Serpent Ancestor

The Art of Earth Puppetry not only allows one to refine puppets but also includes a comprehensive cultivation technique, detailing every step from Foundation Establishment to Core Formation.

Xu Hei felt a bit unwilling. He knew that his possession of purple True Qi was entirely due to that mysterious cultivation technique, and he didn't want to switch to another.

"Senior, can you give me a response?"

Xu Hei continued to try to make contact, but there was still no response.

"Strange! Such a powerful existence shouldn't deceive me."

Xu Hei's face showed doubt, wondering if he hadn't met the requirements.

At this moment, whether it was his internal spiritual foundation or his external aura, he was undoubtedly at the Foundation Establishment stage.

Compared to other Foundation Establishment cultivators he had seen before, Xu Hei's aura was purer and more robust, and his Divine Sense range had exceeded a thousand meters.

The only thing that didn't match Xu Hei's expectations was his Black Gold Scales, which were still missing one piece.

It was his forehead, still missing the final piece of scale!

"Could it be because of this scale? My cultivation has reached Foundation Establishment, but my physical body is still lacking?" Xu Hei pondered.

In the following days, he tried devouring demonic beast meat, even consuming part of the Purple Crystal Thunder Lion, and took some body-tempering pills.

Xu Hei could feel his physical body growing stronger.

But that last piece of scale remained motionless.

"Strange."

Xu Hei shook his head.

He didn't dwell on it and instead took out his puppets, using the Art of Earth Puppetry to reinforce them all.

As for his own cultivation, if it was stagnant, so be it.

In a few days, he planned to go down the mountain, consult some human sects' classics, and thoroughly study the techniques of the Five Great Sects. Perhaps he could find some clues.

As for asking Hei Huang, that dog didn't know when it would come out of seclusion, so he couldn't rely on it for now.

Now that he had successfully reached Foundation Establishment, Xu Hei felt more confident. With the war between the two countries, as long as Xu Hei was cautious, he would be safe.

Even if he was really unlucky and encountered a Core Formation old monster, he still had the life-saving item given by Hei Huang, which was said to be able to split anything in the world fifty-fifty. Xu Hei was actually eager to try it out.

...

Next, Xu Hei made full preparations.

Besides reinforcing his puppets, Xu Hei also needed to refine two flying swords. At the same time, he needed to update his own magical treasures, talismans, and pills.

He spent five days reinforcing his main puppets to the Foundation Establishment level.

Then, he took out the Ice and Fire Ivory, cut off a part, and spent three days crafting two flying swords.

Thus, Xu Hei now had three ivory flying swords.

Xu Hei named them: Spirit-Breaking Sword, Extreme Frost Sword, and Heaven-Burning Sword.

However, the power of the latter two swords was too great, reaching the peak of the second tier. With Xu Hei's Divine Sense, he could barely control them, far less smoothly than the Spirit-Breaking Sword.

Xu Hei mainly used the Spirit-Breaking Sword.

The leftover materials from the Spirit-Devouring Elephant's ivory were melted down into some Spirit-Breaking Needles for auxiliary use.

After that, he selected a Fire Thunder Seal and a Wind-Stabilizing Pearl from Sun Jian's collection and carried the old ape's iron pot on his back, all of which were mid-grade Spiritual Treasures.

In terms of defense, his entire body was covered in Black Gold Scales, which could basically ignore most attacks.

"It's time to go down the mountain. I want to empty the human Scripture Repository."

Xu Hei thought to himself as he climbed out of his cave dwelling and arrived outside.

Xiao Chou had already successfully reached Foundation Establishment and was lying in the valley, sunbathing in a strange posture.

"Senior, are you going down the mountain?"

Xiao Chou raised his head excitedly when he saw Xu Hei coming out of the cave.

"That's right." Xu Hei nodded.

"Can I come with you?"

Xiao Chou's face turned serious as he said, "Now that I've reached Foundation Establishment, I have some scores to settle with certain people."

