Serpent Ancestor

Based on the provided genre, character introductions, story settings, and name correspondences, here is the translated text:

According to the listed prices, selling all these stones could fetch over sixty thousand spirit stones, but the actual value of what was cut out didn’t exceed five thousand.

Not even a tenth!

Meanwhile, banners overhead boasted about certain cultivators cutting out treasures worth fifty thousand, a hundred thousand. It was all just a scam.

Xu Hei shook his head and cursed, then walked into the next stone gambling area to continue cutting.

The stones here were enormous, some even taller than a person or a house, and their prices were equally staggering.

The lowest priced stone was five hundred spirit stones, while the most expensive one reached a whopping ten thousand!

Xu Hei scanned the stones with his divine sense but couldn’t penetrate them, so he simply started cutting.

”Honored guest, the stones on the outskirts are one thing, but these stones here are closely monitored by the Myriad Treasure Pavilion. Some contain extreme dangers, please consider the consequences,” Liu Ruyan said seriously.

Bai Qiushui also reminded, ”I once saw a cultivator cut out an evil weapon here, which killed him on the spot.”Xu Hei found their words reasonable.

As soon as he entered this area, he felt a faint sense of being watched, indicating that there were experts hidden nearby.

They were probably there to guard this stone area.

Liu Ruyan kept her eyes on Xu Hei, squinting slightly, wanting to see how he would react and whether he would back down.

If he retreated...

”Whoosh!”

Suddenly, Xu Hei drew his sword and slashed at a giant stone worth three thousand spirit stones.

”I don’t even fear the Thunder Tribulation Pearl, why would I be afraid of mere danger?” Xu Hei sneered.

He was showing his defiance; since he was already in trouble, he might as well go all the way.

Liu Ruyan’s face remained unchanged, but her inner fury was raging. If it weren’t for the Thunder Tribulation Pearl in his hand, she would have attacked him a thousand times over.

”Crack!”

The giant stone split open, revealing a blood-red light inside.

A streak of blood shot out from the stone, and Xu Hei quickly took out his Soul-absorbing Flag to capture it. The snakes inside the flag devoured the remnant soul in an instant.

”This...”

The crowd was stunned.

Xu Hei completely cut open the stone, revealing a human skeleton inside. The remnant soul had flown out from its skull.

”This is... an ancient cultivator!” Bai Qiushui said in a deep voice.

”An ancient cultivator?”

”How is that possible? The ancient era was countless millennia ago; their bodies should have turned to dust long ago.”

Some remained skeptical.

Bai Qiushui explained, ”Ancient cultivators had much stronger physiques than us. They were skilled in body refining, had excellent bone structure, and their bones were thicker. This is the proof!”

Bai Qiushui pointed at the skeleton.

The crowd examined it closely and found it to be true compared to their own bodies.

The skeleton was over two meters tall, and each bone was about thirty percent thicker, like a small giant.

”In ancient times, everyone had a perfect Foundation Establishment. Today’s Foundation Establishment Stage cultivators would be mere ants in that era.”

Bai Qiushui sighed inwardly. Despite his current brilliance, he would be nothing in ancient times, where everyone could surpass their level.

Xu Hei said nothing, waving his hand to turn the skeleton into dust. No matter what cultivation level the person had in life, after countless years, it was worthless.

Suddenly, a small black stone the size of a fingernail fell from the ashes.

Xu Hei’s eyes narrowed, and with lightning speed, he collected the entire pile of ashes along with the inconspicuous black stone, almost unnoticed by anyone.

Xu Hei continued cutting several more stones but found no treasures.

He did, however, cut out a streak of Sword Qi that almost severed his puppet’s arm, but there was nothing inside.

This made Xu Hei realize that even in this high-level stone gambling area, finding treasures was nearly impossible.

Xu Hei targeted a stone priced at thirty thousand spirit stones and slashed at it, but after cutting just an inch, he couldn’t cut any further.

It was absurdly hard.

