Serpent Ancestor

Xu Hei broke through the underground tunnel and emerged onto the surface.

He spread out his Divine Sense, extending it within a five-mile radius, and found himself in an unfamiliar place.

Towering mountains and steep ridges, desolate and uninhabited.

"Where am I?"

Xu Hei's face was full of confusion as he took out the map of the Southern Region for comparison. After looking at it for a long time, he was still at a loss.

Before he lost consciousness, he had been dizzy and disoriented, unable to remember his bearings. He had just kept charging forward, not knowing where he had ended up.

The Southern Region was vast, and Xu Hei was certain he hadn't left its boundaries; he should still be within its range.

He took out a jade disk and checked it. Within a hundred-mile radius, there were no red dots indicating the presence of cultivators.

Xu Hei wandered around for a while, then flew into the sky to get a better view. There were no villages nearby, just mountains upon mountains.

He was lost.

However, as a demonic beast with rich survival experience, he knew that finding a river would lead him to a village. This was the simplest method.

Once he found a village, he could use the map to find his way out.

He didn't stay in the air for long and landed on the ground. A leopard demon saw him and, terrified, its fur stood on end as it fled in panic.

Xu Hei didn't release any of his cultivation power, appearing just like an ordinary snake. But he had killed too many people and had experienced life and death multiple times, giving him an aura of ferocity.

This aura made ordinary predators not dare to approach him.

Xu Hei pounced and swallowed the leopard demon.

Not long after, Xu Hei found a small stream and followed it downstream.

He found a piece of floating wood to lie on and entered a state of cultivation, not wasting a single moment. At the same time, Xu Hei spread out his Divine Sense, ready to stop drifting as soon as he detected human presence.

Unknowingly, two days passed.

Along the way, there wasn't a single human figure, and Xu Hei had no idea where he was.

On the third day at dawn, Xu Hei smelled the fragrance of peach blossoms.

He looked up and saw that the stream had flowed into a peach grove. The grass was lush, the petals were falling, the water was clear and transparent, fish swam in the shallow waters—an incredibly beautiful scene that made him feel a sense of tranquility and peace. ꞦἁꞐօ฿Ès̈

Such a scene, whether viewed from a human or demonic beast's perspective, was breathtakingly beautiful, like a painting.

As time passed, the hostility in Xu Hei's heart unknowingly disappeared.

This hostility had grown during his constant killing, and even Xu Hei himself hadn't realized it.

The floating wood continued to drift, and the Spiritual Qi of heaven and earth gradually became denser.

During this process, Xu Hei felt very at ease, as if lying in an absolutely safe house, not needing to be on guard or worry about being killed. The hostility disappeared, and so did the ferocity.

Suddenly, Xu Hei thought of a problem.

"Wait, it's winter now, how can peach blossoms be blooming?"

Xu Hei shivered, his eyes snapped open, and he shot out of the stream like lightning.

He stared at the peach grove on both banks, filled with suspicion.

The Spiritual Qi here was dense, and since entering this place, he had felt very comfortable, his body and mind bathed in tranquility, making him unconsciously want to relax.

For Xu Hei, this was not a good sign.

Xu Hei looked at the strange peach grove and then at the end of the stream, where a cave seemed to appear. But when he used his Divine Sense to probe, he found nothing.

This made Xu Hei instantly tense.

He had heard some rumors that some cultivators, to avoid war, would retreat to deep mountains and forests, creating a paradise to live out their years in peace, away from the world.

The mindset of a cultivator could also affect the environment, washing away killing intent and irritability, leaving only peace.

Xu Hei thought it best to stay away from such unknown things.

He quickly retraced his steps and left along the stream. Once he was far away, that feeling of ease disappeared, and he was back in the jungle.

Xu Hei let out a long breath.

"Phew! That place was truly strange, affecting the mind without one realizing it."

"However, that sense of peace and tranquility was unprecedented. I feel much lighter."

Xu Hei reminisced for a moment, took a deep look back at the end of the peach grove, sighed, and turned to leave.

After he had completely left, the peach grove vanished as if it had never existed.

Recalling the cave he hadn't entered, Xu Hei could imagine it must have been a paradise.

Xu Hei spotted a cat demon, restrained his aura, and crept up to it.

The cat demon stared at Xu Hei but didn't flee like the leopard. Instead, it bared its teeth and attacked.

Xu Hei flicked his tail, swiftly dodging to a distance.

"Even the ferocity in me is gone. That place is truly magical," Xu Hei thought to himself.

After hesitating for a moment, he turned back and swallowed the cat demon.

He had to be fair.

Xu Hei changed direction, moving away from the stream and heading in another direction.

To find a village, Xu Hei no longer hesitated and used Sword Flight. After three days, he finally spotted a human village at the edge of his vision.

Xu Hei immediately set off, flying a hundred miles to the village entrance.

The stone tablet at the entrance had two words: Ma Town.

"Ma Town..."

Xu Hei took out the map to identify it, but to his frustration, Ma Town wasn't on the map of the Southern Region!

There was only one possibility: this town was too remote to be officially recorded.

Even the war hadn't reached here.

In fact, Ma Town was a newly established settlement by refugees fleeing the disasters of the Qin Kingdom, located in an extremely remote area.

Originally, the people of Ma Town lived self-sufficiently, but the influx of refugees had overwhelmed the limited resources, leading to overcrowding.

The streets, the town outskirts, everywhere were beggars and refugees, with rotting corpses piling up in ditches, uncleaned.

"Please, give us something to eat!"

"I can wash clothes and chop wood, I can do anything, please take me in!"

"…"

Xu Hei's Divine Sense swept over the area, seeing refugees begging everywhere.

Some desperate people had turned to banditry, robbing and stealing, making Ma Town chaotic.

However, compared to places ravaged by war, where nine out of ten houses were empty, this place was still relatively better.

Xu Hei didn't plan to stay. He just wanted to ask for directions and leave.

He locked onto a Qi Refining Stage cultivator and transmitted a message: "Which part of the Southern Region is this?"

The cultivator was in seclusion and was startled by the sudden voice. He quickly stood up and respectfully replied, "Senior, this is the southwestern border. Eight hundred miles east is Liefeng City."

Xu Hei recalled the location of Liefeng City, nodded silently, and left immediately.

At that moment.

A melodious sound of a zither came from afar.

The music was enchanting, seemingly with an invisible power that could cleanse the soul and purify resentment. Many refugees, upon hearing the music, immediately showed happy smiles, as if bathed in sunlight.

They no longer felt hungry, no longer tired, all negative emotions vanished.

Xu Hei's eyes narrowed, and he sent out a mechanical puppet to the street.

At the end of the street, a luxurious long carriage was slowly approaching. A veiled woman sat on the carriage, playing a guzheng, while a group of maidservants walked ahead, scattering flower petals to clear the way.

"Join the Changle Sect, and attain eternal bliss!"

"Join the Changle Sect, and suffer no more pain!"

"Join the Changle Sect, and be free from illness and disaster!"

"…"

The maidservants chanted slogans as they walked.

Listening to the slogans and the music, both refugees and locals were filled with happiness, smiles on their faces, with no trace of negativity or despair.

Even the Qi Refining Stage cultivator Xu Hei had questioned was no longer tense or fearful, a smile on his face, looking serene.

Xu Hei felt something was off.

Without a word, he quickly left, sealing his ears and nose to avoid hearing the enchanting music.

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