Serpent Ancestor

Xu Hei stared for a long time, repeatedly observing, and finally confirmed that it was indeed the Snake Catcher's Token.

This token bore the mark of a cultivator, made of special material, extremely difficult to damage.

How did it end up inside that octopus?

At this moment, Xu Hei, even if he was slow to react, realized something was amiss.

He immediately extended his Divine Sense, scanning inside the octopus, and was shocked to find a fist-sized Demon Core inside its head.

It was quite large, twice the size of the Pig Demon's!

"Fing hell, is this a demonic beast?"

Xu Hei's pupils contracted, and he instinctively backed away, but then he realized the creature was already dead.

Xu Hei hesitated for a while, then cautiously approached the octopus's corpse.

Even after death, its muscles were still active, twitching occasionally. Xu Hei observed for a long time until the tentacles stopped moving, then he stepped forward.

He swung his tail, cutting off the remaining tentacles, and then divided the corpse into several parts.

Only then did he feel safe enough to examine it closely.

Inside the octopus's stomach, there were some remnants of corpses, including fish and two human skeletons. The flesh had been digested, but the clothes remained. One of them was identifiable as the Snake Catcher's attire.

Clearly, this demonic beast was not weak, having swallowed a Snake Catcher.

Such a powerful water demon was killed by Xu Hei by accident, treated as an ordinary wild monster!

Xu Hei felt a sense of unreality. When did he become so powerful? Were the scales on his tail this strong?

"Brother Demon, I didn't mean to kill you. I just wanted to hunt a wild monster. Who knew I'd end up killing you? If I had known, I wouldn't have dared to approach even with a hundred guts.

Hope you reincarnate as a human in your next life!"

Xu Hei silently prayed for the demon.

No matter what, the demon had killed a Snake Catcher, ridding the snakes of a threat. Xu Hei remembered this merit in his heart.

Next, Xu Hei divided the corpse and spent another half an hour transporting it from the riverbed back to his cave.

During the process, he discovered that the demonic beast had been injured, which was why he had managed to take advantage of it.

Xu Hei's lair was not far from the riverbank, a hole of some unknown creature, which Xu Hei had expanded and covered with grass and wood, making it inconspicuous from the outside.

He swallowed the octopus's head in one gulp, and buried the remaining tentacles in the snake hole, planning to eat them slowly.

The octopus seemed soft but its flesh was tough like cowhide, very resilient, and contained tremendous energy.

Just by eating the head, Xu Hei felt a surge of vital energy rushing into his body, quickly absorbed by the Demon God Cauldron.

The Spiritual Qi mist inside grew visibly, one-tenth, two-tenths, three-tenths...

Even the third scale on his tail was rapidly transforming.

His long-stagnant cultivation finally showed signs of progress.

"This is much stronger than the Pig Demon. Brother Demon, I will remember your contribution."

Xu Hei held his breath, focusing on his breathing exercises, fully operating his cultivation technique.

It had been a long time since he had such a satisfying cultivation session!

With so much demonic beast meat, Xu Hei no longer needed to hunt outside and could focus on his seclusion, possibly enduring until winter.

***

A month later.

After consuming the entire octopus, Xu Hei's cultivation level rose again, reaching the late stage of the second level of the Spirit Communion Stage.

The Spiritual Qi mist in the Demon God Cauldron now covered more than half.

If it was only one-tenth before, now it was eight-tenths.

Xu Hei had a premonition that when the mist covered ten-tenths, it would be time to break through to the third level of the Spirit Communion Stage.

Although he hadn't broken through yet, Xu Hei's strength had greatly increased, with his power and speed up by about fifty percent, and a third black-gold scale appearing on his tail.

This made Xu Hei quite happy, as if he saw hope, and his mood improved.

Time flew by, autumn passed, and winter came.

In early winter, the temperature dropped sharply, and food outside became scarce. Snakes would gradually lower their body functions, reduce consumption, and finally find a hole to hibernate.

Even a snake demon like Xu Hei couldn't escape this natural law.

Xu Hei abandoned his lair by the riverbank, as it was not suitable for hibernation. He needed to find a deeper hole, preferably in a place rarely visited by humans.

Wild beasts could be guarded against, but he mainly feared humans. Winter was the peak season for snake hunting, and Xu Hei didn't want to be dug out by people.

Xu Hei returned to the deep mountains and old forests he was familiar with.

There were wolf packs here, and bear droppings on the ground, with few people around. Xu Hei spread his Divine Sense, confirmed there was no danger, and dug a hole to crawl into.

The black-gold scales at the tip of his tail had become three, much harder than before, and the fourth one had mostly transformed.

Xu Hei used his tail to dig through the rocks, creating a deep underground tunnel, finally stopping twenty meters underground.

At this distance, no wild beast would enter, and even humans couldn't dig down twenty meters.

This was the limit of Xu Hei's Divine Sense.

He thought for a moment, then gathered some bear droppings to cover the entrance, masking the scent, before returning to the hole and coiling up to enter a dormant state.

During hibernation, Xu Hei continued to breathe in the Spiritual Qi of heaven and earth.

As a cautious snake, he wouldn't let himself fall completely unconscious, keeping a sliver of awareness. If anything unusual happened, he would wake up immediately.

***

In the Chen Family Town area, there were two famous villages: Snake Village and Python Village.

From the names, it was clear that the mountains in this area were rich in snakes, and Snake Catchers were mostly active here.

Every winter was the best time to go up the mountain to catch snakes.

Many fierce beasts would choose to hibernate in winter, and with the vegetation withered, there were fewer hiding places, making it much safer to enter the mountains.

This year, the Snake Catchers posted a notice at the village entrance—

"Recruiting young and strong men to hunt in the mountains, one string of coins per person."

This notice caused quite a stir in the village. In previous years, Snake Catchers only cooperated with hunters, but this year there were no restrictions, anyone could join, and each trip to the mountains earned a string of coins!

However, ordinary people entering the mountains faced greater dangers, possibly earning the money but not living to spend it.

"Little Niu, stay home and take care of your sister. I'm going up the mountain," Wang Daniu instructed.

"But Dad, you've never been up the mountain!" Wang Xiaoniu said worriedly.

"Uncle Sun will be with me, nothing will happen. He's an old hunter in our village, has been working with the Snake Catchers for over ten years, never had an accident!"

Wang Daniu patted Little Niu's head and smiled, "When I earn the money, I'll send you to the private school in Chen Family Town. With Mr. Chu teaching you, you'll definitely succeed."

Wang Xiaoniu looked at his father, holding back tears, and nodded.

Wang Daniu wrapped the string of coins in cloth and hid it under the bed. Before leaving, he glanced at the yellowed books on the bed, put on his coat, grabbed his bag, and walked out the door.

***

Xu Hei's hibernation spot was twenty meters underground, the limit of his Divine Sense, just enough to see the surface.

On the surface, there were occasional prey like muntjacs, snow hares, and roe deer passing by, as well as tigers and brown bears.

Sometimes, some reptiles would try to enter the hole, but the entrance was blocked, so they couldn't get in.

Besides breathing exercises, Xu Hei made no movements, even lowering his heartbeat to the minimum, his body cold and stiff, at his most vulnerable.

As a cold-blooded animal, he could only regain his mobility when spring arrived and the temperature rose.

***

Days passed by.

The outside temperature dropped to its lowest, and Xu Hei's consciousness was in a muddled state, only regaining some functions when Spiritual Qi entered his body, giving him a slight sense of the outside world.

Suddenly, there was a rustling sound on the surface.

Two hunting dogs sniffed around the entrance of the hole.