[Sixteen years have passed, and you begin to reassess the medicinal herbs, discovering that removing the Black Gu Grass slightly improves the neutralizing effect.]
...
[Thirty-three years have passed, and you reduce the eleven medicinal herbs to eight, resulting in the bodies of tribesmen exploding upon use.]
[... Exploding bodies.]
...
[Seventy-nine years have passed, and the number of herbs in the formula has been reduced to seven.]
[In the eightieth year, after improving the seven-herb formula, it successfully neutralizes beast blood, allowing three tribesmen to advance to the Mountain Opening Realm.]
[In the eighty-fifth year, three more tribesmen attempt, with two advancing and one failing.]
[In the following decade, no matter how you adjust the proportions, no further effectiveness is achieved.
You have realized and understood that you are a muddled practitioner, with a shallow foundation in witch doctor studies, like a pavilion in the air, or a tower built on sand; ultimately, you must start learning from the basics.]
...
"Acan."
When Shen Can opened his eyes, he saw Huo Xian looking at him.
"Are you sick? Why do you look so exhausted?"
Huo Xian said as he retrieved a Medicine Ball from a clay jar on the wooden shelf.
It was the size of an infant's fist.
Pitch black, with a rough surface, and crucially, not round.
"Take and eat it."
The intense and pungent smell from the Medicine Ball instantly revitalized Shen Can, and it somehow reminded him of the experience of taking a Medicine Pill.
"Master, I'm fine, maybe just a bit tired from practicing my Fist Technique."
He did not refuse but took the Medicine Ball and tucked it into his embrace instead.
The witch doctor's practices must be improved; he would rather be a dog than consume this ball again.
"Master, let me handle the rest."
Shen Can said as he was about to grab the clay jar, planning to secretly reduce the dosage.
However, Huo Xian immediately took another portion and poured it onto the stone grinder; the amount of herbs was not decreased, and Huo Xian ultimately dared not take action.
Once the first batch of medicinal herbs was ground into powder, Shen Can quickly said, "Master, I can handle crushing the medicine."
Huo Xian nodded, prepared the medicinal powder, and walked out of the ear cave.
After glancing outside, Shen Can began sorting the herbs out.
Fortunately, having practiced for nearly a hundred years honed his swift technique; otherwise, he would not have been able to accomplish this task quickly.
He categorized and placed back the extracted herbs individually.
He couldn't explain it yet, so he kept it a secret for now.
Before Huo Xian spoke, Shen Can already poured the ground medicine powder into two blood troughs and stirred with a copper stick.
When Huo Xian came by to check, the medicine powder and beast blood were already fully integrated, making it impossible to see his corner-cutting.
During the stirring, the beast blood appeared as if it were boiling.
After more than half an hour, it finally returned to a more peaceful state.
The beast blood extracted from Wild Beast can also have its violent aura attenuated after standing still for a period, but the longer it stands, the less effective it becomes.
To ensure effectiveness, the Blazing Flame Tribe would only let it stand overnight.
Upon finishing the stir, Shen Can found Master Huo Xian returned to the ear cave, contemplating over a Beast Hide Scroll.
The Beast Hide Scroll was worn and faded, evident from frequent viewing.
After pondering for a while, Huo Xian started writing again, seemingly with new ideas.
This scroll was pieced together, stretching to a full meter when unfolded.
Filled with densely packed words and illustrations, all of it related to the improvement records for the Neutralizing Witch Medicine Formula.
From the beginning of the scroll to what Huo Xian penned recently, there were thirteen recorded improvement ideas.
Huo Xian took down two more Beast Hide Scrolls from the wooden shelf behind him, which similarly contained records of improvements related to the Neutralizing Witch Medicine Formula.
However, the handwriting differed, likely written by a former Ancestral Temple Keeper of the tribe.
These improvement formulas remained only on paper.
Every improvement was merely a conjecture.
"I don't dare make changes."
Huo Xian sighed.
"Two hundred years ago, the Bi Mountain Division produced a witch doctor who improved the tribe's neutralizing formula, but the tribe failed both attempts at leading the Mountain Opening Realm advancement.
For a tribe possessing Celestial Vein Martial Artists, this wouldn't normally be a catastrophic failure, but in this disaster-ridden land, the Bi Mountain Division lacked just a bit of luck.
"The Mountain Opening Realm Martial Artists of the tribe have continuously fallen, with no successors to fill the gap, ultimately leading to the tribe's collapse."
In the Great Wilderness, where success rates are not accurately described, assessing the effectiveness of an improved method requires several trials to reach a conclusion.
However, beast blood is not easily obtained, requiring time to accumulate each time. If several experiments go awry, it can affect plans for over a decade.
