Serpent Ancestor

Although Xu Hei had his doubts, he couldn’t shake the feeling that Lin Ziye wasn’t some kind of evil cultist. At least, he hadn’t seen any evidence of that so far.

”Then why did you join the Sea God Sect?” Xu Hei couldn’t help but ask.

Lin Ziye smiled slightly and didn’t answer the question. Instead, he asked, ”May I know your name, Fellow Daoist?”

”Xu Hei,” Xu Hei replied without hesitation.

”Fellow Daoist Xu, if you were an enforcer who believed in fairness and justice, would you think the process is more important, or the result?” Lin Ziye asked again.

Xu Hei couldn’t answer.

The question was too profound, leaving him completely puzzled.

Lin Ziye smiled openly and said, ”For example, if the process is important, just now, Fellow Daoist Xu should have defended himself, justified his killing of Ma Fugui, and then acted!”

”But if the result is important, you would skip all the formalities and just cut down Ma Fugui directly.”

Hearing this, Xu Hei quickly said, ”Of course, the result is more important.”Lin Ziye nodded in satisfaction.

He didn’t converse with Xu Hei for long. The two quickly parted ways and each led their own teams.

With more than half a month left, Xu Hei first retrieved Ma Fugui’s storage bag and then gathered his men to start extracting heavy oil.

The Core Formation cultivator who had narrowly escaped death earlier clasped his fists and thanked Xu Hei, ”Thank you, sir!”

This person was Tian Zang, who had almost been body-snatched by Ma Fugui. His gratitude was sincere.

”No need for formalities, just do your job well,” Xu Hei said.

”Yes!” Tian Zang bowed.

Initially, he had some reservations about Xu Hei distributing pills privately, but now, since Xu Hei had saved his life, he would do anything Xu Hei asked.

After receiving the pills, although everyone was tense, they didn’t reveal anything and quietly took them, increasing their chances of survival.

Compared to Xu Hei, Lin Ziye next door was much stricter. His actions were no different from other enforcers.

Under his command, the slaves were full of complaints, and many had died.

Xu Hei had initially suspected that this person might be Xu Qingfeng in disguise, but seeing this, he completely dismissed the idea.

”This person and Xu Qingfeng are from the same sect, both are enforcement elders of the Astrology Bureau.”

Xu Hei reluctantly came to this conclusion.

He couldn’t see what Lin Ziye’s purpose was for now, but he was much less wary of him.

At this moment, Xu Hei suddenly recalled Ma Fugui’s last words.

The reason for killing him was because he had something important, in Xu Sheng...

Xu Sheng’s storage bag? Xu Hei had already gone through it thoroughly. Other than having several times the wealth of a typical Core Formation cultivator, there was nothing special.

So, what was the next part?

”Xu Sheng’s cave dwelling?” Xu Hei’s eyes flashed.

A token is needed to enter a cave dwelling, which made much more sense.

However, what the demon lord’s protector wanted to cover up was likely more than just this.

”The cave dwelling... forget it.” Xu Hei shook his head, giving up on the idea of exploring it, as it wasn’t part of his plan.

...

Days passed by.

During this time, Xu Hei continuously distributed pills. After half a month, his team had only lost five people, the lowest mortality rate among all teams.

This was in stark contrast to other teams.

Some noticed the anomaly, but having witnessed Xu Hei’s fierce reputation, no one dared to report it. If the report failed and Xu Hei retaliated, the unlucky one would be themselves.

However, Blood Vengeance secretly recorded the anomaly in a jade slip, a cold gleam flashing in his eyes.

He and Ma Fugui weren’t life-and-death friends, but he knew how much wealth Ma Fugui had. Now, this person had acquired Ma Fugui’s storage bag, and it was said that Xu Sheng had also died at his hands.

The amount of spirit stones this person had was unimaginable.

”Blood Vengeance, you’ve been watching this person for over half a month. If you have any ideas, just say it, and we’ll help you.”

Three gamblers gathered around, their eyes flashing with murderous intent.

Blood Vengeance said, ”What ideas could I have? Don’t try to pry words out of me!”

”Heh, don’t pretend with us. We’re not outsiders.”

”This person has all of Ma Fugui’s wealth, including the fifty thousand spirit stones he just won from you. Don’t you want to take it back?” the two gamblers beside him laughed.

Blood Vengeance’s gaze turned cold, and he scolded, ”Stop talking nonsense. I’ll pretend I didn’t hear what you just said.”

”Yeah, right, I don’t believe you!”

The three of them cursed loudly.

...

Barrel after barrel of heavy oil was drawn from the well, piling up on the ground.

Ten barrels for the Foundation Establishment Stage, one hundred barrels for the Core Formation Stage.

Xu Hei also went down the well multiple times to collect heavy oil. He alone dug up three hundred barrels, storing them in void stones. Heavy oil couldn’t be stored in storage bags, but it could be kept in void stones.

During this period, his skin grew darker, and the butcher had already turned black from pollution, making everyone secretly click their tongues and call him a madman.

Of course, Xu Hei was still somewhat restrained; otherwise, he could have collected over a thousand barrels without needing to rest.

Bai Qiushui, whom Xu Hei observed secretly, completed the task of one hundred barrels on the twenty-eighth day, barely passing, but he clearly held back. In his spare time, he was reading a small booklet, though it was unclear what the content was.

...

Unknowingly, the month-long period had ended.

”The deadline has arrived, now let’s check if everyone has met the standard!” Meng Hao announced loudly.

He first inspected Xu Hei’s team, and everyone had met the standard, while other teams had various issues.

Those who hadn’t met the standard turned pale and were dragged out of their teams, detained and taken away in panic.

Then, everyone moved the heavy oil onto the oil ship, stacking it in the cargo hold. Each barrel of oil was placed at a distance from the others, with formations set up to isolate them, to prevent accidents from gravitational attraction if they were too close.

”Upon returning this time, the protector will reward based on the amount of heavy oil provided by each team,” Meng Hao said.

He gave Xu Hei an extra glance and said, ”Your performance is the best, and you might be promoted to a second-level enforcer.”

Xu Hei remained unmoved.

He knew that once Ye Kong was extracted, the Nightmare Demon Lord could no longer sense him. As soon as he left the Sea Eye, he would be immediately discovered.

Xu Hei’s plan was to escape the moment he left the Sea Eye.

He still had six Small Teleportation Talismans on him, and with the Water Thunder Wings at full speed, even an Elemental Infant stage cultivator might not be able to catch up with him.

However, the butcher would inevitably have to be abandoned.

The Nightmare Demon Lord wasn’t an ordinary Elemental Infant stage cultivator, and using the butcher to draw attention to increase the chances of a successful escape was very necessary.

As long as his true self left the Nightmare Demon Lord’s range of perception, he had more than a ninety percent chance of escaping.

And with the three anti-tracking magical artifacts given by Hei Huang, it was impossible to be caught afterward.

”Let’s do it! I can’t stay in this cursed place for another moment.”

Xu Hei glanced at Blood Vengeance’s position, where the four of them were gathered, discussing something, which made Xu Hei’s expression darken.