Serpent Ancestor

Myriad Serpent Valley, within an underground serpent cave.

Xu Hei stared at the storage bag in front of him, noticing a strong Divine Sense imprint on it that he couldn't erase no matter what he tried.

After several attempts, Xu Hei had two options: either use the black-gold scales to forcefully break it open, which might damage the contents inside, or swallow it into the Demon God Cauldron and refine it with the cauldron.

Either way, there was a risk of damaging the items inside.

Hei Huang appeared beside him, took the storage bag, and glanced at it.

"Hmph, it's just a Divine Sense. I can handle it easily."

He weighed the storage bag in his hand.

"Are you sure?" Xu Hei asked, not entirely convinced.

"Leave it to me. Three days, tops," Hei Huang said, patting his chest confidently.

Xu Hei nodded. In this matter, he still trusted the old dog.

Afterward, Xu Hei went outside Myriad Serpent Valley and bid a hasty farewell to the little white snake and the wolf king.

Before leaving, Hei Huang raised his hand and sent two strands of Divine Sense into their minds.

"What is this?" Xu Hei asked, puzzled.

"Some memory inheritance to help them gain wisdom. This is my unique secret technique; you won't find another like it in the world," Hei Huang said proudly.

At this moment, the eyes of the little white snake and the wolf king flashed with a human-like intelligence.

Then, Hei Huang cast two golden light spells, leaving them on the little white snake and the wolf king to protect them in life-and-death situations.

"Let's go. The memory inheritance can't be digested in a short time. It will take at least ten days to half a month. How far they can go depends on their fate," Hei Huang said.

Xu Hei sighed and turned to leave. He had only met these two creatures by chance and didn't know when he would see them again.

Hei Huang glanced at the terrain of Myriad Serpent Valley and sighed, "What a blessed land. It's a pity it will benefit others."

He could naturally see the unique structure of Myriad Serpent Valley, which could automatically absorb Spiritual Qi from the heavens and earth into the valley, forming a natural Gathering Spirit Array. Over time, it would even give birth to Spirit Medicines.

Such a terrain was quite rare among blessed lands.

After Xu Hei left, he remained silent along the way. Hei Huang could see his mood and didn't try to persuade him. This was a path every powerful cultivator had to walk.

The weak could only bow their heads and run when facing the strong, or else they would die.

Xu Hei understood this and didn't let his hot-bloodedness lead him to a pointless death, which made Hei Huang very pleased.

Xu Hei felt the same way.

...

Far away, in the southern region of Chu Kingdom, within a sect's cave dwelling.

A middle-aged scholar meditating with closed eyes suddenly opened them, a strange light flashing in his gaze.

"The wooden puppet clone is dead."

"Even the recording jade slip was left behind, and the Divine Sense on the storage bag was erased. Who could have done this?"

Xuan Yangzi knew that his clone's strength was average, but its aura and Divine Sense were extremely strong, genuinely at the Core Formation Stage.

To see through the clone's nature and dare to attack it, the opponent was either a brainless fool or extremely powerful, not fearing him at all.

"Hmph, I didn't expect Myriad Serpent Valley to attract competitors."

"I'm getting more and more interested."

Xuan Yangzi closed his eyes again, lightly tapping the ground with his finger, entering a state of calculation.

In the southern region of Chu Kingdom, no one dared to oppose the Snake Catchers Sect, so it could only be an opponent from another country or perhaps a provoked great demon.

"Su Bei!" Xuan Yangzi called out in a low voice.

Moments later, a young man in a yellow robe appeared and respectfully bowed, "Greetings, Master."

"Take five inner disciples and go to the vicinity of Myriad Serpent Valley to investigate the person who attacked my clone," Xuan Yangzi ordered.

"Yes!" The young man in the yellow robe flashed and disappeared from sight.

...

In the days that followed, the snake and the dog traveled south, crossing mountains and rivers. Besides avoiding forest fires, they also had to evade the strong members of the Snake Catchers Sect.

