That night, Amon came to the cold spring again, but he didn't take a bath like usual. In the past, he used to sit in the water at the edge of the cold spring, soak his body and wash his face and hair, but this time the old lunatic asked him to dive deep into the cold spring and look for the spring. There is a special thing there, take it out and bring it back .
As for what it was, the old lunatic didn't say.
The cold spring was icy cold, and a layer of mist condensed on the surface of the water under the moonlight. It looked like it was steaming, but it was actually tiny water droplets condensed in the low-temperature air close to the water surface. In this bone-piercing water, ordinary people would chatter their teeth within a few breaths and couldn't bear it. Even Amon needed courage to dive deep.
Amon took a deep breath, silently dived into the spring water, tried not to think about the biting cold, concentrated his body to feel the weak current at the bottom of the water, and looked for the spring. The center of the cold spring is not too deep, it is about the height of two adults, and that is enough to make Amon feel overwhelmed.
In the depths of the spring water, the cold seems to be boundless, and the heat in the body is rapidly losing. Amon tried his best not to tremble and twitch, but every pore was shrinking and trembling, and the tiny fibers of every muscle were rapidly and weakly tremor.
It was very difficult to concentrate under such circumstances, but Amon did it. He felt the seemingly calm spring water flowing slowly in the depths, and followed the flow back to the source. The source of this cold spring overflowed from a pile of pebbles at the bottom, and Amon suddenly felt a deeper chill amidst the biting chill.
This kind of subtle difference is difficult to distinguish, because the whole body is already icy cold. Amon's hand touched a stone, which looked like a mine core. When he concentrated his mind to experience it carefully, his body suddenly shivered uncontrollably, and he almost choked on water. The coldness that he didn't care about at first seemed to be awakened suddenly, and crazily penetrated into his body.
It's not that the spring water has become colder, but that Amon seems to have communicated with the source of the chill, awakening and magnifying that feeling, which made him almost unbearable for a moment. He just wanted to leave here quickly, and even suspected that he was going to be frozen in the spring water middle.
But Amon did not leave. There was a heat in his body that spread all over Xingke’s limbs. This kind of reaction usually only appeared when he left the cold spring to sit and rest, but now it appeared in the spring water, indicating that he had stayed long enough. , is about to exceed a certain limit, the body has an instinctive self-protection, and a kind of power is also awakened.
Amon held the pebble the size of a mine core, but he couldn't pick it up even though he tried hard. It seems that a stone scattered on the bottom of the water seems to be held there by a mysterious force, in a stalemate state.
Amon, who was holding his breath, concentrated all his energy. For a moment, the cold and heat flow in his body seemed to be under his control. His whole body was trembling rapidly, his chest was uncomfortable, and his right hand released amazing strength. Feeling loose suddenly, he picked up the pebble, Amon's body jumped out of the water, and then fell down with a plop, still holding the stone tightly in his hand.
He climbed back to the shore, but ignored the pebble, and sat there with his eyes closed, seemingly motionless, but he felt that the blood in his whole body was flowing rapidly, and every pore was moving in a way that the naked eye could not detect. Trembling, the water droplets on his body turned into heat and evaporated, but it took a long time for the chill in his body to be dissipated slowly.
He only had a short time in the water, but he felt very tired, so he stood up again and moved his limbs, the movements were like weird gymnastics, and only after he regained his composure did he start to carefully look at the pebble. It looks very much like a piece of ore core, but Amon has seen many kinds of ore cores, and he always feels that there is something different. Although this thing is similar to natural pebbles, it always feels a little artificially forged. clever.
When I sensed it in the spring water just now, it was so cold, but now holding it in my hand, it only has the normal coolness of a stone, and I can hardly detect any abnormalities. Thinking of this, Amon suddenly realized that something was wrong, put down the stone and entered the cold spring again. The water in the cold spring is still icy cold, but as Amon guessed, the biting chill is gradually dissipating.
So far, Amon should have completed the task assigned by the old lunatic, but he didn't stop, and sneaked into the cold spring again. This time was much simpler than the last time, and soon he grabbed a pebble and threw it to the shore again. Then he took a breath and dived again, throwing twenty pebbles in succession before climbing back to the shore.
This time he was terribly cold, his body was a little purple, and he was panting like a sieve. At this time, he inexplicably felt that the moonlight seemed to become brighter, and a warmth enveloped him, and it slowly penetrated into his body. Looking up, there was a divine stone floating quietly above, exuding a soft light, and looking back, the old lunatic was standing behind him from time to time.
