Serpent Ancestor

This time, Zhou Qingxuan recruited over thirty people, including three at the Core Formation Stage.

One was an old white-haired man named Cang Ming, another was Han Te, and the third was a newly joined middle-aged woman in blue. All three were at the early Core Formation Stage.

These people were all old hands, extremely cunning, forcing him to spend five times the usual price to barely secure their services.

Only because the Zhou Family was wealthy and powerful could they afford such extravagance; the Bai Family wouldn’t dare waste resources like this.

After the group left, they were followed by a crowd of outsiders trailing behind at a distance. But after Cang Ming made a move and killed three people, the rest dared not follow any longer.

Before long, they arrived at the Zhou Family’s stronghold.

It was a spacious courtyard, once a noble’s residence in ancient times, now occupied by the Zhou Family.

Zhou Wendie walked out from the courtyard and handed over a jade slip, saying, ”This is a message from above.”

Zhou Qingxuan took the jade slip, and after reading its contents, his face immediately turned grim. ”It’s about dealing with the Chu Tian Alliance again...”

Xu Hei, who had been paying attention to the commotion ahead, was suddenly startled upon hearing this.”Are we going?” Zhou Wendie asked.

”Our Zhou Family has suffered such heavy losses, and they still want to order us around! If they want to go, they can go themselves; we won’t participate!” Zhou Qingxuan said in a deep voice.

”But Xu Qingfeng is seriously injured; this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” Zhou Wendie hesitated.

”Hmph, no matter, we have more important things to do.”

Although the Zhou Family duo’s conversation was quiet, they hadn’t used Divine Sense to isolate it, allowing Xu Hei to hear everything clearly.

His eyes flickered as he quickly pieced together the contents of the jade slip.

The Heavenly Puppet Sect was planning to target the Chu Tian Alliance and was gathering manpower, but the Zhou Family had refused!

But then, Xu Hei realized something was off.

Why wasn’t the Zhou Family keeping such important information under wraps?

Anyone like Xu Hei, who was intent on eavesdropping, could easily overhear their conversation. Weren’t they afraid of leaks?

Or was this intentional on their part?

Xu Hei squinted his eyes, sensing that things weren’t simple. Regardless of what schemes the Zhou Family was playing, the Chu Tian Alliance definitely needed a heads-up.

...

Xu Hei’s true self immediately found Xu Qingfeng and briefly explained the situation.

He didn’t mention how he got the information, only the conclusion.

”Looks like we have to move again,” Xu Qingfeng sighed.

He didn’t question the reliability of the information and directly announced the move.

Immediately, the members of the Chu Tian Alliance began packing up.

Flags from the formation were pulled up, houses were lifted and stored in their storage spaces, and traces were cleared. The whole process took only two breaths, their efficiency astonishing.

Before long, they had relocated to a new site.

This place, in ancient times, was likely a school, with statues of sages and a stone tablet in the courtyard. However, time had weathered them, leaving only faint traces of words like ”At the beginning of man, nature is inherently good.”

Xu Qingfeng took out formation flags and placed them in various positions, Zhang Tie set up the houses, and Zhao Wenzhuo established a Gathering Spirit Array. In no time, the environment transformed back to its previous state.

”The efficiency of this escape is truly second nature,” Xu Hei thought to himself.

”Hey, bald snake, what’s your name?”

At this moment, the Vulture flew over, stopping not far from Xu Hei, and asked with a grin.

Bald snake... Xu Hei’s mouth twitched slightly, ”Are you insulting me?”

”How could that be an insult? You have no hair on your head, if not bald, then what? Besides, being bald isn’t something everyone can have; it’s a symbol of strength! I have no respect for creatures with hair on their heads.”

The Vulture approached, acting overly familiar, pointing at others.

”...” Xu Hei remained silent.

”Let me introduce myself first, I’m Ku Ming, that’s the Dharma name Big Baldy gave me. And you?” the Vulture chuckled.

