Chapter 35: Ballad And Dance Steps By The Fire
When Xilutiya and her companion approached the plaza, the massive bonfire stretched their shadows across the ground. The crimson firelight, even from over ten meters away, still made her feel its surging heat.
Around the plaza, several drummers held animal hide drums and beat them. They were very old, with deep-set eye sockets and skin full of wrinkles bathed in the firelight, yet at this moment, they took on a somewhat inexplicable charm.
An ancient ballad rose beside the bonfire. Every time the drumbeat struck, the people circling the bonfire would lift their feet and stomp down. They turned the ring clockwise at times, counterclockwise at others, and the ring formed by their crossed arms would expand and shrink.
The ballad and dance steps, drumbeats and flames achieved a wondrous harmony and resonance, bringing an infection from distant times, as if their ancestors, the people from several epochs ago, had hummed and sung around the bonfire just like this, celebrating harvest and peace, dispelling the chill and fear of the night.
In this way, Xilutiya and the other two unknowingly set down their fish and stood outside this bonfire ring, immersed in it.
At some point, someone came over, took Xilutiya and the others by the hand, and led them to join the dance steps beside the bonfire. Only then did the three realize that many other students were already participating, and Scholar Heide was on the opposite side of the bonfire, waving and nodding to the three, signaling them not to worry.
The firelight swelled with the drumbeats, scattering sparks drifting toward the night sky, the surging heat spreading, bathing the crowd around the bonfire.
The chill in their bodies was dispelled, their fatigued bodies filled with vitality once more, and the old wounds accumulated from the past became warm and fuzzy, slowly healing imperceptibly.
Without anyone teaching them, simply by relaxing their bodies and following the arms of those around them holding hands, their bodies stepped in rhythm, gradually synchronizing.
Another harmony hummed, the melody simple, like the expansion of their own pulse rhythm and instinct.
Harvest wheat grain was scattered into the bonfire, sparks spreading, together forming a soaring firelight, bringing a new wave of heat.
Following the summons of the bonfire and dance steps, Xilutiya gradually immersed herself in it, composing this long and ancient movement together with the crowd, until her feet grew sore and the dance steps beside the bonfire gradually ended.
『Ancient Ritual·Bonfire and Dance Steps』（Beast Fangs·Blood Law·Blazing Sun）
‘In the Seventh Epoch, King of the Savage Ancients Mureto led his vanguard through the Vast Star Wilderness, trekking for nearly twelve years, enduring countless hardships to reach the midsummer land, and there established the first home of humans. To commemorate that long expedition and the peaceful harvest, people danced around the bonfire, listening to the elders hum the ancient song of the first people.’
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Requirement: Though this ritual has loose requirements, it still needs the most basic three elements: synchronized animal hide drumbeats（Beast Fangs）, the crowd in circling dance steps（Blood Law）, and the burning grand bonfire（Blazing Sun）. If you are familiar with the legendary journey of King of the Savage Ancients ‘Mureto’ over twelve years, the more the arrangements align with the legend of that time, the stronger the ritual’s effect.
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Note: After performing this ritual, it will spontaneously adjust, gradually synchronizing the pulse rhythm of those circling the bonfire. When the drumbeats, dance steps, and flames achieve harmonious rhythm, the ritual’s effect will manifest. Because this legend comes from King of the Savage Ancients ‘Mureto’, non-human races cannot participate, or it will ruin the ritual. The drum must be made of beast hide, or it will also ruin the ritual. In Xu Feng Season, the bonfire naturally carries faint ‘Blazing Sun’ nature, requiring no extra arrangement; in other seasons, objects of ‘Blazing Sun’ nature are needed for adjustment.
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Effect: Dispel the night’s chill and fear, harmonize pulse rhythm, relieve old wounds.（Can suppress the erosion of ‘Sleeping Winter’ ‘Nightmare’ natures, bring peace to the mind, soothe old wounds）
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At night, after the dance steps beside the bonfire ended, the students and local villagers enjoyed the prepared delicacies together, including meat chunks roasted over the bonfire, freshly made bread pies, and a small amount of wheat ale.
Even Iona, who was usually the least sociable, sat with everyone eating that night. After the evening gathering ended, the crowd, drowsy yet with relaxed bodies, returned to their respective lodgings to rest.
After a very high-quality night’s sleep, the next day everyone woke up refreshed and had never felt their condition so good.
Is this the power of the ritual, so miraculous and inexplicable in words.
After waking up in the morning, Xilutiya recalled last night’s scene, still finding it somewhat unbelievable.
In the early morning, after simply finishing their wheat porridge, Scholar Heide led the students to a tree grove not far from the village.
Strolling under these trees blooming with tender yellow small flower stamens, everyone smelled a faint fragrance of flowers and wood. The ground in the grove had sparse fallen leaves and shrubs.
Passing through the forest to a clearing in the woods, Scholar Heide then had everyone sit on the ground and began lecturing today’s lesson.
“Listen to the birdsong, feel this natural tranquility.” He first raised his hand, letting everyone quiet their minds for a moment.
Only then did this erudite scholar slowly recount last night’s scene.
“Last night, you all experienced a rare bonfire gathering. I think many of you should have noticed something. This gathering was more than just the overflowing enthusiasm and delicious food.” He spoke slowly.
“Perhaps you have heard through various methods about those legends from ancient eras, stories circulating in the world, and so on.”
“Many of these legends are not fiction, but real history that occurred. Even the legends themselves are a kind of power, and this power grows more pronounced with more people knowing it and the profound influence it brings.”
“The so-called ‘ritual’ is the reenactment of the legend.”
“When you understand this statement, you have entered the gateway to mastering various ‘rituals’, while how to reenact the legend is an even more profound and complex knowledge skill.”
“Unlike the abilities cultivated by Transcendents, the effect of a ‘ritual’ does not depend on one’s own ‘nature phase order’, but on the ritual’s completion degree and conformity to the legend.”
“This means that even a mortal, as long as he perfectly reenacts a certain legend to achieve the ‘ritual’, can borrow the ‘ritual’ to produce enormous effects and change the situation.”
“What you experienced last night was the ancient ritual ‘Bonfire and Dance Steps’ passed down from the Seventh Epoch. This is a summation of King of the Savage Ancients Mureto’s deeds, and similar to it are rituals like ‘Red Pear Fruit Melody’ ‘Fish Rainbow to Stone’ ‘End of the Scar’ and so on.”
“These rituals are still too profound and incomprehensible for you at present, and they involve many legendary histories. Today, you only need to learn the ancient ritual ‘Bonfire and Dance Steps’.”
“If any of you, like me, particularly yearns for the truth and legends in history, and takes researching these skills and disseminating knowledge as a lifelong pursuit, then in the future you may go to ‘Candle Keep’ to seek the path of ‘Secret Word’ nature.”
Scholar Heide’s previous lessons had never been listened to with such full attention from the students as today. The legends told by Scholar Heide made the students on site imagine endlessly, their hearts filled with longing.
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Nature【Secret Word】:（History is hidden in proverbs, the past forges the future）
