Ancestors Manifest, Successful Advancement (Seeking Follow-up Reads)

Shen Can squinted at the cave ceiling.

He had already handed over the improved medicinal formulas. With the corresponding improved tempering fist techniques, the probability of advancement would be higher.

"I'm not stealing your offerings for nothing. You should show yourselves now."

He first peeked into the eastern ear cave. Huo Xian was still resting, so Shen Can quietly slipped out.

When he returned, he had several thin stone flakes and the Luan Knife used for sacrifices in his hands.

"...Is it mid-grade or low-grade?"

Shen Can fell into a dilemma.

Three thousand miles away from the Blazing Flame Tribe was another tribe called Shanghuang, which had several Celestial Meridian Realm martial artists.

The Shanghuang Tribe possessed an incomplete martial arts cultivation method, rumored to be able to advance Celestial Meridian Realm practitioners to the Nine Meridian Realm. Their tribe had three body-tempering methods, and Kui Ox Fist was one of them.

The Shanghuang's Kui Ox Fist was much more effective than the Blazing Flame Tribe's. As for whether it was low-grade or mid-grade, Shen Can wasn't sure.

He estimated it was most likely low-grade.

Shen Can was a bit unwilling to settle for low-grade, and he wasn't foolish enough to go for high-grade.

Tribal members might not be able to distinguish between low and high quality, but the effects wouldn't lie. If the news were to get out...

Things that couldn't be controlled easily could bring about the tribe's utter destruction.

After agonizing for a while, Shen Can gripped the knife in his left hand and began to carve on the stone flakes.

The true reason for the previous inferior Kui Ox Fist was the lack of detail.

The palm-sized stone flakes were very thin, and there were only three forms in total. He only used five stone flakes.

Although he used his left hand, his strength was sufficient after practicing martial arts, so his hand didn't tremble while carving.

After finishing the carving, Shen Can headed deeper into the cave of the Ancestral Temple.

Within the Blazing Flame Tribe's Ancestral Temple, there were many divine seats. In the center, surrounded by numerous shrines, was a three-foot-tall, wordless shrine.

This shrine did not belong to the founding ancestor of the Blazing Flame Tribe, but represented the human sages who pioneered martial arts.

All tribal Ancestral Temples in the Great Wilderness had one.

Shen Can mused that the reason it was wordless was probably because there were too many ancestors who pioneered martial arts cultivation, and their names had been lost to time.

"Ancestors, sages, please bless me. Give me some time to develop."

"Please, don't mess with me."

Standing outside the divine seat, Shen Can bowed and then immediately jumped onto the altar.

Using the Luan Knife, he pried open a gap in the wordless shrine.

There was no other way; looking at the altar, the divine seat of the wordless sages was the largest.

Master Huo Xian had told him that ancestors would never blame their juniors.

It was all for survival.

Next, Shen Can stuffed the fist stone flakes into the crack of the divine seat.

"As long as the tribe is passed down, there will be sacrifices every year, and we can keep eating offerings. Ancestors, please don't blame me."

After getting off the altar, Shen Can first absolved himself of his sins and checked the time.

"Master, something terrible has happened!"

"The Ancestor has cracked!"

The consequences of the Ancestor cracking were dire.

In the three hundred years since the tribe's establishment, this was the first time the Ancestor had cracked.

Even the tribal chief had arrived.

Huo Tang stared at the cracked, wordless divine seat, his brows furrowed.

The continuous heavy rain and the cracking of the Ancestor felt rather ominous.

Shen Can looked at the tribal chief up close. His brows were deeply furrowed, his face rough and dark, weathered by time.

"Uncle Huo Xian."

Huo Xian's figure was somewhat hunched. He had guarded the Ancestral Temple for decades without any mishaps.

Today, this was a disaster.

Shen Can could tell that Huo Xian was somewhat startled and felt a bit regretful for his rash actions.

Upon hearing the tribal chief Huo Tang's words, Huo Xian also reacted.

There had already been some unease within the tribe due to the incident where floodwaters had washed out tribal remains. Now, with the ancestral divine seat cracking, the unease in everyone's hearts would only intensify.

Huo Xian, having regained his composure, immediately straightened his back.

"I discovered some cracks in the wordless sage divine seat last year, but I haven't had the time to reshape it. Ah Can only recently arrived and wouldn't know about this."

"It's my old age, I should have reshaped the divine positions for our ancestors long ago."

Seeing Huo Xian about to take the blame, Shen Can quickly spoke up, "Master, it seems there's... something."

His words drew everyone's gaze back to the blank divine position.

Soon, the divine position was taken down, revealing several stone fragments within the crack.

Stone hidden in wood?

What is this?

"This looks like the Kui Ox Fist technique."

"The stances in this technique seem a bit different from what we practice."

The stone fragments were passed around among Huo Tang, Huo Xian, and several other Mountain Opening Realm martial artists, who recognized it at a glance.

Huo Xian stared blankly at the cracked, blank divine position, lost in thought.

Huo Tang rubbed the stone fragments with his rough hands, his gaze unreadable.

"Let's practice."

The other tribesmen were less contemplative and immediately began practicing.