”Xu Hei.”

”So it’s Brother Xu. Everyone in the Chu Tian Alliance is a weirdo; only the two of us are somewhat normal. As they say, ’near vermilion, one becomes red.’ I hope we can look out for each other,” the Vulture said with a smile.

No, you’re not normal either, only I am... Xu Hei silently stepped back a bit.

After hesitating for a moment, Xu Hei asked, ”Can you introduce the members of the Chu Tian Alliance?”

His understanding of the Chu Tian Alliance was limited to external rumors.

”Hey, you’ve asked the right person. When it comes to intelligence, I’m number one!” the Vulture boasted.

He pointed with his wing at a silver-haired girl staring blankly at a wall in the distance, ”First, there’s the Silver-haired Witch. This one has amnesia, a block of wood, no interests whatsoever, except a hobby of collecting names.”

”The funny thing is, she even forgot her own name, so people call her Ah Yin or Little Silver.”

The Vulture seemed to mock her.

Xu Hei nodded in realization, no wonder the Silver-haired Witch only had a nickname.

Then, the Vulture pointed at Zhang Tie, ”This one’s a weirdo too, single-minded and prone to madness. Last time, after a bit of drinking, he nearly tore down his old home...”

The Vulture continued to badmouth everyone, his voice loud and unrestrained.

Even the usually kind Xu Qingfeng wasn’t spared.

In his eyes, only Master Ku Xuan was normal; everyone else was a freak.

”And that Zhao Wenzhuo, you better watch out for him. He used to be a Snake Catcher, specialized in catching your kind. Don’t be fooled by his honest appearance; he’s actually quite devious,” the Vulture muttered.

Xu Hei grew interested and asked, ”How so? Tell me more.”

”How would I know? Anyway, anyone with hair on their head is no good!” the Vulture concluded.

Xu Hei was speechless once again.

In no time, Xu Hei had a complete understanding of the Chu Tian Alliance.

The Chu Tian Alliance wasn’t just a few people; it had over a thousand members led by the leader, but Xu Qingfeng’s team was particularly famous.

Xu Qingfeng’s goal was simple: to restore the Chu Kingdom and establish a well-governed nation.

Although the others had different personal goals, they shared a common direction, which brought them together.

...

”Boom!!!”

Suddenly, the ground shook, and a layer of light appeared in the sky, filled with cracks as if struck by some massive object.

”What’s happening?”

The members of the Chu Tian Alliance looked up, bewildered, towards the horizon.

”Boom!!”

Another thunderous crash followed as the massive object struck the light again, causing the cracks to spread across the light.

At the same time, tremors came from all directions, as if countless cultivators were attacking their formation.

”What’s going on? Where are the lookouts?”

Zhang Tie cursed.

”Something’s wrong, we’re surrounded by corpse puppets!”

A rogue cultivator ran back, shouting.

”Surrounded by corpse puppets?”

The Vulture’s eyes widened, muttering, ”This is bad, we’re in for a fight again.”

Xu Qingfeng also emerged from his secluded healing, arriving in the courtyard.

With a loud ”boom,” the light shattered completely, and the Yin Sha Qi from outside swept in, turning the world pitch black.

All around, countless black figures hovered, filling the sky and ground, their faces twisted and filled with murderous intent—all corpse puppets.

Such a massive number was something they had never encountered before.

”Is this... a corpse tide?” Zhang Tie’s face turned ashen.

A corpse tide, as the name suggests, is a massive gathering of corpse puppets. But such occurrences are extremely rare; corpse puppets are mindless and never act collectively.

Unless... there’s a higher-level corpse puppet commanding them.

Once a corpse tide erupts, it signifies a danger surpassing all others, reaching an unpredictable level.

”How could this happen? This place was chosen as a Feng Shui treasure, how could a corpse tide erupt?” Zhao Wenzhuo was in disbelief.