Serpent Ancestor

Xu Hei swept his Divine Sense over the area and indeed discovered that the spider silk had the effect of blocking Divine Sense; he couldn’t sense even the slightest trace of it.

Although the Night Demon Wings had a similar effect, their main advantage was speed. As for stealth, they were effective against those of the same level, but couldn’t fool someone a level higher. For instance, Shi Lan had once discovered Xu Hei under the Night Demon Wings.

But if the two were combined, they could probably easily deceive a mid-stage Divine Transformation cultivator.

”What amazing spider silk!” Xu Hei was secretly delighted and immediately asked, ”Is there any more?”

”No more. I just reached Divine Transformation and accumulated only this much. Now there’s not a drop left!” Bai Zhi replied.

Xu Hei was helpless; he had hoped to layer several more, wearing seven or eight sets, which might enhance the stealth even further.

”If you want more, give me two Supreme Spirit Stones. If I’m in a good mood, I might be able to squeeze out a bit more,” Bai Zhi said, raising her head.

”Forget it, pretend I didn’t ask,” Xu Hei said.

Next, Xu Hei inquired about the changes Bai Zhi experienced after reaching Divine Transformation, such as her needs.

”My needs are mainly Supreme Spirit Stones. Give me one, and I can produce ten thousand mutated Spirit-Eating Ants. Additionally, heavenly materials and earthly treasures like Demon Blood Vine, Millennium Earth Essence, Nine-Curve Spirit Ginseng, Ice Fire Snow Lotus, Twin Lotus, and the like can also be useful. I can produce all kinds of spirit insects...” Bai Zhi rambled on endlessly, making Xu Hei feel a bit dizzy.The names of the spirit medicines she mentioned were completely unfamiliar to Xu Hei. Even if he had heard of one or two, they were ancient fifth-grade spirit medicines recorded in ancient texts, long extinct.

”You really have a big appetite. Aren’t you afraid of bursting?” Xu Hei said sarcastically.

Bai Zhi wasn’t pleased to hear this. She put her hands on her hips and glared, ”If you think it’s too expensive, just let me go.”

Let her go? Xu Hei would never let her go, even if it meant holding onto her forever.

However, speaking of Spirit Stones, Xu Hei had indeed accumulated quite a few, as many as twenty-five Supreme Spirit Stones.

For any Divine Transformation cultivator, this was a massive fortune.

Don’t be fooled by Zhao Nanqi’s easy compensation of ten Supreme Spirit Stones to Xu Hei; most of them were cobbled together and borrowed from others.

Even a mid-stage Divine Transformation cultivator might not be as wealthy as he was.

If he invested them all in Bai Zhi, he could produce 250,000 Spirit-Eating Ants, multiplying the current number several times over.

Just thinking about it made one’s scalp tingle!

However, Xu Hei wouldn’t put all his eggs in one basket. Spirit-Eating Ants weren’t omnipotent; there might be cultivators who could restrain them.

”Actually, there’s another way that doesn’t require those heavenly materials and earthly treasures to strengthen my spirit insects,” Bai Zhi suddenly said.

”Oh? What is it?” Xu Hei asked curiously.

”You find other powerful spirit insects and let me devour them. Not only will my own cultivation improve, but the spirit insects I produce will also mutate, gaining various extraordinary abilities. This is better than any heavenly materials and earthly treasures,” Bai Zhi said slowly.

These words made Xu Hei’s heart skip a beat.

Devouring, indeed, it was still about devouring! Devouring others’ primordial spirits to repair his own, devouring other spirit insects to strengthen his own.

This aligned perfectly with the laws of heaven Xu Hei had comprehended.

The rules of the world were just like that.

Xu Hei suddenly remembered that he had once discovered a small batch of Spirit-Eating Ants underground in Wu Mountain, but he hadn’t investigated further because Hei Huang had dragged him away.

Although there might not be powerful spirit insects, it was worth checking out.

