Translator: Atlas Studios
Editor: Atlas Studios
The Second Elder had begun touching the ancestor too.
Then, the Third, Fifth, and Sixth Elders followed suit.
After the five of them were done, Liu Tao rolled up his sleeves and put his hand in the coffin.
He had applied a special herbal balm on his fingers to enhance his sensitivity. Hence, although he didn’t spend much time touching the ancestor, he had gained more than any of the Elders. Not only had he understood the entire set of the Three Suns Body Tempering Method, but he had also mastered the Yi Yang Finger.
A few minutes later, he withdrew his hand from the coffin. Then, he turned to the door of the ancestral temple and said, “Come in, Dongdong!”
Under his command, a person emerged from the shadow behind the willow.
It was indeed Liu Dongdong.
That took all the Elders by surprise because none of them had noticed his presence earlier. It seemed that Dongdong had fully mastered the Art of Hiding, known to no one but Liu Tao in the entire family clan.
“Dongdong is talented and hardworking. I will take charge of his training personally!” Liu Tao explained with a smile.
The Elders were still in shock. They looked at Dongdong, wondering if the head of the clan had chosen this boy to be his heir.
Liu Tao had never been a man of such foresight!
“Pleasure to meet you, Clan Head, Elders!”
Dongdong stepped into the ancestral temple and greeted them with a bow.
Under the oil lamp, he looked lean and shriveled with his high cheekbones and sunken eye sockets. He was as skinny as a bamboo stick.
However, there was an unusual aura around him. After careful inspection, the First Elder cried out in surprise, “He’s achieved the perfected state of the Body Tempering Realm!”
Dongdong returned a humble smile. Then, he released the true strength of his cultivation power. Without a doubt, it was indeed the perfected state of the Body Tempering Realm!
“The three stages of Body Tempering, namely the refinement of one’s skin, bones, and muscles. Those are the main challenges of martial cultivation. But even Meimei wasn’t able to complete it as fast as you… How did you do it?!” the Second Elder asked after spitting out the bitten fingernails.
In fact, Liu Fan had sensed Dongdong’s presence a long time ago. He had also noticed the change in the level of his martial arts abilities. Nevertheless, even Liu Fan hadn’t expected that his progress would have been so rapid.
“The Spell of Start-Cultivating-at-the-First-Crow-of-the-Cock is indeed a powerful one in turning lazybones to diligent students!”
Liu Fan smiled.
Dongdong lowered his head and remained silent in front of the coffin.
Liu Tao smiled. Without any explanation, he pointed at the coffin and said, “Dongdong is indeed a rare genius. I will allow him to touch the ancestor today. Through this, his name may soon appear on the legendary List of Heroes!”
“Agreed!”
“Wonderful!”
“Very reasonable!”
The Elders nodded their heads.
Dongdong’s eyes lit up in excitement.
A few hours ago, Liu Tao had talked to him in private and told him that he would invest a great amount of time and resources on him. He had even used the only body tempering pill left in the family on him to assist him in achieving the perfected state of the Body Tempering Realm.
After that, Liu Tao had also told Dongdong that the ultimate cultivation method of the Liu clan lay inside their great ancestor’s body, and that he would give Dongdong a chance to touch their great ancestor.
He had fulfilled his promise.
“Please accept my respect, great ancestor!”
Dongdong prayed with three incense sticks in his hands. Then, he burned some paper money and kowtowed at Liu Fan’s spirit tablet. He looked sincere and serious.
“Respect points +300.”
After he had performed the worship ritual, he turned to look at Liu Tao for his approval.
“Go ahead!”
“Remember to be gentle and slow when you touch our great ancestor!”
“Treasure this opportunity and pay full attention to what you will learn!”
Liu Tao encouraged.
Dongdong understood that Liu Tao was implying that not every member of the family clan was allowed to touch the great ancestor.
It was indeed a rare opportunity!
