Serpent Ancestor

Xu Hei gazed into the distance. Although the landscape had changed dramatically, he could still recognize it as the Earth Path.

Despite being a desert and a wasteland, it retained vitality with towering cacti and scattered oases, making it an ideal place for seclusion.

Hei Huang had already dived into one of the oases, devouring it madly.

”A miraculous inheritance space,” Xu Hei thought to himself.

At that moment, a voice came from the sky.

”One year here is equivalent to one month outside.”

”You have one year to prepare. After that, you will compete with others from the places of inheritance,” the Earth God said before disappearing.

Compete... Xu Hei wasn’t sure what kind of competition it would be. He only had two demonic beasts, while the Zhou Family and Chu Tian Alliance each had six people.

Without overthinking, Xu Hei immediately entered an oasis, practicing breathing exercises to quickly restore his depleted True Qi.

His external incarnation would lose contact if too far away and would act according to his original self’s style.The incarnation had eighty percent of his cultivation but lacked the Black Dragon Pagoda, Ji Ying, Blood God Armor, and various talismans and magical treasures.

In reality, it had less than half of his original self’s combat power.

His original self could contend with Core Formation stage opponents, while the incarnation could at most show off in the Foundation Establishment stage.

However, Xu Hei still let the incarnation carry a magical treasure, the Soul-absorbing Flag. The snake spirit inside could self-destruct to temporarily hold off a Core Formation stage opponent, which was the incarnation’s biggest trump card.

”One year... I wonder if I can break through to the late Foundation Establishment stage.”

”This journey offers great opportunities, but there’s been no time to digest them. Now is a perfect chance.”

Xu Hei took out ancient pills and placed them in front of him.

The ancient pills from the corpse puppets, thousand-year spirit medicines, ten-thousand-year spirit medicines, and the wealth of Liu Chengfeng and Zhou Qing, all combined, amounted to a considerable fortune.

As long as he utilized these pills, Xu Hei was confident he could reach a higher level.

Such a great opportunity would be unimaginable for anyone, even the first Chosen of the Heavenly Puppet Sect, Bai Luo, wouldn’t have such good treatment.

Xu Hei took out an ancient Essence Cultivation Pill, broke the seal, and swallowed it in one gulp.

”Boom!!”

The pill dissolved, and surging True Qi rushed through Xu Hei’s meridians and flesh.

The biggest difference between ancient pills and modern ones was the quality of Spiritual Qi. Back then, everyone achieved perfect Foundation Establishment, so the pills were naturally tailored for that!

When Xu Hei took ordinary pills, he couldn’t feel any fluctuation in his cultivation. Now, he immediately felt his cultivation rising.

The effect lasted only a day before the medicinal power was exhausted.

His cultivation increased by about one percent.

”These ancient pills are good, but they’ve been stored too long, losing much of their potency. There are pros and cons,” Xu Hei sighed inwardly.

He took out another Essence Cultivation Pill and swallowed it, fully refining it.

Any improvement was better than standing still.

There were enough Essence Cultivation Pills for him to consume for two months.

Additionally, there were Nine Yang Powder, Muscle-Easing Pills, Sky Blue Pills, and others to enhance various attributes, including body strengthening, marrow cleansing, bone refining, and mind sharpening, enough to transform Xu Hei’s physique!

These ancient pills and thousand-year spirit medicines, if taken out casually, would cause a frenzy.

Moreover, he had a pile of unopened mystery boxes that required a key, and he didn’t know what pills they might contain.

Since entering the ruins, Xu Hei hadn’t had a moment’s peace, constantly fighting or on the way to a fight. Now, he finally had a chance for seclusion.

...

Outside the inheritance space.

Xu Hei’s external incarnation also sprang into action.

The incarnation would act according to his original self’s will. His task was to find Xu Bai’s location and observe others’ movements.

Xu Hei took out a jade slip, activated it with his divine sense, and sped towards the southeast.

In the blink of an eye, five days had passed since the first inheritance opened.

More and more people entered Wuyou City. Without the interference of corpse puppets, they conducted a thorough search, leaving no stone unturned.

Along the way, Xu Hei discovered many unfamiliar teams.

From their conversations, they seemed to be reinforcements invited by the Heavenly Puppet Sect.

This gave Xu Hei a sense of urgency.

”The competition in a year... I don’t know the rules. If it’s a numbers game, I have no advantage,” Xu Hei thought.

...

At the edge of Wuyou City, in a botanical garden.

In ancient times, this place had the most plants, but they all withered and disappeared.

Today, plants emerged again, growing all sorts of rare herbs, lush greenery, and shrubs, teeming with precious spirit medicines, as if life had returned.

The anomaly quickly attracted the attention of a group of rogue cultivators.

As they approached, each one screamed in agony and never appeared again.

A day later, two more people discovered the place.

”Look, what’s that?!”

”I remember there were no plants there. Why have so many grown?”

These two cultivators were from the Four Sects Alliance. Faced with such a strange phenomenon, they didn’t approach rashly but reported it to their superiors.

Just then, Xu Hei arrived.

He looked at the dense forest in the distance and caught Xu Bai’s scent.

”So Xu Bai is here?”

Xu Hei’s eyes flashed. He glanced at the two Foundation Establishment cultivators in the distance and stealthily approached, directly using the Mountain Embrace Seal.

”Boom!!”

The mountain crushed down, instantly turning the two into meat patties.

After disposing of the evidence, Xu Hei entered the botanical garden.

The plants here were bizarre, unlike anything he’d seen before. There were even human-like trees, which reminded Xu Hei of the Zhou Family’s second ancestor.

”Is this all Xu Bai’s doing?” Xu Hei’s heart raced.

The forest wasn’t large, but the plants were strange, some clearly possessing offensive capabilities.

Relying on his incarnation, Xu Hei fearlessly charged in but encountered no attacks.

Moments later, Xu Hei reached the core area.

In the dense forest, he saw a white snake coiled around a jade-green cauldron, energy gathering within it, with an ancient pill floating inside.

”This is...”

Xu Hei immediately recognized it as an ancient Essence Cultivation Pill used for cultivation.

As energy gathered, the ancient Essence Cultivation Pill slowly rotated, with each turn increasing its potency, and its shriveled form gradually restored.

”Is Xu Bai repairing the pill?”

The thought suddenly occurred to Xu Hei.

After observing for a while, Xu Hei became more convinced of this idea.

Ancient pills would dissipate if not consumed shortly after being taken out, but the scene before him defied that understanding.

Xu Hei had many ancient pills. If he could restore these depleted pills to perfection, what an achievement that would be!

Xu Hei took a deep breath and didn’t disturb the process, quietly watching from the side.

An hour later.

”Whoosh!”

The Essence Cultivation Pill flew out, landing in front of Xu Hei, its fragrance rich and medicinal power potent, not only restored but now with a shelf life, no longer disintegrating at a touch.

”For you,” Xu Bai said with a gentle gaze and a smile.

Xu Hei took the Essence Cultivation Pill and said, ”How can I accept this?”

Even as he spoke, he pocketed the pill.

Don’t ask where he learned that.