Chapter 297: Two Offerings
At this moment, after seeing those innocent and lovely children, almost all the goddesses felt endless affection in their hearts.
The gods’ divinity is majestic, and their emotions are even more abundant.
Although because of this, They are prone to being swayed by emotion at certain times.
But when facing the living beings They cherish, They have always been generous with Their bounty.
Originally, many gods who did not care about mortals now also took an interest.
They looked at the rigorous, solemn, yet primitively beautiful ritual below, feeling both affection and envy.
Indeed, quite a few gods secretly resolved in their hearts: “Later, I want to set up something like this too!”
“Anyway, it’s just sheltering a small group of mortals, a trivial matter. Exchanging it for such a grand and interesting sacrifice is not a loss!”
This set of sacrificial dance and odes and hymns lasted quite a long time.
Until the maidens and warriors responsible for leading the dance were almost exhausted and on the verge of collapse, the overall process of this sacrificial dance finally came to an end.
All the people then ended with the most natural concluding action, prostrating themselves in unison, and only then dared to step forward bowing, respectfully withdrawing slowly.
Zeus nodded in satisfaction.
Gods have the sacred purity and majesty of gods; humans also have the human warmth and resilience of humans.
Humans truly possess superior wisdom.
As long as they can grow up properly, one day, even the gods might learn much from them.
When the sacrificial dance began, Prometheus had already quietly returned to the clouds in Heaven.
As one of the gods, He naturally had to receive the ritual together in front of the God King, rather than mixing with the mortals.
He had always been carefully and closely observing the reactions of Zeus and the gods.
When He saw that the faces of the gods had become even gentler, with obvious affection in their eyes, the heart He had been holding finally truly settled.
Yes, all the costs were worth it.
Humans had already won the affection of many gods.
A truly hopeful new future had opened its doors to them!
With the dance concluded, Prometheus stepped forward and respectfully said: “His Greatness, this is the sacrificial dance humans offer to You with all their hearts.”
“However, humans are still too weak, and their preparations are crude and simple, surely with many unsatisfactory aspects. Please forgive us, Your Majesty.”
“Prometheus will surely teach them more in the future and order them to continue striving for improvement.”
Zeus smiled and said: “From the birth of humans until now, the time has not been long. To achieve this level is already very good.”
“Prometheus, my loyal subject, my dear friend, all of this relies on your diligent teaching of humans. You have truly put in the effort. I am very satisfied.”
Hearing Zeus say He was satisfied, Prometheus was immediately overjoyed, his face beaming with radiance.
He hurriedly bowed again and said: “Esteemed Your Majesty, everything is carried out in accordance with Your supreme will! It is because You desire the universe to be more prosperous and the gods no longer lonely that humans came to be.”
“Under Your wise leadership, because of Your kindness and great undertaking, I have this precious opportunity to offer a modest contribution for You and the gods. For this insignificant matter, Prometheus dares not claim merit.”
As He spoke, He bowed deeply, His divine body slightly bending under the golden glow, performing “humility” to perfection.
Zeus laughed heartily, His long laughter causing the White Clouds to tumble and thunder to echo: “You are too modest, Prometheus. Who among the gods does not know of your wisdom? I will record the merits of all gods one by one and never forget them.”
With that, the God King said cheerfully: “I very much liked the offering dance of those children just now. They also gave their all, and it cannot go unrewarded.”
He pondered for a moment, then nodded and said: “Those warriors, I grant them bodies free from injury and illness, forever healthy; they will only die of old age. And after their death, they shall enter under Thanatos, assisting Him in combing the affairs of living beings’ deaths.”
“Those lovely maidens, I grant them the trait of not aging, and I grant them a lifespan of one thousand two hundred Divine Twelve Cycles. As long as they have not violated my Holy Justice Order, after their death, I permit them to live in Olympus.”
The God King’s words became law; after the God King spoke, the Heavenly Dao Order operated according to His words, delivering all the blessings.
The humans at the Sacrifice Ground who received the blessings suddenly shone with golden and white light, various changes manifesting, eliciting waves of exclamations and cheers, along with endless odes and hymns of praise.
Naturally, the God King had not forgotten those lovely children.
“As for those lovely children…”
At this point, Zeus laughed heartily and looked at the gods: “They are still young and should have different splendid futures, so let the gods bestow blessings upon them.”
Since the God King had spoken thus, and the gods also cherished these children, they naturally generously bestowed blessings.
With a wave of their hands, many great gods sent dozens of strange radiances fluttering down to the lower realm, merging in various forms into these children’s bodies, souls, or destinies.
