Serpent Ancestor

Lei Meng was taken aback as he surveyed the surroundings.

This place was situated on a plain, rich in vegetation and teeming with demonic beasts. With hot springs throughout the seasons, it was a rare treasure land; otherwise, the Wild Giant Elephant Tribe would not have chosen to reside here.

”Our Lion Tribe are predators by nature, bloodthirsty and a threat to your offspring. Even if our Foundation Establishment Stage members can control themselves, the young cubs cannot be disciplined,” Lei Meng said truthfully.

Living together, the Elephant Tribe and the Lion Tribe would inevitably clash, even if the leaders did not. The younger generations were bound to fight, leading to conflicts sooner or later.

They were not human and could not educate their offspring to be cultured and reasonable.

Friendliness? Peace? Such traits, if cultivated among young lions, would eventually lead to their natural elimination.

The elephants exchanged glances and could only sigh helplessly.

”However, we can live nearby and help keep watch. If any human cultivators dare to come, I will intervene,” Lei Meng added.

”Thank you, Senior Lei Meng!” the elephants all bowed in gratitude.

...Xu Hei and Xiao Chou stayed here as well, choosing to settle down.

For Xiao Chou, a human, the Elephant Tribe was reasonable, knowing he was Xu Hei’s friend and had helped them earlier. They treated him as an honored guest.

Xu Hei carved out a cave dwelling and began to inventory the spoils from the recent battle.

”Mountain-Covering Mud, a mid-grade third-tier Spiritual Treasure!”

Xu Hei looked at the small, palm-sized lump of soft mud before him, highly malleable.

Yet this unassuming item could expand a thousandfold, with its weight increasing infinitely.

Xu Hei spent an hour refining it, understanding its effects and principles.

”So that’s how it is. Once activated, this item can automatically absorb earth-element True Qi from the heavens and earth, gathering nearby sand and dust from the air, growing larger and increasing gravity. It’s truly the bane of large demonic beasts,” Xu Hei mused.

This lump of mud could also change shape at will, allowing him to mold it into a shield for disguise.

Similarly, it could be used for defense, wrapping around oneself to reduce external damage.

Xu Hei tried to activate it and found that while it consumed a lot of energy, it was much more economical than other third-tier magical treasures, likely due to his Earth Spiritual Roots.

”An earth-element magical treasure, useful for me!”

Xu Hei stored it in his Void Stone.

Besides the Mountain-Covering Mud, there were some defensive magical treasures, but most had been crushed by Man Jin’s foot.

The remaining treasures were few.

He acquired the chains used by Tie Niu and the fork used by Tie Xiong, both low-grade third-tier Spiritual Treasures.

These two weapons were of no use to Xu Hei, so he planned to sell them.

What surprised Xu Hei the most was that the Iron Mountain Sect members collectively had about one hundred thousand Spirit Stones in reserve, including over forty high-grade Spirit Stones.

”So many high-grade Spirit Stones!”

Seeing so many high-grade Spirit Stones, Xu Hei’s heart burned with excitement.

He took out all the square high-grade Spirit Stones, totaling sixty-seven pieces.

”I wonder if I can obtain another dragon clan secret technique.”

Without hesitation, Xu Hei swallowed the high-grade Spirit Stones one by one, moving to the Demon God Cauldron, where they were absorbed by the true dragon statue.

One, two, three... ten, twenty...

Last time, it only took ten Spirit Stones to obtain the Ever-changing Fish and Dragon technique.

This time, even after fifty pieces, nothing appeared.

Soon, Xu Hei’s sixty-seven high-grade Spirit Stones were completely absorbed, and no secret technique emerged.

”Still short by thirty-three; it seems I need to gather a hundred pieces!”

Xu Hei had a strong premonition.

He calculated the resources he currently had.

Ordinary Spirit Stones totaled two hundred thousand.

Usable third-tier magical treasures included the Black Dragon Pagoda, Mountain-Covering Mud, and the Soul-absorbing Flag.

However, the Jiao Python within the Soul-absorbing Flag was severely injured. Xu Hei had absorbed many souls into it, allowing it to slowly devour and heal, but it would take some time.

As consumables, he had eight Small Teleportation Talismans, an unknown gray talisman, and an ordinary Thunder Tribulation Pearl.

For flying swords, he had the Spirit-Breaking Sword, Heaven-Burning Sword, and Ice Soul Sword, all made of ivory. Xu Hei could simultaneously wield three swords, wreaking havoc within the Foundation Establishment Stage.

As for puppets, Xu Hei had used most of them. He had just collected a batch of corpses but hadn’t had time to refine them.

”What if I refine these Iron Mountain Sect members into puppets?” Xu Hei thought to himself.

The Iron Mountain Sect specialized in body refining techniques, with tough physical bodies covered in iron skin, making them excellent puppet materials.

Even as corpses, they were extremely sturdy, resistant to ordinary blades and swords.

”Let’s do it!”

Xu Hei immediately took out the corpses and piled them together.

He looked at the corpses, ready to refine one, when a brilliant idea struck him.

”Why should I refine them one by one? Why not combine these corpses into a single flesh giant?” Xu Hei pondered.

His Earth Puppet Art could only refine puppets up to the Great Perfection of the Foundation Establishment Stage.

Therefore, he couldn’t utilize the corpses of Tie Niu and Tie Xiong.

But the other corpses could be combined and stitched into a super Foundation Establishment puppet.

Its strength would be at the Foundation Establishment Stage, but it would be extremely durable, nearly indestructible, with enough flesh to take on a hundred foes. The scene would be spectacular.

No sooner said than done!

Xu Hei immediately piled all the corpses together, releasing the Spirit Body Thread to begin this grand project.

...

While Xu Hei was in seclusion.

The four major sects began their excavation of the ancient relic.

It was a deep canyon, with the entrance to the relic in the middle, through a tunnel leading underground.

The tunnel was bottomless, blocking all detection, with only visible black smoke wafting out.

This was Yin Sha Qi, extremely dense yin energy.

It indicated that countless corpses lay within!

There were signs of previous excavation, suggesting others had been here before and retrieved some items.

”According to that bounty hunter, their team had a Qi Condensation leader and thirteen members in total, but they were all wiped out, with only him surviving,” Yin Mingzi said solemnly.

”Everyone, should we enter together or split up?”

He looked at the group behind him.

Their team was naturally more luxurious than Han Te’s, capable of splitting into several groups for exploration.

The Carefree Sect’s patriarch, Li Yao, was severely injured and had not yet recovered. After a moment of silence, he said, ”Perhaps... we should split up.”

He no longer wished to explore any relics, only to preserve his life. His words were also an excuse.

”Whoosh!”

Suddenly, a stream of Yin Sha Qi shot out from the tunnel, and the patriarch’s head flew off.

Everyone’s faces changed dramatically, summoning protective magical treasures as if facing a formidable enemy.

However, nothing happened.

The tunnel remained unfathomably deep, calm as usual, except for Li Yao’s missing head, with no other changes.

”Hehehe...”

At that moment, Li Yao’s head suddenly emitted a sinister laugh, with a strange smile, and flew into the tunnel, disappearing from sight.