Serpent Ancestor

Xu Hei spread out his Divine Sense to observe the surroundings.

This was a dolphin’s cave dwelling, located underwater, with bright lighting. From the interior setup, it seemed to be Boqi’s cave dwelling, adorned with decorations only seen in the human world.

Various pearls and gemstones, anything colorful, were collected and hung on the walls.

The crescent-shaped purple jade that Xu Hei had gifted earlier was hung in the most conspicuous spot.

Xu Hei thought for a moment and took out some more human items to embellish the surroundings.

”Brother Xu Hei, you’re awake!”

A voice came from outside the cave.

Bopu swam over with a basket of box turtles and entered the cave.

Boqi followed beside him but remained silent and listless.

”I heard you love eating turtles, so I specially brought you a specialty from Turtle Island. Come and try it.” Bopu placed the box turtles on the ground.”I love eating turtles?” Xu Hei was taken aback. He had no idea.

”You don’t know, but when you were unconscious, as soon as a turtle was placed beside you, it would be devoured in seconds. It was that fast,” Bopu laughed.

”...” Xu Hei was dumbfounded.

He immediately guessed that it was Ji Ying’s doing.

After Ji Ying formed its core, its intelligence was high, and it wouldn’t miss such food delivered to its mouth.

”Huh?” Xu Hei glanced at Boqi and asked in confusion, ”Why isn’t she repeating?”

Upon hearing this, Boqi lowered her head, eyes full of grievance, almost on the verge of tears.

Bopu sighed and said, ”At the family meeting earlier, she mimicked the elders speaking and got punished.”

”...” Xu Hei was speechless.

He could already imagine what the family meeting looked like.

The elders speaking above, the younger ones repeating below, caught red-handed, how embarrassing.

”I just mimicked her for a couple of sentences, and they punished me with a month of confinement, boohoo!” Boqi’s eyes were brimming with tears, her fins touching each other.

At this moment, Xu Hei suddenly had a flash of inspiration and remembered a joke he learned in human life.

”Boqi, let me tell you a joke,” Xu Hei said with a smile.

”What joke?”

Boqi’s eyes lit up, eagerly looking over, and Bopu also listened curiously.

Xu Hei said, ”Once upon a time, there was a pufferfish, it swam and swam, swam into the sea, and then... it turned into a dolphin.”

”Puff puff puff!”

”Hahaha!”

The two dolphins laughed in unison, Boqi laughed until tears came out, rolling on the ground.

Xu Hei just watched them quietly, saying nothing.

To be honest, he didn’t find the joke particularly funny, but since it was dolphin-related, he told it, not expecting such a good effect.

So, Xu Hei laughed along with them.

The inheritance of Wuyou City, Xu Hei, having lived a life as a human, though just a void memory, unknowingly influenced him, adding something extra to him.

Even Xu Hei himself didn’t know what it was.

”By the way, the elder specifically instructed me to bring you over once you woke up,” Bopu said.

Xu Hei nodded, glanced at Boqi, who was still laughing uncontrollably, and helplessly turned to leave.

…………

Inside the dolphin territory, there was a dolphin palace.

Dome-shaped and square, entirely blue, its appearance was not much different from a human palace, just with more entrances and exits for easy access.

Led by Bopu, Xu Hei entered the palace. He could sense that the weak aura was inside the palace.

An older dolphin appeared before Xu Hei, the same one that negotiated with Lei Man yesterday.

”Young friend Xu Hei, I am the patriarch of the Bo clan of the dolphin family, Bo Xi,” the old dolphin introduced himself.

”Greetings, sir,” Xu Hei replied.

”I heard that you can cure the poison afflicting our elder. If it’s true, how can we ask for your help?” Bo Xi asked sincerely.

Xu Hei pondered for a moment and said, ”I can’t guarantee a cure, but I can give it a try.”

He didn’t make any absolute promises, leaving a way out.

Bo Xi was overjoyed and said, ”As long as there’s a chance, whether or not you can cure him, as long as you can alleviate the pain, our Bo clan is willing to offer any reward.”

”Please follow me.”

Bo Xi quickly led the way, and Xu Hei followed.

Inside the palace, there were some basements and small rooms.

They entered a dark entrance and came into a room.

The room was isolated from the outside, with no seawater, and the air was dry. However, dolphins at the Demon Core Stage could already float without needing water.

On a bare stone slab lay a dolphin with a shriveled body. His body was covered with various purple spots, emitting a strong, pungent odor. His once massive body had shrunk, and long without contact with water, his vitality was nearly depleted.

”What a strong poison,” Xu Hei’s heart sank.

This dolphin’s cultivation had reached the Elemental Infant Stage, stronger than the patriarch.

At least, this Bo Xi patriarch had not yet successfully formed a Nascent Soul, only at the Great Perfection of the Golden Core, close to a false infant state.

To poison an Elemental Infant Stage demonic beast, the toxicity must be incredibly potent.

”This is my brother, Bonan, also the only Demon Infant Stage genius of our clan. He was ambushed by an assassin from the sea serpent family during his Nascent Soul formation. Although he succeeded, he was severely injured.”

”He doesn’t dare enter the sea, as the poison would spread with the seawater, penetrating every dolphin’s body, possibly leading to a catastrophe. He can only seal himself on land, but as a result, his vitality is dwindling.”

Bo Xi’s voice was heavy, filled with anger and helplessness.

Xu Hei stared at Bonan’s body, his Divine Sense probing for a long time before moving closer.

”Young friend Xu Hei, be careful, this poison can also permeate the air!” Bo Xi reminded.

Xu Hei approached Bonan. This Demon Infant Stage powerhouse seemed to sense a presence nearby, a look of vigilance appearing between his brows, his power surging. But after Bo Xi secretly transmitted a message, he calmed down.

”Young friend, don’t blame me for being cautious. I don’t know your background or true identity, so some precautions are inevitable. Please refrain from any actions that might be misunderstood as dangerous during the treatment, as I fear I might unintentionally harm someone,” Bonan said.

Although he was poisoned, he still had some strength. For the safety of the clan, he had to be cautious. If anything happened to him, the entire Bo clan would face big trouble.

”I understand.”

Xu Hei nodded and took out an ancient Spirit Medicine of ten thousand years.

In Wuyou City, he had obtained a total of ten Spirit Medicines over ten thousand years, which were also useful for the Elemental Infant Stage. What he took out was the Purifying Lotus, capable of purifying the body.

”This is...” Bonan immediately fell silent.

Xu Hei only clipped a small petal from the Purifying Lotus, put away the main body, and used the Gravity Technique to deliver the petal.

”Take this medicine and try to expel the poison from your body.”

Xu Hei didn’t start with Xu Bai’s pill but first used a small amount of ancient Spirit Medicine to assist in expelling the toxin, the safest approach.

”Alright!”

Bonan took a deep breath, eyes filled with determination, and absorbed the petal into his body. Then, he circulated the nearly exhausted power of his Demon Infant, fully refining it, concentrating the toxin on the surface of his skin.

”Ha!” Bonan let out a low shout, cold sweat oozing from his body, veins bulging.

Gradually, a large purple spot appeared on his abdomen, the color becoming more vivid and dark, as if it would turn into poisonous water and drip out.

Xu Hei stepped back slightly, his eyes flashing, and took out a purple gourd.

This gourd was the Magical Treasure he had obtained from the mechanism box, the Ten Thousand Poison Gourd, capable of storing all kinds of poisons.