Chapter 1383: Secrets of the Ancient Gods
Chapter 1383: Secrets of the Ancient Gods
Ixchel claimed she was revealing secrets to gain Qi Xuansu’s and the Daoist Order’s trust. But in reality, she was preemptively answering a key question—why she sought the Daoist Order instead of the Western Daoist Order.The real reason was that Kukulkan had already made a deal with the Western Daoist Order. Ixchel, as the wife of the former sun god Itzamna, secretly opposed the current sun god Kukulkan.
Qi Xuansu grasped the implication and asked directly, “Why didn’t you oppose him openly at the time? Why submit to this new sun god instead?”
Ixchel gave a bitter smile. “Because Chak Chel chose to support Kukulkan.”
Qi Xuansu was genuinely puzzled. “As I understand it, Ixchel is the Full Moon Goddess, and Chak Chel is the Star Moon Goddess. Ixchel appears as a beautiful maiden, while Chak Chel is an old crone with twisted serpents on her head and beast-like claws. But in truth, the two are one being, two sides of the same entity. Now that Ixchel stands before me, who is Chak Chel?”
Ixchel smiled bitterly again. “That was true in the past. Ixchel and Chak Chel were two aspects of one being. But during the divine war, I was severely wounded. Though I survived, Chak Chel and I split into two independent entities.”
Qi Xuansu nodded in understanding.
Back then, the Holy Xuan had also been split into several independent entities by Old Master Long’s Moral Sovereign, manifesting the Three Corpses. The entire Daoist Order mobilized to retrieve his fragments and ultimately restored him. Such was the advantage of power and having so many subordinates.
Clearly, Ixchel did not have such resources and could only remain divided into two separate beings.
Ixchel continued, “This greatly diminished my divine power, so I was too weak to stop Kukulkan from stealing my husband Itzamna’s divinity. Moreover, this split caused me to lose the unified identity of the moon goddess. Chak Chel became the new queen, and my opposition became meaningless.”
Qi Xuansu understood. Chak Chel and Ixchel were both widows of the former king. The former supported Kukulkan, while the latter opposed him. Their positions canceled each other out, allowing Kukulkan to successfully seize Itzamna’s divine authority and ascend the throne. He then allied with the Western Daoist Order, stabilizing his rule through external support, much like a puppet ruler.
The Western Daoist Order promised to help maintain the ancient gods’ faith, but most of that faith was consumed by Kukulkan. He even had surplus power to devour the divine authority of other sun gods, further strengthening himself. The remaining gods were left with scraps, growing weaker and increasingly unable to compete with him.