Coupled with the possibility of natural disasters, it can spell a catastrophe for the tribe.
Although the current formula is inefficient, it has maintained the tribe's three-hundred-year legacy.
Like this time, when Shen Can secretly improved the Witch Medicine Formula. Whether the tribesmen can succeed depends on the refinement of the Kui Ox Fist and also requires a stroke of luck.
Even with perfect timing, location, and people, there's no guarantee of a hundred percent success rate.
Not to mention, the Blazing Flame Tribe is currently experiencing natural disasters and possibly the threat of a powerful Wild Beast.
Huo Xian rummaged through a wooden rack and pulled out a roll of fur that had lost its hair.
"Ancestral records say that after a great disaster, a great plague follows, with Plague Insects rampant.
This rain has been pouring for days, who knows how many creatures have drowned, becoming nourishment for the Plague Insects."
Soon, seven or eight rolls of beast hide were piled up in front of Shen Can.
Huo Xian continued to search the wooden rack, seemingly wanting to take advantage of the opportunity to cram as much knowledge into Shen Can's head as possible.
This left him a bit bewildered; working overtime before crossing over, and still working overtime here, made him feel like the crossing over was in vain.
"Take your time; it takes time to enter the field of Witch Doctors."
Shen Can wasn't interested in entering the field; he just wanted to cheat. In the environment of the Great Wilderness, one can't hold out without cheating.
If only all the tribesmen were Celestial Vein Martial Artists, battling Tier Three Wild Beasts every day, then he, as the Ancestral Temple Keeper, would be living the dream.
Although Huo Xian wanted to cram the entire Witch Doctor legacy into Shen Can's head in one go, there was still some rationality left.
Latter half of the night, he sent Shen Can back to rest.
Returning to West Ear Cave, Shen Can felt a bit exhilarated, eagerly starting to deduce once more.
This damn environment gives no sense of security; becoming a Martial Artist quickly is the only solution.
[Life Span: 272]
Harvesting life span from the Heluo Fish, using up 98 years to deduce the Tier Two Neutralizing Witch Medicine Formula.
At that time, as he deduced, Shen Can didn't think much, just felt it was something that needed doing.
"Continue deducing Kui Ox Fist."
"Pour in two hundred years directly."
With the emergence of this thought, a phantom appeared from within the three-legged small tripod cauldron, starting with a Kui Ox Charging Technique.
[You invest two hundred years of life span to cultivate Kui Ox Fist.]
[Even a pig living for two hundred years would gain some Spiritual Light. In your forty years of punching practice, the pig runs into a tree, you run into a pig, unexpectedly leading you to comprehend the three moves of Kui Ox Fist without realizing it.]
[The quality of Kui Ox Fist increased to Middle Grade, with sixty percent of your entire muscular and skeletal structure and flesh being involved in the punching process.]
[Dissatisfied with Kui Ox Fist at Middle Grade, you become obsessed with relentless practice.]
[You became obsessed, mooing every day.]
[A year later, you finally recover and stop mooing.]
[In the 108th year, during a practice session, you suddenly hear a sound reminiscent of a bone crack from within your body. Though faint, you keenly grasped this change and named it Kui Ox Thunder Sound.]
[Seizing the Thunder Sound firmly, gradually mastering it, the quality of your Kui Ox Fist has risen to Top-Grade.]
[During cultivation, you can now engage over eighty percent of your muscles, bones, and flesh in unison.]
[Vaguely sensing the profound mystery in Thunder Sound, you're too exhausted. With the completion of this derivation, you have spent a total of one hundred seventeen years of life span, returning the remaining life span, leaving a total of 155 years of life span remaining.]
On the stone bed, as Shen Can opened his eyes, his first feeling was not excitement but, "Moo."
Instantly, he clasped his mouth shut, staring blankly at the ceiling of the cave for a long time. After a period of 'who am I, where am I' contemplation, he snapped back to reality.
His head ached.
He reached into his pocket and began gnawing on the earth-scented ball he found there.
Master Huo Xian's medicine ball tasted rather awful, yet it seemed to be somewhat effective.
After lying there for a while, Shen Can felt his headache alleviating slightly, and his mental fatigue recovering somewhat.
"Top-Grade Kui Ox Fist!"
"Hehe... woof woof woof..."
Shen Can continued lying on the stone bed, without moving. Although the quality of his Cultivation Technique had improved, it didn't translate directly to his strength.
But it's not a big deal; as the Ancestral Temple Keeper, he can enjoy his perks.
The Blazing Flame Tribe, though not large, never lets its ancestors go hungry.
When the ancestors have a bite to eat, he gets a whole bowlful.
"Tomorrow, the tribesmen will soak in beast blood, and this Fist Technique…"