Serpent Ancestor

”Just a Small Teleportation Talisman, and it disappeared just like that?” Ye Hai’s face was ashen.

Unwilling to give up, Ye Hai thought that a Small Teleportation Talisman couldn’t have moved someone too far, so it might still be nearby.

He immediately began searching the sea surface, taking out a device resembling a detector to meticulously scan every inch beneath the water, leaving no corner unchecked.

…………

On Star Island, in a secluded alley.

A rift suddenly appeared in mid-air, and a shadow of a snake fell from it, crashing to the ground with a loud thud.

The fallen snake, covered in black and gold dragon scales with a single horn on its head, was none other than Xu Hei.

Fortunately, this place was remote, and Xu Hei’s appearance didn’t attract any attention.

After surveying his surroundings, Xu Hei spread out his Divine Sense, and his expression turned peculiar.

”I actually returned to Star Island?”Xu Hei realized that his Small Teleportation Talisman seemed to randomly transport him in any direction, unable to specify a location, so appearing on the island wasn’t surprising.

However, as long as the displacement was far enough, that person wouldn’t be able to find him.

Xu Hei’s muscles contracted, and his massive body shrank to about two meters. Being too large would attract attention, making it unsuitable for hiding in a human city.

Star Island was vast, with complex forces interwoven, and the Whale Hunting Gang was just one of them, occupying a small territory.

As long as Xu Hei didn’t have the bad luck of landing on someone else’s turf, he should be fine.

There was no one around, but on the precious land of Star Island, every piece of land had an owner, and to settle down, one had to pay to buy it.

Xu Hei found an empty pavilion, sneaked inside, dug a hole underground, and set up a simple shielding Formation to hide himself.

Then, he took a Pill and focused on recuperating.

What he needed to do now was to restore his combat power as quickly as possible and buy a place to live on Star Island.

Then, he would go into seclusion to break through to the mid-stage Core Formation.

After a battle, Xu Hei’s cultivation had loosened again, and he could break through at any time, just lacking a suitable Cave Dwelling.

…………

Time slowly passed.

The incident with the Whale Hunting Gang caused quite a stir on Star Island. A whaling ship was sunk by a snake, and a dozen crew members were slaughtered cleanly.

This alarmed various parties, and the gang leader, Ye Hai, was furious, posting images of the horned serpent everywhere, vowing to find Xu Hei and skin him alive.

A heavy reward was offered for anyone who spotted the snake.

In less than a day, the island was plastered with bounty notices.

Bounty orders usually targeted pirates or evil cultivators, but a bounty for a snake was unprecedented.

The Whale Hunting Gang didn’t have such influence, indicating that higher-ups had given instructions.

It was said that a certain high-ranking individual had gone out for a day to track something and returned with some injuries, looking quite disheveled after many hardships.

Of course, Xu Hei knew nothing about this. Even if he did, he wouldn’t care. Being wanted was nothing new to him; back in the Chu Kingdom, he had been wanted countless times.

If he wasn’t wanted, he would feel embarrassed to be in the mix.

At this moment, Xu Hei was hiding ten meters underground in a pavilion of the Melodic Sect, in seclusion and recuperating.

…………

Three days later.

Xu Hei opened his eyes, a sharp gleam flashing through them. His cultivation had reached the threshold of the early Core Formation stage.

Xu Hei exhaled a breath of turbid air, thinking to himself, ”I’m just a step away from the mid-stage Core Formation, and I can break through at any moment!”

During these three days of seclusion, Xu Hei had fully absorbed his previous gains.

To his surprise, not only had his cultivation reached the threshold, but his second Dragon Vein had also advanced rapidly, opening up more than halfway.

This was an unexpected joy.

It should be noted that during his two-plus months in the Sea God Sect, the second Dragon Vein had shown no signs of progress. It was only after rescuing a group of Sea Beasts that the Dragon Vein began to loosen.

Initially, even Xu Hei himself hadn’t noticed, but now the change was evident.

The changes brought by the Dragon Vein were different from cultivation; it greatly enhanced Xu Hei’s ability to utilize his cultivation techniques.