Xu Hei immediately set off, crossing the East Sea, and in less than half a day, he reached the other side of Divine Continent Star, the Central Divine Continent.

Relying on the location in his memory, Xu Hei found the abandoned mine cave by Yanluo River.

After more than a hundred years, the mountains and rivers here had changed dramatically. Xu Hei swept his Divine Sense into the mine cave and suddenly frowned, making a sound of surprise.

”Huh?”

Xu Hei descended into the mine pit.

Back then, Xu Hei could only dive about fifty meters into the mine pit, and Hei Huang had discovered the Spirit-Eating Ants at a depth of a hundred meters.

Now, the Spirit-Eating Ants he had found back then were all gone. Xu Hei’s Divine Sense continued downward, and when he reached ten thousand miles deep, he discovered a deeply hidden spiritual vein.

However, this spiritual vein was surrounded by a Restriction that concealed its Spiritual Qi. If it weren’t for Xu Hei’s Divine Sense at the Divine Transformation stage, it would have been hard to detect.

”Something’s strange.”

Xu Hei immediately used Earth Concealment Escape and headed downward.

The deeper he went, the more solid the rock layers became, reinforced with a Metal Stone Technique, making the rocks as hard as metal. This made Xu Hei even more curious, and he sped up, quickly reaching the edge of the spiritual vein.

This spiritual vein was like a coiled earth dragon, stretching ten thousand feet long, extending southeast from here. It was a high-grade spiritual vein.

A high-grade spiritual vein that had never been mined.

Xu Hei hadn’t expected that there would be a spiritual vein hidden here.

As for the Restriction here, Xu Hei hadn’t broken it yet. If he did, the Spiritual Qi would quickly leak out.

”Wherever there’s a spiritual vein, there’s a high chance a Divine Transformation cultivator has passed away, and over the years, a spiritual vein would naturally form.”

”Judging by the scale of this spiritual vein, the cultivation of the one who passed away must have been quite high,” Xu Hei thought to himself.

Xu Hei reached the edge of the Restriction and easily broke through it. This Restriction had been here for countless millennia and no longer held its former power.

Suddenly, as Xu Hei entered, the spiritual vein in front of him began to shake violently.

Countless tiny white dots flew out from the surface of the spiritual vein, and upon closer inspection, they were milky white little insects.

Because their color matched the spiritual vein and they were within the Restriction, they were adept at camouflage, so even Xu Hei hadn’t noticed them.

”My heavens!” Xu Hei gasped.

Although these white insects were not of high grade and could only pose a threat to the Core Formation stage, the sheer number...

Hundreds of thousands, millions, tens of millions...

This couldn’t be measured in tens of thousands; it had to be in billions!

Xu Hei couldn’t even count how many billions there were.

Such a vast number, accumulated over countless millennia of reproduction, could drag even a Great Perfection Elemental Infant stage cultivator to death if surrounded by these insects.

Too many, absurdly many, enough to make one’s scalp tingle.

The white insects noticed Xu Hei’s presence and rose from the spiritual vein in unison. The spiritual vein, which had been as long as a giant dragon, immediately shrank by a circle.

They were all white insects clinging to it, creating such a massive illusion.

These insects rushed toward Xu Hei without hesitation, ignoring the obstruction of the earth as if flying through the air, moving at a speed comparable to the Elemental Infant stage.

Naturally, Xu Hei couldn’t be caught, but he didn’t flee either.

”Bai Zhi, what kind of insects are these?” Xu Hei asked.

”I’ve never seen them before, how would I know?”

”You’re an Insect Emperor, and you don’t know?” Xu Hei was taken aback.

”Can you naturally recognize other flood dragons?” Bai Zhi retorted.

”...” Xu Hei was speechless.

”However, I can sense that there’s an insect queen similar to me within this spiritual vein. I can feel her presence.”

As Bai Zhi was speaking, she suddenly changed her tone, ”No, there isn’t just one queen.”