Serpent Ancestor

In the Penglai Sea, there weren’t many whom Hai Teng considered worthy opponents.

The older generation was too strong, and the new generation too weak. After much thought, only Xu Hei met the criteria.

Last time, he and Xu Hei ended in a draw, which forced him to disperse his demon core and start over. Now, having succeeded in his cultivation, he returned to the mid-stage of the demon core.

Although his realm had dropped, his strength had increased several times over, giving him absolute confidence to reclaim his standing.

Of course, defeating Xu Hei head-on was something he planned to do at the year-end competition, not now.

Xu Hei spread his Divine Sense, scanning the stone tablets one by one. Each stone tablet had a task written on it, with the difficulty determined by the color of the tablet.

The white stone tablet tasks were the simplest, while the black ones were the hardest. In between were light gray and dark gray.

Xu Hei only had one day to complete a task, so naturally, he wanted to choose a simple one.

However, to his dismay, simple tasks didn’t necessarily take less time.

For example, one white stone tablet required guarding the pill room for three days.Another white stone tablet required pest control in the herb garden for a week.

Yet another white stone tablet required teaching a group of young beasts to fly, with no set time limit, just until they learned.

What was this?

The white stone tablet tasks were simple, but only in the sense that they weren’t life-threatening. Given enough time, they could naturally be completed, which was contrary to Xu Hei’s requirements.

Xu Hei felt a headache coming on and could only look at the other dark-colored stone tablets.

”Clear invasive species.”

”Explore underground mines.”

”Purify seawater.”

”Interrogate prisoners.”

”……”

After a quick scan, Xu Hei immediately identified a few targets.

For other Sea Beasts, these tasks were extremely difficult, but for Xu Hei, they were much easier, some even requiring only the time it takes for a stick of incense to burn.

Xu Hei approached a task stone tablet and pulled it out, indicating that he had accepted the task.

”Should I take on a few more tasks and get them all done at once?”

Xu Hei’s eyes flickered as he made up his mind.

After all, his strength was already known to all the elders, so there was no point in trying to keep a low profile.

He might as well go all out and complete as many tasks as possible, saving trouble for later.

So, Xu Hei pulled out five task stone tablets at once.

His actions immediately caught the attention of the Demonic Beasts, who all looked on in surprise.

”What’s he doing, accepting five tasks at once?”

”Is he crazy? Isn’t he afraid of failing and losing contribution points?”

The Demonic Beasts looked at him as if he were a fool, unable to understand.

A sea turtle stared at Xu Hei and shouted, ”I remember now, he’s the new guy who was fought over by the six elders and eventually joined the old Flood Dragon.” Ȑ𝔞Ꞑɵ฿ЁꞨ

”So it’s him!”

Many Demonic Beasts had heard about Xu Hei joining Elder Mo, but they didn’t pay much attention.

Elder Mo had nothing, no resources, and nothing to learn from. Over time, even the most talented would fade into obscurity.

Demonic Beasts with Immortal spells and those without were on two different levels.

The gap between Xu Hei and the others would only widen.

Xu Hei, having accepted the tasks, ignored the strange looks from the crowd and left immediately.

”What is he up to?”

Hai Teng couldn’t understand why Xu Hei would accept so many tasks at once, knowing he couldn’t complete them and choosing to do nothing instead?

Hai Teng thought about catching up to ask a few questions but decided against it, considering his own status.

”Boss, should I follow him and take a look?”

Hai Er appeared just in time from behind.

”What are you going to do by following him?” Hai Teng frowned and said arrogantly, ”I have no interest in that snake. Go about your own business and don’t concern yourself with others.”

Hai Er showed a strange expression but nodded and left.

…………

At full speed, Xu Hei reached his first task location in just the time it takes for a stick of incense to burn.

It was a small island, and the task was to clear the invasive species on the island, a type of carnivorous ant slightly weaker than Spirit-Eating Ants but with strong reproductive abilities, deeply hidden underground, making them hard to eradicate.

Originally, there were five million red crabs on the island, but after the ant invasion, their numbers dropped tenfold, causing severe harm.

”Disciple Xu Hei, here to carry out the task!”

Xu Hei said simply to the sky and then rushed into the island.

He released Ji Ying, which burrowed underground, heading straight for the ant queen.

The ant queen’s cultivation was only at the early stage of the demon core, but the sheer number of ants meant that even a late-stage demon core cultivator would be devoured if they ventured in. However, Ji Ying made a quick in-and-out, devouring the ant queen cleanly.

In an instant, all the ants on the island swarmed towards Ji Ying, intending to destroy it.

Xu Hei released the Ten Thousand Poison Gourd, spewing toxic mist that drilled underground, and within a few breaths, wiped out the billions of ants completely.

There was more than one ant queen, so Xu Hei repeated his tactic and took care of the remaining three.

In total, it took just half an hour for Xu Hei to finish the task.

At this moment, the task stone tablet he had flashed with light, displaying the words ”Completed,” with an automatic detection function, quite peculiar.

Next was the second task. Xu Hei arrived at an underwater metal vein.

This task was to explore the underwater vein and map it.

Xu Hei similarly sent Ji Ying, which drilled into every hole, and in just half an hour, completed the exploration of the hidden underwater metal vein.

The third task was to repair the shell of an old turtle.

Xu Hei directly gave it a Xu Bai brand Bone Strengthening Pill, restoring the old turtle’s youthful vigor, with no more worries about its shell.

…………

In just two hours, all the tasks were completed.

”That was relatively smooth!”

Xu Hei let out a sigh of relief and headed straight for the task island.

Upon returning for settlement, when Xu Hei presented five completed task stone tablets at once, the entire island fell into a brief silence.

Even the usually calm Elder Crane showed a peculiar expression: ”To complete five tasks in just two hours, I’ve never seen anyone so fast!”

These gray tasks were deliberately set by the Penglai Sea to test disciples, not too difficult, but in his hundred years of guarding, it was the first time he’d seen someone complete them so quickly.

In theory, only Elemental Infant stage elders could be so swift, but no elder would bother with these low-level tasks.

Elder Crane smiled wryly and recorded three hundred contribution points on Xu Hei’s Token.

An average of sixty points per gray task.

As for what contribution points could do, Hei Huang hadn’t mentioned, so Xu Hei still needed to figure it out.

During this time, Hai Teng had been coiled at one end of the island, witnessing the entire process of Xu Hei completing the tasks, leaving the whole snake dumbfounded, unable to utter a word.

”Boss.”

Hai Er poked his head out, hesitating to speak.

”Boss!”

Hai Er called again, but Hai Teng remained in a daze.

Xu Hei glanced at the task stone tablets and accepted three more tasks, planning to accumulate more contributions. He knew that some tasks were rare opportunities; if not done now, they might not be available next time.

But just then, an ice bird blocked his path.

”Woo woo woo! Brother Xu, please be kind and help me. It’s the last day, and I haven’t completed my task yet. I’m begging you!”

The ice bird was petite, with a feather on its head like a phoenix crown, very beautiful, with eyes like blue sapphires. Any Demonic Beast that looked at it would feel a natural sense of beauty, stunning and enchanting.

Xu Hei was taken aback. Who was this one?