Xu Hei knew what he had been through and nodded without hesitation, "Alright, but you must follow my lead."

"Good!"

Xiao Chou followed, looking a bit excited.

He had waited for this day for far too long. The humiliation of being hunted down and nearly losing his life could finally be washed away! He only hoped those people were still alive and hadn't died too soon!

Thus, one man and one snake left the valley and headed down the mountain.

"By the way, Senior Hei, I encountered a lot of trouble during my Foundation Establishment. I almost died. Let me tell you about it."

Xiao Chou followed behind, chattering excitedly.

Perhaps it had been too long since he had spoken to anyone, Xiao Chou turned into a chatterbox, talking non-stop along the way.

"Senior, you wouldn't believe it. At the critical moment of my Foundation Establishment, the Spiritual Qi around me suddenly disappeared. Within a ten-mile radius, not a drop was left, causing me to fail my breakthrough! It's infuriating. I don't know which bastard did it!"

Xiao Chou cursed.

Xu Hei's mouth twitched, but he chose to remain silent.

"That wasn't the worst part. Later, when I tried to break through again, an extraterrestrial Heavenly Demon appeared nearby, almost scaring me to death!"

Xiao Chou complained again.

Xu Hei was instantly shocked.

An extraterrestrial Heavenly Demon? What was going on?

Cultivators defy the heavens, and during breakthroughs, there is a small chance of attracting an extraterrestrial Heavenly Demon, also known as external demonic possession.

But this usually only happens to Core Formation cultivators during their Nascent Soul formation, and only to those with extraordinary talent, one in a million.

For example, the Mountain-moving Patriarch died due to an extraterrestrial Heavenly Demon.

"Damn it! I'm just a small Foundation Establishment cultivator. How could I attract an extraterrestrial Heavenly Demon? It's ridiculous. I suspect they made a mistake." Xiao Chou cursed.

At this point, he fell silent, not speaking for the rest of the journey.

Xu Hei was eagerly waiting to hear more, but Xiao Chou suddenly stopped talking, which made Xu Hei quite annoyed.

He wanted to prompt him to continue, but Xu Hei didn't know how to start.

"And then?"

After holding back for a long time, Xu Hei couldn't help but ask.

"Oh? So you were listening, Senior. I thought you weren't paying attention." Xiao Chou said in surprise.

"I suddenly feel like punching you." Xu Hei said honestly.

"Don't dare, don't dare!" Xiao Chou quickly returned to the main topic and continued, "Later, for some unknown reason, that extraterrestrial Heavenly Demon entered a spatial rift and disappeared. The demon's expression seemed like it had encountered something terrifying."

"Of course, it might have been an illusion caused by a cultivation mishap."

Xiao Chou quickly added, as the whole thing was too outrageous. How could an extraterrestrial Heavenly Demon appear during a Foundation Establishment?

Xu Hei pondered for a moment and also felt it was an illusion. How could an extraterrestrial Heavenly Demon target Xiao Chou?

Xiao Chou had indeed been through a lot, with a difficult and troubled path to Foundation Establishment.

Xu Hei thought for a moment and asked, "After failing twice, how did you finally reach Foundation Establishment?"

"Later, Senior Bai successfully refined a Foundation Establishment Pill and asked me to test it. I couldn't resist and took it." Xiao Chou said.

Xu Hei immediately stopped, staring at Xiao Chou, examining him closely.

"What's wrong?"

Xiao Chou felt a bit uneasy under the scrutiny.

"Are you alright? Any side effects?" Xu Hei asked curiously.

"No, I'm perfectly fine. How could there be any side effects? Senior Bai's other pills might be unreliable, but the Foundation Establishment Pill is absolutely fine!"

Xiao Chou said confidently.

Xu Hei examined him again for a long time but didn't find anything wrong, so he said, "Let's continue on our way."

"Alright!"

Xiao Chou slithered along like a snake, following behind.