Hachimonji Island as the boundary. Ourobas's hypothetical enemy was unlikely to be "Thor wanting to destroy the Sea God Island."

Then who else would destroy Hai Zhi?

—For example, Sky Island sent down a divine oracle, ordering the Sea Gods to be held accountable for recording the secrets of the heavens.

In such situations, the most important thing is to "destroy the evidence".

Therefore, when the "Oath-Witnessing Eye" appears in the world, the "Great Sun Imperial Carriage," along with the entire Fukushita Palace, will begin to self-destruct.

How do we stop the self-destruction?

"...With just a thought as strong as clenching a fist, I can destroy this thing that brings pain to the dragon lizard."

He then recalled Aji's earlier "warning".

"Ying! Hold that bead and command it to stop self-destructing. You only need to use your thoughts, about the size of a clenched fist!"

Ying quickly did as instructed.