"Son, you will hurt your body like this. I don't want you to take out the entire magic circle. You just need to find the blue water core in the middle and use your strength to take it out." The old lunatic said as he spoke. Then, the sacred stone hanging in mid-air became brighter, and the soft white light seemed to turn into a dense mist, which made Amon's body gradually recover, and at the same time, a sense of oppression made him speechless.
"But you are better than I imagined. I asked you to take out the blue water core, mainly to test two abilities. The first is that your body can withstand the invasion of this cold spring, and you can still use your power without interference; the second It is your spirit and will that are strong enough to detect subtle changes in that environment. Only in this way can it be possible to awaken the power of two sides of one body."
As the old lunatic spoke, he waved the short stick in his hand, and the twenty pebbles on the ground shattered silently, just like the scene of mining a mine core with a sledgehammer, revealing the twenty divine stones inside. As for the pebble that Amon took out first, the surface showed fluctuations like water ripples, and then fell into sand like water, and a faint blue divine stone appeared in the center.
The old lunatic then explained: "Thirty years ago, I used a blue water core and twenty sacred stones to set up a magic circle here, creating this cold spring, and now its mission has been completed. Those pebbles are not The natural ore core is the camouflage I made. I am not surprised that you can find the blue water core, but I am really surprised that you have found all the camouflaged pebbles."
After saying these words, the sacred stone fell from mid-air and was caught by the old lunatic, with only the quiet moonlight reflected on the water in front of him. Amon had already stood up, reached out to pick up the blue sacred stone and asked, "Is it called Youlan Water Heart?"
The old lunatic nodded: "Yes, all kinds of sacred stones of different colors have their own names, and the blue one is called Youlan Water Heart by magicians."
Children who grew up in Duke Town certainly know that in addition to the colorless and transparent standard sacred stones, there are four special sacred stones: red, blue, black, and white, but this is the first time Amon has heard the name Youlan Shuixin. Say. Although these four special divine stones are not as rare as the tears of the gods, they are still very rare. Even in a place like Duke Town, only a few are produced a year. If you are unlucky, you may not see them for a few years. one piece.
Amon mined the Tears of the Gods last time, but it was taken away by Fayol before he could take a closer look. Today is the first time he has the opportunity to study a special sacred stone other than the standard sacred stone. While playing with it, he found The old lunatic had turned and left.
"Where are you going?" Amon shouted from behind.
"Of course I go home and go to bed! I was afraid that something might happen to you in the cold spring, so I came here to take a look and save people at any time. Since you are fine, I can have a good sleep." The old lunatic replied without turning his head.
"Where are these sacred stones, don't you take them away?" Amon shouted again.
"I threw them here thirty years ago. I never thought of taking them away. What you take out is yours. It will be useful to keep it... Tomorrow night will still be at this time, and I will still be here. Don't forget to hold a power awakening ceremony for you." As the voice faded away, the old lunatic had disappeared into the black fire forest.
After the old lunatic left, Amon sat by the spring and looked at the blue water heart. When he concentrated his energy and tried to understand it carefully, he always felt that there was a mysterious power fluctuating between the god stone and the spring water, and there was something in his body It was about to move, as if it was some kind of longing breath, and unconsciously lost his mind again.
…
On the second night, the "Power Awakening Ceremony" held by the old lunatic for Amon turned out to be a kind of prayer. But unlike the ceremonies held by magicians, this great magician did not ask Amon to pray to any specific gods, but only taught him how to focus his mind more. Between seeing, so as to clearly sense the subtle changes in one's body and heart, condense spiritual introspection, and communicate with the original power that symbolizes all things.
Doing so is of course much more difficult than magicians who only need to pray devoutly to the gods. The old lunatic told Amon that he might as well pray to the gods, and explained with a smile: "That day you and Aristotle I also heard the discussion about the source of divinity. If you can understand what he said, then you can understand what I mean... To awaken the power, you must make sufficient preparations, otherwise this ceremony will not be successful, and you, prepared What is already sufficient cannot be sufficient."
This ritual is like opening a door, touching an unknown world. The old lunatic asked Amon to put the blue water heart in front of him, and asked him to try to gather his spiritual power and use the blue water heart as an intermediary to feel how to communicate with this unknown world. Amon really felt a coolness, which seemed to be there and seemed to be absent, pervading the surroundings without a definite shape.
When he experienced the coolness, it seemed that he could turn into a piece of ice again. This was the feeling he was most familiar with in the cold spring for a long time, and then he felt that the spring water around him resonated with it in a strange rhythm. This rhythm is not breathing or heartbeat, but an indescribable natural rhythm.
