I Steal the Ancestors' Sacrifices to Nourish Myself-Chapter 8: Ancestor’s Manifestation, Successful Advancement

Chapter 8: Chapter 8: Ancestor’s Manifestation, Successful Advancement

Shen Can squinted his eyes, looking at the cave ceiling.

The improved formula has been given, and with a matching improved Quenching Fist Technique, the chances of advancement will be higher.

"We’re not stealing your offerings for nothing, you should be showing your spirit."

He first glanced towards the East Ear Cave, Huo Xian was still resting, and quietly walked out.

When he returned, he already had several thin stone flakes and the Simurgh Blade used for sacrifices.

"...Is it Middle Grade or Lower Grade?"

Shen Can fell into a dilemma.

Three thousand miles away from the Blazing Flame Division, there’s a division named Upper Huang, with multiple Celestial Vein Realm Martial Artists.

Upper Huang Division has a fragmented Martial Arts Technique, said to cultivate the Celestial Vein Realm to the Realm of Nine Veins, and their tribe’s body tempering methods include three, one of which is the Kui Ox Fist.

Upper Huang’s Kui Ox Fist effect is much better than Blazing Flame’s, as for whether it’s Lower Grade or Middle Grade, Shen Can is unsure.

He estimated it is mostly Lower Grade.

Using Lower Grade made Shen Can a bit unwilling, but he wasn’t foolish enough to consider Top-Grade.

People might not distinguish the quality grades, but the effect doesn’t lie, and if news gets out.

Uncontrollable things can easily bring catastrophic disaster to the tribe.

After weighing for a while, Shen Can gripped the blade with his left hand and started carving on the stone flakes.

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

The palm-sized stone flakes were very thin, covering all three styles, he only used five stone flakes.

Though using the left hand, after martial cultivation his strength was sufficient, his hand didn’t tremble while carving.

After finishing the carving, Shen Can walked deeper into the Ancestral Temple Cave.

The Ancestral Temple of the Blazing Flame Division contained numerous Divine Tablets, surrounded by various shrines, with a three-foot-high Wordless Shrine in the center.

The shrine was not built by the ancestors of the Blazing Flame Division, but represents the sage ancestors who pioneered the Martial Dao of the Human Race.

Every clan ancestral temple in the Great Wilderness has one.

As for why it’s wordless, Shen Can figured probably since there were too many predecessors in martial cultivation whose names were lost.

"Ancestor, sage ancestors please protect and bless me, give me some time for growth."

"Please don’t mess with me."

Standing outside the Divine Tablet, Shen Can bowed, then immediately jumped onto the Divine Platform.

He used the Simurgh Blade to pry open a gap in the Wordless Shrine.

No choice, looking across the Divine Platform, the Wordless Shrine of the sage ancestors was the largest.

Master Huo Xian mentioned, how could ancestors blame the juniors?

It’s all for survival.

Then, Shen Can stuffed the fist stone flakes into the crack of the shrine.

"Only if the tribe continues to pass down can it keep receiving offerings forever, ancestors don’t blame me."

After getting off the Divine Platform, Shen Can first inwardly released himself from sin, noticing the time was about right.

"Master, something’s wrong!"

"The ancestral shrine cracked!"

...

The consequences of the ancestral shrine cracking are significant.

Establishing the tribe for three hundred years, the ancestral shrine cracked for the first time.

Even the Clan Chief came.

Huo Chang looked at the cracked Wordless Shrine, his brow tightly furrowed.

The continuous rain, ancestral shrine cracking, somewhat ominous.

Shen Can watched the Clan Chief up close, with tightly locked wrinkles on his brow, his rugged and weathered face.

"Uncle Huo Xian."

Huo Xian’s figure was somewhat hunched, he had guarded the ancestral temple for decades without any incident.

Today, this medicine pill.

Shen Can saw that Huo Xian was somewhat shocked, feeling a bit regrettable for acting rashly.

Upon hearing Huo Chang, the Clan Chief’s words, Huo Xian also reacted.

Previously with the flood exposing his clansmen’s remains, the tribe was uneasy, now with the ancestral shrine cracking, everyone’s unease would only intensify.

Once Huo Xian realized, he immediately straightened up.

"I discovered last year that the Wordless Shrine of the sage ancestors was slightly cracked, but haven’t had time to remold it, Acan just recently arrived and doesn’t know about this."

"I’m the one who’s muddleheaded, I should’ve remodeled the shrine for the predecessors long ago."

Seeing Huo Xian about to take responsibility, Shen Can quickly spoke, "Master, it seems there... there is something."

This drew everyone’s eyes towards the Wordless Shrine once more.

Soon, the shrine was taken down, and several stone flakes revealed from the cracked gap.

Stone hidden in wood?

What is this?

"This seems like the Kui Ox Fist Technique."

"The technique’s style seems somewhat different from what we’re cultivating."

The stone flakes passed through Huo Chang, Huo Xian, and several other Mountain-Opening Realm Martial Artists, recognized at a glance.