Currently, Xu Hei practiced three cultivation techniques, with the Nine Transformations of the True Dragon as the core, running through his entire body.

The second was the Puppet Mechanism Technique, used to control the butcher.

The third was the White Emperor Inheritance, the Diamond Suppression Technique.

Especially the Diamond Suppression Technique, which had a high upper limit. If fully activated, its power could be described as world-shattering, beyond what ordinary meridians could bear, and would directly burst open, only the Dragon Vein could withstand it.

The more Dragon Veins, the stronger the power of this technique, directly increasing Xu Hei’s combat power limit.

A cultivator’s combat power is not a fixed value; having or not having a Magical Treasure, one’s true essence, state, and whether they are in a favorable terrain or environment all have a significant impact.

For example, in the oil well, Xu Hei faced Hou Siping, a late Core Formation stage slave with nothing but meager true essence and a pitiful killing Formation.

Hou Siping’s displayed combat power was similar to that of the one-eyed elder, not even as good as Boss Liu.

Boss Liu, though mid-stage Core Formation, was experienced, with many Magical Treasures, having countermeasures against both Flying Swords and Snake Demons.

If it weren’t for Xu Hei’s Dragon Shatter Roar being so heaven-defying, directly disabling the Sea Demon Flute, Xu Hei would have suffered greatly.

Similarly, Ye Hai, at the Great Perfection of the Golden Core, posed far less of a threat to Xu Hei than Qin Xuanji.

Qin Xuanji, an Extreme Realm cultivator of the Core Formation stage, was so strong that Xu Hei had no concept of his power, only knowing that he alone was equivalent to an army.

Xu Hei’s mind recalled the various cultivators he had encountered, and his desire for power grew stronger.

Power, ultimately, is power!

If he could break through to the mid-stage Core Formation and open up the second Dragon Vein, Xu Hei was confident he could fight against an average Great Perfection of the Core Formation stage.

Of course, excluding someone like Qin Xuanji.

Unknowingly, the Zhou Family’s ancestor, Zhou Qing, who had once chased Xu Hei into a corner, was no longer a concern for him.

”First, go out and buy a residence.”

Xu Hei took out a puppet, a passerby he had brought from the mainland, whose name and origin he had forgotten, the body already rotting, with a square face, large forehead, squinty eyes, and a greasy middle-aged appearance, just barely usable.

Just then, two figures appeared in the distance, approaching the pavilion, a man and a woman.

The man was unremarkable, while the woman was charming and alluring, with a graceful figure, a rare beauty by human standards, both at the Foundation Establishment stage.

On Star Island, Foundation Establishment cultivators and late-stage Qi Refining cultivators were the most common.

With Xu Hei’s current cultivation, even if he stood in front of these two, they wouldn’t notice him.

”Why not kill these two and take their Cave Dwelling?”

Xu Hei’s eyes flashed, but he dismissed the idea. He had just arrived and didn’t want to cause unnecessary trouble, not knowing which force’s territory this was.

Judging by the woman’s attire, she seemed to be a disciple of some sect, with a pattern of zither strings and bamboo forest, and the words ”Melodic Sect” on it.

The man’s origin was unknown, dressed in black and masked, as if he was about to do something shady.

Xu Hei didn’t plan to interfere, just as he was about to leave.

The two embraced in front of Xu Hei, and as soon as they entered, they began undressing, engaging in some indescribable actions.

”Hmm?”

Xu Hei squinted his eyes. What was going on? How did it escalate to this?

Such a scene, Xu Hei had only witnessed once in the Purple Mist Sect, and now it was the second time. The man was sneaky, fully disguised, and even set up a Restriction at the door.

Xu Hei immediately thought of two words—an affair.

Cultivators couldn’t do without wealth, companions, methods, and land, so this was common. Xu Hei pondered for a moment, deciding to observe from a learning perspective, thinking it wouldn’t take too long, at most...

Just as Xu Hei silently counted to five seconds in his mind, the man had already finished.