I Steal the Ancestors' Sacrifices to Nourish Myself-Chapter 106 - 60: Phenomena in the Clan Land, Disciples Break Through, Clansmen Break Through!

"Haha, it's done!"

When Shen Can approached the Blacksmith's Workshop, he heard Huo Chong's ecstatic shout.

Inside the workshop where flames surged, mystical light burst forth, and the crimson Witch Runes on a hammer flickered. Even after the forging was completed, the fires on the hammer burned for a quarter of an hour before extinguishing.

"Master!"

Feeling excited, Huo Chong suddenly saw Shen Can watching from afar and immediately closed his mouth.

Grabbing the hammerhead with both hands, he walked towards Shen Can.

"Master, this is the first Witch Weapon I forged, a present to you."

Approaching Shen Can, Huo Chong knelt on the ground, offering the hammer with both hands.

Shen Can grabbed the hammer.

"Not bad."

With his Divine Sense, Shen Can perceived several misalignments in the Witch Patterns engraved on the hammer, but that wasn't important.

The creation of this hammer marks a new starting point for the Blazing Flame Tribe in weapon forging.

For many small tribes, even without a Witch, weapons for Tier Three Celestial Vein Martial Artists can still be forged.

This merely requires more effort in repeatedly hammering low-tier ores; if a hundred times isn't enough, then two hundred times.

Weapons forged by ordinary blacksmiths only suffice during the early stages of Celestial Vein. As Martial Artists unlock more Celestial Veins, their blood energy becomes increasingly robust.

When using these weapons, they inevitably infuse blood energy into them.

Without the support of Witch Talismans, these weapons only last a few uses.

Unless higher quality ores are used, however, ordinary blacksmiths lack the ability to smelt high-quality ores.

"I hope all the blacksmiths in our tribe can use the Witch Hammer you forged."

Shen Can gave Huo Chong a goal and asked, "Have you had a breakthrough?"

"Yes! While engraving the Witch Patterns on this Witch Hammer, I suddenly opened up my Witch Vein."

At this moment, Shen Can saw the fiery enthusiasm in Huo Chong's eyes and immediately understood.

"Let's call this hammer the Mountain Hammer."

"Mountain Hammer."

Huo Chong muttered the name, his eyes lighting up.

"Thank you, Master, for naming it."

Feeling the surging belief within Huo Chong, Shen Can patted him on the shoulder.

"First, stabilize yourself, and come to the Ancestral Temple tonight."

With that, Shen Can carried the Mountain Hammer as he left the Blacksmith's Workshop.

"Azhong, have you become a real Wizard now?"

War-Arms Steward Huo Shi quickly walked out of the workshop, shaking Huo Chong's shoulder, while other blacksmiths and apprentices followed.

"Yes."

Huo Shi, pulling on Huo Chong, turned to the gathered crowd and said, "Did you see that? Even blacksmiths can become Wizards."

...

Carrying the iron hammer, Shen Can did not return to the Ancestral Temple; he had another solitary disciple, Huo Fu.

It had been a long time, and while the disciples in the Witch Hall were familiar with one another, the disciple Huo Fu with a talent for Witch Talismans was not very sociable.

From a distance, Shen Can saw Huo Fu's figure at the desk inside the stone window, drawing Witch Talismans.

At that moment, Huo Fu's brow was furrowed, his pen held like the Mountain Hammer Shen Can was carrying.

Shen Can stayed outside, quietly watching Huo Fu from outside the residence.

Two of Shen Can's Witch disciples had just advanced to Tier One Wizard today, and one other seemed to have made some progress, unavoidable in bringing to his mind the anomaly at the Ancestral Temple this morning.

He had a total of seven disciples.

Besides the five he saw today, there were Huo Jiang, Huo Tuan, Huo Ye, and Huo Long—two of whom were Witch disciples inclined towards Magical Combat.

While pondering today's developments, inside the house, Huo Fu suddenly and firmly dropped his pen, staining the tailored beast hide.

Startled, Huo Fu picked it up again, yet an edge of sharpness surged from the beast hide, aiming directly at his face.

In this critical moment, Shen Can's hovering Divine Sense descended, pressing the sharpness into the Witch Talisman.

"Master!"

Huo Fu saw Shen Can walking towards him.

Entering the room, Shen Can picked up the Witch Talisman Huo Fu had just drawn.

On the hide parchment, there was only an irregular sword shape derived from the Witch Runes of the Lingyu Water Control Technique, transformed to sketch out a sword form.

"Water Sword... no, it's a Sword-controlling Talisman."

