Serpent Ancestor

”From the Divine Puppet Sect?” Xu Hei asked.

”That’s right. Fellow Daoist, have you returned from the Void Realm?” the puppet woman continued to inquire.

Xu Hei had no intention of engaging with the Divine Puppet Sect. He was about to leave when he suddenly felt weak, his head heavy and his feet light, with no strength left in his body.

It was then he realized he seemed to be severely injured.

Not only was his physical body damaged, but even his Divine Sense was severely impaired.

Did he engage in a fierce battle with someone before leaving the Void Realm?

Not wanting anyone to notice, Xu Hei nodded and said, ”I did enter the Void Realm. May I ask what year it is now?”

”Fellow Daoist, you’ve been in the Void Realm for five years,” the puppet woman replied.

”Five years...”

Xu Hei recalled that Huangfu Duanlong and his group took about twenty years to emerge from the Void Realm, so he was relatively early.Just then, the space in the distance shook violently again, accompanied by cracking sounds.

A space split into countless fissures, and a dark hole appeared at the center, as if another cultivator was about to emerge.

Xu Hei’s eyes flickered as he took a few steps back.

Soon, a figure with half of its body gleaming gold emerged from the fissure and fell to the ground. The person was young, with a heroic appearance, but his lower body had completely turned into metal.

It was none other than Ji Shu, the chief disciple of the Divine Puppet Sect!

”Young Master!”

A shout came from afar, and two elders of the Divine Puppet Sect, along with three disciples, rushed over. Ji Shu lay motionless with his eyes closed, and no one dared to disturb him.

”Half of his body is gone. He must have used the Supreme Law Talisman!” Elder Wang was inwardly shocked.

Xu Hei sensed something was amiss. Ji Shu seemed to have experienced a life-and-death battle, and he himself was severely injured. Could it be that their fight led to this?

If they were enemies and he was on the Divine Puppet Sect’s territory, there was no guarantee they wouldn’t attack him.

Clearly, the people of the Divine Puppet Sect had realized this.

They silently released puppets, forming circle after circle around him, their eyes narrowing with a cold glint.

If Xu Hei was indeed the one who fought Ji Shu, then Xu Hei must also be severely injured. A little probing would confirm it.

If it was truly him, regardless of Xu Hei’s background, they would kill him!

”Attack!” Elder Wang shouted.

Just as everyone was about to make a move, the space shook violently again, and another figure, pale all over, flew out and crashed to the ground, looking extremely disheveled.

This person was covered in wounds, with burn marks and several obvious injuries bleeding profusely, looking quite miserable.

This was none other than a renowned expert.

From the Blood Refining Sect, the Heart-Devouring Demon, Xiong Yan.

Seeing Xiong Yan’s injuries, everyone was filled with doubt and suspicion.

”Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!”

At this moment, a large group of figures was approaching from afar. The other forces stationed at the meteorite crater had also noticed the return of people from the Void Realm.

This was earth-shattering news, and they had to investigate.

Among them, the people of the Blood Refining Sect sensed their own member’s presence. A woman in a red robe flew forward, picked up the heavily injured Xiong Yan, retreated several feet, and glared at Xu Hei and the Divine Puppet Sect crowd, saying in a low voice, ”Who did this?”

With these words, the Blood Refining Sect’s members were instantly filled with murderous intent, their eyes bloodshot, all drawing their weapons and magical treasures, ready to fight at the slightest provocation.

Given the Divine Puppet Sect’s understanding of these madmen, they were indeed capable of such actions.

”Hmph! The Void Realm causes memory loss. Isn’t asking such questions pointless?” Elder Wang mocked.

The red-robed woman, however, stared at Ji Shu’s half-destroyed body, her eyes filled with ferocity.

”Hold on for now. With three people appearing simultaneously, more will surely return later. Let’s not rush!” said a black-robed elder beside her.

The red-robed woman snorted coldly, placed Xiong Yan on the ground, and drew her own blood and energy to infuse into Xiong Yan’s body.

Xiong Yan’s shriveled skin slowly became rosy, and his weak aura was gradually recovering.

The other elders of the Blood Refining Sect also sat down, transfusing blood to Xiong Yan.

As expected, after waiting for a while, one after another, spatial fissures appeared, and cultivators descended one after another.

Sun Wuxiang, Wu Yuan, Ye Li, Gongsun Bo, Jiang Nine Phoenix, Wang Xiu, and many other renowned experts landed one after another. However, without exception, they all seemed to have experienced a great battle, their auras weak, and their True Essence greatly depleted, with some even severely injured.

Such situations had occurred in past Void Realm expeditions, but they were rare.

After landing, everyone quickly dispersed, adjusting their breathing and checking for any missing items.

To their surprise, each of them found a light orb within their bodies, seemingly an inheritance from their predecessors.

A total of fifteen cultivators present had gained something, more or less.

”Fifteen people actually survived and came out, much better than the nine from back then,” Wu Yuan remarked with emotion.

Those who could survive the Void Realm were undoubtedly the elite of the elite, each possessing great fortune and not to be underestimated.

Most forces could only have one member return alive.

However, having even one return was considered fortunate; more often, entire teams were wiped out.

Xu Hei looked at the remaining fourteen people, seemingly searching for something among them. Finding no familiar faces, he suddenly felt an emptiness inside. He didn’t know why this feeling arose.

”How is it possible? How could Gu Yunsong be dead?”

The Ancient Tomb Sect, a group of half-human, half-ghost cultivators, stared wide-eyed, their expressions dazed, seemingly unable to believe the reality before them.

Fifteen people survived, but Gu Yunsong, ranked in the top ten on the Outer Battlefield, couldn’t return while weaker ones did.

Not to mention, some among them knew Gu Yunsong’s trump card, the Three Corpses Daoist, who had three corpses and could resurrect indefinitely. He was the least likely to be killed!

Even if Xiong Yan were killed, it wouldn’t make sense for Gu Yunsong to die!

”Xiong Yan, do you remember who killed Gu Yunsong?” an elder from the Ancient Tomb Sect rushed forward to ask.

But Xiong Yan, just awakened and extremely weak, couldn’t care less. He merely shouted coldly, ”Get lost! Or I’ll destroy you!”

Sharing the same grief as the Ancient Tomb Sect was the Tianhen Sword Sect.

Ling Wushuang was also gone. They searched through all the figures but couldn’t find Ling Wushuang.

Clearly, he was dead too.

The number one sword cultivator on the Outer Battlefield, Ling Wushuang, had died in the Void Realm. His strength was even slightly superior to Gu Yunsong’s, yet he met the same fate!

”Ahh! Who, who killed him!”

The Tianhen Sword Sect members were in deep sorrow and immediately sought out their enemy, Sun Wuxiang of the Yan Dao Sect.

But Sun Wuxiang had no recollection.

However, Sun Wuxiang said seriously, ”I was also injured, but not by a sword, which means the person I fought wasn’t Ling Wushuang. Perhaps you can start by checking who has Sword Qi on them.”

This reminded everyone.

Memories could be lost, but injuries wouldn’t lie.

The Ancient Tomb Sect had long noticed this. At this moment, they were staring at Xu Hei, who was healing in the distance, sniffing as if sensing something.

Xu Hei’s heart inexplicably skipped a beat.

At this moment, he also discovered that one of his Storage Bags contained three coffins and the corpse of a cultivator who failed in Divine Transformation. The overwhelming corpse Qi was beyond description.

These were definitely not his belongings. Could it be that he killed someone and took their treasures?