Serpent Ancestor

Xu Hei found an open space, placed the Creation Furnace in the center, and opened his mouth to swallow. The spiritual liquid from the furnace rose into the air, transforming into a slender silver snake, which Xu Hei inhaled.

He didn’t know how to control the Creation Furnace, but he understood eating and drinking. He ate and drank his fill, then refined it on the spot. To be safe, Xu Hei refined the absorbed energy once through the Demon God Cauldron before fully absorbing it.

Previously, when he was trapped in the furnace, he had only swallowed it whole, using most of the spiritual liquid to compress and fight his enemies.

Days passed by.

Xu Hei’s cultivation level gradually increased. The spiritual liquid poured into his body, and after being compressed multiple times, it formed true essence, merging into his Elemental Infant. Xu Hei’s Elemental Infant had already taken shape, but its size was slowly increasing.

It was like an empty vat slowly filling with water. When the water truly filled it, breaking the vat, the Elemental Infant would transform into a primordial spirit, marking the day of Divine Transformation.

...

In the blink of an eye, more than half a year had passed.

The spiritual liquid in the Creation Furnace was completely absorbed by Xu Hei, and he finally felt a sense of true essence overflowing.

At this moment, the Elemental Infant within Xu Hei’s body resembled a true dragon, roaming in his dantian, awakening from its slumber.It had a single horn on its head, wings on its back, and its entire body was pitch black. The scales were vivid and lifelike, still in the form of a young dragon, yet it moved freely, as if it were Xu Hei’s second body, indistinguishable from himself.

”Next, I need to merge my divine sense with the Elemental Infant, transforming it into a primordial spirit. This is Divine Transformation!”

”By then, a cultivator will no longer be confined to the physical body and can exist entirely in the form of a primordial spirit. Even if the physical body is destroyed, a new one can be reshaped.”

”But... how do demonic beasts achieve Divine Transformation?”

Xu Hei fell into deep thought.

His understanding of Divine Transformation cultivators was mostly from Huangfu Duanlong, who took that crucial step in the Void Realm. When he emerged, he had already comprehended the laws and possessed a fifth-tier magical treasure.

The key point was comprehending the laws! Only the laws could transform the Elemental Infant into a primordial spirit.

The laws of heaven, based on the Five Elemental principles, encompass all phenomena of heaven and earth. For example, the Golden Lotus Law is an evolution of the law of metal. The lightning law used by Shen Shaopeng also originates from the law of metal.

Luo Gang’s Desolate Law and Wang Xiu’s Slaughter Law were transformed from their respective intents.

Each Dao is different. Xu Hei could comprehend the Golden Lotus Law to achieve Divine Transformation, but he didn’t do so. He wanted to find his own Dao.

”What is my Dao?” Xu Hei muttered to himself, confused.

At this point, what he needed to do was no longer absorbing spiritual qi but comprehending.

However, comprehension is not something that can be imagined out of thin air; it requires certain experiences.

Xu Hei’s journey so far had experiences far beyond ordinary people, but he always felt like he was missing something.

”What am I missing?”

Xu Hei remained silent.

He walked out of the cave dwelling and into the outside world.

Half a year had passed, and Xu Hei’s nine mountains were covered with spirit medicine, some just sprouting new shoots, others already mature.

However, the previously mutated Phoenix Cry Grass was nowhere to be seen, replaced by other varieties.

In the medicine garden, Jiang Nine Phoenix was holding a jade bottle, pouring a pale red liquid onto a seedling.

Curious, Xu Hei asked, ”What is this?”

Xu Hei’s sudden appearance startled Jiang Nine Phoenix, causing her to step back two paces. Upon realizing it was Xu Hei, she breathed a sigh of relief. Although her eyes still held caution, the hostility was gone.

”This is a Wutong Tree, but it’s just an ordinary Wutong with some spiritual essence,” Jiang Nine Phoenix replied.

”I’m not asking about the seedling, but what’s in your hand,” Xu Hei pointed to the jade bottle in her hand.

Jiang Nine Phoenix glanced at the jade bottle and said, ”This is Phoenix Saliva Fragrance I concocted myself. It’s beneficial for spirit medicine, accelerating maturation and cultivating superior varieties.”

”Phoenix Saliva Fragrance?” Xu Hei was puzzled.

Jiang Nine Phoenix blushed and whispered, ”In short, it’s used as fertilizer.”

Xu Hei didn’t dwell on the matter. He took out the trunk of the Divine Wutong Tree and asked, ”Can you tell me more about this?”

This trunk was all that remained of the Divine Wutong Tree. The branches had been cut off by Xu Hei, and during the battle, the branches had teleported repeatedly, burning themselves to ashes and losing their value.

Xu Hei had always wanted to make use of the trunk but didn’t know how. He knew very little about the basic information of the Divine Wutong Tree; the term ”heavenly treasure” came from Tu Sen’s mouth.

Jiang Nine Phoenix looked at the Divine Wutong Tree, a trace of sorrow and nostalgia in her eyes, but she quickly hid it and slowly said, ”The Divine Wutong Tree ranks forty-eighth on the list of heavenly treasures, alongside the Bodhi Ancient Tree, Enlightenment Tea Tree, Fusang Divine Tree, Flat Peach Tree, and Jianmu, known as the Six Ancient Divine Trees...”

She began to recount information about the Divine Wutong Tree.

It was a divine tree symbiotic with the phoenix, but the divine sense within it was not the Wutong itself but its companion, who, after death, used a secret technique to parasitize within the Wutong, living symbiotically.

Xu Hei wasn’t interested in her companion. He curiously asked, ”What is the list of heavenly treasures? And what are the Six Ancient Divine Trees?”

”I only know the names of the Six Ancient Divine Trees, not much more. As for the list of heavenly treasures, it’s a catalog of the world’s divine items. Anything on the list is priceless but also invites calamity. For instance, if word of the Divine Wutong Tree got out, all Divine Transformation stage cultivators would fight to seize it,” Jiang Nine Phoenix explained.

Xu Hei appeared unmoved, but his heart was pounding.

He hadn’t expected this seemingly ordinary black trunk to have such a prestigious background, envied even by Divine Transformation stage cultivators.

”Why didn’t you tell me earlier?” Xu Hei asked.

”You never asked me!” Jiang Nine Phoenix retorted with a cold snort, hands on her hips. ”Besides, the Divine Wutong Tree looks just like any ordinary spiritual wood; most people wouldn’t recognize it. Even if you were hunted down, wouldn’t that be fine?”

”...” Xu Hei fell silent.

He had no words to counter her.

”Of course, I meant before,” Jiang Nine Phoenix added.

Previously, she indeed found Xu Hei quite detestable, wishing for him to be taken down by a Divine Transformation stage cultivator. But now, she couldn’t bring herself to hate him.

Xu Hei said nothing.

From her description, Xu Hei realized he couldn’t utilize the Divine Wutong Tree for now. No wonder he couldn’t refine it no matter what; it turned out to be something from the list of heavenly treasures.

In terms of knowledge, this woman was indeed far superior to him, given her background from an ancient family.

”By the way, back in Liefeng City, were you controlled by someone named Tu Sen?” Jiang Nine Phoenix suddenly asked.