Serpent Ancestor

”Five-star client...”

Xu Hei had no idea what five-star meant; he had never even heard of it.

”Who are you?” Xu Hei asked the sky.

”I am the tower spirit of this tower, Miao Miao,” the female voice spoke again, ”Please select your battle mode.”

In an instant, screens appeared before Xu Hei, displaying options like regular mode, death mode, endless mode, targeted mode, random match, and ranked mode—all of which seemed very advanced.

Curious, Xu Hei couldn’t help but ask, ”Who created this tower?”

”Honorable five-star client, you have the right to know. One of the creators of the Simulated Combat Tower is named Gongshu Zi,” Miao Miao replied.

Gongshu Zi—the name Xu Hei heard again, the last time being in Wuyou City.

However, since Miao Miao only mentioned one of the creators, Xu Hei didn’t ask further and solemnly said, ”Activate regular mode.”

”Regular mode activated, map random, enemies random!”

As the voice faded, Xu Hei found himself on a deserted island.

He was still in the form of a horned serpent, twenty meters long, with his storage bag, magical treasures, and even dragon scales and dragon bones intact, perfectly simulating the real Xu Hei.

However, when Xu Hei tried to activate the Demon God Cauldron, he found it missing.

”Everything can be simulated, except the Demon God Cauldron...” Xu Hei mused.

At this moment, a humanoid figure appeared on the other side of the island, with cultivation equal to Xu Hei’s, also at the mid-stage Core Formation.

However, the upper body was human, while the lower body was fish-like, covered in fine fish scales, with bulging eyes and holding a trident, looking rather comical.

”Merman Clan...”

The term surfaced in Xu Hei’s mind.

During his three days of seclusion, he had flipped through the remnants of the Classic of Mountains and Seas, which introduced an ancient beast known as the ”Jiao Ren.”

The Merman Clan were the descendants of these ancient Jiao Ren.

As soon as the merman appeared, it let out a strange cry and charged directly at Xu Hei without any nonsense.

Xu Hei also rushed forward, using neither magical treasures nor the Diamond Suppression Technique, relying solely on his cultivation to engage.

”Boom! Crack!”

The two figures collided with a loud crash, the merman was sent flying, and Xu Hei also paused, with three shallow marks from the trident on his body, a look of surprise flashing in his eyes.

”Not bad, stronger than the average mid-stage Core Formation!”

”This must be an ancient demonic beast,” Xu Hei thought to himself.

It was a common understanding that ancient cultivators were much stronger than those of the present day at the same cultivation level.

The merman seemed enraged and charged again, the trident in its hand glowing blue, causing the surrounding sea waves to rise and transform into a sky-covering waterfall, crashing down towards Xu Hei.

”Just in time!” Xu Hei’s eyes gleamed with excitement.

...

Ten breaths later, the merman lay on the ground, easily slain by Xu Hei.

After a brief rest, Xu Hei entered the next level, with the map and opponent still random.

This time, he found himself in a desert, facing an ancient human cultivator, draped in a monk’s robe, hands clasped, with a face full of Buddhist light, a monk indeed.

Though still at mid-stage Core Formation, this opponent was clearly more troublesome than the merman, taking Xu Hei half an incense stick’s time to defeat.

In subsequent simulated battles, Xu Hei encountered human sword cultivators, Titan apes, and various bizarre creatures, all at mid-stage Core Formation.

But the difficulty increased with each battle.

Especially the Henggong fish, which swallowed Xu Hei whole, requiring seventy percent of his strength to slay it.

”The strength disparity at the same cultivation level is astonishing!” Xu Hei thought with alarm.

These ancient beasts, which Xu Hei had never encountered before, were absurdly strong with incredible abilities.

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After a dozen battles, Xu Hei was exhausted, ultimately defeated by a mid-stage Core Formation Ba snake.

According to Xu Hei’s estimation, this mid-stage Core Formation Ba snake might be stronger than some Great Perfection cultivators today.

After resting for a while, Xu Hei continued the simulated battles from the beginning.

...

At this moment, in the center of the Penglai Sea, within a suspended grand hall.

The slumbering Water Kylin suddenly opened its eyes, and at the same time, Old Master appeared beside it.

Shortly after, another figure descended—a green ox, with eyes also filled with astonishment.

The three exchanged glances and simultaneously vanished.

In the next moment, they appeared above the cultivation island, standing on the clouds, looking down at the Simulated Combat Tower.

”Regular mode, fifteen consecutive wins, reached the sixteenth level, who is fighting?” the Water Kylin wondered.

They all knew what regular mode was—it was continuous battles with opponents of equal cultivation.

Ordinary disciples might win one or two matches, which was already commendable. The more outstanding ones might manage three or four.

Very few exceeded five!

This was a wheel battle! The opponents varied, some excelled in spells, physical body, formations, puppets, or demonic paths—any kind of opponent could appear.

With different abilities and battle environments, how could one ensure victory in every match?

Perhaps you were good at dealing with sword cultivators, but what if a body cultivator or talisman cultivator appeared next?

Winning more than ten matches was only possible if the person’s true strength far exceeded their cultivation level.

At least two levels higher.

For example, if your cultivation was at early Core Formation, your true strength might be at late Core Formation, completely overwhelming those of the same realm!

”Let me investigate,” Old Master said.

He took out a black token and placed it on the Simulated Combat Tower, but the next second, he exclaimed, ”What? Insufficient permissions?”

”Let me try!” the green ox said.

It also took out a black token, placed it on the combat tower, pondered for a moment, and was equally surprised, ”Also insufficient permissions?”

”What’s going on? Could this person also be a five-star client?” the Water Kylin wondered.

They intended to see which genius was inside the tower, but the result showed insufficient permissions, unable to check.

At this moment, the levels inside the Simulated Combat Tower began to change again.

Xu Hei, after the second round of battles, had already won sixteen consecutive matches. This time, he was lucky not to encounter a freak like the Ba snake.

However, he was exhausted, without the Demon God Cauldron to rapidly restore his energy, he had reached his limit.

On the seventeenth level, a sky-covering figure appeared ahead, revealing only a corner, seemingly endless. Xu Hei glanced at it and immediately thought of a giant creature described in the Classic of Mountains and Seas: Kun!

”Give up!” Xu Hei decisively said.

”Buzz!” The Kun vanished without a trace.

Meanwhile, outside, the three were in an uproar.

”Sixteen consecutive wins, another match added!” the Water Kylin exclaimed.

”What kind of monster is this, even more valiant than I was back in the day!” Old Master was utterly shocked.