At the same time, the old lunatic saw the hazy water light from the Youlan Water Center covering Amon's body, and he couldn't help sighing: "If we use the tears of the gods to perform this ceremony, it will be much easier to awaken the power. The Youlan Water Heart is fine, even without the help of any external objects, you will still succeed, but it is better this way, and it will be easier to master specific divine arts."
Amon didn't hear what the old lunatic said. He was immersed in a novel world. Is this the power bestowed by the so-called gods? Or is it the power of nature, or maybe the power hidden in the body? What he felt was not only the strange fluctuations of the outside world, but also an indescribable sense of relaxation and pleasure in his body, and he felt that he had never been so strong.
He inexplicably felt that he was so powerful, as if he could control or overcome everything. When he focused on introspection, he really felt the power of the two sides of one body.
Desire always comes with power, and the greater the power, the more desire. For example, a hungry person may only want to have a full meal, while an emperor may want to conquer the entire continent and have endless wealth and wealth. that power.
In the seemingly peaceful environment, various desires or desires also appear quietly, and it is not clear whether they come from the body or the mind. It may be possible to suppress it in a concentrated prayer ceremony, but in ordinary words and deeds, Amon quickly felt this trouble.
…
The ceremony was just the beginning, the old lunatic told him that he had to gradually master it until he completely controlled this induction before he could really learn the magic and physical skills. It might take a while. For the next few days, Amon would come to the spring to pray intently every night, but during most of the day, he was still a miner in the town, and he looked no different from before.
He would often think of Maria, what happened that night, her body and the feeling of kissing her lips and putting his hands on her chest through the neckline, and his thoughts had some subtle changes. He would indulge in a fantasy - to gain invincible power, to defeat Gabriel, to drive Rod Dick and even the bodyguard away, leaving only him and Maria, and then...
He does have unprecedented power, but with the emergence of power, there are also subtle changes in his mentality. His desires and desires will expand and expand, and he will fly endlessly like wings.
When he concentrates on introspecting his body and mind and sensing external things every night, he will be very conscious of these again, as if he is enduring a kind of torment. One voice seemed to say: "Have the power, go get everything you want!" Another voice seemed to say: "How ridiculous, you are weak and can only be laughed at!" And Amon's soul seemed to be These two voices watched coldly, and were unconsciously involved.
When Maria was going through all this, Gabriel told her that she only needs to observe peacefully with a pure heart and not be influenced by her. But the old lunatic didn't say that to Amon, he just told Amon that this is a test, and it depends on how he faces it.
In addition to the turmoil that disturbed the soul, Amon's body also had an abnormal reaction. He had an illusion that he was getting stronger every day. When he walked, his footsteps were so strong and steady, and every bone and every muscle was slightly weaker. The sound seemed to contain infinite energy, and he even had the urge to clenched his fists and want to punch someone.
The son of an alcoholic, he was often ridiculed in this town since he was a child. At this time, Amon had an inexplicable desire to beat up anyone who was not pleasing to his eyes. It was like a ferocious and aggressive beast lurking in his body. . Amon didn't fight in the town, but he did something that made the whole town stunned and envious.
As a result of the incident, Lord Xiao Gu, the priest and clerk of the temple, fainted and vomited blood in public.
The cause of the incident was the sacred stones he took out from the cold spring, which Amon had always carried with him carefully. When he passed by the Temple of Goddess Mu Yun that day, he saw Xiao Gu and his servants registering the taxes paid by the townspeople in front of the gate, and the mayor was also standing aside. Impulsive from nowhere, Amon turned around with a sneer and walked over, saying loudly, "Lord Mayor, I want to pay taxes!"
The mayor of Dusty hadn't answered yet, Xiao Gu asked a little uneasy and curious: "Amon, what tax do you pay? Your family hasn't received the ore core from the mine these days?"
Taking out the sacred stone from the mine core is only the most critical last step. The place where the mine core is mined is the mine in the north of the village, which is on the edge of the high mountains of the Syria Plateau. It is impossible for one person to complete the work of digging mountains, digging rocks, and digging mine cores. These are the collective labor of the miners in the town, and they are supervised. The mine cores obtained are distributed to each family according to the amount of effort. The clerk Xiao Gu didn't register that Amon's family had received the mine core recently, and he felt lucky.
Amon replied: "Respected priest and clerk, I accidentally found a batch of ore cores washed down by mountain torrents in a stream in the Black Fire Forest. I took it home and opened them, and took out a batch of sacred stones, according to the town's decree, these also need to pay taxes."