These children, their destinies will henceforth be predestined to be extraordinary, no longer ordinary.
Prometheus felt both shocked and delighted in his heart, yet also a moment of hesitation arose.
With His Majesty the God King and the gods being so generous, should he still proceed according to the plan?
But after only a instant of hesitation, He immediately cast this hesitation from His mind.
The arrow is on the string and must be loosed; things have come to this and must be done.
Moreover, this is not just for the present moment.
Prometheus became even more humble and respectfully called out: “Thank you, esteemed and generous Your Majesty! Your Majesty’s kindness is something all living beings can never repay for eternity!”
With His words, He also transmitted the content of Zeus’s blessings into the souls of the humans at the Sacrifice Ground, informing them of this great joyful event.
After immense surprise, the humans raised their hands in cheers one after another, prostrating themselves again, their excited praises resounding endlessly.
Seeing Prometheus still maintaining that extremely humble, seemingly pious posture, Zeus merely smiled and gently waved His hand, His tone mild as a spring breeze: “Continue.”
He knew very well that the quality of Prometheus’s sincerity was completely different from that of the humans below.
Prometheus said “Yes,” then turned around and, with an extremely solemn and majestic voice, loudly declared to the humans below: “Offer your offerings to His Greatness!”
“This offering is the most sacred token of the covenant between gods and humans!”
The humans below, barely suppressing their excitement, all responded with thunderous agreement in utmost agitation.
Although their tiny voices could not truly reach this Highest Heaven.
This roaring wave of sound could only stir their own hearts.
Immediately after, they all busied themselves.
They arranged the hundred already slaughtered pure white bulls on the altar according to complex rituals, stacking them layer by layer.
Around the base of the altar, over a hundred roaring bonfires were simultaneously lit.
They were even more expectant: after the offerings were presented and this Sacrificial Ceremony perfectly concluded, what blessings would the gods bestow next?
Each bull was carefully divided into two portions.
The size of each portion appeared roughly equal on the surface.
One portion consisted of carefully selected, meticulously layered snow-white fat.
Under the illumination of the Sacred Fire’s flames, they gleamed with a lustrous and enticing sheen, like the finest jade.
Like the dreams of newborn humans.
It was unknown how much strength it took to cleanly remove all the flesh and blood and bones, leaving only this glistening fat.
The other portion was casually covered with a rough and filthy cowhide; the originally pure white cowhide was entirely stained with blood.
The fresh red blood had coagulated, and with the passage of time, those bloodstains had now turned into an unpleasant dark color, even emitting a thick bloody stench.
Zeus looked at these two piles of offerings and sighed softly in His heart.
What could escape His notice?
Prometheus had ultimately chosen this path.
A god as clever as Him always liked to harbor flukes, always liked to play some self-righteous little tricks.
For the path to take, He always tried every means to find so-called “shortcuts.”
Always wanting to exchange the smallest cost for the richest return.
No matter what was done, it was never pure enough, never resolute enough.
Clever to the point of obstinacy, persistent to the point of stupidity.
Always seeking loopholes in the rules, trying to gain a little advantage from majesty.
Always thinking that “as long as clever enough,” even gods could be deceived.
But this was ultimately self-deception.
For this sacrifice, humans had already paid an immense price, enough to move the gods.
Yet He insisted on stirring up trouble at the very end, when it was about to conclude perfectly.
All for wanting the mortals to pay just a tiny bit less insignificant cost.
He had forgotten what the most fundamental purpose and most important matter of this sacrifice truly was.
He had completely put the cart before the horse.
Zeus inwardly cursed: Moreover, this was bullying the gods too far!
That fat was indeed pure white and appealing, but beneath that lustrous surface hid only a pile of bones cleverly piled up, cleanly stripped of all value.
And that cowhide was indeed filthy and repulsive, but beneath the unsightly exterior hid all the truly succulent flesh and organs.
Seemingly equal, but in reality hypocrisy inverted, using the false to conceal the real.
Moreover, even disregarding value, for a whole bull, how much proportion could bones and fat together occupy? Only three to four tenths.
Now the two piles of offerings appeared roughly equal in volume only because the bones under the fat had been cleverly piled up by Him, propping up a false “plumpness.”
The hypocritical “equality” relied merely on cunning stacking appearances!
This was simply wanting both the good and the plentiful, wanting both quality and quantity, while still trying to please the gods!
The gods already did not mind equally sharing the offerings with lowly mortal spirits, but you still dare to calculate on the gods’ portion!
Bullying the gods too far!
This was your choice first of inequality!
