Strength Bearing Festival [I]

Boom!

At this very moment.

The sound of bells tolling and drums beating drifted in from outside.

Hearing the noise.

Hu Long reined in his thoughts.

He straightened his clothes, opened the door to step out, and went to a nearby washbasin to splash his face.

Afterward, he arrived at the main entrance of the ancestral hall, only to see the interior teeming with figures, even more crowded than before.

A rough sweep of his gaze suggested there were no fewer than a thousand people.

An Ancestral Rite of this scale could naturally not be managed entirely by clansmen; many security guards, cleaning staff, and ceremonial attendants in uniform wove through the crowd, maintaining order and the flow of events.

His phone suddenly vibrated. Hu Long took it out to see that it was a call from He Yanling.

"Xiao Long, where are you right now?"

The voice on the other end of the line carried a hint of anxiety.

This was hardly surprising; in her eyes, this son of hers was, after all, a patient who had just been discharged and required constant supervision.

Ever since Hu Long started going out, He Yanling had called him at least ten times a day.

"I'm fine, I just went to the restroom."

Hu Long's tone was casual.

"Where are you guys?"

After clarifying their location, he headed in that direction.

Not far away, he spotted He Yanling and the others—no, to be precise, there were four of them.

"Brother... hug..."

Little Hu Yu, held in He Yanling's arms, immediately reached out his tiny hands with a milky, high-pitched voice the moment he saw him.

Over the past few days, this little tyke had actually learned to call him "Brother."

For this reason, Hu Zhao, as the older sister, had been sulking for quite a while.

Because despite her teaching him for so long, the little one still couldn't even say "sister" coherently, only managing a single syllable.

Hu Long looked at the small arms reaching toward him but did not reach out to take the child.

A young child was inherently fragile, and since Hu Long had downloaded Innate Divine Strength, his performance in the restroom just now was enough to prove that his power had seen an exaggerated surge.

Although the trait of Body-Mind Unity allowed him to adapt to himself rapidly.

It still required some time.

For the moment, he still could not fully control his suddenly increased strength.

It would be disastrous if he accidentally crushed this convenient "little brother" by mistake.

"Alright, let's go in."

Hu Chengwen spoke up at the right moment.

According to old customs, only those of the Hu surname could step into the ancestral hall, while relatives with other surnames could only watch the ceremony from the plaza outside.

However, as time passed, many old rules had been altered to consolidate the clan's unity.

This rule, for instance, was no longer enforced.

The ancestral hall was vast, with high, expansive ceilings.

It resembled a palace, its entire structure built using mortise and tenon joints.

The walls, beams, and pillars were all made of wood.

The intricately carved immortals, mythical beasts, auspicious clouds, and ruyi patterns were somewhat blurred in the dim light, leaving only shadowy, indistinct outlines that silently looked down upon the ant-like crowd below.

The air was permeated with the faint scent of incense.

A few shafts of light filtered in through the high, carved lattice windows, becoming hazy and ethereal after being filtered through layers of spirit tablets and incense smoke.

There were quite a few people here, numbering in the hundreds, all dressed in proper attire.

Though there were many, there wasn't a single discordant sound.

Hundreds of people stood densely, yet they naturally divided themselves into layers and sections.

Depending on the closeness of their relationship, their positions were arranged differently.

However, because the original body's grandfather was within the five degrees of mourning, Hu Long and his family stood relatively near the front.

His gaze swept over the spirit tablets among them.

Finally, it landed on the center of the ancestral hall, where a stone statue stood.

The statue was six meters tall, clad in full armor, holding a pair of hammers, its figure as upright as a pine.

This stone statue was the true ancestor worshipped by the Hu Family, a general who had walked through blood and achieved illustrious military exploits during the chaotic era of the Cloud Kingdom six hundred years ago.

The current Hu Clan were all descendants of his bloodline, and beside the statue stood a stone tablet recording his life story.

His name was Hu Wei. He had lived a life of poverty since childhood, but he possessed Innate Divine Strength and had studied martial arts. Driven by famine, he chose to enlist in the army to survive.

From then on, he became unstoppable. Through a series of feats—charging into enemy lines, breaking sieges, being the first to scale city walls, and slaying generals to seize their banners—he was directly enfeoffed by the Cloud Kingdom's emperor at the time, rising to a third-rank official.

