Aztec Civilization: Destiny to Conquer America!

"Ah? The divine relics of the ancestors!"

Upon hearing the words of the Mayan merchants, Puap's face lit up with joy, and his heartbeat quickened. The old militia blinked, showing no change in his expression.

"Uh, this oily old fellow, will he keep following me? Such a hassle..."

Looking at the leisurely old militia, Tikalo's eyelid twitched, though he still wore a smile. He spoke in a tempting tone, recounting legends buried in history.

"One hundred and thirty miles southwest from here lies the ruins of the First Ancient City in the jungle! Established over three thousand years ago, it was the first powerful city-state of the Jiao People! To this day, myths about it are still passed down. It was the First Era, the first resting place for the divine beings that emerged from the jungle. Located on fertile riverbank soil, it spanned a vast area with no city walls. In the city's ruins, there are dozens of grand divine stone statues, the tallest reaching five or six people high, embodying divine characteristics passed down for thousands of years!..."

The First Ancient City ruins are located in today's Veracruz State, Mexico, at San Lorenzo-Tenochtitlan, the oldest known Olmec city-state, and the initial flame of Central American civilization.

"In the First Ancient City, the ancient divine objects produced are various stone humanoid sculptures! The true divine object can confer upon your descendants the talent of the sculptured figure. Imagine if you could obtain a warrior sculpture divine object, your son could become a mighty warrior! And if it were a priest sculpture, it would inherit the wisdom of a priest..."

"Divine gifts bestowing talents to descendants, mighty warriors, wise priests?"

Hearing this, Puap's eyes instantly brightened, and he swallowed hard. Tikalo smiled and looked at the old militia. The old militia, fiddling with his hair, calmly watched him, showing no semblance of excitement. After all, he knew his own body, and having more descendants was likely impossible.

"...this troublesome old fellow..."

Tikalo pursed his lips and again enticingly described.

"One hundred miles to the east from here is the Second Ancient City along the coast! The name of the ancient city is now unknown, only recorded in the heritage tablets of the Feathered Serpent Priests as a sacred place for ancient rituals. In this sacred site, there is an ancient pyramid over thirty meters high, equally huge human heads, and more than a dozen stone altars! The divine beings of the Second Epoch once held divine rituals there, leaving behind much potent divinity..."

The Second Ancient City is the ancient ruins in Tabasco, the city-state La Venta, with a history of over two thousand years. In later civilizations, it was a city-state focused on religion, providing faith bonuses and giant divine heads...

"The divine objects from the Second Ancient City are the peculiar black and red stone mirrors, holy cinnabar divine bones, and exquisite jade ornaments! It is said that the stone mirror can reflect fate, altering your future. The divine bone can grant you power, from its original owner. And the jade ornaments...uh, they are very ancient and spiritual!"

Tikalo's words were highly enticing. Puap glanced at the market, secretly gripping the gemstone in his pocket, already a bit impatient. The old militia, however, furrowed his brows, thought for a moment, and voiced his question.

"Tikalo, that cinnabar divine bone you mentioned, isn't it...dug up from someone else's grave? If so, that's truly...horrible to the point of being unbearable, can't even look!"

"Uh..."

Hearing this, Tikalo opened his mouth but couldn't speak for a while.

Cinnabar is a local specialty, said to have divinity due to its red color. When buried in the graves of the divine descendant nobility and long covering the bones, it stains them red. The black-red mirrors and exquisite jade ornaments are burial goods of the divine descendant nobility. Simply put, the Second Ancient City has excellent feng shui, very divine, burying many nobles over two thousand years. Then, their burial goods were dug up, the red bones included, sold as divine objects.

Doing such profitless business naturally carries high profits. The Mayan merchants have bought and sold many, lacking integrity for sure, but they haven't yet reached the point of being smoked.

"Well, the bones of the divine descendants always carry some divinity. Witnessed by the Chief Divine! Digging them up is benefiting future generations..."

Tikalo stammered a bit, then sidestepped the topic, continuing with his story.

"Three hundred miles northwest from here are the ruins in the mountains, the Third Ancient City. Established at the end of the Second Epoch, it also has nearly two thousand years of history. The city once hosted many sages from various tribes, recording the history and legends of two epochs. And in the center of the abandoned ancient city stands an ancient divine stele. One side holds the divine Jaguar, sitting high on the Throne of the Gods, holding a scepter. The other side of the stele is..."

Pausing here, Tikalo the Mayan merchant thought for a moment, uncertain of his thoughts. The Dark Snake beside him listened intently. Waiting for a while, he finally couldn't resist asking.

"What is on the other side of the divine stele?"

"It is an ancient long count calendar, like the stone steles of Maya city-states, recording numerous years, marked with special symbols, hinting at important events of the past. The earliest starting point of that stone stele is 7.16.3.2.13."

Mentioning the Long Calendar Steles, the Mayan merchant's expression darkened, filled with sorrow.