"It really is different; the starting stance has a slight deviation from what we practice."

"Hey, hey, I'm getting the feel for it!"

Every tribesman present had practiced the Kui Ox Fist for decades. As soon as they tried the stances on the stone fragments, they immediately noticed the changes.

Shen Can was actually worried about being exposed. The ancient appearance of the stone fragments couldn't possibly be faked in a short time.

But then he looked at his own small frame. Standing at 1.83 meters, he was the weakest among the tribesmen who averaged over two meters.

The stone fragments could be faked, but could the fist technique be altered on the spot?

The Blazing Flame Tribe hadn't produced such talent in three hundred years.

If he claimed responsibility now, no one would believe him.

After the tribesmen started practicing, Huo Tang's desire to examine the stone fragments diminished.

Could it really have been intentionally hidden in the divine position by their ancestors?

Not only Huo Tang, but Huo Xian also thought the same. The beast hide scrolls passed down by their ancestors didn't record this matter either.

The blank divine position was created when the tribe was founded. If the divine position remained intact, would the stone slabs for transmitting martial arts still be hidden?

"Tribe Leader, this fist technique is truly effective. I feel like it mobilizes more of my flesh, blood, tendons, and bones. I'm even getting hungry."

"Me too."

"Our ancestors have manifested, bestowing this fist technique."

Inside the East Ear Cave.

Outside the cave, the tribesmen were still practicing the improved fist technique, not rushing to soak in beast blood.

Inside the cave, Huo Xian was repairing the divine position, with Shen Can helping to support it.

"Did the tribe's ancestors hide the fist technique in the divine position a bit too well?"

At this moment, Huo Tang felt that the stone fragments being hidden within the divine position, isolated from the outside world, made the slightly new appearance of the traces seem plausible.

For many years, the tribe had been trying to improve the Kui Ox Fist, and any tribesman with an idea could report it to the ancestral temple.

However, not much improvement had been made.

With the current members of the tribe, who had the ability to make changes?

Even if they had ideas, they wouldn't dare to voice them for fear of problems.

Besides being left by their ancestors, there was no other explanation.

Huo Xian rubbed the divine position and said thoughtfully, "I wonder if the Kui Ox Fist left by our ancestors is better than the one from the Shanghuang Tribe."

At this, Huo Tang fell silent.

The Shanghuang Tribe was powerful and had a vast hunting range, sometimes hunting near the Blazing Flame Tribe.

As fellow humans, they should theoretically help each other, but if reason always prevailed, people wouldn't practice martial arts, nor would there be so many large and small tribes.

The Shanghuang Tribe had already existed for over two hundred years when the Blazing Flame Tribe was established. Their founding ancestor might have considered this.

Soon, Huo Tang walked out of the ear cave and said, "Huo Ning, Huo Yu, Huo Yan, the three of you stay. Everyone else, disperse."

"With our ancestors' manifestation this time, protecting our tribe, we will surely overcome the flood safely."

Huo Ning and the other two were the tribesmen chosen this time to soak in beast blood and prepare to advance to the Mountain Opening Realm.

They were all martial artists who had practiced the fist technique for decades. After practicing for three days, Huo Ning and the other two began soaking in beast blood.

There was no other way; if they delayed further, the energy in the beast blood would weaken.

To break through to the Mountain Opening Realm, one must use the power of beast blood for the final push, completing the advancement in one go.

The advancement of the three was set to take place in the Ancestral Temple. Shen Can noticed that the beast blood without the improved formula was chosen by Huo Yu.

The formula was changed, the fist technique was given, and now it was up to their luck.

The breakthrough wasn't as pleasant as imagined. The three who jumped into the beast blood felt like they were in boiling soup, their bodies scoured by the beast blood like shrimp.

Each person, according to their own condition, would periodically jump out of the large cauldron and perform the Kui Ox Fist to mobilize their entire body's flesh and bone to absorb the beast blood's energy.

Then, they would repeat this process.

After watching for a long time, Shen Can lost interest.

The three burly men tumbling around were simply not interesting to watch.

Every time they practiced their punches, it was as if steam was escaping them, with gurgling streams of blood-red sweat vaporizing from their bodies and filling the entire Ancestral Temple.

This was the unabsorbed beast blood energy. Before the formula was improved, even more red sweat vapor was released.

The three advancing tribesmen took three days to complete their process. Shen Can, within the Ancestral Temple, felt the rumbling sounds emanating from the mountains multiple times.

The Mountain Opening Realm was naturally measured by mountains.

The nearby mountains suffered greatly, with winding cracks appearing in their bodies, signifying the birth of new Mountain Opening Realm martial artists.

This time, all three tribesmen advanced to the Mountain Opening Realm. The joy of their success dispelled the previously oppressive atmosphere in the tribe.

The tribe had only thirteen Mountain Opening Realm martial artists, with four of them being elderly. The addition of three young and strong Mountain Opening Realm practitioners was a significant boost to their overall strength.

The tribesmen were happy, and so was Shen Can.

After their advancement, the tribesmen clamored to go back to the flood-prone shore to try their luck again, believing their ancestors had appeared and it was necessary to perform ancestral rites.