After a century of worship, I became the ancestor of the tribe.

Chapter 36 Ancestor Worship, Initial Reforms (Please continue reading)

It was supposed to be an ancestral worship ceremony, but it wasn't as solemn as one might imagine.

The tribe lacks cultural heritage, so it can't fake it even if it wants to.

Looking down, the stone steps on both sides were filled with children from the clan climbing up, the older ones leading the younger ones, all shouting and crying.

"Hurry up and climb, or I'll grab whoever's little chick from behind."

Someone in the crowd had just opened his mouth when he was struck by a stick by the clan elder.

Today, the clan elders brought out the sacred staffs they used to guard the clan members' martial arts practice; anyone who misbehaves will be struck.

"The sacrificial beast has arrived!"

A group of people quickly cleared the middle steps they had occupied, and the huge wooden frame, with the third-tier monster fish bound on it, was carried up the steps by thirty-six clansmen.

"What a big fish! It can't fit in one pot."

"Bang! Shut up!"

……

Soon, the clansmen followed the offerings and swarmed to the outside of the ancestral temple.

The strange fish was lifted onto the stone platform, and everyone's eyes fell on Shen Can.

It's not that the tribespeople don't understand; it's because no one in the entire Blazing Flame Tribe understands it.

When the granaries are full, people know etiquette. The tribe has not yet escaped the stage of eating and drinking, so let's make do for now.

Drawing shamanic talismans, piercing phoenix knives, and receiving beast blood.

The priest plundered a third-tier Xuanwen-patterned fish with a lifespan of 473 years.

Huo Tang breathed a sigh of relief only after seeing Shen Can really pierce the fish's neck.

Once this step is completed, we can intervene and help during the subsequent segmentation process.

Soon the enormous fish was cut into pieces of various sizes, and the best parts were sent by Shen Can to the ancestral temple to be offered to the ancestors.

A red glow emanated from inside the cave.

This immediately attracted the attention of the clansmen.

Sacrifices are held every year, but such an unusual phenomenon has never occurred before.

"Let the dolls in."

Huo Xian's aged voice rang out.

"Go quickly, run there."

Upon hearing the sound, the clansmen outside the ancestral temple urged their children to head towards the ancestral temple cave.

Inside the ancestral temple, Shen Can, holding a blood-stained goblet, beckoned the children to come closer.

He then dipped three fingers into the blood vessel, stained it with animal blood, and smeared it horizontally across the dolls' cheeks.

He had secretly replaced the beast blood in the blood vessel, otherwise the impact of third-tier beast blood would be too much for a child to withstand.

Outside the ancestral temple cave, many clansmen eagerly awaited the arrival of the newcomers.

Offering sacrifices to ancestors and receiving their blessings is a scene passed down orally but never witnessed.

While swearing the blood oath on each of the dolls, Shen Can also took out a roll of animal hide, spread it out, and hung it in front of the altar.

Unfortunately, when the doll looked at the animal hide, all it felt was the excitement of being sworn in and brought into the ancestral temple.

Their eyes were incredibly clear as they glanced at the shamanic script on the animal skin scroll.

Finally, Shen Can came up with a reason: they had too few children.

With more dolls, I'm sure there will be more talented monsters appearing. Right now, the tribe is just starting out, and he'll be satisfied if he can get one or two small monsters in a short period of time.

Shen Can stood up, exchanged a glance with Huo Xian, nodded, and walked out of the ancestral temple.

……

Outside the ancestral temple.

The clansmen watched as Shen Can emerged from the red light, and they all fell silent and focused.

A group of children followed him out, each with three horizontal bloodstains on their faces, and rushed towards their parents.

“I have just received the guidance of my ancestors. Clan chief, please enter the ancestral temple.”

Under the watchful eyes of the clansmen, Huotang followed Shen Can into the ancestral temple and was submerged in red light.

Are there any promising talents?

Seeing Shen Can gently shake his head, Huo Tang sighed, "There are still too few children. After the clan festival, I will definitely give these guys a good beating. All they do is eat all day long."

Huotang looked again at the three large tanks of beast blood that had been released, which glowed red amidst the strong smell of blood.

I can't help but ask, "How long does it take for the released animal blood to dry before the effects of the anesthetic wear off?"

"almost."

Shen Can replied, "When will the effects of the anesthetic be neutralized? I have to use my lifespan to estimate it."
I haven't had time yet, have I?

"The clan leader should stay in the ancestral temple for a while before leaving, so that the clan members can believe that they have fully received the guidance from their ancestors."

As he spoke, Shen Can entered the west ear hole.

He needs to use the lifespan he just gained to deduce how to neutralize the third-tier neutralizing witchcraft and the anesthetic powder.

This strange fish had been given too much anesthetic, and before it died, it enjoyed a blissful existence for over a month.

The fire cauldron stayed in the ancestral temple for about half an hour.

Outside the ancestral temple, none of the clansmen were in a hurry. The guidance from their ancestors was something they had longed for, so how could they be in a hurry?

As Huotang walked out of the ancestral temple, everyone began to speak.

"Clan leader, what guidance did our ancestors bestow?"

One after another, figures greeted them eagerly.

"Our ancestors said that if our Blazing Flame Clan wants to develop and prosper, it requires the concerted efforts of generations of clansmen and for each clansman to perform their respective duties."

"Zhiyan needs to change his current lifestyle in order to adapt to the harsh living environment of the Great Wilderness."

"If we don't change and become stronger, we'll force the next generation to face even greater dangers," Huo Tang said, his voice booming.

Thinking to himself, "As expected of Ah-Can, he has such a set of clever phrases."

When it came to the next generation of dolls, it immediately captured the hearts of the clansmen.

"Now our ancestors have given us guidance; we must change so that the tribe can become stronger."

