Serpent Ancestor

Xu Hei’s suspicions were correct.

The Insect Emperor had made thorough preparations to capture him, deploying a large swarm of insects in all directions, forming a net. As soon as Xu Hei was detected within it, it would be time to close the net.

First, they would half-surround him, then fully encircle him. They wouldn’t attack immediately but would wait until Xu Hei was completely trapped before launching a surprise assault.

For this, the Insect Emperor had gathered all the insects, determined to succeed in one strike!

”This Insect Emperor is so cunning, its intelligence rivals that of humans!” Xu Hei couldn’t believe it.

Xu Hei was decisive. He immediately retraced his steps, descending downward, but a despairing scene unfolded before him.

As he retraced his path, he sensed danger.

In other words, insects had appeared directly below him as well. At some point, the swarm had circled around behind him, forming a complete encirclement.

The swarm was like a sphere, and Xu Hei was at its very center, facing danger from every direction.

At this moment, the encircling sphere was slowly shrinking!”It seems this battle is unavoidable. I must find a way to break through.” Xu Hei thought to himself.

Although the opponent had dispersed so many insects to surround him, it also had a downside: the forces were too scattered to concentrate effectively.

The Insect Emperor was unaware of Xu Hei’s current strength, and Xu Hei might be able to exploit this, focusing all his power to break through the encirclement.

”So, which direction should I break through?”

Xu Hei moved up, down, left, and right, carefully sensing the level of danger in each direction.

In the end, he unexpectedly discovered that the sense of crisis was weakest directly above him.

The opponent likely assumed Xu Hei wouldn’t dare to break through head-on and would choose to take a detour, thus deploying most of their forces to the sides rather than the front.

They didn’t know how keen Xu Hei’s intuition for danger was.

”Time to break through!”

Xu Hei took a deep breath, put the few remaining Rejuvenation Pills into his mouth, and prepared to use that drop of dragon blood at any moment.

At the critical moment of life and death, he didn’t mind using his ultimate move.

Now, Xu Hei concentrated his mind and quickly drilled upward.

This time, he released an External Incarnation and several puppets to charge downward in the opposite direction, splitting his forces to confuse the enemy, while his true self surged upward, determined to break this eggshell!

…………

At this moment, directly above Xu Hei, in a spacious cave.

This place was a new nest dug out by the insect swarm, with thousands of Spirit-Eating Ants and a hundred Ghostface Stone Spiders. Although the numbers were still large, compared to the super army elsewhere, it was like a small witch meeting a great wizard.

And the Insect Emperor and Ji Ying were in this cave.

”That average brat has indeed entered the encirclement. I can feel it. He tried to take a detour from another direction, found it blocked, and then tried to return the way he came, only to find his retreat cut off. Hahaha! He’s panicking, he’s panicking!”

The Insect Emperor’s laughter echoed, and it now referred to Xu Hei as the average brat.

”Ji Ying, this plan is excellent. You deserve the most credit!” the Insect Emperor praised Ji Ying from afar.

Ji Ying shook her head repeatedly, ”I only offered a small suggestion. It was still your excellent arrangement, senior. How could I dare to take credit?”

She was generous with her praise, attributing all the success to the Insect Emperor.

The Insect Emperor laughed proudly, ”No! You are the smartest insect I’ve ever seen. Do you have any secrets?”

”Eat more walnuts, they can boost your brainpower,” Ji Ying joked.

”Walnuts?” The Insect Emperor was puzzled.

Just then, the Insect Emperor suddenly sensed that Xu Hei had released an External Incarnation and a large number of puppets, breaking through downward and already clashing with the insect swarm.

”Haha, Ji Ying, you were right again. That brat indeed tried to return the way he came, escaping from behind,” the Insect Emperor laughed.

”That’s why I said to deploy the main forces at the rear for encirclement,” Ji Ying smiled.

”As expected of you! After this battle, you shall be my insect general. I will give you a position second only to mine, commanding fifty percent of the Spirit-Eating Ants,” the Insect Emperor’s voice was somewhat excited.

All of Xu Hei’s tactics were proposed by Ji Ying, including where to deploy forces, how to execute the encirclement, every step, down to the smallest detail.

The result was clear; they were about to crush their opponent within the encirclement.

Immediately, the Insect Emperor mobilized all the forces from every direction, converging downward to trap Xu Hei in chaos.

Ji Ying hesitated for a moment and said, ”Senior, when we capture that average brat, don’t rush to kill him. I only need a few words to make him surrender willingly, without a fight.”

The Insect Emperor thought for a moment and nodded, ”For your sake, I’ll agree to spare his life!”

Before long, over seventy percent of the forces were concentrated deep below, and the nearby troops thinned out.

At this moment.

”Boom!!”

Suddenly, a figure emerged from the rock, appearing in the Insect Emperor’s sight, moving as fast as lightning, charging straight toward the cave.

The Insect Emperor’s expression changed, and upon realizing it was Xu Hei, immediately mobilized all the forces to return and rescue, while gathering all the Spirit-Eating Ants in the cave to attack Xu Hei.

Only then did she realize Xu Hei had used a feint to lure her forces away.

”Ji Ying, go, take him down!” the Insect Emperor ordered.

Ji Ying also led a large brigade of spiders to intercept Xu Hei’s approach. No matter what, they still had a large force here, not something an Elemental Infant cultivator could break through.

”Boom!”

Xu Hei burst through the earth, breaking through the rock layer, entering the cave. He immediately saw the plump, milky-white worm, like a grub—it was the Insect Emperor.

On the cave walls, there were stone eggs in the process of hatching, with Spirit-Eating Ants rapidly growing inside, seemingly about to break out.

At this critical juncture, the Insect Emperor was also hastily accelerating the hatching of all the insect eggs.

Xu Hei also saw the guard force in the cave—three thousand Spirit-Eating Ants and a hundred Ghostface Stone Spiders. Of course, this number was increasing at a terrifying speed.

In every crevice, in every passage, insects were rushing in to protect.

Xu Hei noticed an interesting scene: Ji Ying was leading those hundred Ghostface Stone Spiders, charging toward him.

”To kill or to flee?”

”With my current strength, if I ignore them and just escape, I have a full chance of getting out. But this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. The Insect Emperor’s army has been drawn elsewhere, and I have a complete chance to take down the Insect Emperor!”

”Of course, the premise is to use the ultimate move!”

Xu Hei’s eyes flashed. At this critical moment, every second was precious and couldn’t be wasted.

Xu Hei had always been cautious. In the past, he would have chosen to flee, but after enduring countless hardships and obtaining the memory inheritance of Huangfu Duanlong, Xu Hei knew that opportunities must be seized by oneself!

If he didn’t fight, how could he stand at the pinnacle of the Dao? If he didn’t seize, opportunities would belong to others!

Cultivation is about contending with heaven and earth!

Xu Hei made a decisive decision, took a deep breath, his heart pounding wildly, that drop of dragon blood being squeezed out, sacrificed to the invisible netherworld!

At this moment, Xu Hei’s vision blurred, as if seeing the netherworld open a door in the Void.

He saw a graveyard.

In the graveyard, countless dragon clan ancestors were buried. From near to far, with every three meters advanced, the ancestors’ strength increased.

He saw many graves, among which he sensed familiar auras, those of Mo Xuan and Mo Cang.

This was a dragon tomb, hidden in the netherworld, undetectable, existing only in legend. Xu Hei, through sacrificing dragon blood, had connected to the dragon tomb!

Xu Hei focused his mind, gazing at the phantom of the dragon tomb, his eyes solemn, and uttered a low shout: ”Dragon Soul, descend!”