Dongdong drew a deep breath and rolled up his sleeves. He then walked towards the coffin and started to touch Liu Fan.
…
In order to make it convenient for everyone, Liu Tao had ripped an opening on the back of Liu Fan’s clothes, revealing his back.
Dongdong studied Liu Fan’s back.
He marveled at the jade-like, fair, and smooth skin.
The great ancestor had truly lived up to his name of being the Bulldozer. His body was still in a perfect state even after more than a thousand years. Moreover, his skin was as flawless as a teenage girl’s. That’s so impressive!
The complex pattern on Liu Fan’s back looked like a special tattoo. Waves of protective aura flashed across his skin like silvery electric impulses. They marked out the movement path of various cultivation techniques.
Dongdong touched the pattern gently as he tried to capture the movement paths and pick up the pulses of the cultivation techniques.
“This is the Three Suns Body Tempering Method… This is the Fist and Sun… And this is the Yi Yang Finger…”
With his high sensitivity and potential, he had mastered three cultivation techniques only seconds after he had laid his fingers on the great ancestor.
“But I can do more than this.”
“Please allow me to touch the great ancestor more!”
“The family booklet recorded that the great ancestor had mastered many tactical skills and secret techniques, any of which could easily defeat the strongest heroes of his time. I want to learn at least one of his most powerful techniques!”
Dongdong muttered. Then, he closed his eyes and concentrated all his attention on his fingertips.
Meanwhile, Liu Tao, Liu Dahai, and the other Elders stood still beside him, waiting for Dongdong to master those techniques.
Dongdong’s facial expressions were constantly changing. Sometimes, he would relax and smile, but other times, he looked confused and tense. The head of the clan and the Elders wondered how many techniques Dongdong would eventually learn.
Anyway, Dongdong had limited experience in martial arts, and his understanding of martial skills was relatively shallow too.
Lying in the coffin, Liu Fan was also curious about what Dongdong could get from touching him.
In the past, Liu Fan had indeed mastered countless advanced cultivation techniques, some of which were trump cards he had stolen from clans and houses slaughtered by him.
The flames of the oil lamp flickered in the wind, and the shadows of those in the ancestral temple swayed with it.
Time ticked away. The incense sticks in the burner were burning out too.
Suddenly, Dongdong shivered and regained his consciousness.
“How was it?” Liu Tao asked.
Although he was under the Spell of Trickery and Deception, he expressed eagerness and sincere concern.
The other Elders turned to look at Dongdong too.
Dongdong drew a deep breath and answered, “The great ancestor’s wisdom is truly incredible. He was a god of his time. Words have failed me in expressing my great respect for our ancestor.”
After that, he turned to pay respect to Liu Fan.
“Respect points +1000.”
Liu Fan was satisfied. He needed pious descendants like this one!
“You are a good lad, Dongdong!”
“The spell wasn’t wasted on you.”
Liu Tao and the other Elders followed Dongdong immediately in paying respect to Liu Fan. After that, they tidied up Liu Fan’s clothes and closed the coffin lid.
Taking care of the great ancestor was of the utmost importance.
After everything had been settled, they turned to look at Dongdong again.
“I’ve mastered the Three Suns Body Tempering Method, the Fist and Sun, and the Yi Yang Finger.”
Excitement was burning in Dongdong’s eyes as he announced this with a deep bow.
The Elders were pleased. Now they agreed that Dongdong was a true genius. He had mastered the three cultivation techniques after touching the great ancestor only once. He’s so much stronger than the Elders themselves.
Those old fellows had touched the ancestor several times!
The Elders said to Liu Tao, “Congratulations, you’ve successfully fostered a new genius for our clan!”
Liu Tao was beaming with joy.
Meanwhile, Dongdong bowed down humbly, showing no signs of arrogance at all.
After the Elders had walked away, Liu Tao closed the door of the ancestral temple. Then, he asked Dongdong with a cunning grin, “What else have you learned?”