The Young Man Offers the First Incense Stick in the Sacrifice

The 298th year of the Great Liang Dynasty.

It was Lin Chen's first New Year since transmigrating to this world.

It was also another year of abundant harvest for Poyang County.

Poyang County had enjoyed favorable weather for eight consecutive years, and the people had surplus grain at home.

So the New Year's festivities were particularly lively.

Lakeside Village had a tradition of offering sacrifices to the Lake God every New Year. The entire village, young and old, gathered at the Ancestral Hall early in the morning. Every household placed the prepared offerings of livestock and other sacrifices on the ground.

Inside the Ancestral Hall, incense smoke curled and lingered.

In previous years, youngsters like Lin Chen would stand at the back, but today Lin Chen was pulled to the very front by the Village Chief, standing only behind the Village Chief and a few village elders.

"Lin Chen, offer incense to the Lake God and our ancestors of Lakeside Village, and pray that you go further on the Martial Path."

The Village Chief, holding the lit incense, handed it to Lin Chen.

Lin Chen didn't refuse. The Village Chief had already come to his house last night to discuss it. Today, he would represent the younger generation of the village in offering sacrifices to the Lake God.

"Today, Lin Chen, a descendant of the Lin clan in the village, has entered the Still Water Martial Arts Academy to study martial arts. We pray that the Lake God and the ancestors of Lakeside Village bless Lin Chen with smooth sailing on the Martial Path."

A village elder began to recite the sacrificial text. Everyone in the village looked solemn, and Lin Chen was no exception.

Sacrifice!

It was an extremely solemn matter.

Lin Chen, having lived two lives, discovered a common point between his previous life and this world: both placed great importance on sacrificial rituals.

Sacrifice was not merely a ceremony; it was a means of bringing people together.

Clan sacrifice brought together the hearts of the clan members.

Village sacrifice brought together the hearts of the villagers.

National sacrifice brought together the hearts of the entire nation.

Having outstanding young villagers lead the sacrifice could also inspire the other young people in the village to strive harder.

Listening to the sacrificial text recited by the village elder and seeing the solemn expressions of the many villagers, Lin Chen felt a surge of emotion. No wonder so many wealthy people in his previous life were willing to spend any amount of money to compete for a stick of incense in the ancestral hall.

It wasn't just for face; it was also a manifestation of bringing glory to their ancestors after returning home in splendor.

"Lin Chen, offer the incense!"

After finishing the sacrificial text, the village elder looked at Lin Chen with an encouraging smile. Lin Chen nodded, took the incense, bowed three times, and then inserted it into the incense burner.

Feeling the gaze of the villagers behind him, even as a transmigrator, under the influence of the atmosphere at this moment, he felt a bit of excitement. He silently vowed that if he achieved something on the Martial Path in the future, he would give back to the village within his capabilities.

Among the crowd, the happiest were Father Lin and Mother Lin, while the most complex emotions belonged to his grandfather, Lin Chaoyang.

Since the people from the Money House came last time, Grandfather Lin Chaoyang had rarely left the old house, but he naturally wouldn't miss such a major event as the New Year's ancestral sacrifice.

Looking at Lin Chen standing at the front at this moment, there was a momentary flicker of excitement on his old face, followed by regret and remorse.

If he had supported Lin Chen's martial arts training back then, as his grandfather, he would now be qualified to stand at the very front, enjoying the flattering words of others.

But now, looking at the eyes of the surrounding villagers, he felt his old face couldn't bear it.

"Is Ming'er still not coming back?"

After the ancestral sacrifice ended, Lin Chaoyang asked his eldest son.

"Father, after Ming'er cultivated Essence Energy, he found a job in the city, thinking of saving more money to gather the tuition fee for the Martial Arts Hall next year, so he won't be coming back this year."

Uncle Lin Hai explained, "Ming'er asked someone to bring back one tael of silver."

"If he's not coming back, then so be it."

Lin Chaoyang waved his hand, "No need for the silver, I won't starve. Tell him to be thrifty in the city and not to resent his third uncle. It's true that your family has owed the third brother's family these past few years."

Lin Hai quickly said, "Father, Ming'er won't. No matter what, Third Uncle is his uncle."

"Eldest daughter-in-law, did you hear what I said?"

Lin Chaoyang didn't doubt his eldest son's words, but he feared that his eldest daughter-in-law might not necessarily think the same way.

"Father, why would I resent Third Uncle?"

His aunt's expression was a bit awkward. Lin Chaoyang stared at his eldest daughter-in-law for a while, "From beginning to end, only your family has owed the second and third brothers' families. The second and third brothers have never wronged your family. No matter what, the character 'Lin' is formed by two 'wood' characters, and Ming'er and Chen'er are cousins after all. You must understand this principle."

Seeing his eldest daughter-in-law fall silent, Lin Chaoyang didn't care whether she had listened or not and said to his eldest son, "I'm tired, help me home."

Lin Chaoyang left, and the villagers didn't pay much attention. Even if they noticed, they would only scoff, saying it was all his own doing.

Lin Chen naturally didn't notice that his grandfather had left at this moment. As the one who offered the first incense, there were still many rituals he had to perform.

He also had to cover the eyes of the Lake God statue with red cloth.

Covering the eyes of the Lake God statue was to allow the Lake God, who had blessed the villagers for a year, to rest for a while. During this time, it could enjoy the offerings in every household in the village.