"Listen to our ancestors!"

"Chief, tell me, how should we change things?"

After the crowd became agitated, Huotang seized the opportunity to explain the tribe's reform measures.

The third-tier monster fish was offered as a sacrifice, and the temple shaman, who was also the head of the tribe, performed the ritual. Strange phenomena appeared in the ancestral temple, which blessed all the children of the tribe and sent down guidance.

With Huotang already holding prestige in the tribe, and with the blessing of his ancestors, things proceeded smoothly without any obstacles.

The seven improvement measures that were discussed with Shen Can were not read out one by one, because the clansmen would not be able to understand them well if they were read out one by one.

After the reform, there were actually only three changes that the clansmen could directly feel.

The system of clan elders was clearly defined, serving as candidates to assist the clan leader.

Huo Yu, the clan elder, is in charge of the tribe's logistics and storage.

Elder Huoyun is in charge of farming, gathering, and production, among other things.

The clan elder volcano is in charge of the hunting team.

Huo Yu, Huo Yun, and Huo Xian were about the same age. Huo Tang selected several people of his generation from the tribe to serve as deputy elders, both to assist the elders and to learn from them.

In the future, a successor to the clan elder will be selected from among these people, and the remaining people will be able to further divide the responsibilities under the clan elder and have a more detailed grasp of various clan affairs.

For example, Huo Yu divided his subordinates into positions such as storekeeper and cook, who were responsible for guarding the clan storehouse and cutting, pickling and storing the tribe's prey.

The second task is to form a full-time hunting team of 300, with the leader of the volcano hunting team dedicated to cultivation, protection, and hunting.

The third issue is the confusion surrounding clan names; therefore, a method of renaming and using generational names will be implemented concurrently. (Note ①)

From Shen Can onwards, the tribe has only two generations before Huo Tang and Huo Xian, and one generation after Wa Wa.

The community consists of four generations: old, middle-aged, young, and children. Moreover, there are not many elderly people left from the first generation.

Therefore, when implementing the generational naming system, starting from Shen Can's generation, the younger, middle-aged, and older generations should primarily choose to change their names, with the generational naming system being secondary.

After all, everyone is used to it; let's save the generational names for after we die.

Once you're on the altar, you can better distinguish the generational differences.

To avoid the situation where our ancestors are piled up together like they are now.

To determine which ancestor is older, one must compare the degree of cracking on the ancestral tablets, and even this error is unavoidable.

That's rather unfilial.

Starting with tribal dolls makes them easier to modify from a young age.

Once the younger generation grows up, they will get used to it, and it can be smoothly extended to the next generation.

The day after the ancestral worship ceremony, the tribe began to re-register the names of all its members.

All male members of the tribe who were in the same clan were given new names. The rule was that the younger ones changed their names, while the older ones kept their original names.

On the contrary, the women's names within the tribe have not changed much, and the women rarely accept hunting missions within the tribe and have little contact with the outside world.

The nicknames are all used by a few close female friends, so there's not much point in changing them.

At least the men wouldn't dare mistake someone for someone else on the kang (heated brick bed).

Bao Zhuang's wife might not even be able to beat him, and he would be beaten half to death if he admitted his mistake.

As for the discussions with Huotang about establishing a martial arts training system, absorbing the disabled outsiders, and a more detailed division of labor, these are things that don't need to be discussed; they can simply be done directly.

The changes were gradual, and by the time the people reacted, the system had become a habit.

……

The tribe members were busy changing their names, keeping Huo Xian quite occupied.

Shen Can was also busy; he was busy administering the medicine.

The three tanks of beast blood bubbled and bubbled, giving Ma Yu a momentary thrill, and making him even more thrilled when using the beast blood.

The best way to deal with the effects of the anesthetic is to let the strange fish metabolize it on its own. But once it's metabolized, the strange fish will be lively and energetic again, and no one in the tribe can control it.

After the drug was administered and the patient was rendered unconscious, he was bled out. He could only try his best to neutralize the effects of the drug.

"Ah Chan, when will it be better?"

"Let me add some more medicine."

Without even glancing at his uncle, who was eagerly waiting to be soaked in beast blood, Shen Can sprinkled medicinal powder into the blood trough.

After administering the medicine, he took some and put it into his ear piercing.

Half a day later, she came out with a flushed face.

"That's enough. The medicine might be a bit strong, Uncle, please be careful."

　Note ①:
　　They devised a new rule for choosing generational names, starting with the Huo Xian clan elders. The older generation would determine the generational names for the next generation, which would also reflect the expectations of the older generation for the growth and development of the next generation under different circumstances.

　　I had been thinking about reading cultivation novels for a while, which led to the idea of ​​taking out the generational names of more than ten generations at once.

　　When I write this now, it feels a bit too chaotic to write so much at once.

　　The author later realized that the Blazing Flame Tribe would grow stronger step by step, which would require hundreds or even longer to develop and the joint efforts of multiple generations. It seemed unnecessary to bring up all the generational names at once.

　　Whether or not one follows the Five Elements, or whether the pronunciation is smooth or not, is not essential.

　　As for the elders of Huoxian's generation, it's easy to handle. They can either wait until they pass away and have their merits recorded in their generational names, similar to how ancient dynasties bestowed posthumous titles upon emperors and famous ministers.

　　Either the remaining clan elders would discuss it amongst themselves, but the makeshift team at the beginning couldn't possibly make it grand enough.

　　The generational naming system itself originated from the patriarchal clan system of the Zhou Dynasty, and evolved step by step.

　　The Zhiyan tribe has gradually completed the tradition of passing down generational names through generations, from the older generation to the younger generation, by assigning generational names to the older generation based on their merits. This is no longer a practice of creating a dozen or so generational names all at once.

　　I feel that this aligns with the needs of development.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)