Serpent Ancestor

Twenty years may pass in the blink of an eye for a Divine Transformation cultivator, but for Xu Hei, such a long period of seclusion was quite rare.

...

Inside the dark and shadowy cave dwelling.

Xu Hei sat cross-legged in the center, his eyes suddenly opened, emitting two golden beams that pierced the stone wall in front, creating two large holes.

At that moment, Xu Hei’s aura surged to an unprecedented height, causing fierce winds to howl around him, making the entire cave tremble continuously as if an earthquake had struck.

It took a long time for the tremors to gradually subside.

The light in his eyes quickly receded, returning to a state of calm.

”Sigh! I still couldn’t break through.”

Xu Hei exhaled a long breath of turbid air, his eyes regaining their usual depth.

After consuming numerous pills left by the Green Emperor, three years ago, Xu Hei’s cultivation reached the peak of mid-stage Divine Transformation, hitting a bottleneck.Fortunately, he had two Divine Fusion Pills at hand to help break through.

In his impatience, Xu Hei took one to attempt a breakthrough to the later stage.

As expected, he failed.

The Divine Fusion Pill can significantly increase the success rate of breakthroughs, but it’s not a guaranteed success. From early to mid-stage, there’s less than a fifty percent chance, and from mid to late stage, it might be around twenty percent.

However, the exact success rate depends on the individual cultivator; those with higher talent and better preparation naturally have a much higher success rate.

Xu Hei’s foundation was still too shallow.

He stood up and checked his stock of pills.

Currently, the pills he found from the Flying Spirit Garden were almost depleted, and even those obtained from Xiong Yan’s storage bag had been consumed entirely.

The remaining pills were mostly for repairing the primordial spirit, healing injuries, or for emergency use, not suitable for consumption during seclusion.

”Now, my cultivation has reached the limit of mid-stage Divine Transformation, just half a step away from the later stage, much stronger than twenty years ago.”

”Unfortunately, I’m out of Supreme Spirit Stones, and the pills for cultivation are exhausted. I’m truly at the end of my resources.”

Xu Hei shook his head in frustration, longing to leave this damned place and return to the Divine Puppet Sect, where he wouldn’t be so destitute.

Xu Hei got up and walked into the adjacent insect chamber.

The insect chamber was vast, specifically excavated by him to store insects.

Inside, cobwebs were everywhere, the walls were crawling with insect swarms, and the corners were piled with insect eggs.

Bai Zhi lay at the center of the web, dressed in a silk gown, her lazy posture and graceful curves evident, her eyes half-closed in a state of light sleep.

It wasn’t until Xu Hei entered that she slowly opened her eyes, speaking impatiently, ”You wretch, where are your Spirit Stones?”

”None,” Xu Hei shook his head.

”None? We’re so broke we can’t even keep the pot boiling, and I can’t produce any more insects. If this continues... I won’t be able to protect you,” Bai Zhi rolled her eyes.

Xu Hei felt quite helpless.

He glanced around the insect chamber.

In twenty years, the number of Spirit-Eating Ants had only reached eighty thousand. The Black Needle Ants barely numbered around ten thousand.

However, once released, the spirit insects could absorb the Spiritual Qi of heaven and earth on their own, preventing them from falling into slumber.

This was the limit he could control; to have more, he would need to spend Spirit Stones, as relying solely on breathing exercises wouldn’t produce any.

Xu Hei continued onward, entering the second insect chamber.

In this chamber was the Thousand Thunder Centipede Xu Hei had purchased. After being fed some pill powder, it miraculously survived.

The Thousand Thunder Centipede could release lightning, having a strong restraining effect on evil entities.

With the Heavenly Silkworm Scripture, Xu Hei could perfectly control the centipede, but unfortunately, its lifespan was nearly exhausted.

Unless he could find some life-extending spiritual items or have the centipede lay eggs, the Thousand Thunder Centipede might soon vanish.

Xu Hei raised his hand, summoning it into the Spirit Beast Ring, then proceeded to the third insect chamber.

In this chamber, Xu Hei had set up a spirit-gathering array, housing a palm-sized insect cocoon.

The cocoon lay motionless at the center of the array, completely black, resembling a stone.

This was Ji Ying in its transformed state!

Since Ji Ying became a cocoon, there had been no response. If Xu Hei couldn’t slightly sense it breathing, he would have thought Ji Ying had perished.

”Ji Ying can’t be stored in the storage ring for now; it can only be kept here,” Xu Hei thought to himself.

At this moment, Xu Hei suddenly raised an eyebrow, looking outside.

”Swish!”

Xu Hei quickly gathered Bai Zhi and the other insects, disappearing from the cave dwelling.

...

Outside the safe zone.

Two figures were in a frantic chase, with sparks flying and rocks collapsing along the way, leaving a trail of destruction.

The figure in front was a dark stone man, the same one Xu Hei had once defeated.

Now, this stone man was covered in wounds, its form shrunken by a circle.

Chasing behind was another stone man, entirely crimson, noticeably larger, with legs as thick as an elephant’s, shaking the earth with each step, capable of tearing the ground with a punch or kick.

”Oli, your Ao family has reached its end. Surrender and spare yourself the torment, and you might find peace sooner,” the crimson stone man taunted from behind.

Oli ignored the taunt, sprinting madly toward the canyon ahead.

This place was precisely where Xu Hei was in seclusion.

His body merged into the rock, racing underground.

”Hmph, you can’t escape!”

The crimson stone man also merged into the rock, closely pursuing from behind.

Both sides chased each other underground, drawing closer and closer, heading straight for Xu Hei’s cave dwelling.

Suddenly, Oli shouted, ”Senior, save me!”

”Senior?”

The crimson stone man sneered, looking up to find a humanoid youth also within the underground rock layers a thousand feet ahead.

”Courting death!”

The crimson stone man punched out, causing the ground to collapse, sending countless rocks flying, blasting a thousand-foot-wide clearing in the rock layers.

”Poof!!”

Oli spewed out a mouthful of rocks, flying out and conveniently landing not far from Xu Hei.

Xu Hei remained expressionless as he saw the crimson stone man charging directly at him.

”Boom, boom, boom...”

The ground shook continuously, as if a prehistoric beast was charging at him with a world-destroying stance, leaving a hundred-foot-wide trench in its wake.

Xu Hei had no interest in meddling in their dispute, but Oli had deliberately led the enemy to him, forcing him to intervene; otherwise, his cave dwelling would surely be destroyed.

This made him quite displeased.

”I’m not interested in your fight. Get lost, or I’ll kill you all.”