Serpent Ancestor

Xu Hei had never heard of the Changle Sect.

In fact, the woman playing the zither wasn’t a powerful cultivator; her cultivation was only at the early Foundation Establishment Stage.

The melody she played merely had a calming and stabilizing effect, capable of controlling emotions, useful for mortals and low-level cultivators.

But Xu Hei thought of that eerie peach grove. Upon entering, all his negative emotions were dispelled, even the baleful aura was purified.

He couldn’t help but link the two together.

”With these two countries at war, all sorts of strange beings are emerging,” Xu Hei mused.

Xu Hei was familiar with the five great sects of the Chu Kingdom and the single sect of the Qin Kingdom, but he had never heard of the Changle Sect. It was likely a new emergence.

Where there’s opportunity, there’s development.

There were also some demonic sects and evil factions that often surfaced during wartime, massacring villages, refining corpses and souls—it was quite common.

Xu Hei didn’t know how to categorize the Changle Sect; it didn’t seem like an evil faction, but he didn’t want to get involved with it in any case.Eight hundred miles due east lay Liefeng City.

This distance wasn’t far for Xu Hei now.

Xu Hei traveled at a steady pace, neither hurried nor slow, passing through a slaughtered town along the way.

The town, with a population of over ten thousand, had been reduced to just a thousand survivors. Corpses were piled in pits, emitting a dense baleful aura. Xu Hei could faintly see a red mist hovering over the town.

Xu Hei didn’t know if the massacre was done by the Qin army or by demonic cultivators framing the Qin army. It had nothing to do with him.

At this moment, a red-robed cultivator was lurking underground, absorbing the remaining baleful aura to forge his spiritual foundation, hoping to break through to the Foundation Establishment Stage.

Most of the baleful aura from over ten thousand people had already been taken by someone else, leaving him with the scraps.

”Another strange being,” Xu Hei shook his head.

He approached and transmitted his voice, ”What’s your name?”

The red-robed cultivator’s face changed drastically, spitting out a mouthful of blood in panic, ”Junior... Junior Li Yang! What are your orders, Senior?”

He had been in seclusion for half a month, just a few days away from completing his Foundation Establishment, but was interrupted. Yet, due to the opponent’s cultivation, he could only suppress his anger and answer patiently.

”Li Yang, not a bad name. It will be mine from now on!” Xu Hei sneered coldly.

Li Yang was stunned for a moment, then reacted with terror. Without hesitation, he soared into the sky, pulling out various magical treasures and a communication jade slip.

”Thud!”

His body stiffened, a bloody hole appeared in his forehead, and he fell before he could use his treasures.

Xu Hei collected the corpse and quickly left.

He had run out of human puppets and needed a suitable one. This person would be perfect for refining into a Foundation Establishment puppet.

He checked the storage bag and found that the person’s identity was well-hidden, with no identity token found, suggesting he was a rogue cultivator.

However, the communication jade slip was exquisitely made, and he didn’t know who it would contact.

Xu Hei didn’t bother with it. After refining the puppet and storing the jade slip, he headed straight for Liefeng City.

Liefeng City, a small city in the Southern Region, was less than a tenth the size of Chuyang City.

It was a city where mortals and cultivators coexisted, with both an inner and outer city.

Xu Hei checked with a jade disk and found that the city had no Core Formation cultivators, only one late Foundation Establishment cultivator.

The city’s protective formations were all second-tier, prohibiting flight and underground travel, with entry and exit only through the city gates.

Xu Hei saw a Foundation Establishment cultivator flying into the city from the sky.

Xu Hei didn’t make a scene and entered the city through the gate obediently.

Once inside, he first checked the wanted notices.

To his surprise, he found that the Qin Kingdom had not issued a warrant for his arrest.

The wanted list mostly consisted of rebels and traitors from the Chu Kingdom, as well as Core Formation cultivators, with some bounties exceeding a hundred thousand spirit stones.

Compared to these high-level cultivators, Xu Hei was insignificant.

”Looks like I was overthinking. They wouldn’t issue a warrant for their own sect member,” Xu Hei thought to himself.

He then headed straight for the largest Myriad Treasure Pavilion in the city.