In the once Mayapan, there was also a similar Long Calendar Stele. The earliest Olmec people were actually the "mothers" of the Mayans. The most brilliant part of their culture was inherited by Teotihuacan in the northern highlands and the Maya city-states in the central basin. The former conquered in all directions, becoming more valiant, while the latter developed highly abstract writing.

Numerous Long Calendar Steles once stood among the various Maya tribes during the Golden Age, recording a thousand years of glory! Until eight hundred years ago, when the dreadful divine catastrophe struck, the Divine Capital Tikal suddenly destroyed, the central basin abruptly desolated, the classical Maya Golden Age suddenly ended, and the Long Calendar Steles were interrupted... All of this is an eternal wound in the hearts of the migrating Mayan nobility heading south and north!

"Sigh... it's all in the past. The ancestors spoke ambiguously, no one can figure out what happened eight hundred years ago... And what was the dreadful divine catastrophe? Was it really just alternating droughts and floods?"

The Mayan merchant reminisced for a moment, shook his head silently, not believing it. He thought of the Third Ancient City, perhaps within it might be hidden the prophecies and revelations about the divine catastrophe, just he hadn't found it.

The Third Ancient City is located at today's Tres Zapotes. Beside the ruins is Río Papaloapan, also known as the "Butterfly River". Large city-states always have rivers nearby to provide the necessary water sources for agricultural production.

"Hmm? 7.16.3.2.13... what does this ancient number represent? Could it be an omen of evil descending?"

Chief God Priest Tomate listened for long and then spoke for the first time. Holding the scripture in one hand and a bronze axe in the other, his eyes sparkled with readiness to fight for the Chief Divine at any moment.

In the Kingdom Epic circulated among the Priesthood, the Olmec people are the origins of all the tribes under the heavens, the mother of the Mexica! And the Mayans are the long-lost same clan brothers of the Mexica for a thousand years. Although, the Mayans do not think so. But it's okay, they have just stayed in the rainforest too long to temporarily lose their memory. The Alliance will help them find the real history, and ultimately, brothers will reunite...

"... That was 1526 years ago (36 BC)! In that year, a Divine King descended from the sky with the bravery of a Jaguar and the wisdom to measure the earth. He sat on the throne and guided all people, personally establishing the Third Ancient City... This is also the graphic engraving on the front of the stele."

Mayan merchant Tikalo looked westward, his eyes revealing longing. The ruins of the Third Ancient City were too far away and not near the sea. He only heard others talk about it, never having been there himself.

"Not far east of the Third Ancient City is an active volcano (Verona Volcano). It produces volcanic rocks and obsidian. The divine artifacts they passed down are also volcanic rock stone balls and obsidian round balls. On the stone balls and round balls are engraved lands, mountains, and divine beings... These divine artifacts are said to have the divinity of the Earth Mother Goddess, able to protect the bearer from harm by others!"

"Volcanic rock and obsidian round balls? Is divinity a shield?"

Puap touched his chin. He felt these things were produced both by the Alliance and the Kingdom, nothing too surprising. However, any ordinary item holds value when legend gives it "divinity" and "mana"... that value is incomparable to ordinary objects.

"From here westwards for two hundred miles, lies the last ancient city, the Fourth Ancient City, Hill City! Around this ancient city, there are as many as a hundred ancient mounds!"

Tikalo quickly adjusted his mood, speaking with a smile, his tone gentle and appealing.

"In this ancient city, there are no massive stone head sculptures. Legend says the divine beings never reached that city. But they exiled one hundred strong Divine Descendants there because those bold Divine Descendants dared to rebel against the divine beings, against their Father God and Mother Goddess... The exiled Divine Descendants held various divine powers and established a prosperous city-state. However, they were not divine beings and soon died with their divinity, being buried in the hundred mounds. The Earth Mother Goddess wept for the deceased descendants, forming a Holy Lake among the hundred mounds..."

The Fourth Ancient City is located at Laguna de los Cerros, also the last Olmec relic. After this, the era of the Olmec people completely ended.

"In the Fourth Ancient City, there are one hundred strong Divine Descendants buried, with a full hundred divine artifacts!"

Tikalo looked at everyone before him, laughingly shouted.

"A hundred! A hundred Divine Descendant potteries, absorbing their divinity, becoming peculiar divine artifacts! These pottery divine artifacts have a hundred different functions: enabling the elderly to reproduce, allowing priests to foresee the future, letting ordinary people become resilient samurai, and granting divine blessings to families, increasing prosperity!..."

Upon hearing about old men having children, Chiwaco's old face flushed, and his heart finally stirred.

"If I could have another son..."

At this moment, the surrounding three, Chief God Priest Tomate, aboard apprentice Dark Snake, and Gray Soil warrior Puap, all had shaken expressions, showing anticipation.

Seeing Chiwaco's changing expression, Tikalo secretly smiled, quite pleased with himself. He thought he finally found this old guy's weakness. Then, the Mayan merchant's expression softened, smilingly extending his hand to point towards the market in Hidden Snake City.

"Chief Divine bless! The divine artifacts are precious, hidden in the market waiting for the predetermined one by destiny. Let's all disperse and seek our destiny!"