Serpent Ancestor

Tianji Shangren was amused to the point of laughter; it was the first time he encountered someone trying to tell his fortune, and it was a mere child at that.

The thing he avoided most in his life was having his fate calculated. He never did it himself and would never let others do it. This little brat had successfully piqued his interest.

”Heh, what a fool,” Li Si sneered inwardly as he observed the scene.

He was well aware that Zhao Wenzhuo was a pawn they had placed within the Chu Tian Alliance, their number one pawn.

This young man, given his age, couldn’t possibly have any profound understanding of formations. Whether he could even unravel a formation was questionable. Zhao Wenzhuo’s sole purpose in participating was to mess with their minds, to first eliminate Tianji Shangren, their rival, so he could easily claim the top spot.

Seeing through the opponent’s plan, Li Si felt reassured. With one less competitor, the first place was within easy reach.

As for Xu the Butcher, he naturally ignored him, thinking, ”A snake, what does he know about formations?”

Tianji Shangren stared at Zhao Wenzhuo for a long time before slowly saying, ”I see water and fire clashing in you, a fate marked by disaster. I fear you were born into misfortune, bringing bad luck to anyone around you!”

These words hit Zhao Wenzhuo’s sore spot.

His eyes narrowed, but he maintained a cool tone, ”You harbor fire in your fate, hiding malicious intent. Anyone you fixate on is bound to suffer great misfortune!”Upon hearing this, Tianji Shangren’s eyes narrowed to slits, but soon he sneered, ”Young man, some words shouldn’t be spoken carelessly.”

”Why are they arguing?” Xu Hei was taken aback.

The two kept cursing each other, exposing each other’s weaknesses, seemingly intent on mutual destruction. Were they both suffering from some sort of ailment?

In the blink of an eye, Li Si was about to unravel the first layer.

Tianji Shangren smirked, pulling out a paper figure, and with a flick of his finger, he began inscribing lines into it.

”You can eat recklessly, but you can’t speak recklessly. Today, I’ll teach you a lesson!”

As Tianji Shangren inscribed, the paper figure became lifelike, gradually transforming into the likeness of a young man, bearing some resemblance to Zhao Wenzhuo.

Zhao Wenzhuo’s eyes flickered, and he cupped his hands toward Mo Wuyou, ”Senior, may I ask if we can make a move here?”

”You are only allowed to act on the formations, not attack each other,” Mo Wuyou replied calmly.

Zhao Wenzhuo nodded, forming hand seals toward the formation, but it seemed more like he was adding something rather than analyzing it.

”Trying to make a move against me, truly reckless!” Tianji Shangren almost laughed out loud, his hands moving even faster, as the paper figure grew hair and bones, becoming increasingly lifelike.

Xu Hei was about to start analyzing when he suddenly paused.

”No attacking each other?”

Xu Hei frowned.

Would Zhao Wenzhuo’s words count as verbal attacks? Was Tianji Shangren’s paper figure also a form of attack?

Mo Wuyou, if he truly wanted to prevent interference, could have locked them in separate rooms. Why let them sit face to face in the open?

It was clear he tacitly allowed them to attack each other!

Xu Hei realized this belatedly. Originally planning to immediately analyze the formation, he hesitated.

If he could see this, had the other three also noticed?

Was Li Si, who seemed to be unraveling the formation, also up to something behind the scenes?

The only thing not to worry about was external interference; this place was isolated from the outside, and any changes would occur internally.

”I’ve long memorized these nine formations. It’s not enough to merge them; I must thoroughly understand them first.”

Xu Hei didn’t act immediately but instead sent his Divine Sense into the formation, studying every detail meticulously.

It’s like analyzing a lock; you can open it, but you can’t understand its mechanism.

At this moment, Xu Hei was studying the mechanism.

…………

Time ticked by.

Unknowingly, most of the first day had passed.

Li Si had already unraveled six formations, but the difficulty of the last three increased exponentially, ten times harder than before, and the time spent was incomparable.

An ice thunder killing formation alone took as much time as all the previous ones combined to complete.

After finishing the paper figure, Tianji Shangren put it away, muttering incantations under his breath, the purpose unknown.

Zhao Wenzhuo sat cross-legged before the formation, his formation different from before, but the difference was indiscernible.

Xu Hei sat motionless with his eyes closed, like a piece of wood.

”One in a daze, two attacking each other, like a child’s play, ridiculous,” Li Si scoffed, having initially thought he needed to guard against Xu Hei, but it seemed unnecessary.

At this moment, Xu Hei opened his eyes, a gleam flashing through them.

Just now, he had completely understood the merging of the nine formations, able to see through any detail with his eyes closed.

If he were to analyze now, he could unravel the formation in no time, easily claiming first place.

However, Xu Hei didn’t plan to do that; he wanted to see what tricks the other three were up to.

He strongly suspected that the key to this round wasn’t in unraveling the formation at all.

He didn’t know Mo Wuyou’s intentions, but it certainly wasn’t something as superficial as solving a formation.

”What is Mo Wuyou thinking?” Xu Hei looked at the unmoving silhouette.

”Fire Poison Killing Formation, complete...” As Xu Hei pondered, Li Si unraveled another formation, leaving only the final one.

This was the most complex Five Elements Killing Formation.

From the progress, he was far ahead of the others, with first place almost guaranteed.

Xu Hei couldn’t wait any longer; he didn’t know how long it would take the opponent to unravel the final formation. What if it went wrong?

”No, I must start now. If Li Si is holding back and suddenly speeds up, catching me off guard, it would be troublesome!” Xu Hei thought to himself.

Such suspicion wasn’t unfounded; Li Si had clearly slowed down intentionally toward the end.

As soon as the last formation began to be analyzed, it accelerated, indicating prior rehearsal.

Xu Hei immediately approached the formation, intending to unravel it as quickly as possible.

And just then.

Zhao Wenzhuo suddenly pointed at the formation, releasing a burst of flame toward Tianji Shangren’s face, a fiery array from within the formation.

”Foolish!” Tianji Shangren sneered, seemingly prepared, waving his sleeve to reveal a Bagua pattern that dissipated the flame.

Then, Zhao Wenzhuo continued to activate the formation, launching all attacks toward Tianji Shangren.

Tianji Shangren casually waved his sleeve, easily neutralizing these simple attacks.

”Is this all you have to cause me harm? Not enough!” Tianji Shangren sneered, taking out the completed paper figure and pointing at it.

Li Si looked over curiously.

Xu Hei’s eyes narrowed as he saw the paper figure’s appearance change, initially resembling Zhao Wenzhuo, but suddenly twisting into Li Si’s likeness.

”Not good!” Li Si’s face changed drastically.

”Karma Transfer!”

Tianji Shangren pointed at the paper figure, which quickly burned to ashes, an invisible karma linking the two formations.

Attacking the person was forbidden, but attacking the formation wasn’t.

The formation in front of Li Si, just one step from completion, was instantly swapped and transferred to Tianji Shangren.

Meanwhile, Tianji Shangren’s new formation was transferred to Li Si.

The two had swapped!

Tianji Shangren had directly stolen the completed solution from his opponent.

Did you think he was doing nothing before, just wasting time arguing? How naive and laughable.