Serpent Ancestor

The benefits promised by the other party were too tempting, but Xu Hei always felt something was off.

However, Xu Hei quickly dismissed his doubts.

”No matter what, as long as I gain something after leaving, it will be worth it.”

Xu Hei didn’t want to think too much. Although this place seemed strange no matter how he looked at it, as long as he could leave the Void Realm alive like Huangfu Duanlong and gain something, his trip wouldn’t be in vain.

He didn’t want to explore further.

Seeing Xu Hei agree readily, the Tomb Elder pointed in a direction and said, ”That direction is full of areas that haven’t been cleared.”

Xu Hei glanced over; it was exactly where he had come from.

Xu Hei hesitated for a moment and asked, ”Before me, was there a woman in white who came here?”

”That’s right, she has already gone to exterminate demons, and she’s faster than you,” the Tomb Elder replied.

Xu Hei nodded, and with a flash of his figure, he sped away.He landed on an open space, took out the demon-exterminating flag, and planted it in the ground.

Centered around this spot, a demon-exterminating formation covering a hundred miles appeared. Instantly, all the tombstones within the formation’s range began to shake violently.

One after another, phantom shadows emerged from the tombstones, vaguely retaining their forms from life, though their appearances were already blurred.

These people had expressions of pain and distortion, as if resisting something. Xu Hei remained unfazed, launching a Dragon Shatter Roar. With just one strike, the nearest phantom vanished into smoke.

After the phantom dissipated, a chaotic stream of memory fragments rushed in, trying to enter Xu Hei’s mind, remnants of the person’s life.

Normally, one would try to avoid them, but Xu Hei didn’t dodge and accepted them all.

”Why did I strike my companion?”

”Why did I have to die in such a place?”

”Everyone has gone mad, everyone! But I don’t want to go mad, I don’t!”

Leaving behind a final message, the first Inner Demon vanished.

Xu Hei pondered for a moment before moving on to clear the next Inner Demon.

As the Tomb Elder said, these Inner Demons posed no threat to the physical body, only to the mind.

The second person’s mental state was slightly better, thinking of his junior sister at the moment of death, still wanting to protect her.

Time flew by.

Xu Hei’s clearing speed was slow; on the first day, he only cleared a hundred Inner Demons, far from the Tomb Elder’s expectations.

”So that’s how it is, this move should be like this! Using flesh as the main material, soul as fuel, sacrificing oneself to unleash maximum power!”

”Hahaha, I’ve got it, I’ve got it!”

In a fit of laughter, the person’s soul burned, flesh sacrificed, and in an instant, he flew thousands of miles, yet still died in a meteorite.

Xu Hei’s pupils contracted, his face changed dramatically: ”This move... teleportation?”

In Xu Hei’s mind, the process of cultivating this move appeared. Although some parts were missing, the main steps remained, accepted by Xu Hei.

Indeed, it was teleportation!

”Unfortunately, the cost of this move is too great, requiring the sacrifice of flesh and the burning of the soul, only useful in a situation of certain death,” Xu Hei sighed inwardly.

After leaving, memories of the Void Realm would be forgotten, but the divine abilities and inheritances learned would not. Xu Hei wasn’t sure how this was defined.

Xu Hei thought for a moment, took out a jade slip, and recorded his experiences along the way.

Surely others had done this before, but so far, not a shred of information about the Void Realm had leaked. Regardless, Xu Hei wanted to try.

If it didn’t work, he would hide the jade slip inside the Demon God Cauldron.

That was a treasure that could shield against heavenly secrets.

”Wait! Since the Tomb Elder can see through my every move, could he also discover my recording of information?” Xu Hei was startled.

The erasure of memories by the Void Realm was clearly to prevent its secrets from being exposed. As long as Xu Hei had such thoughts, if discovered, he might face great danger.

Xu Hei hesitated for a moment but ultimately chose to destroy the jade slip.

Of course, he didn’t believe his inner thoughts could be seen through. As long as there was a chance, he would immediately record the memories into a jade slip and store it in the Demon God Cauldron.

The premise was to do it discreetly, without being discovered.

...

A week passed in a flash.

Initially, only Xu Hei and Xu Bai were clearing Inner Demons. Later, more people gradually arrived at the core area, accepting the tasks arranged by the Tomb Elder.

Ling Wushuang, Xiong Yan, Sun Wuxiang, Ji Shu, including Han Te, Bai Luo, all joined the demon-exterminating mission.

This included subsequent arrivals of second-tier experts, rogue cultivators, and others.

This was thanks to the pills Xu Bai scattered, saving them from falling into madness.

Xu Hei also successfully cleared a thousand Inner Demons, absorbing the memories of each person’s life.

Xu Hei didn’t know what use collecting these memories had, as they would be forgotten upon leaving, but he continued his way.

He discovered that many cultivators, before their deaths, had insights or breakthroughs in their understanding, or thought of new divine abilities, and some even touched upon laws.

Taking this opportunity, Xu Hei learned a lot.

As for negative effects, going mad?

As long as Xu Hei quietly operated the Heavenly Demon Technique, all negative emotions would dissipate, making it impossible to go mad.

This situation was something Xu Hei noticed when he first arrived.

He was also the first to break free from the influence and slay the Three Corpses Daoist.

”The Heavenly Demon Technique can actually prevent Inner Demons, how strange.”

Xu Hei was initially puzzled, but he followed his instincts—not to delve deeper.

The less he knew, the safer he was.

...

The gate to the Void Realm was smashed open by a meteorite, such explosive news attracted many experts from the outer battlefield.

Especially those in the late Elemental Infant stage eager to break through to the Divine Transformation stage, the Void Realm’s allure was undeniable.

However, a week later, the space’s self-repair function caused the entrance to the Void Realm to close again, making it impossible to enter.

The number of people who entered was fixed at two hundred.

But after three rounds of elimination, only thirty survived to reach the grand tomb.

Fewer than twenty participated in the demon-exterminating task.

In the blink of an eye, a year passed.

Xu Hei had been exterminating demons for a year, having wiped out thirty thousand Inner Demons, but compared to others, his speed was too slow due to accepting memories.

Over the past year, Xu Hei stabilized his cultivation at the mid-stage Elemental Infant, learned many combat techniques, and divine abilities from the upper realm.

His cultivation hadn’t changed much, but his strength was now incomparable, easily able to kill the Three Corpses Daoist.

”Star-Moon Nine Transformations!”

Xu Hei swung his sword, the Star-Moon Sword split into nine, transforming into nine identical flying swords in the air.

This was a technique he created based on the memories he had absorbed, combined with his insights and the characteristics of September.

September’s true form was a nine-tailed cat, though she currently had only four tails.

”Teleportation!” Xu Hei willed it.

Space distorted, and the Star-Moon Sword moved forward ten inches in an instant.

Though the distance was short, the speed was undetectable, achieving the effect of teleportation!

This was a technique only those in the Divine Transformation stage of the upper realm could use, yet Xu Hei had comprehended it, though it was short and not very useful.

”Give me ten more years, no, a hundred years, and I’ll clear all the Inner Demons here!” Xu Hei’s heart surged with excitement.

With benefits and gains, who cares about trouble and time?

During the demon-exterminating process, Xu Hei continuously absorbed memories and grew stronger, and that was enough.

In fact, over the past year, after encountering countless memories of predecessors before their fall, a question arose in Xu Hei’s heart—

Were they really Inner Demons?