Serpent Ancestor

At the same time, within the Sea Serpent lineage.

After a long period of seclusion, Hai Teng finally emerged from his cave dwelling.

His entire being was brimming with energy, his vitality surging like a furnace, causing the surrounding seawater to heat up and bubble.

”I, Hai Teng, have successfully formed a purple Golden Core. This is a perfect Golden Core! In my life, I, Hai Teng, am not inferior to anyone!!”

At this moment, Hai Teng was filled with boundless pride, almost unable to resist letting out a long howl to the sky.

After successfully dispersing his core, he had secluded himself for two months, consuming countless rare treasures, and finally today, he reformed his core and achieved the long-desired purple core!

Even in ancient times, he would have been a top-tier Chosen!

Although his cultivation had fallen from the late Core Formation stage to the early Core Formation stage, his true strength had not diminished much. Instead, the formation of the purple core had given him even greater potential for progress!

”Xu Hei, once I find you, I will fight you at the same realm and wash away my past humiliation!” Hai Teng’s eyes were filled with a fierce battle intent.

”Hai Teng, the elders are calling for you!” A voice came from nearby.”Alright!”

Hai Teng understood that the elders had discovered his successful core formation and had prepared a celebration banquet for him, which he could not miss.

A stick of incense later—

”What? A white snake took down an entire ship of evil faction followers, including five Core Formation stage cultivators, all dead without a trace.”

Hai Teng gasped, his eyes filled with shock.

Elder Jin in front of him merely smiled slightly and said, ”Such a white snake, are you tempted?”

The surrounding elders all turned their gaze towards Hai Teng, waiting for his response.

They had already discussed it, planning to send Hai Teng to propose marriage, thus legitimately drawing the white snake to their side.

Such a high-quality immortal seedling couldn’t be given away to the Turtle lineage, could it?

After all, they were all of the serpent species, practically half-relatives. A marriage between land snakes and sea snakes was reasonable.

Competing for high-quality disciples had always been a tradition, and this was a legitimate method; no one dared to object.

Hai Teng took a deep breath, nodded heavily, and praised, ”Not bad!”

The elders immediately broke into smiles, and Elder Jin’s eyes were filled with joy.

”Not bad, a formidable opponent!” Hai Teng praised.

All the elders’ expressions froze instantly.

Hai Teng praised, ”I didn’t expect that after Xu Hei, another Chosen has appeared, worthy of being my opponent!”

The elders’ faces darkened, and Elder Jin almost spat out a mouthful of water.

Elder Jin hurriedly explained, ”That white snake is female, and her beauty is unmatched even among the serpent tribe. Many clansmen are smitten!”

Hai Teng pondered, ”Then I misspoke, I should call her a Chosen Maiden.”

”So, aren’t you tempted?” Elder Jin pressed again.

Hai Teng pondered for a long time, a hint of heat rising in his eyes. He immediately set off, swimming towards the Turtle lineage.

The elders were overjoyed and hurried to follow. Elder Jin even took out invitations, planning to invite guests to witness the birth of two newcomers.

The heat in Hai Teng’s eyes was visible to every serpent, a sign of intense passion, clearly indicating his interest.

”Good! Excellent!”

Hai Teng’s eyes blazed with fire as he shouted, ”Just out of seclusion today, and I’ve encountered a peerless Chosen. I’ll take you as my first opponent! I’ll defeat you first, then go and defeat Xu Hei!”

”……”

All the elders were wide-eyed and speechless, and Elder Jin directly spat out a mouthful of old blood.

”Hai Teng, all you know is fighting? I’m here to help you propose marriage, propose marriage! Do you understand?” Elder Jin roared.

”Propose marriage?” Hai Teng squinted his eyes, a sharp gleam flashing through them, and said, ”What kind of spell is that? Why have I never heard of it?”

”……”

The entire room fell silent.

Elder Jin felt dizzy and fainted on the spot, causing a commotion.

…………

In the depths of the East Sea, within the dark and sunless Sea Eye.

”It’s been two days, why hasn’t Hou Siping come out yet?”

Ma Fugui paced back and forth, anxious.

He appeared calm on the surface, but his inner panic caused sweat to form on his forehead.

”Hou Siping is at the late Core Formation stage. With his cunning, even if that kid is at his peak, he couldn’t possibly be Hou Siping’s match.”

”But why hasn’t he come out yet? Could it be that Hou Siping is secretly cultivating in the oil well behind my back?”

Various thoughts flashed through Ma Fugui’s mind. He wanted to check personally but felt that doing so would surely arouse suspicion.

As for sending someone else, he didn’t trust anyone; Hou Siping was his only confidant.

He had absolute trust in Hou Siping; this person would never betray him, not even in death. There must have been some unforeseen event!

”Damn it, could that kid have been hiding his strength?”

Gradually, Ma Fugui began to suspect that Xu Hei might have hidden his strength and turned the tables on Hou Siping.

Even though the possibility was slim.

”Two days without coming out, could that kid have died in the oil well?” someone asked with a laugh.

”Dead or not, why don’t you go and see?” the banker joked.

”Tch! I’m not going!”

”You go if you want!”

Everyone pushed the responsibility onto each other; no one would easily go down the oil well, as it was fraught with danger. Anything could happen, and if there was a collapse or someone with ill intentions, it would be too late for regrets.

”If another day passes without him coming out, I’ll have won, tenfold odds, five hundred thousand spirit stones!” Ma Fugui laughed.

The banker nodded and said, ”Alright, I can afford to pay five hundred thousand spirit stones.”

Thus, another day passed, and Xu Hei still hadn’t come out. The banker sent someone down to check, but they found nothing.

In the end, Ma Fugui won five hundred thousand spirit stones.

But there was always a string taut in his heart, unable to relax, with a sense of foreboding.

He suspected that the other party might be hiding somewhere, secretly growing. Sending a slave down, what could they possibly find?

”In a few more days, even if it raises suspicion, I’ll have to go down personally to see what Hou Siping is up to!” Ma Fugui gritted his teeth in secret.

…………

Deep beneath the oil well.

Xu Hei hid in a cave, having refined his Golden Core and a small amount of heavy oil.

His cultivation advanced rapidly, reaching the peak of the early Core Formation stage.

He was just a step away from the mid-stage Core Formation.

As long as he consumed a Qingyuan Pill or a similar breakthrough pill, he was confident he could reach the mid-stage Core Formation. But in such a dangerous environment, Xu Hei dared not do so.

”Breaking through to the mid-stage Core Formation requires at least half a month of seclusion, possibly several months. This place is not suitable.”

Xu Hei contemplated.

He deeply understood the energy contained in the heavy oil, which greatly aided in improving his cultivation.

Just by refining three barrels, Xu Hei reached the peak of the early Core Formation stage.

If the sea god truly absorbed heavy oil to enhance his cultivation, sending so many people to extract it, ten barrels for the Foundation Establishment stage, a hundred barrels for the Core Formation stage...

What kind of cultivation would the sea god have to need such a vast quantity?

Even if it wasn’t for absorption, what else could it be used for that required so much?

Just thinking about it made Xu Hei’s scalp tingle.

And the Ghost Infant’s methods also concerned him.

”Take this opportunity to collect more heavy oil...”

”And as for the person behind the scenes, they’ve delayed so long without coming down to investigate. I don’t believe they can hold back forever.”

”Let’s create a bit of a commotion later to lure them down.”