Serpent Ancestor

”Old dog, bear with it for now. I’ll make it up to you later. Once I recover enough to open the storage bag, I’ll help you recover too.”

Xu Hei swung Hei Huang around with a chain and flung him towards the distant swarm of sandworms.

Hei Huang traced a parabolic arc through the air and landed right in the middle of the worm pile.

”Argh!”

With a miserable howl, sandworms from all directions swarmed over, biting into Hei Huang. In no time, over twenty of them covered his entire body.

Xu Hei pulled the chain back, dragging Hei Huang along with more than twenty sandworms clinging to him.

Before the sandworms could escape, Xu Hei opened his mouth and inhaled, swallowing them all whole.

”Ah, refreshing!”

Xu Hei shouted with satisfaction. It was like fishing—casting bait to catch a school of fish, then reeling them in to feast. It was incredibly gratifying.

”It’s just a bit of flesh pain. I gave you an Ascension Token! Don’t make that face. Besides, once I recover enough to use the storage bag, you’ll recover faster too. What’s the harm?”Seeing Hei Huang’s sour expression, Xu Hei quickly tried to console him.

”Argh!”

Hei Huang responded with a snap of his canine teeth.

Hei Huang suddenly realized that Xu Hei had learned all his tricks, even his shameless methods.

He might not be human, but Xu Hei was truly a dog!

Xu Hei ignored his thoughts and continued his worm-fishing operation.

”Huh? Why are there fewer sandworms?”

”Look over there!”

Before long, Xu Hei’s activities caught everyone’s attention.

What they saw shocked them.

Xu Hei held a chain with a black dog at the end, swinging it into the worm swarm. Each time, he pulled back over twenty sandworms, which he then swallowed whole.

”Who is this person, eating even sandworms?”

Everyone gasped.

Gu Qianqian, being an alchemist, knew the properties of sandworms. They were only useful for medicine and couldn’t be eaten directly.

Sandworms contained a highly concentrated desolate aura. Eating too many would cause one’s skin to turn to sand, flesh to separate, and death to be gruesome.

Yet Xu Hei’s swift methods made killing sandworms seem as easy as reaching into a bag. Eating them didn’t affect him at all—he was a freak!

”It seems we’ve saved someone extraordinary,” Gu Qianqian murmured.

”Impressive,” Yun Ling said, shaking his fan with brief but powerful words.

”Can’t you say more than a few words?” Xu Yanran looked at him.

”A talent worth recruiting,” Yun Ling replied.

”...” Everyone was speechless.

Xu Hei’s good fortune didn’t last long.

Hei Huang suddenly exerted force, biting through the chain, ending Xu Hei’s villainous spree.

But by now, the sandworms had retreated, leaving only a few behind, with nothing much to gain.

”Xu Hei, damn it, I misjudged you. You’re worse than a pig or dog!”

”Brother Hei, I was wrong. How about a sixty-forty split in the future? You take sixty!”

”Screw off! Give me a hundred Supreme Spirit Stones right now, or this isn’t over!”

Hei Huang stood with one hand on his hip, legs straight, pointing at Xu Hei’s nose and barking incessantly.

Xu Hei patiently explained.

The people watching from afar were stunned. This black dog could speak human language and had become a spirit.

However, such occurrences weren’t uncommon in the Spirit Realm.

At this moment, the sandworms had completely retreated, the fierce winds had died down, the dark clouds dispersed, and the sun reappeared.

The crowd gathered around, their gazes at Xu Hei noticeably different from before.

”Fellow Daoist Xu, your divine abilities are vast. We were negligent before; please don’t take offense!” Xu Yanran cupped her fists.

”No worries, it was just a casual act,” Xu Hei waved dismissively, ”About the matter of being a servant disciple...”

”Naturally, it doesn’t count,” Gu Qianqian smiled, ”Fellow Daoist Xu’s abilities are no less than ours. How could you be a servant disciple? If you wish, the position of elder...”

”Stop, stop!” Xu Hei quickly waved his hand, ”Traveling with you is fate enough. If within my power, I can help once, but beyond that, I must decline.”

These people were mere acquaintances with low cultivation. There wouldn’t be much interaction in the future, and Xu Hei had already given them enough face.

Helping once more was Xu Hei’s limit.

”Hey! We saved your life. It’s one thing not to repay us, but how can you be so ungrateful?”

Suddenly, a disciple in a green robe shouted.

”Fang Ze, let it go. Not everyone is like us,” a woman beside him advised.

Fang Ze was a cultivator at the Great Perfection of the Foundation Establishment Stage, equivalent to the pinnacle among mortals, second only to the three core members.

Xu Hei frowned slightly but didn’t argue with him.

”Exactly, Xu Hei, they’re your saviors. You should stay and repay them forever!”

Someone else chimed in, but it was a dog speaking—Hei Huang was stirring the pot.

”Damn you!” Xu Hei cursed inwardly.

Saviors, my foot. Even without them, Xu Hei could recover slowly, just taking a bit more time. Agreeing to help once was already enough.

”Brother Fang Ze, great minds think alike! Xu Hei should stay!”

Hei Huang walked over to Fang Ze, extending a paw to put an arm around him, but he was too short and could only reach his waist.

Fang Ze was visibly uncomfortable, his face alternating between green and red, wanting to avoid but unable to.

He had witnessed the dog’s strength, and previously, he was among those who wanted to eat dog meat.

”In my opinion, why not have your two female elders forcibly marry Xu Hei as a son-in-law? If he refuses, just drug him! Elder Gu Qianqian, I’m proficient in an ultimate divine medicine that can even make wood stand up!” Hei Huang spoke outrageously.

Gu Qianqian’s face turned crimson, red to the neck, wishing she could find a hole to hide in.

Xu Hei’s face darkened.

He suddenly realized that offending Hei Huang wasn’t wise! Once this guy recovered his cultivation, he’d easily set him up.

Drugging was something he could definitely do!

”Shameless,” Yun Ling shook his head.

”Ah!!”

Suddenly, a blood-curdling scream echoed, accompanied by a crunching sound.

Fang Ze, who was shoulder-to-shoulder with Hei Huang, was suddenly bitten in the throat, twisted violently, his neck snapped, and his head rolled to the ground.

Fang Ze fell to the ground, blood flowing, dead.

Everyone was stunned.

Hei Huang’s sudden attack caught everyone off guard, leaving no time for rescue. Fang Ze was already dead.

The three core members acted swiftly, immediately taking out magical treasures to surround Hei Huang, including Xu Hei.

”What do you mean?” Yun Ling asked coldly.

Everyone stared at Xu Hei and Hei Huang, ready to strike at any moment to kill them both!

”A bunch of fools, being played and not even knowing it,” Hei Huang sneered.