Serpent Ancestor
Chapter 440: The three-year period has ended, the Dragon King returns

The dragon-like roar abruptly silenced all the excitement and joy, leaving the entire venue in stunned silence.

The Overlord Cauldron, a fourth-tier magical treasure, had been cracked by a single roar. Who was this snake? Clearly only at the Core Formation stage, yet its combat strength was not inferior to that of an Elemental Infant cultivator.

Xiang Fei fell into a deep pit, not seriously injured, but looking quite disheveled with his hair in disarray.

He knew that Xu Hei had shown mercy.

"This is not a mess I want to get involved in!"

Xiang Fei realized that the other party was issuing a warning.

It was true that the Xiang family's overlord was an Elemental Infant cultivator and had generals at the Elemental Infant stage under his command. But to oppose at least three Elemental Infant cultivators for the Snake Catchers Sect was suicidal.

They had come at the wrong time, coincidentally when the Snake Catchers Sect was being attacked. It was just bad luck.

However, he had investigated and found that the Snake Catchers Sect had not provoked any strong enemies in recent years and had become weak. Where did this group of snake demons come from?

"The Snake Catchers Sect is facing a great calamity today, please, ancestral spirits, reveal yourselves!"

Ye Hua did not give up. She spat out a mouthful of blood, drawing strange runes in the air, and pressed them onto the ground. Her flesh quickly withered.

"Please, ancestral spirits, reveal yourselves!"

The other elders also spat blood, drawing runes in their palms and pressing them onto the ground, their bodies withering as well.

Suddenly, a fierce wind blew within the Snake Catchers Sect, wailing and howling, dark clouds gathering, as if countless heroic souls were drifting in from distant mountains.

This was the burial ground of the ancestral spirits, where not only the ancestors of the Snake Catchers Sect were buried, but also ancient powerhouses from the Dragon Subduing Sect era.

Xu Hei did not intervene. He wanted to see what tricks the Snake Catchers Sect would pull.

Before long, pairs of green, ghostly shadows appeared in the cloud-covered sky, descending rapidly onto the elders of the Snake Catchers Sect and merging with them.

The aura of these elders surged, reaching the Great Perfection of the Core Formation stage, with two of them reaching the early Elemental Infant stage.

Ye Hua's cultivation was still rising, seemingly about to break through the mid-Elemental Infant stage and reach the late stage.

"Senior Huangfu Duanlong, I have already given them a chance, but they did not cherish it!" Xu Hei sighed inwardly.

Survival of the fittest, from the mortal world to the cultivation world, is an eternal law.

The Snake Catchers Sect caught snakes and slaughtered them like livestock. Now that the snakes were coming for them, it was only natural.

"Ah!!"

Ye Hua suddenly screamed in agony. She could not withstand the influx of cultivation, and her meridians began to rupture, spraying blood. Instead of advancing to the late Elemental Infant stage, she regressed.

An early Elemental Infant cultivator, even with external help to forcibly elevate their cultivation, needed strong meridians to support it, or they would explode and die.

Xu Hei's hand shot out like a flood dragon, pressing onto Ye Hua's forehead.

"Die!"

True essence surged from his palm, and Ye Hua's head exploded like a watermelon, blood splattering everywhere.

"Netherworld Poison Spring!"

"Bone-Piercing Sword!"

Two other Elemental Infant cultivators attacked simultaneously. One unleashed a poisonous spring, surging wildly, while the other stabbed a bone-piercing sword straight at Xu Hei's spine.

Their target was clear: to kill Xu Hei, even if it meant dying, they had to slay one snake!

"Earth Armor!"

Xu Hei's robe shattered, revealing his true form, a one-horned snake. The White Tooth Armor unfolded, enveloping his body, with a thick layer of yellow-brown keratin covering the surface, like muscles between bones, perfectly protecting Xu Hei.

This was the White Tooth Armor combined with the earth-type divine ability "Earth Shield."

A fourth-tier magical treasure and a fourth-tier divine ability, Xu Hei was fully armed, with absolute defense! When the attacks from the two Elemental Infant cultivators arrived, he merely trembled slightly, absorbing the terrifying defensive force without even a ripple.

The Netherworld Poison Spring only corroded a bit of the surface, and the Bone-Piercing Sword left only a shallow mark.

"What?!"

The two were dumbfounded.

The entire audience was stunned.

Even Hai Teng and the other teammates were shocked by Xu Hei's defensive methods. They had expected Xu Hei to handle it, but not with such ease.

He remained completely unmoved, as if bitten by a mosquito.

At this moment, deep fear rose in the hearts of the Snake Catchers Sect members. The terrifying thing was not that the opponent was too strong, but that there was no hope of winning!

How could they fight this?

"I know now, it's you, you're the snake that escaped three years ago!"

Suddenly, a Snake Catchers Sect elder seemed to recall something, pulling out a wanted poster from back then. Comparing it to Xu Hei, he instantly realized.

Everyone understood.

It was him, Xu Hei, the snake demon that had escaped from Yanluo River, the one who had killed nearly all their elders and disciples three years ago!

Three years, the time had come, and he had returned for revenge!

No wonder he hated the Snake Catchers Sect so much, wanting to disband the entire sect. It was him.

Back then, Xu Hei was like a stray dog. Today, he returned like a dragon king, unstoppable!

"Run!"

After their failed attack, the two Elemental Infant cultivators did not hesitate, using their temporarily elevated cultivation to flee, even burning their physical bodies.

"Sky-Tearing Claw!"

Xu Hei's abdomen revealed a pair of claws, striking with lightning speed onto the two's backs.

"Thud! Thud!"

