Serpent Ancestor

Xu Hei took out the jade stone and watched the red dot on it rapidly dim. This was a sign of life fading away.

"No! Brother Jian, don't go! Don't leave me!"

Qin Shuang'er knelt in front of Sun Jian, holding his body, tears streaming down like rain.

Sun Jian's lips moved, as if he wanted to say something, but he was too weak to speak.

Xu Hei muttered to himself, "Is he addicted to role-playing? Even at death's door, he's still at it?"

Sun Jian was cold and ruthless, while Qin Shuang'er was indecisive. When Xu Hei first met them, he really thought they were fellow disciples. It turned out they were two puppets controlled by the same person.

This left Xu Hei speechless.

As Sun Jian's life ebbed away, the light in Qin Shuang'er's eyes also gradually faded.

When the master dies, the puppet loses all its vitality as well.

"Dao... Daoist..."

Suddenly, Sun Jian's lips moved slightly, and his head struggled to make a sound, as if he wanted to leave some last words.

"Please... bury us... together..."

Just as Sun Jian was speaking, Xu Hei spat out a flame, burning his head to ashes, not giving him the chance to finish his last words.

"Your last wish means nothing to me."

Xu Hei said coldly, burning his body to ashes as well.

A cultivator must not have a merciful heart. This was something he always said to himself, and now it had come true for him.

As Sun Jian's soul dispersed, the puppet named Shuang'er also completely lost consciousness, becoming utterly motionless.

But at the corners of her eyes, two lines of tears hung, as if she were truly crying.

Xu Hei raised an eyebrow, showing a look of doubt.

He vaguely felt that things were not so simple.

Sun Jian's last words were incomplete, but Xu Hei could guess that he wanted them to be buried together.

"Xiao Chou, what do you think?" Xu Hei looked at Xiao Chou.

Xiao Chou shrugged and said, "What can I think? Probably another tragic lover like me."

"Yours can't be called a tragic lover, can it?" Xu Hei sneered.

"......"

Xiao Chou's face darkened, and he chose to remain silent.

Xu Hei put away Sun Jian's storage bag and checked it, his eyes widening instantly.

He found that the resources in this person's storage bag could only be described as terrifying. Various pills and treasures were piled up like mountains.

There were also many jade slips, countless magical treasures that hadn't been refined, all brand new.

The number of spirit stones reached two thousand!

The Ye Haichuan he had killed before, who was also at the early Foundation Establishment Stage, only had a tenth of this.

"My God, so rich!" Xu Hei gasped.

This was the most abundant haul Xu Hei had ever gotten from killing and looting.

Xu Hei immediately realized that this person must have fought in a war and plundered the storage bags of Chu Kingdom cultivators, which is why he had such a rich collection.

Killing and looting to get rich, as long as one could survive the war, they could always gain some spoils.

"With such a big harvest, this trip was worth it." Xu Hei thought to himself.

In the storage bag, there was also demonic beast meat, all neatly cut high-quality great demon meat, looking very appetizing. But the quantity was not much, only two hundred pounds.

The Pangolin King had run off, probably hiding deep underground.

The Purple Crystal Thunder Lion was finally killed and put into Xu Hei's storage bag.

As for the purple crystal mine in its cave dwelling, Xu Hei didn't dare to take it. According to the lioness, she had a husband whose cultivation level was unknown, so Xu Hei decided not to provoke him lightly.

Lion-type demonic beasts practiced polygamy, with one male lion usually leading a pride with multiple lionesses.

It was rare for a lioness to come out alone with her cubs.

Xu Hei guessed that the male lion was probably deep in the Wu Mountain Range and might be extremely powerful.

Lions should have special ways of communicating. After thinking for a moment, Xu Hei cleaned up his traces, collected his spoils, and quickly left the place.

As for the lioness, he decided not to eat her for now. Maybe one day he would encounter her mate, and she might come in handy.

The two demonic beasts and Xu Hei ran all the way back to their cave dwelling.

Back in the cave dwelling with formations set up, they finally felt at ease and breathed a sigh of relief.

Xu Bai did not participate in the battle, only eating some poisonous creatures along the way.

Xiao Chou, however, made a great contribution. Although Xu Hei could have caught up eventually, it would have consumed a lot of energy and might have led to unforeseen complications.

For this person, Xu Hei planned to give a reward.

He took out a Foundation Establishment Pill from Sun Jian's storage bag and handed it over.

"Whether you can establish your foundation, it's up to you." Xu Hei said.

"Thank you, Senior, hahaha..."

Xiao Chou laughed wildly, took the Foundation Establishment Pill, and went into the deepest part of the cave dwelling.

There were five more Foundation Establishment Pills in Sun Jian's storage bag, enough for Xu Hei to use.

Xu Hei checked the jade slips, all of which were wood-based spells, which Xu Bai could probably use.

One golden jade slip had a seal on it, seemingly recording the second layer of puppet techniques, but Xu Hei couldn't open it.

Xu Hei sighed and took out Qin Shuang'er's storage bag.

After his inspection, he found that Qin Shuang'er was not a fictional puppet but a real person who had already fallen. This was her storage bag from when she was alive.

Inside were some jade slips recording her experiences.

Through these, Xu Hei understood the sequence of events.

Qin Shuang'er was the daughter of Qin Xuanji, the Grand Elder of the Heavenly Puppet Sect. She and Sun Jian had mutual affection. During a siege, she spared a child, who then detonated a Thunder Tribulation Pearl, severely injuring her.

The child died instantly, and Qin Shuang'er was on the brink of death.

At the last moment, she turned herself into a flesh puppet, preserving a sliver of consciousness in her body.

In this way, she remained by Sun Jian's side, fulfilling their mutual promise.

"Shuang'er, as a cultivator, you must not have a woman's kindness!"

Recalling Sun Jian's words at the time, Xu Hei had a different understanding.

Actually, when Sun Jian and the puppet switched places, Xu Hei wondered why he didn't switch with Qin Shuang'er. That woman was unharmed and might have delayed him a bit.

Instead, he switched with a broken body, which Xu Hei didn't even bother with and directly chased after.

If Qin Shuang'er had held him back, even for a moment, Sun Jian's chances of escaping would have greatly increased.

"People are not plants; who can be without feelings? Sun Jian kept talking about being ruthless, but in the end, he lost because of his feelings."

Xu Hei sighed.

He couldn't help but compare the experiences of these two with Xiao Chou and found that there was no comparison. This was a true partnership, while Xiao Chou's situation was nothing.

He took Sun Jian's ashes and buried them on a hill, then buried Qin Shuang'er's body next to him.

This flesh puppet had the cultivation of the Foundation Establishment Stage and had some value, but Xu Hei had no interest in using it.

With his current strength, he didn't need such a puppet.

"Rest in peace, both of you. Farewell."

Xu Hei said, turning to leave.

Just as Xu Hei turned around, a golden light flashed from Qin Shuang'er's forehead and entered Xu Hei's storage bag.

Xu Hei was stunned and took out the golden jade slip recording the puppet techniques.

He found that the seal on it was gone.

Xu Hei's eyes flashed, and he sent his divine sense into it.

In an instant, the complete steps for cultivating the Puppet Mechanism Technique appeared in Xu Hei's mind.

"Puppet Mechanism Technique, Second Layer, Earth Puppet Technique."

"Can create Foundation Establishment Stage puppets, including three puppet spells: Spirit Thread, Transposition, Hundred Puppet Formation."