The Nine Cauldrons

Chapter 26: Set the World Alight

There were hundreds of tables throughout the training field. The village members gathered together, laughing joyfully, gorging on meat, and indulging themselves with strong alcohols. Although the village wasn’t very wealthy, it could still afford to let everyone drink and eat to the fullest on this Yearly Sacrifice.

“Brother Fan, bottoms up!” called out a strong man holding a big bowl of liquor.

“Ah Niu, cheers!” Teng Yongfan stood up gallantly with his own bowl. After the two clinked their bowls together, they gulped down their liquor with gusto.

“Brother Fan, your son Qingshan will be taking the test today. Are you confident that he will pass?” the man named Ah Niu asked with a smile.

“Of course!” said Teng Yongfan as he casted a glare.

Ah Niu said in a low voice, “My son is the same age as yours. I tested him secretly, and he can already lift a sandbag weighing forty Jin. Haha, I remember when you were at the age of six, Brother Fan could only lift fifty Jin, right? This time, my son might be the best amongst his peers.”

Even in a village without a method of training inner strength, the degree of one’s talent and individual effort decided that person’s future.

Teng Yongfan had been unusually strong during his childhood. In addition, he had been very diligent and hardworking, constantly lifting iron weights Thus, he was strong enough to lift a thousand Jin.

Teng Qinghu, Teng Qingshan’s cousin and the grandson of the old chief, Teng Yunlong, could already lift sixty Jin when he was six years old. When he was nine years old, he could lift a three hundred Jin stone. His talent was even better than Teng Yongfan’s, and as a result, the village had placed their hope on Teng Qinghu.

“My son Qingshan has had a very big appetite since he was young. With such a big appetite, he won’t be any worse than your kid,” Teng Yongfan said with an air of extreme confidence.

Secretly, Teng Yongfan had no confidence at all. He had never tested Teng Qingshan, so he had no idea what his son’s capabilities were.

“You think he’s powerful just because he has a big appetite?”

Teng Qingshan, who sat at the neighboring table, casted a glance at his father. Yet, his heart was at ease because of the Xing Yi Internal Martial Arts. As of now, Teng Qingshan had never shown his talent to anyone, let alone his parents. Even so, Teng Qingshan wasn’t the least bit worried about the upcoming test.

He started producing inner strength when he was three years old. Until now, he had been practicing his inner strength for three years.

What’s more, he inherited his father’s physique, so the toughness of his body was exceptional. This time, the strength of his body would definitely shock everyone.

“Father and Mother view this test with great importance, so I cannot let them down,” Teng Qingshan, who had always been hiding his true strength, decided to show a little of his ability.

Because of last night’s blizzard, the snow had piled knee-deep on the training field. However, due to the steps of thousands of people, the snow had been flattened and became very solid. With the addition of some plants and ashes scattered on the snow, it wouldn’t be very slippery or unstable anymore.

Today was New Year’s Eve, so the whole Teng Jia Village would be immersed in merrymaking the whole afternoon.

……

The villagers were strong and fierce. During this ceremonial time, the people compared their skills at archery, wrestling, and spear techniques through various competitions.

As it was getting darker and darker, Teng Qingshan and his sister, Teng Qingyu, were in the middle of a crowd watching a wrestling contest.

“Come on, Black Bear, don’t get defeated by a young fellow~”

“Cousin, cousin!” Teng Qingyu shouted with a delicate voice.

Teng Qingshan glanced at his sister standing before him and looked towards the two people wrestling against each other. These two people were Teng Qingshan’s cousin, Teng Qinghu, and the son of the master who taught spear techniques, Teng Qinghao. Teng Qinghao was already eighteen years old, while Teng Qinghu would turn twelve after today.

Teng Qinghu’s height was almost seven Chi (About 175cm. One Chi is 25 centimeters), but Teng Qinghao was just seven Chi six Cun tall (190 cm)

This was a match between an adult and a teenager.

