Vol. 1 - Ch. 68 - Five Viscera Ascension Technique

"Clan Leader!"

When Chen Xingzhen arrived at the field, he saw Chen Tianyu approaching, a melancholic look etched on his face. Chen Xingzhen felt a chill run through his heart, sensing that the situation was not favourable.

"What's going on?" he asked, keeping his expression calm.

"Clan Leader, the weather has turned cold recently, and these Blood Rice plants have stopped growing for the past two days."

Chen Xingzhen quickly made his way to the field to inspect the Blood Rice. Over the past two months, the once small seedlings had grown to more than half a person's height, with light red panicles forming at the tops.

The fields, stretching over several acres, resembled a sea of blood, swaying gently in the cold breeze. In theory, this was the season when the Blood Rice would begin to bear fruit.

If given another half month, the panicles would deepen in colour, signaling that the grains were ready for harvest.

But as Chen Xingzhen bent down to examine the panicles, his heart sank---the grains inside were shriveled. Despite having started to bear fruit, the cold had stunted the growth of the Blood Rice.

He checked other plants and found much the same: shriveled grains or none at all, with some panicles bearing only tiny, undeveloped rice.

If this continued unchecked, the situation would worsen, rendering the family's two months of hard work futile.

The clan members standing nearby were just as lost; this had never happened before. In previous years, they would have anticipated the cold and planted earlier.

Seeing the worried looks on the clansmen's faces, Chen Xingzhen knew he had to come up with a solution quickly. After pondering for a moment, an idea came to him.

"Surround the field with mud walls and see if that helps retain the warmth," he ordered.

"Understood!" the clansmen responded, immediately setting to work. However, Chen Xingzhen remained uneasy. While the walls might slightly raise the field's temperature, the approaching winter would only make things colder.

Chen Tianyu wore a grim expression but agreed that, at the moment, there was no better solution.

They had to try, though it would be challenging. If this effort failed, abandoning the Blood Rice would be the only option, severely impacting the family's development.

Watching his clan members work, Chen Xingzhen issued a few more instructions before hurrying back to the main family grounds.

The field was quite large, and the earth walls needed to be high enough to protect the growing plants. He intended to gather more clan members to assist with the task.

Upon returning, he immediately mobilized all available clan members to the field. Just as he was about to take a moment to rest, another clan member approached him with urgent news.

"Clan Leader, it seems that many family members have been practicing a new martial art recently."

"A new martial art?" Chen Xingzhen glanced at the messenger in confusion.

Only a month ago, he had released two newly recorded combat skills for the clan. The techniques were relatively low-ranking, so many members had already begun practicing them, including those in the Blood Coagulation Realm, though none had yet mastered the skills.

Even some of the Body Tempering Realm warriors had managed to make some progress.

But now, hearing that the clan members were practicing a new fighting skill, Chen Xingzhen was puzzled and quickly asked, "What kind of skill is it?"

The reporting clan member shook his head.

"It's definitely not one of the three combat skills the clan had before."

Chen Xingzhen's confusion deepened. How could there be another fighting skill circulating in the clan without his knowledge? As the clan leader, he was supposed to be aware of every combat skill in use.

Determined to get to the bottom of this, he called some clan members for questioning and soon discovered that the new skill had spread from Chen Qinghe and Chen Qingmeng.

This revelation filled Chen Xingzhen with unease. He knew that Chen Qinghe had been restless since childhood and suspected that the strange occurrence of the axes beneath the Divine Tree was also his doing.

He had chosen not to pursue the matter then, but now, with a new combat skill appearing, the situation seemed more serious.

"Combat skills are not mere cabbages,"

Chen Xingzhen muttered, his expression turning grim.

"Each skill is born from the countless trials of martial artists, refined through generations. Many are family heirlooms, carefully guarded to prevent them from being lost."

The creation of a new martial skill was fraught with danger. An improperly devised technique could disrupt a martial artist's energy channels, leading to severe consequences, even death.

The idea that Chen Qinghe, still in the early stages of Body Tempering, might attempt to create a combat skill was alarming. His audacity was reckless.

"I need to question him immediately," Chen Xingzhen decided. He couldn't allow Chen Qinghe's impulsiveness to jeopardize the clan.

Before long, Chen Qinghe and Chen Qingmeng were brought before him.

"Greetings to Fourth Uncle," Chen Qinghe said with a sheepish grin, carefully avoiding the title of 'Clan Leader.'

He seemed to sense the gravity of the situation. Chen Qingmeng, on the other hand, looked bewildered, unsure why he had been summoned.

Chen Xingzhen's face darkened as he quickly asked,

"I heard you've been practicing a new combat skill. What is it? Tell me everything."

Sensing the severity of Chen Xingzhen's tone, Chen Qinghe dared not conceal anything. He pulled out an old, dusty book from his robe.

The cover was stained and worn, barely legible, but the faint characters on it were unmistakable: Five Viscera Ascension Technique.

Upon seeing the title, Chen Xingzhen's body stiffened, and a long-buried memory slowly resurfaced.

The human body houses five vital organs---the heart, liver, spleen, lungs, and kidneys---each possessing hidden potential. When a martial artist tempers their body and condenses their blood and qi, these organs gain immense strength. The Five Viscera Ascension Technique was designed to unlock this latent power, drawing it forth in battle.

The technique was simple to learn, and even martial artists in the Body Tempering Realm could easily grasp it.

However, its ease of use belied its terrible price. To unleash the power of this technique, the user had to sacrifice one of their five organs, forcibly triggering an internal explosion to tap into its hidden energy.

The repercussions were severe. At most, a martial artist could employ this technique four times in their life; the fifth would be fatal, as the heart could not withstand such trauma.

This technique had been discovered during the clan's migration, when its immense power caught the elders' attention. Several clan members had learned it, wielding its destructive strength in desperate moments.

But each time it was used, the price paid was steep. The damage from even a single sacrificed organ left martial artists crippled, their lives marked by regret and decline.

Realizing the dangerous cost of this skill, Chen Xingzhen had concealed it when the clan settled at Chaotic Burial Mountain.

Over time, the memory of the technique faded, buried along with the pain it had caused. He had hoped never to see it again, knowing that relying on such a self-destructive skill would only lead to the clan's downfall.

Now, as he held the book once more, those grim memories resurfaced, and he was reminded of the dark legacy that the Five Viscera Ascension Technique carried.

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