As Hu Zhenkui's voice fell.
Almost at the same time, a wave of applause and cheers surged through the crowd.
Countless eyes, filled with undisguised envy and excitement, focused on the two people in the field.
Especially the older clansmen, their hair and beards already turning gray. Complex emotions flickered deep in their cloudy eyes.
They understood better than anyone what this achievement meant.
It was about far more than mere glory and money. It also offered the chance to touch a kind of power far beyond the ordinary.
"After the ceremony, you three, along with the youths turning fifteen this year, don't leave yet. I have something to tell you."
Hu Zhenkui's gaze passed over Hu Long, Hu Zetong, and the clansman in the black tank top who had lifted the four-hundred-pound stone weight.
His voice wasn't loud, but it carried clearly through the commotion.
After speaking, he turned to the crowd.
"The Strength Bearing Festival is complete. Let the Ancestral Rite continue!"
Being the Hammer Holder was a position of some importance at the Ancestral Rite.
The title came from what the person had to do during the following ceremony: steadily hold up two hundred-pound stone hammers.
Of course, the most tangible reward was a million yuan.
Afterward, aside from the repeated discussions about the cauldron-lifting, the rest of the ceremony proceeded as usual.
Staff entered the grounds and began applying makeup to Hu Long. They dressed him in dark, heavy armor and used special pigments to draw distinctive patterns across his cheeks and forehead.
Before long, he had been made up to resemble Hu Wei, the founding ancestor, as depicted in his statue. Holding a hammer in each hand, he stood solemnly in the center of the stage as the entire clan bowed to him in unison.
The ritual went on for another three or four hours.
Only when the sun sank in the west and dusk settled in, after everyone had gathered for the sacrificial banquet, did the annual Ancestral Rite finally draw to a close.
Hu Long had at last completed his duties as the "Hammer Holder."
Only then could Hu Chengwen, He Yanling, and Hu Zhao, who had been waiting at the edge of the crowd, come forward.
"Xiao Long, does anything feel uncomfortable?"
He Yanling immediately reached out to gently press and examine Hu Long, afraid he had hurt himself by overexerting earlier.
"Xiao Long, I really didn't expect this. You've made your big sister so proud today!"
Hu Zhao patted Hu Long on the shoulder, a smile never leaving her lips.
Hu Xiao, her long-time nemesis and sharp-tongued woman, had actually apologized and backed down to her for the first time today.
And she knew perfectly well that it was all because of her little brother.
"By the way, how did you manage that? How come I never noticed you were that strong?"
Hu Chengwen said nothing, but his eyes held the same question.
His son had taken part in the Ancestral Rite before.
But he hadn't placed particularly well in the Strength Bearing Festival, so by all rights he shouldn't have had the aptitude for it.
Yet Hu Long's performance today had far exceeded his expectations.
Even with training, there was no way he should have been that strong.
"Nothing special. Maybe I'm going through a second growth spurt."
Hu Long didn't explain further.
There was no way to explain it properly, so he could only give that reason.
Besides, some things didn't need to be spelled out.
"Whatever the reason, you did great!"
Seeing this, Hu Chengwen understood what Hu Long meant. He tactfully fell silent and didn't press him further.
Then.
After taking photos together.
The Ancestral Rite was more or less over.
The Hu Family members filed out of the ancestral hall. Except for a handful who drove away, most of the clansmen stayed where they were.
Then they gathered around Hu Long's family and Hu Zetong's family.
"I've always said Xiao Long was no ordinary kid. He even managed to lift the Deer Cauldron."
"Chengwen, we've grown a bit distant over the years. From now on, our families should visit each other more often."
"Your old man and I worked together back in the day. I never thought he'd go so soon... If he knew his grandson had achieved so much, I wonder how happy he'd be."
Congratulations, praise, and attempts to ingratiate themselves with the family came one after another, never letting up.
Among the crowd were even some clansmen who were distant from Hu Chengwen's family and rarely saw them.
Some came from wealthier households, while others had considerable standing in the local community. Now, they all approached with smiles.
"Oh, it was just luck!"
The smile never left Hu Chengwen's face as he chatted cheerfully with the clansmen.
He was doing fairly well among the clan, thanks to his status, but that didn't mean he could get everyone to gather around him. After all, plenty of Hu Clan members were better off than he was.
But now they were all flattering him.
And all because Hu Long had become the "Hammer Holder."
If that were all there was to it, it wouldn't have been enough to make them so attentive.
The most important reason was that Hu Long had lifted the twelve-hundred-pound Deer Cauldron.
In a way, that proved Hu Long's potential far surpassed that of the previous Hammer Holders.
It was practically a foregone conclusion that he would become one of the main family's members.
He might even go further along that path.
As members of the Hu Clan, they had wealth and status to their name, and naturally knew far more than outsiders.
They also understood the weight of what this meant. Building a closer relationship with him would clearly be best.
As he dealt with the clansmen, Hu Chengwen couldn't help glancing toward the ancestral hall.
A flicker of anticipation stirred in his heart.
I wonder what the result will be.
The vast ancestral hall was now much emptier, as the branch-family members had already left.
A line of people stood in the middle, with Hu Zhenkui at their head. They were members of the main family.
Across from them stood a group of youths around fifteen years old, Hu Long among them.
He and the other man in the black tank top were the oldest in the group.
"Our Hu Family has now lasted six hundred and seventy-two years. I hope you'll stand together and carry on the family line in the years to come..."
Hu Zhenkui stood with his hands behind his back.
He looked down at the crowd and spoke in a grave voice.
Dynasties might last a hundred years, but clans could endure for a thousand.
Throughout history, clans had been an unavoidable presence behind the rise and fall of royal power.
Blood ties were the strongest bonds. Because of them, clan members were more united than those in any other organization.
For some powerful clans, even the emperor was little more than a pawn.
That was enough to show just how terrifying a clan's influence could be.
And the Hu Clan...
In some ways, belonged to that very category.
"...But if our Hu Family has survived to this day, it's not only because our clansmen stand united against outside threats. There's something else that forms the foundation of our clan and has kept us alive all these years, preventing us from being wiped out!"
Hu Zhenkui's voice rang out again, and he came to the point.
But after saying this, Hu Zhenkui paused.
"Great-grandfather Patriarch, what is it?" Hu Zetong asked first.
The other man's deliberate teasing had made him curious.
Hu Long said nothing.
But he already had a vague guess.
Hearing the question, Hu Zhenkui chuckled but didn't answer directly.
"There's no need to rush. Before that, you still need to take a simple test."