Chapter 47: Xiaoyi the Young Priestess’s Martial Spirit (Part 2)

July 11 — The village began preparations for the clan festival.

The first event of the festival was the clan ancestral ritual, which the Chen Clan held during the Ghost Festival (also called "Zhongyuan Festival" or "Seventh Month, Mid-Month Ancestor Veneration").

This marked the end of summer and the start of autumn's cool air. The Chen clan believed that during this time, their ancestors would return home to visit their descendants—thus, they must hold the proper rituals.

The Chen clan's ancestral rites came in three levels: small, medium, and large.

Small-scale: Yearly household-level rituals, where each branch honors its direct line ancestors (including families of followers). These were considered household rites.

Medium-scale: Held once every five years (years ending in 1 or 6 on the Douluo calendar). All branches of the clan returned for a unified ancestral ceremony, held at the ancestral shrine or burial grounds. Often, even friends and allies would come to observe—this was known as the Clan Rite.

Large-scale: Every twenty years, led by the main line of the Chen family, when all Chen-branch representatives across the continent gathered. Allied families were invited. Martial spirits were awakened together to celebrate—a grand event known as the Spirit Rite.

This ancestral system was unique to the Chen family, due to their widespread branches, unlike the centralized structure of most other major families on the continent.

This time was a Clan Rite, and clan members were returning one after another.

The ritual preparations involved many stages: offering incense, reading blessings, presenting rice, tea, silk, wine, ceremonial dishes, meat sacrifices, parting prayers, and ancestor kowtows. All this needed to be prepared in advance—not to mention the banquet.

Chen Xiaojun also joined in to help, contributing in his way.

He went to the northeastern livestock yard of the village. Since spirit masters needed large amounts of meat imbued with soul power, the village raised various domesticated soul beasts with excellent flavor—like Songhua chickens, Whiteshirt sheep, Copper Gong pigs, and Mud Armor pigs. There were even aquatic ones raised in lake fisheries.

Chen Xiaojun went partly out of his interest in cooking—to better understand ingredients—and also to hone his sword skills. After all, if you wanted to master blade use, there was no better place than the slaughterhouse.

The livestock yard's butcher master was Zhu Yanfeng, the great-uncle of the little chubby kid. He had suffered a serious injury decades ago and had since become the yard's head.

Before his family became personal followers of Chen Yu's line, their original responsibility was managing this very livestock yard.

They were especially skilled in raising and butchering pigs—a family trade. Their martial spirit was the Stone Armor Porcupine, giving them intimate knowledge of swine anatomy.

If pigs could be educated in Chen family culture, they'd probably recite poetry like "Boiling beans with bean husks" while waiting for slaughter.

When Chen Xiaojun arrived at the slaughteryard, he saw Zhu Yanfeng swiftly and skillfully slicing apart a Mud Armor pig's legs. He didn't even need to chop—he'd simply circle the blade around the knee, and the entire leg would come off cleanly.

Zhu Yanfeng's knife rose and fell quickly, cleanly severing all four limbs. His strength was perfectly measured, with no wasted motion.

He then expertly sliced off chunks of lean meat from around the spine and thighs, tossing them directly into a basket behind him.

Chen Xiaojun had expected a strong gamey smell from the fresh pork, but to his surprise, it was fragrant and rich. Raising Mud Armor pigs was worthwhile.

Watching the process, Chen Xiaojun was stunned.

This was pure craftsmanship—no soul power involved.

A true master butcher—no doubt about it.

He muttered to himself in amazement:

"This is like watching Pao Ding dismember an ox! Incredible!"

After a while, Zhu Yanfeng finally looked up. His face was rugged and weathered, with stubble and tanned skin—aged by time. His fingertips were darkened like they'd been stained by smoke—he smoked often. His back was still straight, and sweat had soaked his shirt.

"Good day, Grandpa Zhu."

Chen Xiaojun arrived wearing a plain hemp shirt, with the chubby boy in tow.

"Second Grand-Uncle," the little chubby one called sweetly.

"Ah!"

Zhu Yanfeng looked pleased. The elderly often loved children, especially grandchildren.

Though Zhu's family had earned honor, status, and resources as close followers of the Chen main line, it also came with a heavy cost in lives.

His older and younger brothers had both died in battle. His son later perished in war too. Only Zhu Tianhao and his younger brother's daughter, Zhu Tianqi, remained. Although he had other uncles and cousins, that was a different matter.

Thankfully, their family was fertile—Tianhao had three kids, especially the youngest, the little chubby Wuneng, who reminded him of his late younger brother.

"Haha, Xiaojun—sorry, there are no long-legged beauties at this pigsty!"

Zhu Yanfeng teased.

When Chen Xiaojun was three, after seeing Zhu Tianhao and Ding Dang, he'd blurted out:

"The peak of pig farming is... a beautiful long-legged girl!"

In such a small village, that line had spread quickly—everyone had a good laugh.

"Grandpa Zhu, I was a kid back then. Please forgive my childish nonsense."

Chen Xiaojun replied sheepishly.

He quickly changed the subject, "Is there anything we can help with?"

"Then go with the others and herd those fat Mud Armor pigs over. After that, we've got a batch of Copper Gong pigs."

"…Wuneng, you know how they say, 'famous men get in trouble, and fat pigs get slaughtered.' So you'd better not put on too much weight."

"… …"

The morning of July 14, 9:00 a.m. — Main Courtyard of the Chen Family

Over the past few days, Ye Xiuxin had taken Xiaoyi to the village logistics center, overseen by Grandma Hanxin, to complete her adoption registration—she now had an official identity in the village.

As expected, Xiaoyi had become the "village darling."

There were already very few girls her age in the village, so not only did the village kids adore her, but all the women favored her even more.

Upon learning that she had health issues and had forgotten her family, the maternal instincts of every auntie and granny surged. They held her like a treasure—afraid to let her fall or melt.

Xiaoyi found it odd. She felt she hadn't done anything—but people just kept giving her things.

So, when news spread that Xiaoyi was to awaken her martial spirit today, a crowd gathered.

Not just the kids like Chen Jianzun, Chen Feng, and the Zhu siblings came—adults like Chen Cong, Mu Lingyun, Chen Hanxin, Chen Xiyuan, Ding Dang, Xia Lin, and others also arrived at Chen Xiaojun's courtyard.

The Chen family began Xiaoyi's martial spirit awakening ceremony—held with the etiquette reserved for important followers.

As six stones released a layer of faint golden light, forming a shimmering dome that enveloped Xiaoyi—

She cleared her mind and closed her eyes, sensing a profound calm settle within.

From her palm, countless specks of emerald-green light emerged and merged.

Soon, a tender sprout burst forth like a seedling awakening in winter soil. It glowed with vivid green and stretched its strong tendrils skyward. More and more jade-colored leaves bloomed from it, and flowers began to blossom along its stems. The plant grew lush and flourishing.

The dense foliage completely blocked out the sunlight.

In the hazy morning mist, this poetic, spirited lifeform grew with tenacity and grace. Though it was summer, it radiated the vitality of spring, teeming with life. It gave off the feeling of eternal youth and was utterly mesmerizing.

The vibrant green bathed everything in its light—even Xiaoyi's clothes were tinged with green.