Chapter 21

Translator: Atlas Studios

Editor: Atlas Studios

The night passed and the sun rose.

More than 100 members of the Liu family had gathered outside the door of the ancestral temple.

They had been stuck in a bottleneck for many years.

The family members talked to each other. Many of them had just woken up and did not know why they were called over.

Liu Dongdong was among the crowd.

His dark eye circles were bad and his hair was in a mess.

That was because Liu Meimei had been taken away by Zhuo Tianyou. It was already morning and he still had not seen Liu Meimei. That made him extremely anxious.

“Clan Head, Meimei…?”

Liu Dongdong saw Liu Tao exit from the ancestral temple and rushed over to ask.

Liu Tao waved and smiled. “Don’t worry about Meimei, she will return.”

“This morning, we have more important things to do.”

After saying that, Liu Tao coughed and caused the family members to quieten down and turn to look at him.

Liu Dahai and the four other Elders were standing beside Liu Tao.

When they saw the head of the clan and all the Elders, the family members became nervous. Did something major happen in their family again?!

Which other enemy wanted to attack them now?!

Liu Tao said loudly, “I gathered everyone over because we invented a new breakthrough pill. This pill can help everyone with your breakthrough.”

After he said that, the family members broke out into a commotion and were extremely excited.

This was a massive good news!

Some of the sleepy family members immediately woke up too.

Liu Erquan was one of them.

Yesterday night, his had child peed in his sleep and he had to wake up in the middle of the night to change the bedsheets. That had disrupted his rest and he was extremely tired.

However, after hearing what the head of the clan said, he suddenly woke up and was more alert than ever.

“A new breakthrough pill?! That helps one with breakthroughs?!”

His eyes lit up in excitement.

Apart from Liu Tao and the five Elders who were at the peak of the Fish Dive State, only Liu Erquan and another family member who was out to run errands were at the peak of the Fish Dive State.

In the past, he was a gifted individual who had the most chances of making a breakthrough. He was also a candidate to become the next head of the clan. However, his wife passed away while giving birth to Liu Xiaoxiao, and that almost caused him to give up martial arts.

Ever since then, although he’d regained his skills, he was unable to make a breakthrough.

That was because his mind was not in a peaceful state.

He was a physical cultivator who specialized in physical strength. He’d made a promise to follow the footsteps of his ancestor and be the second-generation “Bulldozer”!

However, it was extremely difficult to break through the bottleneck, and he had been stuck at the Fish Dive State for more than ten years. He was on the verge of giving up.

Yet now, after hearing what the Clan Head said, he was enticed and looked extremely excited.

‘Liu Xiaoxiao is still young and I have to take care of him. I have to become more powerful,’ Liu Erquan thought to himself.

He wanted to train Liu Xiaoxiao such that he’d grow up to be a powerful martial arts cultivator and could intimidate others. He did not want to continue living a life where he lived in fear and was constantly attacked by others.

Liu Tao continued, “This batch of pills are very precious. Its development was inspired by our ancestor. Therefore, before eating it, everyone has to queue up and come forward one by one to pay respects to our ancestor. Then, after receiving the pill, you will consume it on the spot and you are not allowed to save it for later.

“The breakthrough pill has a very long effectiveness period. After paying your respects, you can return home to cultivate and attempt to make a breakthrough. There is no need to be anxious!”

The family members could not stand still. They exchanged gazes in extreme excitement.

“Remember, when you are paying your respects to our ancestor, you have to be sincere. You cannot do it half-heartedly.”

After he said that, Liu Tao’s expression changed and he became extremely serious. He pointed at Liu Fan’s spirit tablet, then at the sky.

“Our ancestor is watching us from heaven. Whoever does not pay respects to him sincerely may fail in the attempt. Don’t regret it!”

After hearing that, the family members shuddered and queued up to pay respects to Liu Fan one by one.

They were extremely serious and sincere.

“Respect points +200.”

“Respect points +150.”

“Respect points +210.”

…

Liu Fan was extremely happy in the coffin.

Ever since he came back to life, this was his happiest day.

He looked at all the incoming respect points. After a short while, it amounted to more than 1000.

It was Liu Erquan’s turn now.

Liu Erquan took a deep breath and looked up to Liu Fan’s spirit tablet.

“Have to be sincere?!”

“Alright, I will give my all!”

His gaze became extremely serious. He took a step forward and fell to his knees when he was about ten steps away from the entrance of the ancestral temple.

“Descendant Liu Erquan kowtows to Ancestor!”

Then, he kowtowed.

His head hit the ground.

It made a sound.

When he lifted his head, his forehead had already turned red.

The other family members were shocked and took a deep breath.

Liu Tao and the other Elders were shocked.

“Liu Erquan, please control yourself, don’t die because of this!”

Liu Sanquan reminded him from the side. Although the head of the clan was serious when he spoke, they did the rituals for the symbolism. The real determinant of the breakthrough was the breakthrough pill!

On the table of the ancestral temple were the pills. The smell of the pills was very enticing, and Liu Sanquan was extremely attracted by it.

Liu Erquan ignored Liu Sanquan.

He got up and took a step forward. Then, he fell to his knees again and kowtowed.

Similarly, his bow made a loud sound.

It even caused the dust on the ground to fly.

“Descendant Liu Erquan kowtows to Ancestor!” he shouted loudly, his face flushing red.

Then, he got up and took another step before kowtowing.

At the end of it, he’d taken 13 steps and made 13 kowtows!

He was now right in front of the spirit tablet.

His hair was in a mess and there was blood on his forehead. However, his expression was even more serious, and he widened his eyes and stared at Liu Fan’s spirit tablet in respect.

He bowed 90 degrees and placed the incense sticks into the incense burner.