As they ventured deeper into the mountains, they occasionally encountered powerful demonic beasts, even once encountering a Foundation Establishment great demon. But with the old dog's keen nose, they could always avoid danger in advance.

During this time, Xu Hei didn't idle. He tempered his physical body and honed his foundation every day.

"Earth Escape Technique!"

Xu Hei's body sank, drilling into the ground. He wanted to use the pressure of the earth to temper his body. This was the simplest yet most effective method.

Previously, he could only dive up to a hundred meters.

This time, Xu Hei descended two hundred meters, three hundred meters... and kept going.

"Take it easy. If you can't get back up, I won't save you!" the old dog's voice echoed from afar.

At this moment, Xu Hei had descended from the soil layer to the sand layer. Here, the soil was no longer soft but mixed with a lot of sand and gravel, greatly increasing the pressure.

Even with the Earth Escape Technique, it was difficult to move here.

Although Xu Hei feared death, he was no coward.

He was like a venomous snake, hiding in the dark, cultivating diligently, waiting to deliver a fatal blow when the opponent was off guard!

"If humans lose their True Qi, they become weak and vulnerable! I am a demonic beast; I cannot be as fragile as humans. I must become stronger!"

Xu Hei's resolve was firm.

Under the immense pressure, his muscles and bones creaked, the heavy force squeezing his flesh, making it hard to breathe or move.

But Xu Hei's eyes were bright, his willpower unprecedentedly strong, as if he had found his path to cultivation.

The Demon God Cauldron trembled violently, emitting vast and heavy waves, merging with his body to resist the earth's pressure.

Suddenly, the black-gold scales on his tail began to regrow.

One, two, three...

Soon, the scales covered his tail, and their number continued to increase, surpassing the previous limit.

Unknowingly, the number of scales on Xu Hei's tail exceeded twenty.

"Sure enough, the number of scales is linked to the strength of my physical body. The stronger my body, the more scales I have," Xu Hei thought to himself.

His cultivation had reached the peak of the mid-Spiritual Awareness stage, but his physical body had not, leaving much room for improvement.

When Xu Hei reached his limit, he returned to the surface, collapsing from exhaustion.

A week passed in such days.

Xu Hei traveled a long distance, not knowing how far he had gone.

According to Hei Huang, they were no longer in Chu Kingdom's territory. If they continued forward and crossed a great river, they would reach another country, the Qin Kingdom.

Finally, the old dog erased the Divine Sense on the storage bag.

"Damn, I can finally open it. That Divine Sense was tough to crack!"

Hei Huang lay on the ground, panting heavily. It had taken him a whole week to erase the Core Formation cultivator's Divine Sense.

"Open it and see."

Xu Hei hurried over. If there wasn't a substantial reward for taking such a risk, it wouldn't be worth it.

"You open it. I'm out of strength."

Hei Huang, out of breath, didn't even have the strength to get up and tossed the storage bag over.

Xu Hei took it suspiciously, scanning it with his Divine Sense, and his expression turned strange.

The storage bag did contain treasures, but far fewer than he had imagined, mostly common items he had seen before.

Pills, talismans, herbs, low-level magical treasures, spell jade slips... but not a single Spirit Stone.

This was far from what he expected from a Core Formation cultivator's storage bag.

"Could it be that the old dog pocketed some of it?"

Xu Hei considered the possibility.

Spending seven days to open a storage bag was already suspicious, but seeing the old dog panting heavily, it didn't seem like he was faking it.

"Why are you staring at me?" Hei Huang asked, sitting up immediately.

He grabbed the storage bag, glanced inside, and exclaimed, "Damn! Such bad luck, not a single Spirit Stone. All that effort for nothing."

"These treasures are useless to me, so I'll give them to you."

Hei Huang tossed the storage bag to Xu Hei.

Xu Hei didn't take it, staring intently at him.