Serpent Ancestor

Xu Hei woke up, unsure of how many days had passed.

Recalling the words from his dream, Xu Hei fell into deep thought.

"Reverse? What does it mean to reverse?"

"Speaking in riddles, why do these seniors always like to be so cryptic?"

Unable to make sense of it, Xu Hei shook his head and decided not to dwell on it.

He looked inward at his body. The Demon God Cauldron was still as it was, but the spiritual qi within had expanded from a water ball to a pool. Unknowingly, he had broken through to the eighth layer of the Spirit Communion Stage.

His head still felt dizzy, a side effect of taking too many Divine Explosion Pills.

However, his divine sense had grown significantly stronger, now extending to an astonishing range of two hundred meters.

To put it into perspective, even a Foundation Establishment cultivator like Hua Yuntian had a divine sense range of only three hundred meters.

This place looked familiar; it was his own cave dwelling. In the neighboring cave, Xu Bai was busy refining pills.

"Phew!"

Xu Hei let out a long breath.

He was back.

Xu Hei moved slightly, feeling a bit stiff but otherwise fine.

To his surprise, the scales on his tail had fully regrown.

Moreover, their number had almost doubled, covering half of his tail.

"This breakthrough actually caused so many scales to grow?"

Xu Hei was astonished.

In the past, his scales would only grow wildly when his physical body made rapid progress and underwent extreme tempering.

He couldn't figure it out, but it was definitely a good thing.

After multiple tests, Xu Hei had a rough understanding of the power of these special Black Gold Scales.

Against anything below the Core Formation Stage, they were invincible!

However, they couldn't inflict fatal damage on Core Formation Stage cultivators.

Even third-tier flying swords could only leave numerous small nicks rather than cutting through them, indicating that the sharpness of these scales had its limits.

Being able to deal with Foundation Establishment cultivators was already satisfactory for Xu Hei.

Of course, he wouldn't be so arrogant as to actually fight a Foundation Establishment cultivator head-on. In a real fight, his scales might not even touch the opponent before he was killed.

Human cultivators were notoriously fragile but had extremely strong attacks and numerous magical treasures and life-saving items.

Demonic beasts focused more on physical body enhancement. Even without protective magical treasures, they could withstand most attacks.

Xu Hei had both a strong physical body and spells, along with magical treasures for protection, giving him multiple advantages. However, surpassing his level was still very difficult.

"I wonder where the old dog ran off to. Otherwise, I could ask him about the flaws in my cultivation technique," Xu Hei muttered.

Recalling his previous near-death experiences, Xu Hei cursed Hei Huang in his heart.

"Nine out of ten chances, my foot! Almost got killed by a Core Formation Stage cultivator."

Xu Hei took out everything he had obtained from the Purple Mist Sect and laid it out in front of him.

There were over ten gourds of pills, all of high quality, including second-tier pills suitable for Foundation Establishment cultivators.

There were five large boxes filled with medicinal herbs.

There were also many seeds, pill furnaces, and jade slips containing pill refining insights.

As a major sect specializing in pill refining, the Purple Mist Sect did not disappoint in the pill department.

"With these pills, I won't lack any until I reach Foundation Establishment, and there will even be enough left over for Xu Bai."

Minor Essence Nurturing Pills, Divine Explosion Pills, Rejuvenation Pills, Shaoyang Powder... there were even two precious Foundation Establishment Pills.

This was the reward for surviving a near-death experience.

Xu Hei suddenly realized that without Hei Huang, where would he be now?

Without Hei Huang urging him to take risks, without going to Linjiang City, without learning puppet techniques, without going to the Purple Mist Sect.

Without all those risks, what would he be?

Perhaps he would still be a mid-stage Spirit Communion snake demon, hiding in some corner, barely surviving, unnoticed and unpursued.

In another decade or so, his lifespan would end, and he would turn into a pile of yellow earth.

Xu Hei let out a long sigh.

"A snake's life is short, just ten years. If I don't fight against the heavens, the earth, and people, how can I talk about immortality?"

After thinking for a long time, Xu Hei decided not to worry about the risks anymore. Since it was all in the past, it was all worth it.

In a way, Hei Huang had indeed helped him a lot.

...

Xu Hei went to Xu Bai's neighboring cave dwelling.

Perhaps due to frequent collapses, this cave was exceptionally spacious, like a giant plaza, and reinforced with some kind of formation to stabilize the structure.

The pill furnaces Xu Bai had been using were all broken, and she had a new one from who knows where.

"Xu Hei, you're awake?" Xu Bai said joyfully.

Xu Hei glanced around the cave dwelling. It was filled with soil, planted with spirit medicine and spiritual herbs, and even had a Serpent Tree growing.

In the corner, there was a pigsty with several fat pigs, likely used for testing pills.

"How long was I unconscious?"

"Not long, just half a month."

"..."

Xu Hei was speechless. He had been unconscious for half a month.

Wasn't winter approaching? He needed to find a place to hibernate.

However, now that he was at the eighth layer of the Spirit Communion Stage, it was uncertain whether he still needed to hibernate like in previous years.

"This pill refining cave of yours is quite impressive."

Xu Hei smiled, taking out a large pile of pill furnaces, medicinal herbs, and jade slips on pill refining, and handed them over.

He had already examined these items; they were of little use to him but were invaluable treasures for Xu Bai, who was dedicated to pill refining.

Xu Bai's eyes immediately lit up, and she rushed over, delighted by the sight of so many treasures.

"Are all these for me?"

"Yes, they're useless to me. Study them well," Xu Hei said.

Xu Bai was so excited she could hardly speak, her body trembling.

She quickly took out a few gourds of pills and said excitedly, "Xu Hei, I'll give you these pills as a reward."

"No, no! I can't accept that!"

Xu Hei's forehead darkened.

"Don't underestimate a snake. The pills I refine now are really useful; even dogs praise them!"

Xu Bai said proudly, her head held high.

Dogs praise them... Xu Hei thought to himself, could that dog be Er Gou?

However, since Xu Bai had a talent for pill refining, the pills shouldn't be as deadly as before.

Xu Hei opened the first gourd and sniffed it. It had the scent of a Strength Pill.

A common body-tempering pill that Xu Hei had taken before.

"Better test it on a pig first."

Xu Hei thought for a moment and then crawled over to the pigsty in the corner, where Xu Bai kept several fat pigs.

"Are these pigs for testing pills?" Xu Hei asked.

"Pigs?" Xu Bai was puzzled for a moment and then said, "Look closely. These are all rats, not pigs."

"Rats?"

Xu Hei was shocked and looked closely.

In the pigsty, there were indeed a bunch of fat, white creatures. On closer inspection, they were actually giant rats.

Because they were so large and covered in greasy fat, Xu Hei hadn't looked carefully.

Xu Hei was so shocked he took several steps back, trembling, "Th-these..."