Shen Can sensed the transformation of the Witch Runes and felt the sharp edge within.

The Lingyu Book was a comprehensive Witchcraft compendium, potent in power. However, when it came to sharpness, Shen Can deduced that it didn't seem particularly sharp.

"Master, I..."

Huo Fu began to speak, his heart set on becoming a Wizard inclined toward Magical Combat, yet his talent test showed promise with Witch Talismans.

"How did you come up with the idea to draw this Witch Talisman?"

"Master, I've wanted to draw a Witch Talisman with strong attack power for a long time. This morning, brilliance struck me, but I still failed."

Shen Can placed the Witch Talisman into his bosom, planning to keep it for the future when his disciples became powerful wizards, to show them the path he once traversed.

Just like this broken hammer.

"Come to the ancestral temple tonight."

...

Then, Shen Can went to check on his disciples, Huo Tuan and Huo Jiang.

After visiting the disciples, he was about to return to the ancestral temple when a clansman ran over.

"Ancestral Temple Keeper, the Little Dragon Fish is acting up and not eating its fruits anymore."

...

Dragon Fish Cave.

Upon seeing Shen Can's arrival, the Little Dragon Fish excitedly blew a string of bubbles.

"Come!"

Then, with a gathering of divine sense, a word shot out.

With that, the Little Dragon Fish plunged headfirst into the pool.

This was the second time the Little Dragon Fish had spoken.

Shen Can also entered the pool.

When this fish nest was excavated, its outer ring was shallow, and the center position descended five or six meters.

But over the years, the Little Dragon Fish had occupied itself with burrowing tunnels, creating a small underground chamber.

Once underwater, Shen Can followed the Little Dragon Fish deeper and deeper.

If it had been before today, Shen Can would have no interest in playing around with this creature.

But the unusual phenomenon in the morning compelled him to ponder further.

The Little Dragon Fish had burrowed its lair quite deep, reaching thirty meters without yet finding a bottom.

Once Shen Can's divine sense descended, he sensed the bottom.

Yet, when sensing the bottom, the divine sense revealed a blood-red vein winding down like a tree root.

Its tendrils extended densely, embedded into the surrounding rock and earth, resembling a giant tree rooting in the earth for hundreds or thousands of years.

"Blood River!"

Upon seeing the blood-red tendrils, Shen Can immediately thought of the Blood River brought from Gufu Mountain.

The water contained abundant Water Element Source Power, flowing toward the blood veins.

"Blub!"

"Blub!"

Seeing Shen Can frozen at the spot, the Little Dragon Fish swam back and gathered in front of him.

"Less!"

"Less!"

"Stolen!"

Quickly, through divine sense communication between man and fish, Shen Can finally understood.

The Little Dragon Fish did not sense the vein; it had a keen perception of the source power in the water, and it felt the source power was diminishing.

It thought someone was stealing the Water Element Source Power.

After comforting the Little Dragon Fish, Shen Can used divine sense to track the blood-red vein.

However, most of the blood-red vein was within the mountain, and he couldn't perceive its entirety.

After some sensing, Shen Can discerned that the blood-red vein was absorbing source power, yet the proximity to the Great Marsh's abundant water source power made it stand out.

Meanwhile, the vein rooted in the earth and rock also absorbed Earth Element Source Power and Gold Element Source Power.

Returning from the Dragon Fish Cave, Shen Can considered consulting the stolen Xiaoyang manuscripts.

Upon returning to the ancestral temple, he instructed Ayu to find Uncle Huo Shan to tally the martial artists' cultivation status within the clan and its dependents.

Remembering his disciples were to come tonight, he temporarily set aside the idea of sifting through manuscripts.

He thought the blood-red vein might be a medium absorbing source power, akin to a 'Spirit Vein' that could alter the clan land's environment.

If truly so, prosperous days for the Blazing Flame Tribe were forthcoming.

Just like with Sacrificial Artifact materials, the quality of a mountain or artifact is not in its material but in its spiritual essence.

Perhaps the phenomenon seen with the Sacrificial Tripod Cauldron today wasn't a one-time occurrence but a subtle, transformative process.

Such an evolution aligns with a tribe's development.

Then, Shen Can retrieved the Witch Talisman acquired from Huo Fu.

After careful sensing, he began his divination.

With his disciples achieving results, he had to show his approval as their master.

He couldn't just say, "You have trained well; I'm not familiar, just go practice on your own."

"Practice well and report back to your master."

"Your master raises you to ultimately make you a Witch Power Donkey."

[You expend a hundred years of lifespan to divine the Witch Talisman, Water Manipulation - Sword-controlling Talisman]