Serpent Ancestor

The white-bearded elder's face alternated between green and white. Gritting his teeth, he swallowed a pill, and his speed suddenly increased, transforming into a long rainbow as he chased after the old dog.

Xu Hei, on the other hand, changed direction and easily shook off his pursuers.

The white-bearded elder didn't even notice him.

"Old dog, you're on your own. I'm going to find a place to refine this."

Xu Hei didn't care whether the old dog lived or died. After killing three Spirit-Tail Chickens, he put them into his storage bag and wandered for half a day before finding an uninhabited forest. He hid in a natural cave.

Xu Hei had a feeling that refining these chickens, combined with the pills he had previously obtained, would easily push him to the peak of the sixth layer of the Spirit Communion Stage, right at the threshold of the later stage.

Indeed, the greater the risk, the greater the reward. Xu Hei had to admit this.

In the blink of an eye, another hour passed.

Just as the sky was getting dark.

Suddenly, there was a commotion at the cave entrance. A disheveled black figure rushed in, panting heavily, sweat pouring down like rain, and collapsed on the ground, tongue hanging out.

It was the old dog!

"You're not dead?" Xu Hei said in surprise.

"Who said I was dead? Damn it!"

The old black dog cursed, his hands empty. "To distract that old man, I had to abandon three Spirit-Tail Chickens. All that effort for nothing, I'm so pissed off."

He was truly furious, gritting his teeth, his face turning green with anger.

Xu Hei, as usual, went out to check if anyone was tracking them. Only after the old dog repeatedly assured him did he return.

Xu Hei took out the three Spirit-Tail Chickens, hesitated for a moment, a trace of pain flashing in his eyes, and then handed one over.

"Huh?"

This time, it was the old black dog's turn to be surprised. He looked at Xu Hei, astonished.

"We agreed to split fifty-fifty. I got three, so you get one and a half," Xu Hei said helplessly.

If it weren't for the old dog distracting the enemy, he wouldn't have obtained the three chickens so smoothly. According to their previous agreement, all gains were to be split equally. Xu Hei wasn't an unreasonable person; he had a sense of contract spirit.

This gesture left the old black dog stunned for quite a while.

"I suddenly feel like you're not a disciple I taught!" the old black dog said.

"I never admitted I was your disciple," Xu Hei retorted.

The old black dog didn't care, smiling as he grabbed the Spirit-Tail Chicken. "I only need one. The other half is yours."

Xu Hei didn't refuse. After swallowing two chickens, he began refining them on the spot.

The old black dog looked at the chicken in his hand, took out charcoal, a wooden rack, and an iron pot, planning to make a pot of soup.

At the same time, he took out many precious medicinal herbs, which glowed brilliantly and were filled with spiritual energy.

He licked his lips, secretly laughing to himself, "This foolish disciple, I already ate the three chickens, and he's still naively giving me one. So innocent."

After Xu Hei swallowed the two chickens, the spiritual liquid in the Demon God Cauldron quickly reached a perfect state, pushing towards a higher level.

However, this time, as the Spirit-Tail Chickens were digested, Xu Hei still couldn't break through that barrier.

Xu Hei gritted his teeth, his heart silently shouting.

"Break!"

The Demon God Cauldron trembled slightly, the spiritual liquid inside vibrating intensely, compressing inward, but it always fell short. Xu Hei tried several times, but each time he failed to compress it.

Xu Hei was getting anxious. This wasn't the first time this had happened. He had encountered a similar situation when breaking through to the mid-Spirit Communion Stage.

This only meant that two chickens weren't enough.

At this moment, the old dog's pot of chicken soup was almost ready. He had added many spirit medicines, making the whole soup fragrant.

He also noticed Xu Hei's situation and hesitated.

"Break for me!"

Xu Hei's eyes were bloodshot. These were the spoils he had risked his life for; he couldn't allow himself to fail.

This time, if they were discovered stealing chickens, the next time would be even more dangerous. Perhaps this was his only chance!

The Spirit-Tail Chickens in his stomach were quickly digested, but it was still not enough.

The old dog watched for a long time and sighed.

"Fine, I'll help you."

The old dog couldn't bear it. He slapped the bottom of the pot, and the medicinal herbs inside flew up, igniting in mid-air and turning into medicinal liquid, gradually merging.

After a long time.

A round pill was completed under the old dog's control. He flicked his finger, and the pill flew out, dispersing in mid-air and entering Xu Hei's body.

Xu Hei recognized this pill. It was a relatively rare Qi-Breaking Pill, which could increase the probability of breaking through realms during the Qi Refining Stage.

With the Qi-Breaking Pill entering his body, the Demon God Cauldron seemed to be catalyzed by a strong external force. The spiritual liquid inside instantly boiled, compressing inward uncontrollably.

……

Southern border of Chu Kingdom, Carefree Sect.

After two days of fruitless searching, Elder Zhou returned to the sect and issued a sect mission.