Their bodies were pierced through, then shattered into pieces.

"Whoosh!"

Suddenly, an Elemental Infant shot out from Ye Hua's corpse, rushing straight at Xu Hei, rapidly expanding.

This was Ye Hua's long-awaited final strike, waiting for Xu Hei to expose his back while pursuing the two. Xu Hei had just made his move to kill, leaving him no time to react!

"Boom!!!"

Ye Hua's Elemental Infant self-destructed, exploding three meters behind Xu Hei, creating a sky-high wave of clouds, shaking the entire Snake Catchers Sect as if the heavens were collapsing.

The self-destruction of an Elemental Infant cultivator was terrifying. Ye Hua was willing to sacrifice everything to kill Xu Hei, even blowing up her Elemental Infant.

However, even without self-destruction, she wouldn't have lived long.

Although this strike might not kill Xu Hei, a Core Formation stage cultivator facing an Elemental Infant self-destruction would at least lose half their life.

Everyone watched from afar, their eyes fixed on the explosion's center.

As the shockwave gradually dissipated, a thousand-meter-wide crater appeared at the explosion site, with Xu Hei's figure slowly emerging at the center.

Xu Hei still stood at the original spot, unmoved, his posture unchanged. Behind him, a massive sand dune had formed, blocking the explosion's front.

This sand dune had been mostly blown apart, and the Earth Armor behind Xu Hei had some cracks, with a faint burnt smell.

Yet, he remained unscathed.

Not a single scratch was visible, leaving everyone numb.

"What kind of defense is this?" Ji Ying was dumbfounded.

He wondered, even if he were present, it would be impossible to withstand an Elemental Infant's self-destruction at such close range without a scratch.

Hai Teng fell silent, Xiang Fei was completely stunned, and Xu Bai was in a daze.

Too strong!

Xu Hei's strength was beyond imagination, but for the Snake Catchers Sect members, it was despair!

Even the self-destruction of the twelfth ancestor couldn't harm Xu Hei in the slightest. What was the point of staying to fight? What value did their sacrifice have?

They were wrong, thinking Xu Hei, at the Core Formation stage, was the weakest among the four, but he was the most outrageous.

"Run!"

"Quick, run!"

Someone shouted, and the Snake Catchers Sect members, from elders to disciples, all fled in panic, not daring to stay for even a second.

They had heard Xu Hei say before that disbanding would give them a chance to live, and now they could only hope to save their lives.

Unfortunately, it was too late!

"Isn't it too late to run now?"

Ji Ying had already made preparations. He hadn't acted before, secretly setting up an inescapable net, not letting anyone escape.

"Nine-Headed Sky Net!"

Ji Ying shouted, and nine slender black snakes appeared in the sky, intertwining to form a web-like formation.

Within the Nine-Headed Sky Net, everyone was stuck like flies on a spider's web, unable to move, even the strongest elders were bound, unable to escape.

"Nine Shadow Kill!"

Ji Ying formed a hand seal, and the nine black snakes all moved, pouncing on those trapped in the formation, swallowing the disciples and elders one by one.

As a descendant of the Nine-Headed Snake, Ji Ying was naturally no saint, devouring people without leaving a trace, not an exaggeration.

There was no mercy for these demon hunters, regardless of age or gender, all were swallowed whole.

The slaughter was underway.

This place was left to Ji Ying to handle.

Xu Hei said nothing, flying towards the depths of the Snake Catchers Sect.

Hai Teng had no interest in bullying the weak, following behind Xu Hei. He noticed that the Snake Catchers Sect had an ancient tomb, hoping to encounter some strong opponents.

As Xu Hei flew, his divine sense probed underground.

He discovered that the place where snake demons were bred was not just outside, but also inside, though concealed by formations, making it difficult to fully perceive.

Even now, some disciples were in seclusion, devouring snake demons for cultivation, unaware of the impending disaster.

Xu Hei couldn't be bothered with these ants, releasing Ji Ying to devour them one by one.

"I've read about the Snake Catchers Sect in books. It seems to be a sect passed down since ancient times, it should have some foundation." Hai Teng muttered.

He had never been to the Central Divine Continent, his knowledge limited to books.

Moments later, Xu Hei arrived at the tomb of the Snake Catchers Sect.

At the entrance of the tomb, there was a pavilion with three words inscribed: Dragon Subduing Pavilion.

The Dragon Subduing Pavilion was where the Snake Catchers Sect exchanged treasures, requiring sect merits, similar to the Treasure Pavilion in the Penglai Sea.

The foundation of a sect could be seen by the number of treasures in its Treasure Pavilion.

However, this pavilion was heavily shielded by formations, even Xu Hei's divine sense couldn't penetrate it. Hai Teng frowned, deep in thought.

Xu Hei resisted the urge to attack the place, releasing an external incarnation, transforming into a human form, and entering the Dragon Subduing Pavilion.

The Dragon Subduing Pavilion had three floors, corresponding to the Qi Refining stage, Foundation Establishment stage, and Core Formation stage. It displayed various treasures, pills, talismans, and magical artifacts.

As Xu Hei entered the first-floor hall, his gaze fixed on an old man in the corner, sweeping the floor with a broom.

The old man was hunched, with white whiskers, a bald head, dressed in coarse cloth, and appeared unremarkable. Occasionally, he bent down to wipe the corners of the walls, even though they were spotless, he continued the action.

"You two aren't disciples of the Snake Catchers Sect, what brings you to the Dragon Subduing Pavilion?"

The bald old man didn't lift his head, speaking plainly as he continued to wipe the dust.

Xu Hei and Hai Teng's pupils suddenly contracted, they couldn't sense this person's cultivation level.