Huo Xian stared blankly at the cracked Wordless Shrine, unsure of what to think.

Huo Chang’s rough hand caressed the stone shard, his gaze inscrutable.

"Practice."

The other tribesmen weren’t so contemplative and started practicing immediately.

"It’s really different, this opening technique has a slight variation from what we practice."

"Hey, hey, I feel it!"

Which tribe member here hasn’t practiced the Kui Ox Fist for decades? As soon as they practiced the techniques on the stone shard, they noticed the change.

Shen Can was actually worried about being exposed; the stone shard’s ancient texture couldn’t be faked in a short period.

But then he looked at his small frame, standing at about 1.83 meters tall, the weakest among the tribesmen who were all over two meters.

The stone shards can be fabricated, but can the Fist Technique be rewritten?

Three hundred years in the Blazing Flame Division hadn’t produced such talent.

If he claimed credit now, would anyone believe him?

...

After the tribesmen began practicing, Huo Chang’s thoughts of inspecting the stone shard faded.

Was it really hidden by the ancestors within the shrine years ago?

Not only did Huo Chang have this thought in his mind, but so did Huo Xian. The beast hide scroll passed down from their ancestors hadn’t recorded this either.

The Wordless Shrine was completed when the tribe was founded; if the shrine hadn’t been damaged, would the Martial Arts Stone Slab still be hidden?

"Clan Leader, this Fist Technique is truly effective; I feel more muscles and tendons being mobilized, and I’m getting a bit hungry."

"Me too."

"The ancestor manifested, granting us the fist technique."

... 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

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, Huo Xian was repairing the shrine while Shen Can helped hold it steady.

"Did the tribe’s ancestors hide the Fist Technique too securely within the shrine?"

At this moment, Huo Chang felt that the stone shard being hidden inside the shrine, isolated from the outside world, made its new appearance somewhat justifiable.

Over the years, the tribe had been trying to improve the Kui Ox Fist, and any tribesman with ideas could voice them to the Ancestral Temple Keeper.

However, improvements had been few.

With the current tribesmen, who among them had the ability to make changes?

Even if they had ideas, they wouldn’t dare speak up, fearing the consequences.

Aside from being left by the ancestors, no other reason comes to mind.

Huo Xian stroked the shrine, pondering aloud, "I’m not sure which version of the Kui Ox Fist our ancestors left, but how does it compare to that of the Upper Huang Division?"

To this, Huo Chang remained silent.

The Upper Huang Division is powerful, with a vast hunting range, and sometimes they come near the Blazing Flame Division to hunt.

Both part of the Human Race, theoretically they should support each other, but if theory worked, there wouldn’t be martial cultivation or so many tribes.

When Blazing Flame was established, Upper Huang had existed for two hundred years. Perhaps the founding ancestors considered this.

Soon, Huo Chang walked out of the cave and announced, "Huo Ning, Huo Yui, Huo Yaan, you three stay here; the rest may disperse."

"With the ancestors’ spirit manifesting to protect our tribe, we’ll surely weather the flood safely."

Huo Ning and the others were selected to soak in beast blood, preparing to advance to the Mountain Opening Realm.

All had practiced the fist for decades as martial artists; after three days of practice, they began soaking in beast blood.

No choice, delaying would weaken the beast blood’s energy.

To break into the Mountain Opening Realm, the power of beast blood was needed for a strong push, completing the progression in one go.

The three proceeded with the advancement in the Ancestral Temple, and Shen Can noticed that the batch of beast blood without modified medicinal ingredients was chosen by Huo Yui.

The medicinal formula has been modified; they’ve been given the fist technique; now it’s up to their luck.

Breaking through is not as glorious as imagined; as the three jumped into the beast blood, they felt like entering boiling broth, their bodies like shrimp being flushed by the beast blood.

Each adjusted to their circumstances, periodically jumping out of the Great Tripod Cauldron to execute the Kui Ox Fist, mobilizing their entire body to absorb beast blood energy.

Then, repeating the process.

After watching for a while, Shen Can lost interest.

The three burly men flailing about weren’t particularly appealing.

Each time they executed a fist, their bodies seemed to open like steaming vents, red sweat pouring out from within, filling the Ancestral Temple completely.

All these were the beast blood energy left unabsorbed; more red sweat used to overflow before the adaptations.

The three advancing tribesmen continued for three days, and Shen Can, in the Ancestral Temple, felt several rumbling sounds transmitted from the mountains.

The Mountain Opening Realm, naturally measured by mountains.

The nearby mountains suffered, with split and winding cracks on the mountainside denoting the birth of new Mountain Opening Realm martial artists.

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

Now the tribe had thirteen Mountain Opening Realm martial artists, four of them elderly, so gaining three young figures greatly boosted their overall strength.

The tribesmen were jubilant, as was Shen Can.

The newly advanced clansmen eagerly wished to fish by the flood banks; their ancestors must be honored with sacrifices.