Chapter 43: Thunderous Applause
*****
"The Warrior's Proof" successfully leads to the next step, which is the most important first step in a warrior's career: Medicine Washing.
Medicinal Bathing is a process where a large amount of rare and precious medicinal herbs and animal extracts are used to create a special medicinal liquid through a specific formula, similar to soaking in a hot spring. The warrior's body absorbs the medicinal properties contained in the liquid into their limbs, drawing out the hidden energy from the liquid for their own use. At the same time, as the intensity of the heavenly spiritual energy increases, an inner "Sea of Consciousness" expands within the body, giving birth to the warrior's original source: the Divine Core Seed.
Each warrior can usually only be washed with medicine once, and after entering the warrior, these medicines are extremely humble for the warrior's use, even if they are washed again. Therefore, experienced seniors always remind them to absorb as much of the medicinal power as possible during the washing process, the more they absorb, the thicker their roots will be, and the easier their cultivation path will be. This has also become a convention, where during the medicine washing process, the clan leader and elders observe from the side to see which new warrior can last the longest and maintain the state of absorbing the medicinal power for the longest time. Because this shows that this person must have the most potential among all people, and is the best seedling with the highest innate talent!
The longest record in Qili Gou is five days and five nights, created by the current clan leader Huo Tianzhao. Nearly fifty years have passed, and no one has broken it yet.
Proof of success only shows that this person's body is qualified to practice martial arts, and after taking the medicine bath, a warrior who produces divine core seeds truly becomes a warrior.
According to the old convention, after the test is over, those who have passed will be summoned by the village that night. Experienced old warriors will teach some details of the medicine bath before washing the medicine. Then, take a bath, change clothes, sit cross-legged, and purify your mind.
The next morning, enter the village and prepare the medicinal bath pool, and the medicinal bath is officially started.
Yaoxi is a process of absorbing external forces to enhance oneself. Simply put, it's an opportunity to gain wealth overnight. It doesn't require long-term hard practice to achieve improvement in cultivation, so this is extremely exciting for every newcomer.
Lin Heng arrived at the gathering point and found that all the young people from the same village who had been verified by the seal had arrived, and he was the last to arrive.
This year's 'Wu Zhe Yin Zheng', the results of Qi Li Gou were not as expected, out of 57 people, only 30 succeeded, with a success rate far lower than other villages. If Lin Heng hadn't burst forth at the last moment, Huo Tianzhao, this clan leader, would have been ridiculed by other clan leaders to an unknown extent!
In Qili Gou, no one did not know Lin Hang. Seeing him arrive, these examiners' expressions were slightly unnatural.
Lin Heng was notorious as a "super waste" in and out of the village, and they had always been discriminated against as "second-class villagers". To make matters worse, this time Lin Heng's character exploded beyond limits. It's not like passing the test is anything special, but it just so happens that he passed with the same batch as himself, which means to say that he and Lin Heng are waste of the same level?
Lin Heng's succession as the head of the tribe was still unknown to others, and they did not know that this so-called "super waste" in front of them would become their leader, the first person in Qili Gou in the future. They were unaware that soon, they would have to accept Lin Heng as their superior and be driven by him.
Lin Heng saw their exclusionary gaze and didn't bother to pay attention, walking away by himself.
The one who came in to give a lecture was none other than Uncle Niu.
Uncle Niu is a veteran martial artist from Qili Gou, with high prestige. He has been in the first rank for decades, and his usual work is to teach techniques. The young people at home are all future talents of Qili Gou. In addition to the gift of medicine in front of them, they will also follow him to the martial arts training ground for a month after the gift-giving ceremony. Many fathers and sons from Qili Gou are his students.
For new warriors, medicine washing and martial arts training are opportunities for progress and learning. For him, these are preliminary investigations, an opportunity to find outstanding talents. If excellent potential is found, he will recommend it to the clan leader and various hunting groups, and when teaching in the future, he will teach martial arts carefully. Of course, those with poor potential will not be ignored, but the content taught will be simpler and easier to understand.
In terms of familiarity, no one is more thorough than him, the teacher who has been serving as a dragon servant since his days as a martial artist. Therefore, when the clan leader and village elder council need to select personnel for tasks, they generally listen to his recommendations and opinions.
It wasn't his first time teaching, so he was quite familiar with it. He clearly and concisely explained some key points about the medicine, then let the young people who didn't understand ask questions.
What he said, many people had already known before Wu Zetian's verification. It's just that many people knew that Niu Shu was going to be their teacher in the future, so they tried to give him a good impression by pretending not to understand and asking questions.
