Serpent Ancestor

The porcupine fish sighed helplessly. Every time he thought about it, his heart ached.

”By the way, when is the new captain arriving?” Qingluan asked.

”Don’t talk, just wait quietly.”

The eleven members of the third team waited silently.

In fact, the third team had more than just these members; there were over a hundred auxiliary personnel, but the core members were only them.

One day passed, then two, and after three days...

There was still no sign of the new captain.

The veteran members didn’t show impatience, but Qingluan couldn’t hold back any longer, looking around anxiously.

Such delays had happened in other teams before, sometimes intentionally to test patience, or the captain might have arrived unnoticed.

They were all battle-hardened, naturally able to withstand such tests.But when the fifth day came and there was still no sign of the captain, some began to doubt if they had the wrong time or place.

”I asked Elder Tiger Whale; he wouldn’t make a mistake. Just wait,” the porcupine fish said.

…………

On the sea, a horned serpent was swimming, riding the waves at great speed towards the Penglai Sea.

Xu Hei didn’t stay long; after resting for a week, he set out immediately.

Time is precious. Although he had acquired enough resources for cultivation, he wanted to save as much time as possible. Therefore, he sought a time-accelerated cultivation chamber to enter seclusion.

He planned to emerge only at the year-end meeting.

By then, Xu Hei would be a different person.

He wasn’t sure of his current strength, but even someone like Ye Hai was no longer a match for him. Yet, facing the Elemental Infant stage, Xu Hei still felt a strong sense of crisis.

Even the weakest Elemental Infant stage opponent was not easy to defeat.

The Core Formation Extreme Realm was still just the Core Formation stage. No matter how extreme, it couldn’t cross that barrier. A single intent or a divine ability from an Elemental Infant could easily annihilate any Core Formation cultivator.

”When I reach the late Core Formation stage, I wonder if I’ll have a chance to cross this chasm,” Xu Hei thought to himself.

Hei Huang stayed on the island. The old dog even asked if he needed a ride, but Xu Hei decisively refused.

Riding that dog’s boat never ended without capsizing.

Returning to the Penglai Sea had two options.

One was to return directly, but he needed a story to explain to the higher-ups how he escaped the dungeon.

The second was to return to the teleportation point at the Dragon Triangle, where Hei Huang had left a formation. He could reverse teleport back to the Enforcement Hall’s dungeon and be released through official procedures.

Both choices carried risks.

Originally, Xu Hei didn’t want to return to the Dragon Triangle. But compared to being suspected by the higher-ups, he decided on the second option.

This time, without Hei Huang leading the way, Xu Hei only had a jade slip to sense the teleportation array’s location and a map.

With the jade slip in his mouth, he followed the map into the Dragon Triangle area.

Xu Hei moved cautiously, lurking at the seabed, advancing for two days straight.

For some reason, he didn’t encounter much danger this time. There were no spatial rifts, and even the usual deadly windstorms were significantly reduced, posing no threat and easily avoided.

”Strange, has the Dragon Triangle become safer?” Xu Hei pondered.

Suddenly, a sharp cry like a sword’s sound came from the sky.

Then, the sound of space shattering followed. Xu Hei initially wanted to peek, but he quickly curbed his curiosity, sped up, and moved in the opposite direction of the noise.

After advancing for an hour, Xu Hei finally breathed a sigh of relief.

”Too terrifying, this place is indeed full of dangers, can’t let my guard down,” Xu Hei thought.

He didn’t know what that sword sound was, nor had he heard of such a natural disaster in the Dragon Triangle, but it was definitely no good. In any case, staying away was best.

And so, two days later.

Xu Hei successfully reached the teleportation array point left by Hei Huang, activated the formation, and in an instant, traveled through the spatial tunnel back to the dungeon.

…………

Whale lineage, third team assembly point.

By now, a week had passed since their gathering, and all team members were practicing breathing exercises on the spot.

”The new captain is a week late. Did something happen?”

”We can’t wait forever. If there’s no news in two more days, we’ll ask Elder Tiger Whale.”

The team members pondered internally.

And on the eighth day of their wait, the new captain finally arrived.

”Whoosh!!”

A cold wind blew through the heavens and earth, and the sea surface where they were froze over with layers of frost. All the demonic beasts were startled and quickly left the water, hovering in mid-air.

Below, the sea surface froze into an area a hundred meters wide.

The demonic beasts looked up to see a white figure riding on clouds, moving like lightning from afar, arriving instantly on the hundred-meter-wide ice surface, shrinking to normal size.

It was a polar white fox, about the size of a human, appearing like a small ant among the sea beasts.

The team members instinctively shrank their forms.

This white fox had a peculiar appearance, wearing a black eye patch covering its eyes, with a sword case on its back, resembling the blind swordsmen popular among humans.

Even its actions were human-like, stretching lazily, yawning, propping its head with a hand, and reclining on the ice, lazily saying, ”Sorry, I got lost coming from the northern polar region and arrived a bit late. I hope I didn’t delay you all?”

The demonic beasts exchanged glances.

The porcupine fish spoke first, ”Of course not.”

Coming from the northern polar region, what kind of place was that? They hadn’t even heard of it.

Judging by the tone, it seemed this fox wasn’t local to the Penglai Sea, but rather... an outsider?

This fox’s species was also quite peculiar. Their previous captains were always sea demonic beasts, rarely from the land, and this white fox was a first.

”Ah, being blind makes it easy to get lost. Also, the environment in the Penglai Sea is too harsh. I accidentally wandered into a strange place, with wind and lightning, and it took me ten days to get out. It was exhausting,” the white fox sighed.

The demonic beasts had strange expressions.

”Forbidden Sea, Dragon Triangle?” The porcupine fish asked in shock.

That was the most dangerous place north of the Penglai Sea, even Elemental Infant stage cultivators dared not venture there.

”Uh, yes! I think it’s called the Forbidden Sea. It’s not dangerous, just troublesome, especially for someone with a visual impairment like me. It’s deadly!”

The white fox kept sighing, and after speaking, it took out a flask from its waist, taking a swig, only to find it empty.

It had been empty for ten days.

”Damn! Out of wine too. Does anyone have any?” the white fox asked, looking up.

The demonic beasts looked at each other, shaking their heads, not accustomed to carrying wine.

Xu Bai did have some medicinal wine, but she didn’t dare to casually offer it, as it could cause problems if consumed.

”No wine either, how boring!”

The white fox shook its head, disappointment in its tone.

It scanned the demonic beasts present, its disappointment growing stronger.

”To be honest, your boss specifically went to the northern region to invite me to deal with that demon lord.”

”But, forgive my bluntness, with your level, you’d be better off going home and sleeping. Going there is just delivering food to the demon lord. You might as well die directly; it’s more straightforward.”

The white fox mocked mercilessly.

The team members all lowered their heads, saying nothing.

”I heard your former captain died miserably. Heh, looking at your level, I can guess what kind of bird your former captain was,” the white fox sneered.

At these words, the previously silent demonic beasts immediately raised their heads, eyes bloodshot, as if ready to kill.

Especially the porcupine fish, sea centipede, electric ray, and some long-time comrades of White Tooth, they were furious on the spot.

This fox insulting them was one thing, but involving the deceased White Tooth was crossing their reverse scale.

”What did you just say?!”

The porcupine fish glared at the white fox, speaking each word with anger.

”Oh, you have a temper?” The white fox raised an eyebrow.