Serpent Ancestor

Bai Luo was both angry and apprehensive, wondering about the true identity of the person behind this.

”The one who detonated the Thunder Tribulation Pearl earlier seemed to be a puppet...”

Bai Luo’s pupils contracted as if he had realized something.

For disciples of the Heavenly Puppet Sect, Wu Mountain was an absolute forbidden zone. Even he had been forced to seal away his puppet techniques and switch to cultivating the Bai Family’s Azure Sky White Emperor Sutra to enter smoothly.

If that person wasn’t a disciple of the Heavenly Puppet Sect, then who could it be?

He immediately thought of someone.

The person who once caused a sensation in Chuyang City!

”Nephew Bai Luo, what happened here? Why was a Thunder Tribulation Pearl detonated?”

A clear voice came from behind, and a handsome young man with a long sword at his waist, exuding an aloof aura, dressed in white, and at the late Foundation Establishment stage, walked over.

It was none other than the young master of the Bai Family, Bai Qiushui.”Bai Qiushui!”

Bai Luo’s expression stiffened.

Although he was the top Chosen of the Heavenly Puppet Sect, his seniority in the Bai Family was a generation below Bai Qiushui.

Bai Qiushui’s talent was also remarkable, but the Bai Family had an ancestral rule allowing only one person to join the Heavenly Puppet Sect every hundred years, so they chose the younger Bai Luo.

”What’s this? You don’t seem happy to see your uncle?” Bai Qiushui said with a bright smile.

Bai Luo’s mouth twitched. This person was only five years older than him, yet he had to call him uncle, which made him very uncomfortable.

”Here’s what happened...”

He didn’t hide anything and briefly recounted what had just occurred.

As for his experiences inside the pyramid, he glossed over them, only mentioning that he had been tricked.

”Puppet...”

Bai Qiushui’s eyes flashed as he murmured, ”This familiar method, it really is him!”

”You know this person?” Bai Luo asked in surprise.

”I’ve met him once,” Bai Qiushui replied with a faint smile. ”Uncle advises you not to provoke him, or you’ll only bring trouble upon yourself.”

As Bai Qiushui spoke, he stepped forward and patted Bai Luo on the shoulder.

Bai Luo wanted to dodge, but the former’s hand was too quick, landing a pat on him, which made him show a look of disgust and quickly step back a few paces.

”Oh? What’s with your cultivation? It seems to have fallen to the late Foundation Establishment stage?”

Bai Qiushui withdrew his hand, carefully sensing, and feigned surprise.

Earlier, he had taken the opportunity to probe with his True Qi, feeling that the other’s cultivation had clearly dropped from before.

Bai Luo’s face was stiff, and he said coldly, ”What does this have to do with you?”

”What kind of talk is that? As your elder, can’t I show some concern? You must have been injured, how careless!”

Bai Qiushui sighed, speaking earnestly, ”But don’t be discouraged. I only broke through to the late Foundation Establishment stage last month. At your young age, having the same cultivation as me is already quite good.”

His words seemed to praise but were actually mocking.

Bai Luo had reached the late Foundation Establishment stage five years ago, meaning he had been stagnant for five years.

To ordinary people, it might be excellent, but for Bai Luo, who had consumed so many resources from the Heavenly Puppet Sect and remained unchanged, it was utterly disgraceful.

”You...”

Bai Luo’s face turned black with anger, unable to speak.

”Don’t be angry, uncle is just looking out for you. You’re still young, and there will be plenty of days to be angry in the future,” Bai Qiushui said with an increasingly bright smile.

Seeing Bai Luo about to explode, Bai Qiushui laughed heartily and swaggered away.

”Don’t get angry, don’t get angry, he’s just jealous of me.”

Bai Luo continued to take deep breaths to calm himself.

He had been accustomed to smooth sailing, but since entering these ruins, he had suffered continuous setbacks, and even Bai Qiushui had come out to mock him. Yet, as the top Chosen of the Qin Kingdom, he couldn’t stoop to argue with such people.

”Bai Luo, we’ve found out who that person is. The one who once blew up the Heavenly Dragon Casino, using the alias Ma Teng, skilled in puppet techniques, even Elder Ding Quan suffered at his hands.”

Lei He appeared in time, speaking in a deep voice, ”Later, he entered the ruins, used a puppet butcher to kill Zhou Wenjun, drove Liu Ruyan mad, and defeated Zhou Qingxuan’s External Incarnation. Now, one of Zhou Wendie’s eyeballs is still in his possession.”

Bai Luo gasped, ”He’s offended so many people, and our Heavenly Puppet Sect hasn’t issued a warrant for him?”

”Hmph! You should ask Qin Xuanji about that. He’s been tight-lipped on the matter, saying he’ll handle it, but what handling?” Lei He grumbled.

He didn’t know that Qin Xuanji had tried to handle it but failed, even provoking the Demon Lord.

”However, the butcher puppet he crafted is indeed quite sinister. I’ve never seen such a puppet before,” Lei He pondered.

...

The ruins of the underground city marked the end of the Five Elements Path.

Each path led to a different position, arranged in five directions but not far from each other.

At this moment, Xu Hei found a dilapidated house to settle in.

He initially wanted to dig a pit, but the soil here was black, hardened by millennia of yin energy, as hard and foul as a stone in a latrine.

Only by using all his cultivation could he barely dig a hole, so Xu Hei had to give up. Fortunately, the house was sturdy enough.

Xu Hei pondered briefly, scattering ten thousand Spirit Stones to set up a simple vortex spirit-devouring formation as a defensive measure, then went into seclusion to expel the thunder from his body.

Earlier, he had withstood two strikes from the thunder tribulation to break through the encirclement.

”This underground city is vast, and it hasn’t been fully explored yet. But in the depths, there are indeed some extremely terrifying dangers. That must be where the end lies,” Xu Hei thought to himself.

His knowledge of the underground city was limited to previous rumors.

Now, having spent over half a month in the Earth Path, there might have been new developments.

After half a day, Xu Hei finished adjusting his breath, dismantled the formation, and recovered eight thousand Spirit Stones.

The nine-square grid formation allowed for partial recovery of Spirit Stones as long as it wasn’t triggered.

Spirit Stones were not only used for daily cultivation but were also heavily consumed in formations.

”Crack, crack, crack.”

Suddenly, the ground ahead trembled, and a spot began to bulge.

Then, a withered claw emerged from the ground.

”A wild corpse puppet?”

Xu Hei’s eyes narrowed.

”Boom!!”

A ferocious green-haired zombie burst out from the ground, baring its fangs and claws, lunging at Xu Hei.

Green-haired Flying Zombie, False Core Stage.

This ruin was indeed fraught with danger, and Xu Hei encountered it just as he arrived.

Xu Hei was about to act when a small black dot flew out from his scales, darting like lightning into the green-haired zombie’s ear, burrowing into its brain.

The green-haired zombie immediately froze.

Moments later, its ferocious eyes turned vacant, becoming bewildered.

”Can it really control corpse puppets?”

Xu Hei’s eyes flickered. He hadn’t actively controlled it; Ji Ying had acted on its own.

He pondered briefly and thought, ”Return!”

The green-haired zombie opened its mouth, and Ji Ying flew out, landing on Xu Hei’s head.

”Roar!”

The green-haired zombie roared again, raising its claw to strike Xu Hei.

”Go!”

Xu Hei released Ji Ying, which darted into its mouth, and the zombie froze once more.