Myriad Treasure Pavilion had branches in every city. Xu Hei directly found the branch master and asked bluntly if they had any life-saving items.

”Small Teleportation Talismans are rare and in high demand. I can’t guarantee availability, but we do have a third-tier defensive magical treasure. However...” The branch master hesitated.

”However, what?” Xu Hei asked quickly.

The old cultivator sighed and led Xu Hei to an underground plaza.

In the center of the plaza stood a three-meter-tall pagoda, its surface battered and cracked, as if struck by immense force, looking ready to collapse.

”This Moon-supporting Pagoda is a mid-tier third-tier spiritual treasure, but it’s severely damaged. It will be destroyed after one use. If you need it, I can sell it to you at the price of a low-tier third-tier spiritual treasure, just thirty thousand spirit stones,” the old cultivator said with a wry smile.

”Thirty thousand for something that can only be used once?” Xu Hei frowned.

”You’re mistaken, esteemed guest. This treasure’s spirituality is intact, with the potential to birth a spirit in the future. If you buy it, it’s surely for repair. If you manage to repair it, it will be a genuine mid-tier third-tier spiritual treasure, worth far more than thirty thousand,” the old cultivator explained.

Though true, the materials needed for repair would not be cheap.

Xu Hei pondered for a moment and asked, ”Do you have the recipe for the Small Teleportation Talisman?”

”Haha, the recipe for the Small Teleportation Talisman is known to all major sects and families. The main issue is the scarcity of materials, hence the high demand. I can make a deal: if you buy this pagoda, I’ll give you the recipe for free!” the old cultivator laughed.

A stick of incense later.

Xu Hei decisively spent thirty thousand spirit stones to buy the Moon-supporting Pagoda and the recipe for the Small Teleportation Talisman.

After reading the recipe, Xu Hei understood why it was so rare.

Because the main ingredient was Void Stones!

Xu Hei had heard of this before, but seeing it confirmed today.

Additionally, he learned that a single high-grade spirit stone cost at least a thousand low-grade spirit stones to exchange, and even then, it wasn’t guaranteed!

In other words, Xu Hei’s remaining fifty thousand spirit stones could only exchange for fifty high-grade ones.

Xu Hei shook his head and left immediately.

”Heavenly Puppet Sect disciples are truly wealthy.”

The branch master sighed deeply. A Foundation Establishment cultivator could casually spend tens of thousands of spirit stones to buy a Core Formation treasure, something unimaginable in other sects.

Of course, a Foundation Establishment cultivator couldn’t wield a third-tier spiritual treasure, so it was likely bought for an elder.

...

Next, Xu Hei moved to another city and, using a similar method, acquired the remaining materials for the Small Teleportation Talisman and a high-quality artifact refining furnace.

He spent another twenty thousand spirit stones in total.

Afterward, Xu Hei left the city and headed deep into the mountains.

He found a desolate, uninhabited place, dug a cave, and began his secluded refining and talisman crafting.

For an average Foundation Establishment cultivator, even if they obtained a third-tier spiritual treasure, they couldn’t use it.

Third-tier spiritual treasures required the true essence of Core Formation cultivators to activate, a level above the true qi of Foundation Establishment cultivators.

However, Xu Hei’s true qi was of such high quality that it was very close to true essence, allowing him to barely use third-tier spiritual treasures.

For example, the Soul-absorbing Flag, after absorbing the soul of the Jiao Python, was already considered a low-tier third-tier spiritual treasure, and Xu Hei could wield it freely.

But the defensive pagoda he bought was meant for life-saving in critical moments, not for killing or suppressing.

Such high-intensity consumption was beyond Xu Hei’s means.

”To repair the Moon-supporting Pagoda, I could try this...”

Xu Hei thought for a moment and took out the pill furnace he had found in the jade slip of the descendant of Gongshu.

This pill furnace was an ancient relic, long devoid of spirituality, but the materials were still intact. Melting it down to repair the Moon-supporting Pagoda would be perfect.

This was Xu Hei’s plan.

He had never refined artifacts before, but with a foundation in puppet crafting, learning wouldn’t be difficult. He had also obtained many artifact refining jade slips from the Mountain Movers Sect.

It was a large project, but Xu Hei was very patient.