Serpent Ancestor
Chapter 488: Insect swarm encirclement

The cat was merely a formation spirit. After being saved by Xu Hei back in the day, it inexplicably regarded him as its husband, leaving Xu Hei quite speechless.

"Don't call me husband; we don't have that kind of relationship," Xu Hei said.

"But that's what everyone in the Melodic Sect calls it," the spirit cat replied.

"They are them, and I am me. Just call me by my name," Xu Hei said helplessly.

The spirit cat had to agree once more.

As for why it was "once more," it was because this wasn't the first time Xu Hei had corrected it.

When Xu Hei initially saved her, he intended to release her in a deserted place, but as a formation spirit, she would dissipate without a host.

Although he and September were paired up by Hei Huang's matchmaking, Xu Hei couldn't bear to just abandon her to her doom.

Xu Hei pondered for a moment and suddenly came up with an idea. He asked, "When my magical treasure is complete, would you be willing to become an artifact spirit?"

Huangfu Duanlong excelled in artifact refining, and his inherited memories contained extremely advanced ancient artifact refining techniques, including a section on artifact spirits.

Xu Hei had just acquired a method to integrate September into a magical treasure, turning her into an artifact spirit. If she cultivated successfully, she might have a chance to attain the Dao in the future.

"Great! As long as I can help you, I'll do anything!" September exclaimed excitedly.

Hearing this address, Xu Hei was too exhausted to persuade her further and could only shake his head and sigh. He asked, "What's your name?"

"Husband, my name is September, like the ninth month, and the moon," September said excitedly.

"My name is Xu Hei. From now on, just call me Xu Hei, remember, don't get it wrong again," Xu Hei repeatedly instructed.

"Okay, okay, Xu Hei," September promised once more.

At this moment, Xu Hei turned his gaze to the Fire Phoenix Seal above.

After a year and a half of seclusion, it was time to break out.

In this year and a half, not only had he made breakthroughs in his cultivation, but his knowledge had also vastly improved, thanks to the memory inheritance of a Divine Transformation cultivator, especially in the study of magical treasures.

For instance, Xu Hei had found three ways to break the Fire Phoenix Seal above him.

Xu Hei immediately focused his mind and created four external incarnations, positioning them at four different locations.

Then, he took out a material called ink crystal stone, approached the Fire Phoenix Seal, melted the material, and integrated it directly into the seal.

This was a refining technique inherited from Huangfu Duanlong, called the Four Symbols Heaven Forging Art.

It harnessed the power of the four symbols of heaven and earth to refine and strengthen a magical treasure. Of course, with Xu Hei's current strength, it was impossible to succeed. His purpose was merely to disrupt the structure of the Fire Phoenix Seal and dismantle its function.

After an hour, the Fire Phoenix Seal, having absorbed the ink crystal stone, suddenly began to tremble spontaneously. Countless impurities shook loose, and the sound of thunderous roars faintly echoed within the seal.

"Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!"

Suddenly, four flames surged out, striking Xu Hei's four external incarnations, incinerating them completely, leaving no trace behind.

At that moment, the space originally sealed by the Fire Phoenix Seal showed signs of chaos.

Xu Hei acted decisively, crushing a Small Teleportation Talisman, moving a hundred feet away, successfully escaping the suppression range.

"Success!" Xu Hei was overjoyed.

The space was constantly compressed, and the Small Teleportation Talisman could only move a hundred feet, but as long as he could escape the Fire Phoenix Seal's constraints, it was enough.

With this move, Xu Hei successfully escaped the suppression seal.

The external pressure was much less than inside, and Xu Hei felt like a fish in water, shedding his shackles, feeling light and free, and couldn't help but burst into joyous laughter.

A year and a half of tempering his physical body had long adapted Xu Hei to the harsh underground environment.

With his cultivation breakthrough, his speed using Earth Concealment Escape was now more than twice as fast as before.

Xu Hei glanced at the Fire Phoenix Seal, pondered for a moment, but still had no intention of taking it. With his current means, although he was confident he could take it, the risk was too great.

Firstly, it would cause too much commotion; secondly, he might get injured; thirdly, he would be hunted afterward.

There was no need to take such a risk.

Xu Hei once again used Ever-changing Fish and Dragon, transforming into a human form, but no longer with an average face, instead appearing slightly darker, similar to Wang Ding.

He leaped upward, heading towards the magma above.

After about a stick of incense, he burst out of the magma, reaching the rock layer.

Compared to before, Xu Hei's speed was faster, his movements more agile, but upon reaching the rock layer, he deliberately slowed down, suppressing his cultivation to the early Elemental Infant stage.

"When I broke through earlier, I took out Supreme Spirit Stones, causing quite a commotion. If the Insect Emperor is here, it would surely notice, and I must be cautious."

Xu Hei proceeded cautiously, maintaining his speed consistent with before the breakthrough.

Even his divine sense only spread out to a hundred feet, but his sixth sense for danger was always on high alert.

As time passed, Xu Hei indeed sensed a hint of danger; there was danger above!

It seemed he had underestimated the Insect Emperor's strength; Ji Ying hadn't dealt with it. However, Ji Ying wasn't dead; if it were, Xu Hei would have sensed it.

"What's going on with Ji Ying? Could it have run away?" Xu Hei squinted his eyes, slowing his pace.

He had a certain range of control over Ji Ying. Beyond that range, even he couldn't retrieve it. If it had indeed run away, unless they met again, Xu Hei would have no way to deal with it.

Xu Hei grew suspicious, slowly approaching upward.

He sent out an external incarnation to scout ahead, but after advancing a thousand feet, it suddenly lost contact, as if erased by some divine sense attack.

Even in death, his incarnation transmitted a piece of information back; it saw countless Spirit-Eating Ants hidden in the soil.

"As expected, it's the Insect Emperor!"

Xu Hei's face darkened, and he immediately retreated.

The swarm was too numerous to confront head-on; the opponent was a presence that even Elemental Infant stage Great Perfection cultivators feared. If Xu Hei dared to charge head-on, he'd likely be devoured without a trace.

At present, he had only one option: to detour.

Avoid this area, no matter how much time it took, he absolutely couldn't proceed directly upward.

Xu Hei changed direction, heading east, towards the outskirts of the Divine King's Hall.

After a stick of incense.

Suddenly, Xu Hei sensed great danger ahead and immediately stopped.

He changed direction again, heading south, but moments later, it was the same.

Next, he tried north and west, but each time he sensed danger, surrounded by swarms on all sides.

"Am I surrounded?" Xu Hei's face stiffened.

His intuition for danger was very sharp. He tried all four directions and sensed danger each time, especially above.

It seemed the Insect Emperor had set up a net-like trap, like an overturned bowl, waiting for Xu Hei to fall into it.