When the plot-skips players into the game world

Chapter 859: Chapter 236: Free Limited Time Experience Potion Drinking Chapter 859: Chapter 236: Free Limited Time Experience Potion Drinking When all the Cardinal Archbishops were seated, the sky outside was already starting to brighten.

At first, Aiwass felt quite excited.

But after a few hours, he began to feel a hint of boredom.

Fortunately, he had brought Isabel with him.

With nothing better to do, he played with her hands and talked softly about the recent situation in Avalon, while also teasing Sherlock who was not present.

That’s how it is among friends—those who are absent become the topic of conversation.

The other Cardinal Archbishops showed no reaction.

After all, with the prolonged lifespans of the Longevity Species, they must learn how to waste time to prevent their lives from becoming hollow and weary.

And a required course among them is patiently waiting.

The only problem probably was the lack of clean water here.

If thirsty, one could only drink wine.

Because being too sober when communicating with gods is not a good thing.

Being sober implies rationality, which further implies reasoning, analysis, and demystifying.

That too is a form of disrespect.

For this reason, in many of the most ancient ritual classics, there would be wine or other similar ceremonial aids present at banquets to quickly bring the ritualists into a trance-like, mystic state.

It is also because wine itself is sacred—it requires the consumption of a substantial amount of precious food for brewing, and in times of food scarcity when not everyone can be filled, wine symbolizes an extravagant and unnecessary luxury.@@novelbin@@

…Accordingly, it is considered in Ritual Studies as a “readily available yet quite precious” resource, symbolic of the “essence that could sustain life.”
Like how bigger bait can catch bigger fish, and more expensive lottery tickets feel like they have a higher chance of winning—the more valuable the offering used by the ritualists, the more sacred the ritual feels, and the more likely the Pillar Gods are to respond to their prayers.

—Of course, this is just an explanation in Ritual Studies.

In Theology, often there is an opposite interpretation.

For Pillar Gods actually don’t need offerings, nor do they necessarily favor wine.

They often just observe the attitude and determination of the ritualists.

Moreover, even the Eternal Self who loves wine most also has the divine wine brewed by the Banquet Master.

This somewhat feels like “hearing he loves computers, why not give him two thousand dollars to buy a graphics card”.

Just like a true computer enthusiast’s components would likely cost much more than that… The gods’ favorite items definitely wouldn’t rely on mortals to provide through offerings.

The Holy Nation clearly understands this logic.

Therefore, the wine they brought out was for the bishops to drink, not even a cup offered to the Pillar Gods.

Yet, this year was an exception.

Apart from Aiwass, almost no Cardinal Archbishop touched the wine in front of them.

Instead, they always looked sternly ahead or whispered with the attendants beside them.

This scenario was definitely unusual.

It was as if a high-level leader held a very formal banquet, yet inside it was completely silent.

Quieter than a day at the office, almost no one was drinking, and everyone solemnly bowed their heads eating their meal.

This scene would certainly puzzle any outsider with a question mark: What is going on?

Could this possibly be the Last Supper?

Or a memorial combined with the annual meeting?

Therefore, the journalists in the back recorded this scene and speculated in their minds the reasons for such unusual behavior of the Cardinal Archbishops—
—Was it because they were dissatisfied with the decision of Aiwass, a human, becoming a Cardinal Archbishop?

Or was it because they disapproved of the Pure White Saintess ascending to become the Pope?

Or perhaps, was there something wrong with the Pope?

It surely couldn’t be that the Holy Nation was going to dissolve?

But these were ultimately just speculations in their minds.

Talking and discussing with others was absolutely out of the question—who knew how well these Cardinal Archbishops could hear, or if there were any recording devices.

If overheard by accident, one would be in bad luck; if live-streamed by accident, they might not see the sun tomorrow.

Therefore, when the sun rose, Isabel had finished discussing the recent situation in Avalon.

After drinking four bottles of wine, Aiwass had entered a state of intoxication.

Aside from his cheeks being flushed, even the depths of his pupils sparkled with a golden-red brilliance… Though he appeared slightly tipsy, it gave a sense of untamed divinity.

It was not that Aiwass was too much of a drunkard.

It was that this Sacred Tree No.

1 here, and the “legacy” of Queen Sofia that Isabel initially brought—the taste of the Sacred Tree No.

1, which was cursed with the Longevity Curse Poison, was completely different.

Initially, Aiwass thought it was just a good bottle of wine.

Although “Sacred Tree No.

1” was a divine wine brewed from the blood of the Candle Master’s Angel Envoy “The Great Tree,” allowing Aiwass and Isabel, who both disliked wine, to find it pleasant, it was just that, hardly matching the sky-high prices it fetched on the black market.

Aiwass had originally thought it was purely because the goblin profiteers had monopolized the market, flipping the stock in buy-and-sell schemes.

He figured these goblin profiteers really knew how to play, mastering in this era the “attraction of limited edition luxury goods to the rich”…

Only now did Aiwass realize that it was because of the Curse Poison added by Minister Drost at that time, which had thoroughly disrupted the balance of the internal Power of Devotion within “Sacred Tree No.

1,” turning it into a rather ordinary bottle of wine.

Inside this wine, there was a very strong Power of Devotion.

In terms of the power of the Path inside, speaking purely, it was even purer than the blood Aiwass used when he first tamed the Shadow Demon at the First Level using the Nurturing Skill; it was almost similar to the Nurturing Skill after he obtained the Sacrifice of Flesh…

From this perspective, The Great Tree at that time probably also had the Path characteristic of “Sacrifice of Flesh.”
This was a “Dedication” from The Great Tree, and its original purpose was presumably to enhance the strength of other Contributors who received this bottle of wine.

If it were a Phantom Demon from the Path of Devotion, it might be madly attracted to it.

If a Contributor of the First Level got such a bottle of wine and finished it completely, they might be directly elevated to the Third Level.

Even though Aiwass had now reached the Fourth Level, he could feel his energy level slowly rising.

No wonder the Eternal Pope could only drink a bottle each time he awoke.

Without a doubt, this was a genuine treasure!

It’s just a pity, this wine was only effective for Contributors.

Otherwise, he would definitely have fed several bottles to Lily and Isabel.

When Aiwass drank the first cup, he immediately enlightened—he completely understood Brother Monkey during the Peach Banquet.

— Three hundred years limited once, an experience potion free limited time drinking feast, anyone who doesn’t drink their fill is a fool!