Chapter 1039 — The Power of Symbols and Rituals?
Blade of Dawn · Page 4 of 4
"'Symbol and ritual?'" Hearing the words of this sainted princess, Gao Yang suddenly felt a flash of understanding. "You mean that battle at Winterhold produced a ritualistic effect—and that in the process of defying the gods, symbolic ritual acts can exert an enormous influence?"
"Symbol and ritual are vital components of religion, and the gods were born from the 'symbols' mortals conceived and from 'rituals' performed again and again. So conversely, it stands to reason that ritual acts can exert an enormous effect upon them," Virodai said with great seriousness. "We might even boldly hypothesize—perhaps on some battlefield where gods are defied, so long as two or three people succeed in resisting a god, the entire mortal race will break free of that god's bonds. The hypothesis may sound far-fetched, but judged by the principles of symbol and ritual, it holds..."
Hearing Virodai's example, Gao Yang first frowned, but he quickly sorted out the crux of the matter, and shook his head with a sigh: "If such a day ever came, those two or three people's success would likely depend on the efforts of countless others as well. In the end, the gods' power far exceeds that of mortals, and this world of ours is not yet so fine that a few heroes breaking through on a few battlefields could save everything."
Gao Song's sigh stirred Kamaier's thoughts as well; a trembling sigh issued from within the archmage's body, while Virodai beside him had regained her usual calm, serene expression. She glanced at the God of War samples on the platform and said, "In any case, we still need more tests."
"Indeed, more tests—no matter how logical everything we just discussed may seem, in the end it still lacks crucial empirical proof," Gao Yan nodded. "Expand the scope of testing. First confirm whether testers from every region and every walk of life are no longer affected by the God of War's mental contamination. And then... expand across races. Summon testers from other races and see whether they, too, are free of the God of War's mental contamination."
"Other races?" Kamaier asked, somewhat surprised—clearly he had never considered such a direction before. "You mean races other than humans, like elves or dwarves?"
"Don't forget, they are mortals too—and among them there are also worshippers of the God of War. Though their sects are independent of humanity's Church of the God of War, they worship the same deity," Gao Yan nodded. "What we need to verify now is a very, very important concept... whether the souls of mortals are, at the deepest level of this world, interconnected, and..."
"And?" Kamaier asked curiously.
"And to prove something academically: that mortals truly are a community of shared destiny."