"All disciples, listen up. Track down this dog. Ten spirit stones for killing it, twenty for capturing it alive, and ten for reporting its whereabouts."

"Beside this dog, there seems to be a black snake accomplice. The reward for discovering it is the same."

Elder Zhou posted the portrait of the black dog at the most conspicuous place at the mountain gate.

At the same time, he arranged for the wanted notice to be issued in nearby counties and towns.

However, he didn't get a clear look at the black snake, so there was no portrait. He only knew it was black and very cunning, having also stolen three Spirit-Tail Chickens.

The news spread, causing an uproar. People were astonished that even Foundation Establishment cultivators' chickens were being stolen. These demonic beasts were becoming quite audacious.

……

A few days later.

With the help of the old black dog, Xu Hei finally broke through to the sixth layer of the Spirit Communion Stage without any mishaps.

Afterward, he consumed two bottles of Qi Condensation Pills and spent a week raising his cultivation to the peak of the sixth layer of the Spirit Communion Stage.

The next step was the later stage of the Spirit Communion Stage.

These two breakthroughs took less than half a month, much faster than Xu Hei's previous progress.

"Haha, I told you, as long as you follow me, I guarantee you'll reach the later stage within a month. I didn't lie, did I?" the old black dog laughed.

Xu Hei nodded.

Thinking carefully, apart from pretending to be a Mountain God and deceiving him initially, the old dog hadn't done anything bad and had helped him a lot.

"That place has been discovered. I won't go stealing chickens there again, not even if you beat me to death," Xu Hei said.

"Don't worry, I'm not stupid. We can't keep targeting the same place. Next time, we'll find a new target," the old black dog said slyly.

Xu Hei hesitated for a moment and said, "Actually, there's no rush to do it within a month. I want to solidify my realm a bit before attempting to break through to the later stage. It doesn't matter if it takes half a year or a year."

This near-failure made Xu Hei a bit cautious.

Although his cultivation realm was advancing rapidly, his physical body's strength was not improving as much. Unlike before, when he would break through once every half year, his physical body would also transform.

From the number of scales on his tail, it was clear that this breakthrough only added one black-gold scale, which was highly unusual.

Humans primarily cultivate True Qi, while demonic beasts primarily cultivate their physical bodies.

Xu Hei didn't want to put the cart before the horse and imitate humans by pursuing True Qi. He wanted to perfect his physical body's strength as well.

The big black dog stroked his chin, nodding thoughtfully. "You have a point. Let's go back and rest for a while. I'll teach you some things."

"Okay," Xu Hei nodded.

There was another reason—recent events had caused too much commotion, and he wanted to lay low for a while.

In the following days, Xu Hei focused on tempering his physical body.

The method was simple: using the Earth Escape Technique to burrow deep underground, relying on the immense pressure of the earth to burden his body.

This was taught by the old dog, but he had to control the intensity to avoid getting stuck underground due to exhaustion.

The Carefree Sect also dispatched many cultivators to search the mountains, but the old dog's nose was extremely sharp, always detecting danger in advance and allowing them to avoid it.

During this time, Xu Hei asked the old dog for his name.

The old dog perked up immediately.

He stood tall, hands on his hips, and said proudly, "My name is renowned. In the past, on this Sky Dome Star, everyone knew and feared me. I could make powerful beings tremble and children stop crying. I was invincible in a realm. That's me…"

He was about to reveal the name "Heavenly Demon Scattered Person," but then he thought Xu Hei might not grasp the grandeur of the name and might spread it around.

So, he changed his mind and said, "Since I'm black, I'll call myself the Black Emperor."

"Black Younger Brother?"

"Emperor as in ruler!"

"No way, if you're called Emperor, doesn't that make me inferior? I think, since you're big, I'll call you Big Black."

"Damn it! That sounds like a dog's name."

"Aren't you a dog?"

After some arguing, the old black dog decided to compromise and changed his name to Hei Huang, but Xu Hei still strongly opposed it. The old dog had no choice but to change "Huang" to "Huang" meaning yellow.

Only then did Xu Hei relent.

"Earlier, you asked if I knew Heavenly Demon Scattered Person. I think that name sounds good. It has an evil ring to it, perfect for taking the blame. From now on, if we do something bad, we'll say it was Heavenly Demon Scattered Person. If we do something good, we'll say it was Xu Hei and Hei Huang," Xu Hei laughed.

"…" Hei Huang was speechless.

……

One day, Xu Hei returned to his territory.

As he neared home, Xu Hei looked into the distance and saw thick smoke rising from behind the mountain, turning the sky black.

"What's that?"

Xu Hei raised his head, looking surprised.

Hei Huang climbed a tree and jumped into the air, looking into the distance.

After landing, he shrugged and said, "What else could it be? A fire!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Xu Hei's muscles tensed, and he dashed forward at an unprecedented speed.

Hei Huang was stunned for a moment, muttering, "It's just a wildfire. What's the big deal?"

But after saying that, he also felt something was off and quickly sped up to follow.