Lin Hang sat in the back, continuing his usual calm and quiet style, silently sitting there thinking about things.
"Lin Hang, congratulations to you. You finally have the identity of a warrior." Uncle Niu smiled and walked in front of him. "However, with your strength, the two words 'warrior' are just icing on the cake, an extra title."
Lin Hang and Wanwan fought a battle, others might be deceived, but Niu Shu, this old martial artist, must have seen through his true nature.
Lin Heng has already advanced to the first rank, and his "Universal Heavy Fist" has also reached the first rank realm. He can now compete with those in the later stages of the first rank, so he no longer has any reservations about revealing his strength in a small area. Moreover, Niu Daxiong has never had any ill intentions towards him, so there's no need to worry too much.
"Uncle Niu." Lin Heng greeted politely but didn't respond to the other's words.
Those new warriors saw that Niu Da Shu was surprisingly polite to Lin Feng, taking the initiative to walk in front of him and talk, they were all displeased at heart.
"Isn't it just six times before succeeding that proves one is a 'waste'? What's so great about that? I passed in one try, my qualifications are many times better than this waste."
Uncle Niu swept a glance at the others' eyes, and smiled slightly: "Don't think that Lin Huan's five failures mean he has mediocre talent. I'll tell you some new news: The clan leader and several elder leaders have already decided to select Lin Huan as the next clan leader successor."
"What?! Tribal... successor of the tribal leader!!!" The room was suddenly in an uproar, it was the first time they had heard this news.
"Uncle Niu, you're not joking, are you? This kind of trash can be elected as the successor to the tribe leader and become the next tribe leader?"
Just seeing Uncle Cow's face reveal a smile, completely unlike his usual joking manner.
"The clan's elder isn't crazy, so why would he let a five-time authentication failure, a laughing stock 'waste' become the clan's successor?"
They entered the Wu Zhe with Lin Huan in the same batch, and they had already felt ashamed of their face, but they had been holding back from speaking out. Now that they heard Lin Huan had actually become the successor to the tribal chief, and would be placed high above them, they could no longer hold back and burst out laughing in mockery.
"Hum, such a waste even if the clan elder secretly operates to pass it through, but can all the villagers of Qili Gou agree?! The position of the clan leader is crucial, and if not accepted by the people, it will lead to internal strife. Whoever nominates Lin Kuang will be the sinner of Qili for eternity."
"The clan leader has a crucial matter to attend to, so naturally they have strict requirements for the successor. In summary, there are only two points: one is moral character; although Lin Heng's past was unremarkable, he followed the rules and had impeccable conduct. Two is ability and talent; considering that all the successors are still young, this point ultimately comes down to martial arts cultivation. This has always been Lin Heng's weakness, but if it can satisfy the clan leader and several elder clan members, including myself, wouldn't that be a heaven-gifted talent?"
"This trash is a genius? Haha...". The young man who strongly opposed it burst out laughing.
He is the younger brother of Da Gou Er, called Yang Liu Zi. Lin Hong and Da Gou Er had a fierce battle that day, which made Da Gou Er suffer a crushing defeat, making him feel extremely humiliated as his younger brother. Seeing Niu Shu actually say that Lin Hong would become the successor to the tribal leader, he naturally felt unhappy and ashamed. Even though he knew it was ridiculous to laugh at this, showing extreme disrespect to Niu Shu, he didn't care.
In his mind, Lin Heng was colluding with Wan Wan to cheat Da Gou Er, which led to Da Gou Er's downfall. This useless embroidered pillow, Lin Heng, cannot be compared to his brother, and even if he is compared, he is far inferior.
If Lin Hong can be the successor of the tribe leader, he is even more capable!
Uncle Niu didn't mind the disrespect in front of him. Since Patriarch Huo Tianzhao told him about this decision, he knew that this scene would inevitably come. Lin Heng's previous five failures had formed a terrible reputation, and since he had been secretly hiding his strength without anyone knowing, once the decision to make him the "Patriarch Successor" was made public, it would be difficult for people to accept.
This is also why the head of the clan, Huo Tianzhao, has not made an announcement yet.
The reason why Uncle Niu unusually pushed Lin Heng out and provoked the jealousy of these young heroes is simply to help Lin Heng pull hatred. The real purpose is to force Lin Heng to take action. As long as he takes action here, stunning these young peers, making them surrender willingly, then Lin Heng's rise will be greatly reduced in resistance.
His only concern now is Lin Heng, who still maintains a low profile and remains unmoved by the provocations of these young people.
"If you don't believe me, try taking a shot at Lin Huan to test it out." Niu Da Shu said as the flames reached their highest point.

