Serpent Ancestor

The thunder tribulation lasted for the time it takes to burn a stick of incense before finally subsiding.

Chuyang City, the core area of the inner city.

The Heavenly Dragon Casino was reduced to ashes in an instant under the baptism of the thunder tribulation, leaving not even a trace behind. Every member was dead, without exception.

Even the formation guarding the place couldn't withstand a single breath before it exploded into fragments.

Several nearby palaces and auction houses were also affected, their formations destroyed, and the casualties were heavy.

Only the inner courtyard of the stone gambling house remained intact for some unknown reason.

Most of the buildings in the commercial district collapsed, turning into flat ground. The crowd was either dead, injured, or fleeing.

Looking around, only scorched earth remained.

This was thanks to Gongshu Lei's formation holding out for a moment. Otherwise, there wouldn't have been a single survivor in this area.

Of course, Xu Hei's ability to leave smoothly and still have the strength to run was also due to Gongshu Lei's formation.

Otherwise, even if Xu Hei didn't die, he would have been severely injured.

…………

Liu Ruyan, a Core Formation Stage cultivator, had all three of her defensive magical artifacts shattered the moment the thunder tribulation exploded. Her limbs were broken, and her body was charred black.

Using this brief moment of obstruction, she burned her Golden Core, raised a blood shield, and successfully used a life-saving Small Teleportation Talisman just before dying.

She teleported ten miles away, finally avoiding the core explosion area.

Although she had teleported away, burning her Golden Core cost her more than half of her cultivation. Her Golden Core shrank to the size of a fingernail, and her physical body suffered unprecedented damage.

Her spirit was also heavily impacted!

A lifetime of effort, gone!

The Heavenly Dragon Casino, gone, with not a single survivor. All her accumulated wealth, destroyed in an instant!

Even now, she felt like she was dreaming, unwilling to believe it all.

Her heart was filled with endless regret. If she had known, why did she listen to Ding Quan's nonsense and provoke that mysterious person?

Ding Quan said it was safe, so it was safe? How could she participate in what the big figures of the Heavenly Puppet Sect were playing?

"No!!"

Liu Ruyan, now just a body and head, wailed and fell from the sky, crashing onto a brick and fainting.

The commotion alerted two nearby cultivators.

These two were regulars at the Heavenly Dragon Casino, having lost all their property and fallen into debt. One of their wives was even forcibly sent to the Jiaofang Division. 𝘙ά𝐍𝘰𐌱Е𝐬

The other had his hand cut off and still couldn't afford treatment.

Their hatred for the Heavenly Dragon Casino was beyond words. They had been spreading so-called "rumors" that tarnished the casino's reputation.

Because of spreading "rumors," they were crippled by black-clothed people, and one even had his tongue cut out.

"Look, that person is..."

One of the cultivators, named Wang Dashuang, stared at the charred Liu Ruyan lying on the stone-paved road, reduced to just a head and torso.

"It's her, the master of the Heavenly Dragon Casino!"

The other person, who had his tongue cut out, used Divine Sense to transmit his voice.

The two exchanged a glance, their eyes flashing with immense anger, and without hesitation, they rushed towards Liu Ruyan.

Don't ask if it was rational; they had long been desperate. What reason did they have left?

"This person can't be killed easily; she must suffer endless torment!"

"Exactly! She caused us brothers such misery; we must repay her a hundredfold and not let her die easily!"

"First, cut off her tongue! Cripple her meridians!"

…………

Ding Quan's true body was kneeling in front of a large tree.

Under the tree was his mechanical dog, now reduced to a pile of coal.

"Woo woo woo, Da Huang, you died so miserably! Da Huang!"

Ding Quan cried his heart out.

He looked very young, under thirty, with a tall and handsome appearance, but in reality, he had lived for countless years.

This dog was a spirit beast he had raised since childhood, growing up with him. Later, when its lifespan ended, he refined it into a puppet, accompanying him in another form until now.

For Da Huang, he had spent a great deal of money to buy a Void Dog's nose to attach to Da Huang, giving it an extraordinary sense of smell, which brought him repeated profits.

Now, the dog was reduced to ashes.

Ding Quan, not far away, was also affected, but compared to his own injuries, he cared more about the dog.

"Da Huang, I swear, in this life, I will avenge you! I will capture that thief and cut him into a thousand pieces!"

Ding Quan's eyes were cold. With a wave of his hand, countless yellow dogs appeared everywhere.

Er Huang, San Huang, Si Huang, Wu Huang... all the way to Er Bai Ling Ba Huang.

They all looked exactly like Da Huang.

They had keen senses, though not as good as Da Huang's Void Dog nose, but they could still lock onto scents and track enemies for miles.

Ding Quan rode on Er Huang's back. At his command, all the yellow dogs began tracking outside the city.

Suddenly, Ba Huang barked twice, arriving at an alley entrance, barking madly inside as if it had smelled something.

Ding Quan raised an eyebrow and murmured, "Oh? I almost forgot, Liu Ruyan isn't dead yet."

…………

Xu Hei fled at lightning speed, escaping Chuyang City.

Xu Hei didn't relax, still running non-stop.

Liu Ruyan was definitely gone, but he feared there might be others behind.

If Liu Ruyan didn't have a backer, Xu Hei wouldn't believe she dared to target him.

He had hidden in Chuyang City, and they could accurately find his location, targeting every puppet's trail. Clearly, there was a powerful figure helping behind the scenes.

Xu Hei climbed for a day and night until his True Qi was exhausted, and his body was in unbearable pain before he stopped.

He had long left Chuyang City, reaching the edge of the Southern Region.

Xu Hei didn't deliberately leave a scent trail. This trick worked on young cultivators but was counterproductive for cunning senior cultivators, slowing him down and leaving future troubles.

"Erase the tracks, erase the scent."

Xu Hei took out the Invisibility Talisman left by Hei Huang, stuck on two, then swallowed a Breath Suppressing Pill and activated the Dust Cleansing Technique to remove impurities from his body.

Only then did he feel a bit more at ease.

After running all the way, his True Qi was exhausted.

Xu Hei found a river, pushed a tree into it, and climbed onto the trunk, drifting downstream.

This way, he could heal while on the move.

Xu Hei checked his gains from this trip.

Originally, he came to Chuyang City to sell stolen goods, spend some money, and buy enough supplies to return.

As a result, he entered with seventy thousand Spirit Stones and came out with eighty thousand.

He had gained an extra ten thousand.

Xu Hei shook his head helplessly. Sometimes, opportunities just coincided like that.

Here, he had to thank the Heavenly Dragon Casino for courting death and delivering such a wave of benefits.

With so many Spirit Stones, he couldn't just leave them be; he had to make good use of them.

After returning, Xu Hei planned to explore an ancient tomb marked on the map, looking for clues about the descendant of Gongshu, the key, and the mechanical box.

However, he needed to be fully prepared.

"I can't go alone; I need to call for help."

"Also, Han Te knows about that place. According to him, he went there with a group, but everyone died except him. Whether true or false, it must be extremely dangerous."

"With these eighty thousand Spirit Stones, I need to buy some life-saving items, as many as possible, preferably Small Teleportation Talismans."

Xu Hei pondered his next steps.

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