Directly starting?
Huo Xian's words left Shen Can in silence.
No need for a probationary period?
He felt it was a bit quick, he had just become the Ancestral Temple Keeper of the Clan Ancestral Temple and now he was directly confirmed.
The old man is too impatient.
"Don't be afraid, learn from me."
Huo Xian grabbed the Simurgh Blade and Blood Vase and placed them in Shen Can's hands, then took a copper can from the wooden rack, inside was a thick, blood-red liquid.
"Follow me."
Shen Can obediently followed behind Huo Xian.
Seeing Huo Xian's actions, Huo Shan, who was originally about to leave, instead stopped and motioned for everyone present to quiet down.
"The first step of sacrifice is blessing, painting symbols on the beast's ears, I'll paint beside you, learn from me."
For Huo Xian directly entering teaching, Shen Can nodded in agreement, though in his memory of the sacrificial process at the Ancestral Temple, he had seen it countless times.
Blessing means after painting symbols on the wild beast, reciting the "Witch Sacrifice Curse" by its ear, "The livestock should be fat and strong, the offerings plentiful," meaning to pray for the livestock to be clean and unstained.
It is said in big tribes, the sacrificial process at the Ancestral Temple is more intricate, the captured wild beasts are even kept for a period, fed with herbs to cleanse their stomachs.
They are fed even better than the martial artists of the Blazing Flame Tribe.
Before the sacrifice, wild beasts are chosen with uniform fur, undamaged, as offerings.
Even the containers have various types.
The Blazing Flame Tribe doesn't have these conditions.
Though Huo Xian appears quite old, his nature is still very impatient, drawing witch symbols on the ground with his fingers and letting Shen Can practice a few times beside him.
"Not bad, you can paint witch symbols on the beast's ears."
Shen Can's symbol painting had winding strokes, looking somewhat weak, but still earned Huo Xian's praise, who then handed him the copper can with the blood-colored liquid.
Indicating that he was ready to start.
...
The Mountain-Splitting Kui was tied tightly on the ground, struggling constantly, Ayu directly stepped forward to hold it down.
"Brother Can, you can paint symbols at ease, I'll hold it down."
But Ayu's strength was still somewhat lacking, and the Mountain-Splitting Kui shook him along with its body.
"Come on, everyone lend a hand, Acan is hosting the sacrifice for the first time today, if we lose face, it won't look good for any of us, the ancestors will only blame us for not being united."
With that, Huo Shan also moved towards the Mountain-Splitting Kui, and the tribesmen watching at the cave entrance laughed and walked in, directly pressing the tightly bound Mountain-Splitting Kui down firmly.
"Thank you, uncles and brothers, Acan is grateful here."
Shen Can spoke to express his thanks, though he was pushed into his role, seeing everyone united, his heart was not anxious.
Shen Can glanced back at Huo Xian, who nodded gently with a calm expression.
"Acan, relax, we've pressed it down securely."
Huo Shan pressed both hands on the Mountain-Splitting Kui's two horns, applying immense force to render the Kui immobile, and pulled open its ears.
Shen Can dipped his hand into the liquid inside the copper can, brought it down towards the Mountain-Splitting Kui's ears, painting witch symbols on the beast's ear was harder than on the ground, the slightly soft ears made his finger strokes bend into shapes resembling crawlers.
"Acan, this is your first sacrifice, the ancestors will only be pleased seeing successors, they won't blame you."
With Huo Xian's words, Shen Can's movements became more fluid, quickly painting the witch symbols all over the Mountain-Splitting Kui's two ears while muttering incantations.
"The livestock should be fat and strong, the offerings plentiful."
After reciting, he accepted the Simurgh Blade handed by Huo Xian, raising both hands above his head, bowing towards the direction of the Divine Tablet.
Then, he thrust the Simurgh Blade in front of the Mountain-Splitting Kui.
This Mountain-Splitting Kui, although not yet tiered, had scales on its body, if he thrust the blade on the scales, given his ability even less than Tier One Stone-Breaking Realm, it would be hard to pierce the Mountain-Splitting Kui's neck for blood to put in the Copper Vase.
Going on to dismember the Kui body and offering its shoulders, ribs, and thighs to ancestors was even more impossible.
"Pierce here."
Then, another tribesman spoke.
Shen Can noticed that a large hand had already opened up a position between the scales on the Mountain-Splitting Kui's neck for him.
This scene, Huo Xian saw too.
Decades ago, when he first pierced an offering for the ancestors, the tribe members guided him the same way.
And now he is old.
Next, it's a hands-on transmission.
No time for gratitude to the tribe's aid, Shen Can gripped the Simurgh Blade and thrust it down.
With a "puff," and the sound of the blade's chime, the blade pierced into the Mountain-Splitting Kui's neck.
At this moment, Shen Can suddenly felt his eyes turn blood-red, sensing a thread of blood light absorbed directly by him, instinctively trying to wipe his stained eyes.
But he felt a thread of thought emerge in his mind, with a delicate three-legged small tripod cauldron appearing in his perception, seemingly fused with flesh and blood.
Sacrificial Master: Shen Can
Martial Arts Realm: Non-tiered.