”This stone is called Qingdan. It requires the destructive power of a peak Foundation Establishment cultivator to break it,” Liu Ruyan explained softly from the side.

Xu Hei frowned. His true body wasn’t nearby, and he didn’t want to reveal his dragon scales. After a moment of contemplation, he retracted his flying sword.

”Alright, that’s enough for today!”

Xu Hei knew that everything had its limits.

The other side was surely investigating his identity, possibly even contacting the higher-ups of the Heavenly Puppet Sect. He didn’t want to actually detonate the Thunder Tribulation Pearl.

Xu Hei tried to store the giant stone in his storage bag but found it wouldn’t budge, so he had to give up.

”Is the honored guest leaving?”

Liu Ruyan’s eyes flickered as she probed.

”Why, don’t want me to leave? I can stay and play until dawn,” Xu Hei said with a smile.

Liu Ruyan’s face stiffened.

”Hehe, I have other matters to attend to, so let’s call it a day. I hope that next time I come to Chuyang City, I’ll still receive an invitation,” Xu Hei said with a forced smile.

The crowd cursed inwardly, hoping he would leave quickly. Whoever invited him again would be a fool!

Liu Ruyan had long reached her limit but maintained her smile, saying, ”In the future, as long as the honored guest enters the city as Ma Teng, I guarantee a warm welcome!”

”Then I will certainly come as promised,” Xu Hei said, cupping his hands. ”Farewell!”

He held the Thunder Tribulation Pearl and turned to leave.

Once he exited the stone area, the sense of being watched disappeared, making Xu Hei breathe a sigh of relief.

The hidden expert was indeed only guarding the stone gambling area and wouldn’t follow him elsewhere.

Xu Hei instinctively glanced at the jade detection disk Hei Huang had given him and found that only Liu Ruyan was marked as a red dot nearby.

This puzzled Xu Hei. According to his guess, the hidden expert should be a high-level Qi Condensation cultivator. Why didn’t the disk detect them?

”It seems this jade disk isn’t foolproof,” Xu Hei thought to himself.

Under various gazes, Xu Hei boldly left the Heavenly Dragon Casino.

As he walked out, someone followed him in secret.

It was unclear if they were from the casino or just curious onlookers.

However, one person openly followed him, none other than the Bai Family’s young master, Bai Qiushui.

Dressed in white, with an elegant demeanor, he followed Xu Hei from a distance of about three meters, neither too fast nor too slow.

”Fellow Daoist, may I know your name?” Bai Qiushui asked, cupping his hands.

”Ma Teng,” Xu Hei replied.

”...” Bai Qiushui, of course, knew that this puppet body was called Ma Teng. He could only smile awkwardly. ”Then I’ll address you as Brother Ma from now on.”

Xu Hei had no interest in this overly familiar person.

He just wanted to get rid of him and said bluntly, ”If you have something to say, just say it. Can you stop following me?”

”Uh...” Bai Qiushui hesitated for a moment, then asked, ”I want to know, if the casino master had troubled you earlier, would Brother Ma really have detonated the Thunder Tribulation Pearl?”

”Of course,” Xu Hei replied.

Bai Qiushui wiped the sweat from his forehead and continued, ”Brother Ma, you must also have a perfect Foundation Establishment, right?”

Xu Hei refused to answer.

”Brother Ma, there’s no need to hide it. The Bai Family is a major clan in the Qin Kingdom. I’ve been dealing with Heavenly Puppet Sect cultivators since I was young. A normal Foundation Establishment cultivator couldn’t possibly have such proficient puppet techniques,” Bai Qiushui said confidently.

Xu Hei took out the Soul-absorbing Flag and said coldly, ”If you keep following me, don’t blame me for taking action.”

Bai Qiushui immediately froze.

”I mean no harm. I just wanted to ask a few questions. Since Brother Ma is unwilling, I’ll take my leave!” Bai Qiushui cupped his hands and decisively turned to leave.