He proceeded to make a 180-degree kowtow. When he hit his head on the ground, a loud sound was heard.

He burned the incense paper seriously. He did not blink even when the ash went into his eyes.

At the end, an extremely high respect point floated out from the top of his head.

“Respect points +1500.”

Liu Fan was astonished.

The respect points from one person had reached 1500.

That was extremely high!

Liu Erquan was seriously giving it his all.

His forehead was bleeding, and he kowtowed with every step he took.

The contribution of his respect points was equivalent to that of 10 others.

“A descendant who is so respectful deserves the greatest love from his ancestor!”

Liu Fan thought about it and chose a spell.

“The Love of the Ancestor — the Spell of Sudden Realization, go!”

After paying respects to his ancestor, Liu Erquan stood up and swallowed a breakthrough pill.

At that moment, his body shuddered.

In a daze, all the times he had cultivated in the past flashed across his mind, and all the confusion he had faced suddenly became extremely clear. It was as though he had broken through a window and seen the light. Everything became clear.

After his enlightenment, he began to do the Body Tempering Fist Pattern, and the blood in his body began to make loud noises as though it was on fire. An extremely powerful aura exploded from his body and caused his clothings to make loud sounds.

After he did the first set of the Body Tempering Pattern, his body began to make sounds of fried beans.

After he did the second set of the Body Tempering Pattern, his white hair turned black.

After he did the third set of the Body Tempering Pattern, his wrinkled face became smooth and his blurry eyes became extremely attractive.

After he completed the 18 sets of the Body Tempering Pattern, he was drenched in perspiration. His hunchback was gone and his skin was smooth and silky. He looked as though he had aged ten years backward.

He became a middle-aged man!

He looked as though he was only 30 years old!

Meanwhile, a strong suppressive aura began to exude from his body.

This sense of suppression spread outwards and turned into a distinctive aura. It caused the oil lamps in the ancestral temple to sway in unison. The family members around him watched in fear and lowered their heads and moved back.

Liu Dahai and the other Elders were also unable to go near. They looked at Liu Erquan in disbelief and shock.

“Grand… grand martial arts master!” they said with a quivering voice as they looked at Liu Tao with a questioning gaze.

That was because the aura from Liu Erquan was extremely similar to that of Liu Tao. It was as powerful and unpredictable. It caused them to quiver in fear.

Liu Tao nodded his head in astonishment and said, “That’s right, he is a grand martial arts master!”

Liu Dahai and the rest shook and were in a daze.

Liu Tao took a deep breath and looked at Liu Erquan in astonishment. He did not expect Liu Erquan to make a breakthrough on the spot, not even needing to go in seclusion to cultivate. He became a grand martial arts master just like that.

That was even more unbelievable than his own breakthrough.

“It must be the Ancestor!”

Liu Tao turned around immediately and looked at the spirit tablet of Liu Fan in respect. His face had turned red.

The secret hidden within him seemed to be answered.

Although the Ancestor had been dead for 1000 years, he was still looking after the Liu family from heaven.

Moreover, if a family member was respectful to the ancestor and treated him nicely, the ancestor would reward that person.

Liu Erquan kowtowed with every step he took. In order to pay respects to his ancestor, he made his forehead bleed. Although it looked very stupid, he received a reward from his ancestor. That allowed him to make a breakthrough immediately and become a grand martial arts master.

Liu Tao had figured out this point and thought that his analysis was accurate.

He began to reconsider the development of the Liu family in the future.

And this plan involved paying their respects to their ancestor!

He looked up, turned around, and congratulated Liu Erquan in joy.

Liu Erquan was so excited that he could no longer speak. He was still in disbelief despite the congratulatory messages from his family members.

However, he had to believe it because of the powerful energy in his body. He had indeed made a breakthrough — a breakthrough to become a grand martial arts master.

He looked around and froze.

That was because he saw Liu Tao was also a grand martial arts master.

Meanwhile, Liu Wuhai and Liu Liuhai were martial arts masters.

“Since when did our family become so powerful?!”

Liu Erquan was astonished.

He wanted to ask but saw Liu Tao shake his head.

Therefore, he decided to not ask them anything further and kept his question to himself.

With the example of Liu Erquan, all the other family members became excited.

Liu Tao took this chance to comment, “Everyone has to learn from Liu Erquan and pay their respects sincerely. This is to allow you to make a breakthrough successfully after swallowing the breakthrough pill, and perhaps end up with miracles!”

However, everyone misunderstood Liu Tao’s words.

All of them turned to the breakthrough pill fervently.

That was because they thought Liu Erquan made a breakthrough after swallowing the pill.

Therefore, the breakthrough pill was the critical factor.

The part about paying respects to their ancestor was supplementary.

When Liu Tao saw the expressions on the family members’ faces, he knew that something had gone wrong. He should not have made them swallow the pill immediately.

Indeed, the other family members only casually paid their respects as they were only fixated on the breakthrough pill on the table instead of on their ancestor.

“Respect points +10.”

“Respect points +5.”

“Respect points +13.”

…

Liu Fan was speechless.

Liu Tao!

He did it on purpose!

That Spell of Trickery and Deception, what had it done to him?!

Look at how the other family members acted!

All of them hurriedly paid respects to Liu Fan. Before they even completed their kowtow, they got up and swallowed the breakthrough pill. Then, they looked up to the sky and waited for a miracle to happen, wanting to be the second Liu Erquan.

“The Fury of the Ancestor — the Curse of Nightmares! Go!”

Liu Fan awarded every single one of them with the “Curse of Nightmares,” causing all the descendants who did not pay their respects sincerely to have one month’s worth of nightmares!

Do not think that the Ancestor would be nice to everyone!

The Ancestor had feelings too!

He had a bad temper!