Then, after the fifteenth day of the first lunar month next year, he would have to remove the red cloth and invite the Lake God back into the lake to bless the villagers with a smooth fishing year.

After finishing the entire ceremony, it was already noon when he returned home.

After a quick lunch, Lin Chen called out to Gu Fei again, and the two began practicing martial arts on the hill behind the village.

Gu Fei practiced the Warm Sun Fist, while he practiced the Clear Wind Palm.

He dragged Gu Fei along because he wanted to supervise the guy, lest he get lazy at home during the New Year. The Martial Path allowed for no slackening. If Gu Fei wanted to cultivate Essence Energy within two years, he had to practice diligently and train hard.

[Clear Wind Palm: Not Mastered (60/100)]

[Clear Wind Palm: Not Mastered (61/100)]

After the New Year, on the third day of the first lunar month.

Lin Chen didn't follow his parents to visit relatives. Instead, he stayed home to focus on practicing martial arts.

For other students who had joined a Martial Arts Hall, visiting relatives during the Spring Festival would inevitably lead to praise from relatives, which could satisfy a young man's vanity.

Lin Chen knew clearly that he would receive the same treatment if he visited relatives, but compared to that, he needed to seize the Spring Festival time even more, striving for a breakthrough in the Clear Wind Palm.

What the Instructor said was right. If he couldn't compete with others in terms of realm, he could only rely on the Clear Wind Palm to compensate for his weakness.

Looking at the Clear Wind Palm's progress on the System Panel, a smile appeared on Lin Chen's face.

After eight days of hard training, his Clear Wind Palm had finally reached the introductory level today.

[Clear Wind Palm: Introductory (1/200)]

With the Clear Wind Palm at the introductory level, Lin Chen could clearly feel that the sharpness and accuracy of his palm strikes were much stronger than before.

Now, one slap from him could send Gu Fei flying.

Without the Qi and Blood panel, the progress of his martial arts techniques was now his daily motivation.

As for his martial arts realm, he was still at the first aperture of the Aperture Opening Realm.

Just as Lin Chen was preparing to continue cultivating as usual, a sound came from outside the courtyard gate.

"Xiao Chen, your classmates from the Martial Arts Hall have come to see you."

Lin Chen pushed open the door and saw the Village Chief leading a few figures walking towards his house from not far away.

"Junior Brother Lu, Junior Brother Zhao, Junior Brother Cheng... Why are you here?"

Looking at Lu Yongfeng and the other two, Lin Chen was very surprised. It was truly unexpected that these three would come to Lakeside Village.

"Senior Brother Lin, we're going to the Martial Arts Hall soon. Once we're at the county town's Martial Arts Hall, training will be busy, and I'm afraid there won't be much time to gather. We all came from the Kaohe Town Martial Arts Academy, so we thought we'd get together before everyone goes to the Martial Arts Hall."

Zhao Jingchuan said with a smile. This was his suggestion, and Lu Yongfeng and Cheng Ying also readily agreed.

It was easy for the three of them to contact each other in town, while Lin Chen lived in the village. After discussing it, they simply decided to make a trip to Lakeside Village.

Lin Chen understood. Those from the same Martial Arts Hall would connect and deepen their relationships. In the future, they could also support each other in the county town. This kind of grouping by origin was quite normal.

But why were there only Zhao Jingchuan and the two others? Where were Xu Botao and Yan Dexing?

Seemingly seeing Lin Chen's confusion, Zhao Jingchuan said with a bitter smile, "Junior Brother Xu and Junior Brother Yan didn't get a spot for the Aperture Opening Pill from the Martial Arts Hall. I'm afraid they're not in a good mood, so after thinking it over, we didn't invite them."

"Junior Brother Xu and Junior Brother Yan didn't get a spot for the Aperture Opening Pill?"

Lin Chen was surprised. Were there so many students who had cultivated Essence Energy this year? The competition was actually this fierce.

"Junior Brother Xu was found to have borrowed Silver Coins from a Money House at home when he was at the Martial Arts Hall. Junior Brother Yan was slightly a day late, and the spots in the major Martial Arts Halls were already full."

The Village Chief, who was leading the way, asked curiously, "The Martial Arts Hall doesn't allow students to borrow money?"

"Village Chief Wang, usually the Martial Arts Hall wouldn't care, as there were plenty of spots. But this time, there weren't enough spots. In the Martial Arts Hall's view, if they need to borrow money even at the Martial Arts Hall stage, they probably won't be able to sustain the subsequent Martial Path expenses." Zhao Jingchuan patiently explained.

"It's also fortunate that Senior Brother Lin cultivated Essence Energy relatively early, otherwise, I'm afraid..."

Cheng Ying chimed in from behind, but he didn't finish his sentence. However, the meaning was very clear. If Lin Chen had cultivated Essence Energy a few days later, he probably wouldn't have gotten a spot either.

Lin Chen smiled faintly and didn't argue.

His experience in obtaining the Aperture Opening Pill had been full of twists and turns, so there was no need to publicize it.

The old Village Chief beside him showed a thoughtful expression after hearing this.

PS: Thank you to the Brother Yi Deng for the generous reward. It's been ten years, and you've followed every book for so many years. Thank you! Please continue to follow!