Teng Qinghao’s nickname was “Black Bear” because he possessed great strength. Among the clan members of his age, Teng Qinghao was probably ranked number one.

“Hei!”

“Ha!”

Teng Qinghu and Teng Qinghao struggled to subdue each other with their arms. Like two wild oxen wrestling each other, the veins on their forehead popped out as they glared at one another. One was the perhaps Teng Jia Village’s soon-to-be strongest man, and the other was the most splendid among his own generation.

“Chi!” Teng Qinghao’s arms jerked suddenly.

“Get out!” Teng Qinghu roared and took the opportunity to wrap his arms around Teng Qinghao while simultaneously tripping him. Then, he suddenly pushed Teng Qinghao forcefully, knocking Teng Qinghao outside of the circle that marked the boundaries of the match.

“Motherf*cker!” Teng Qinghao jumped up and cursed, ”Qinghu, I know your strength is great and will surpass mine in the future, but you should still give me some face. You will be twelve years old after today. Surpassing me at such a young age…looks like I won’t get the chance to beat you in the future.”

Teng Qinghu giggled.

Right at this moment, the village Chief Teng Yunlong’s voice came from a distance.

“Everyone, come here!”

Immediately, all the clan members wrestling and competing in archery moved towards the center. Presently, over two thousand people were gathered and arranged in three rows of people inside and three rows of people outside. In the empty circle in the center of the surrounding crowd stood Teng Yunlong, whose face was glowing healthily as he spoke loudly, “Our Teng Jia Village’s population is increasing, while the men of each generation surpass those from the previous generation. Haha…….every hero of our clan was a child, therefore everyone should already know what we should do now!”

Everyone started making noise.

“Qingshan!” Teng Yongfan and Yuan Lan looked at Teng Qingshan as Teng Yongfan whispered, ”I never asked anything of you since you were born, but today you have to try your very best! Always remember that the glory of a man is built by relying on his own hands.”

“Understood, Father” Teng Qingshan nodded seriously.

He understood that in Teng Jia Village, even the position of the village Chief was inherited by the most powerful. Anyone who wanted respect must rely on his own strength.

“Now, every boy who is six years old, come to the center.” Teng Yunlong said in a clear voice.

Some of the children said they were six years old, but actually, these kids would turn six one day from today. However, it was just a one day difference. Since the annual sacrifice was today, everything would naturally be done within this day.

“Daddy believes in you!” Teng Yongfan smiled at Teng Qingshan.

“Brother!” Teng Qingyu, who was in the arms of her mother, stared at Teng Qingshan, and lifted up her tiny fist as she yelled, ”You are the best!”

Teng Qingshan smiled and walked through the crowd towards the center. The clan members consciously made way for the kids to walk toward the center. There were two thousand people in Teng Jia Village and fifty-five kids the same age as Teng Qingshan. These kids all stood orderly in the big circle in the center.

The Clan chief glanced at the sky and saw that it was already dusk.

“Light the torches!” Teng Yunlong said aloud.

At once, some villagers lit the torches that surrounded the training field, causing everything around to turn brighter.

“Listen, kids!’ Teng Yunlong looked at the fifty-six children, “You will all, one by one, walk to the other side. There are stones weighing from ten to a thousand Jin over there. You have to try lifting the heaviest stone you feel confident in succeeding with and an attempt will be considered a success when the stone is lifted above your head.”

“First one, Teng Qingling!” Teng Yunlong shouted while holding a list in his hand!

All of a sudden, the area around the training field was covered in silence

For the boys in Teng Jia Village, the test at the age of six and the adult ceremony at the age of sixteen were the two most important events. Through these two events, the future achievements of these kids could be determined.

Everyone, especially the parents of the kids, looked nervously at their village’s new generation.

“Teng Qingling lifted fifteen Jin ! Next! Teng Qingze!”

“Teng Qingze, lifted ten Jin! Next! Teng Hong!”

