I Steal the Ancestors' Sacrifices to Nourish Myself-Chapter 154 - 77: Tribute, Martial Exhibition, Great Sacrifice (Part 2)

Night fell.

After sending off Huo Hou, Shen Can returned to the Ancestral Temple, his gaze falling on the Zhushui Covenant.

As the Ancestral Temple Keeper, communicating with the Sacrificial Spirit had become his daily routine since introducing them into the tribe.

However, in the past, most of the Sacrificial Spirits within the Sacrificial Tripod Cauldron remained in a 'slumber' state. Today, as the Zhushui Covenant was placed on the altar, some of the 'slumbering' spirits seemed to awaken.

Shen Can approached the altar and slowly unfurled the Zhushui Covenant.

The content of the covenant outlined several agreed matters: all tribes would respect the Upper Division, the Blazing Flame would protect the tribes, and they would impart Martial Arts Cultivation.

"Buzz!"

At that moment, a faint ripple emanated from the Sacrificial Tripod Cauldron.

Shen Can's Divine Sense merged with the cauldron.

The Sacrificial Spirits within the nine cauldrons and eight gui were severely fragmented, composed of the lingering souls of many Human Race ancestors, but a dominant consciousness had formed.

However, this dominant consciousness did not appear often.

"Sacrifice..."

In a trance, the chaotic ripples coalesced into a sound in Shen Can's Divine Sense.

"Tribe... ascend... great... spirit..."

The chaotic ripples repeated, and after a long while, Shen Can finally gathered these scattered sounds into a sentence.

"Tribal division ascends, the Great Sacrifice has a spirit..."

...

In the ensuing days, the Blazing Flame Division led a coalition of forty-three divisions, defeating the Xiaoyang Division coalition by the Zhushui Riverfront, slaying over ten thousand of the Xiaoyang tribe soldiers—a fact gradually spreading across the Northern Lands forest.

Though the tribes resided in the forest, the fact that the once-dominant Xiaoyang Race vanished in an instant remained evident.

Especially the area north of Zhushui was completely deemed forbidden ground for the Xiaoyang Race.

Some tribes south of Zhushui witnessed the great defeat of the Xiaoyang Race and anxiously retreated to the banks of the Qu River.

Seeing that the Blazing Flame Division did not pursue further, they breathed a sigh of relief. With heavy losses, resistance was now out of the question, and self-preservation became the priority.

This battle quickly spread throughout the Northern Lands forest.

Accompanying this were tales of the Blazing Flame Tribe forming blood oaths with various divisions and disseminating Martial Dao legacies, spreading swiftly as well.

Some tribes that had received but ignored the Blazing Flame Race's command to gather forces almost regretted it to the point of despair.

Receiving weapons and armor, Martial Dao teachings, and Blazing Flame protection were opportunities missed in vain.

Fortunately, news of the Blazing Flame Tribe's imminent promotion to an Upper-class Tribe also spread, leading the tribe leaders to introspect deeply.

As the Blazing Flame name spread, some tribes in the wilderness of the Northern Lands began to migrate northward, seeking acceptance by the Blazing Flame Tribe.

These tribes were taken in as subordinates.

This was already the third batch of subordinates, settled around the outskirts of the second batch's settlement.

The morale of the Human Race soared while the returned Xiaoyang tribes underwent significant changes.

Particularly, the smaller Xiaoyang tribes, having lost their Celestial Vein Martial Artists in the battle, became targets for annexation by the Muo Qiu, Mu Xun, and Qiu Bear tribes.

Due to Qiu Bear being severely injured and failing to promptly regroup the routed tribal soldiers, Muo Qiu and Mu Xun seized some early advantages.

Through annexation of the remnants of Xiaoyang, these two tribes not only didn't decrease in population but each grew to over fifty thousand members.

The only downside was losing elite martial artists, absorbing only remnants, which required time to restore and convert into real combat strength.

The remaining scattered Xiaoyang tribes, seeing Muo Qiu and others baring their fangs, could only lead their people away from the three tribe lands, seeking new places to establish themselves.

As the Blazing Flame prepared for its ascension to the Upper Division, the Xiaoyang divisions quietly licked their wounds, bringing an unexpected calm over the Northern Lands.

...

Four months later.

The sun shone brightly, and fiery clouds floated on the western horizon.

A hundred-person convoy was making its way in the southern part of the Blazing Flame Division, with ten individuals carrying bamboo cages housing chirping green birds.

Others had beast hide bags on their backs, seemingly heavy with contents.

The leader was none other than Cang Hex.

Upon learning the precise date of the Blazing Flame Grand Festival, he set off in advance with his people on the path of tribute.

This time, he was determined to be the first to arrive.

In recent days,

whenever insomnia struck at midnight, the thought of the blood oath by the Zhushui Riverfront made him want to tear apart Yanglin Division's Lin Zhong's mouth.

In the Blazing Flame Race Territory, black stone walls glistened with a metallic sheen, and above the clan land, outside the Ancestral Temple, a vast black stone square was opened, adequately spacious for thousands to stand without crowding.

At the four corners of the square stood stone towers, each with giant arrows gleaming coldly.

Outside the Ancestral Temple.

The guards had increased from twelve to thirty-six, each as robust as a young bull, clad in black robes and wearing uniform Kui Pattern beast hide cloaks, gripping gold melon-shaped hammers.

The thirty-six were lined in two rows, standing along the Ancestral Temple's stone steps.

Solemn expressions, eyes filled with evil qi.

These thirty-six were certainly not the small guys from Huo Yuan's Martial Hall but warriors who had participated in the battle against Xiaoyang.

Selected from over ten thousand clan soldiers, twenty-nine were from the Blazing Flame Headquarters Division, and seven were from the subordinates.

Each was a Mountain-Opening Realm Martial Artist, with a minimum Desolate Power exceeding forty.

Huo Zhang was among them, now boasting fifty-three Desolate Power.

It could be said that these thirty-six, led by Huo Zhang, were the strongest Mountain-Opening Realm Martial Artists among the hundreds of thousands under the Blazing Flame Division.

By the way, Ayu was also among them.

Following the Ancestral Temple Keeper, the unobtrusive Ayu now wielded fifty-five Desolate Power.

However, Ayu also felt his strength had reached an extreme, finding it increasingly difficult to further enhance his Qi Strength.