Sacrificial Artifact: Sacrificial Tripod Cauldron
Quenching Technique: Kui Ox Fist (Inferior)
Cultivation Technique: None
Martial Arts Divine Technique: None
Attribute: Sacrificial Artifact of great importance, absorbs the lifespan of sacrificial offerings, can protect the body, nurture the spirit, and cultivate martial arts.
[Sacrificial Master obtains 33 years of Mountain-Splitting Kui's lifespan through the sacrifice]
At this moment, the words (can develop further) appeared after [Kui Ox Fist (Inferior)].
The tribe's only inherited martial arts cultivation method was judged as inferior, which surprised Shen Can quite a bit.
The original body had already practiced this fist technique before Shen Can transmigrated, and it had been practiced for over ten years.
Simply put, eating beast meat to practice the fist technique, making one's body strong, and when the physique is sufficiently quenched, one can soak in beast blood to complete the final advancement sprint.
Shen Can had also seen this soaking process; soaking in the blood trough, allowing the beast blood to impact oneself, and occasionally jumping out of the blood trough to practice Kui Ox Fist.
Repeating this process of soaking and practicing the fist technique until one can no longer endure or successfully advances.
A crude advancement method.
At the last annual festival, only three out of eleven tribesmen who soaked in beast blood succeeded, with two of them having soaked in beast blood once before, belonging to the category of re-soaking.
Low success rate and high injury rate.
Not to mention the cultivation situation of other people in the tribe, looking at Shen Can's situation, despite practicing for over ten years, he was still far from the final advancement sprint.
The inferior quality of the Kui Ox Fist was well-deserved; the absorption of beast blood energy was too low.
At this moment, the inferior Kui Ox Fist presented a situation where it could develop further, prompting Shen Can to react suddenly.
Could it be said that as long as there was enough lifespan, Kui Ox Fist could be improved to a higher grade?
And the lifespan...
One sacrifice yielded thirty-three years, and every time the tribe returned from hunting, they would offer sacrifices to the Ancestral Temple.
"Roar!"
His ears were buzzing from the roar, waking Shen Can up.
"Aw!"
The Mountain-Splitting Kui struggled fiercely from the pain but was held down firmly and couldn't move.
Following the rules of ancestral sacrifices, extracting blood from the sacrificial beast should ideally not spill the beast blood.
Regaining his senses, Shen Can quickly fetched the Copper Vase to collect the blood of the Mountain-Splitting Kui, and during this process, no matter how the Kui struggled, it was firmly held down, and not a single drop of beast blood splattered.
"Hmm, it seems Brother Can is a person with great destiny, this Mountain-Splitting Kui isn't struggling much anymore."
At this time, Huo Shan spoke, feeling the actions of the struggling Mountain-Splitting Kui slowing down.
With everyone's help, he finally completed the second step of blood extraction, picked up the Copper Vase in his arms, and under Huo Xian's guidance, walked towards the Divine Tablet.
The beast blood needed to be smeared on the temple door, temple pillars, stone drums, and other sacrificial artifacts within the Ancestral Temple, and then the remaining blood would be sent inside the Ancestral Temple.
Unfortunately, with the torrential rain pouring down, the tribe's buildings at the foot of the mountain had been washed away, forcing the entire tribe to migrate up the mountain to escape the floods, making the sacrifice process somewhat simpler.
Shen Can smeared the beast blood on the stone pillars and stone drums placed inside the cave, finally placing the Copper Vase on the sacrificial altar.
After completing these steps, the next step was dividing the meat.
Offering the prey to the ancestors first requires dividing the sacrificial beast into seven major parts—spine, two shoulders, two ribs, and two thighs—to be placed on the Copper Tray and sent into the Ancestral Temple as a tribute.
The meat from the left shoulder should be offered to the ancestors first.
Once this is done, the remaining meat can be divided and enjoyed by everyone.
With the help of the tribe members, Shen Can completed the division of the Mountain-Splitting Kui, and although the steps were slow and intermittent, he ultimately completed the sacrifice.
Experiencing actual combat is far more fruitful than rehearsing dozens of times.
When Shen Can placed the Copper Tray on the offering table, Huo Xian, who was prepared to lend a hand at any time, spoke.
"Acan, a long time ago, our Human Race, in addition to sacrificing to ancestors, also sacrificed to heaven, disaster beasts, praying for stability."
In fact, without Huo Xian speaking, Shen Can's memory already contained those corresponding tales passed down orally from generation to generation in the tribe.
At this moment, he listened quietly to Huo Xian's words.
"Extract beast fat, beast head for burning on the woodpile, the smoke rising to the sky as a sacrifice to heaven."
"Merge the remaining beast body and bury it in a pit, offering the blood feast to the earth."
"Hunt live creatures on the altar as a sacrifice to beasts."
"Yet they merely devour our offerings without protecting us."
"Celestial Thunder, earthquakes, disaster beasts emerging, the red land stretching thousands of miles, sea floods raging, so our Human Race ancestors no longer believed in heaven, no longer revered disaster beasts, relying solely on our own hands, seeking life and food from the Great Wilderness."
"These Divine Tablets are not devoid of life; they house the essence of the Blazing Flame Tribe's three hundred years of heritage. In the future, this responsibility, old man, will be entrusted to you."