……

The youngsters were assessed one by one. Whenever a child lifted something a little heavier, the surrounding would be filled with sounds of praises, and the parents of that kid would be extremely happy.

“Generally speaking, most kids can lift a weight of about ten Jin to twenty Jin,” Teng Qingshan sighed with emotion. The physical quality of the ordinary people in his current life was indeed much stronger than that of ordinary people of the world in his previous life. “You will be considered very impressive if you can lift thirty Jin. My dad could lift fifty Jin when he was six years old, which is extremely strong, while cousin Qinghu could lift sixty Jin when he was six years old.”

Teng Qingshan sighed to himself.

“Ha!” A round-headed chubby boy lifted a stone weighing forty Jin in one breath.

“Teng Qingjiang! Haha! Good job! Forty Jin. Currently, you are in first place!” Teng Yunlong said with a smile.

“Tsk, tsk. Ah Niu’s son is very good. Looks like he will be a great man in the future.”

“Ah Niu, I didn’t expect your kid to be so strong!”

Immediately, praises resounded from the surrounding and the strong man named Ah Niu wore a simple and honest smile on his face. It was obvious that he was extremely happy.

……

The kids tried one by one. Most kids couldn’t lift more than twenty Jin, while that chubby kid still held the record.

“Among the batch of sixty kids last year, the strongest one among them could lifted forty-five Jin, I don’t know if there will be anyone this year that can surpass him.” Some tribesmen were discussing in a low voice, while all the parents valued greatly on whether the children did well or not.

Suddenly——

“Teng Qingwei, twenty-five Jin. Next, Teng Qingshan!” Teng Yunlong’s voice suddenly became somewhat higher. After all, it was his very own grandson’s turn. Although Yuan Lan was his adopted daughter, Teng Yunlong cared about her and his son-in-law just as much as he cared about his biological son.

The surrounding two thousand members were silent.

All eyes were focused on the boy who stood in the center, who wasn’t too tall nor too fat, a very ordinary child——Teng Qingshan.

All that attention was because Teng Qingshan’s father was the number one hero of Teng Jia Village——Teng Yongfan.

A tiger father will not beget a dog son. His father was number one in the village, so what about his son?

Teng Yongfan and Yuan Lan were holding their breath. Even little Qingyu anxiously stared at her brother with wide eyes.

“How much weight should I lift?” Teng Qingshan thought as he walked towards the stones.

Passing by the stones weighing ten Jin, fifteen Jin, twenty Jin, Teng Qingshan kept walking towards the end.

“What is he doing…” Everyone was worried about him, ”He’s just walking by without giving a try!”

“He passed the sixty Jin stone and still keeps on walking!” Everyone was feeling quite worried for him. They felt like they were watching a show at first, but now they felt nervous, because…. if there were an outstanding clansman, the whole village would benefit.

“He’s went past the seventy Jin stone!”

“He’s still walking!”

Everyone was staring at him with widened eyes. Even Teng Yunlong, who was usually calm, was slightly nervous, while Teng Yongfan’s face became flushed.

One should know that the heavier the stone, the more difficult it would be to lift. When one’s limit is reached, even a minor weight fluctuation could make the body collapse.

“The best man of my village could only lift a stone weighing eighty Jin at that age,” Teng Yunlong stared at Teng Qingshan, as he thought, “He already reached the eighty Jin stone and yet is still walking? This little fellow either has the ability or is fooling us…” Teng Yunlong could feel his heart at his throat.

The atmosphere of the whole training field became very nervous.

Every step forward made the other tribe members more concerned.

Suddenly——

Teng Qingshan finally stopped in front of a stone that weighed one hundred Jin.

“Even the strongest person from Teng Jia Village could only lift a stone weighing eighty Jin when he was six years old. I will honor my father, but I won’t make it too unbelievable, so I will just lift a stone of about one hundred Jin,” thought Teng Qingshan as he stared at the stone.