It was precisely because of this that he built the foundation of his own legacy, allowing his descendants to flourish to this day.

Hu Long recalled these memories that had suddenly surged from the original owner of his body.

Among them were records of this Hu ancestor's heroic deeds.

For instance, during one engagement with enemy forces, the opposition hid within a city. Due to the terrain, the city remained unconquered for a long time, and the soldiers suffered heavy losses.

Facing this situation, under the cover of night, Hu Wei took up an iron hammer and, relying solely on brute force, smashed through the city gate in three strikes, successfully taking the city.

This was nothing short of mythical.

"Smashed through a city gate in three strikes?"

Hu Long's eyes flickered.

In the past, he would have dismissed this as an exaggeration.

Not to mention that city gates were extremely thick and reinforced with door bars and multiple bolts, making them incredibly difficult to destroy.

Relying on human strength alone, without the aid of thermal weapons, it was simply impossible to blast open a city gate.

Even possessing the strength of a thousand catties would be useless.

If that were not the case, why would ancient sieges rely on the high-mortality method of using scaling ladders to climb the walls and open the gates from the inside?

It was normal for ancestors to be mythologized through word of mouth.

However, after downloading the Innate Divine Strength talent and learning that Secret Martial Artists existed in this world, he held a different view: the recorded deeds of this ancestor were very likely true.

"The Clan Head is here!"

At this moment, someone shouted.

Everyone looked toward the entrance.

An old man dressed in a black long robe walked in first.

This person was none other than the head of the Hu Clan, Hu Zhenkui.

He was also the person with the highest status in the Hu Clan.

Following behind him were about thirty other Hu clansmen.

Seeing them arrive, everyone stood respectfully.

Even Hu Chengwen, standing to the side, was no exception.

The Hu Family had only one main branch, while all other Hu clansmen were merely collateral branches.

This main branch was very mysterious.

But one thing was certain: the power they possessed was immense.

It was not something that could be compared to mere wealth.

Hu Long also stood to the side, but his gaze swept back and forth over these people.

The muscles exposed on their bodies were bulging, and their physiques were exceptionally burly, something even their clothing could not conceal.

Even the Clan Head walking at the very front was the same.

If he were an ordinary person, he might not have thought much of it, perhaps assuming they had simply exercised.

But for Hu Long, who possessed Comprehensive Combat Arts at the Perfection level, he could tell at a glance that these were all trained fighters, and none of them were weak.

More importantly, perhaps due to his transmigration and the absorption of the original owner's soul, his perception was very keen; he felt a distinct sense of danger from these people.

Secret Martial Artists? As expected, they are not simple.

Facing this situation, a flash of joy crossed Hu Long's eyes.

What followed was the standard procedure for the Ancestral Rite.

Under normal circumstances, the Ancestral Rite consisted of several parts.

Aside from the early preparations, the subsequent steps included welcoming the spirits and inviting the ancestors, offering sacrifices, reciting the sacrificial text, burning silk offerings to send off the spirits, revising the genealogy, receiving instructions from elders, taking a group photo, and holding a banquet, among other things.

The process was very cumbersome.

However, there were specialized people to handle all these tasks.

Hu Long followed the established routine, joining the other members of the Hu Clan in offering sacrifices, kowtowing, and burning incense.

Soon, once the basic procedures were nearly complete, the staff members withdrew from the area.

At this moment, Hu Zhenkui, acting as the clan head, spoke up once more.

"The progenitor of our Hu Family, Duke Polu, possessed Innate Divine Strength and formidable martial arts; he crushed enemy armies, upheld the nation, and brought glory to our lineage through his loyalty and valor."

He did not use a microphone or loudspeaker, yet his voice reached the ears of everyone present with perfect clarity.

Such a technique...

A glimmer of intensity flickered in Hu Long's eyes as he witnessed this.

He was now itching to step forward and inspect the other man's skills.

At this time, Hu Zhenkui's voice continued to resonate.

"Today, as our Hu Family pays respects to our ancestors, we must follow the ancestral teachings to be self-reliant and strong by performing the 'Strength Bearing Festival'!

Any son of our Hu Family, aged fifteen to twenty-five, may step forward to test his divine strength. The strongest among you shall be today's 'Hammer Holder'."