Serpent Ancestor

This must have been discovered by Zhou Wenjun within the ruins.

Unlike the ones Han Te sold before, this is a wooden box, likely originating from the land of wood.

Xu Hei glanced at the key, now two-tenths shorter, estimating it could still open eight more times.

These mechanism boxes should be plentiful within the ruins, so he needed to use them cautiously.

"Let's try opening one first."

Xu Hei inserted the key into the lock, and with a "click," the first wooden box opened.

As soon as it opened, the box vanished automatically, and a strong medicinal fragrance wafted out. Xu Hei quickly sealed it to prevent the loss of its potency.

Upon closer inspection, it was a pill the size of a dragon's eye, lush green and fragrant.

Xu Hei had never seen such a pill and didn't know its name, but just a whiff made him feel his cultivation loosening.

Xu Hei thought to himself, deeply admiring the creator of this mechanism box.

The medicinal herbs preserved in the Void Stones turned to dust over the ages, yet the box could preserve them for so long, still fragrant when opened.

Unfortunately, the box was single-use; once opened, it disappeared, or else Xu Hei could have studied it further.

Suddenly, the green pill before him began to wither at a visible rate.

Even with Xu Hei's seal, it continued to lose potency rapidly, as if it would vanish as soon as it saw the light of day.

Xu Hei's expression changed. Seeing the pill disappearing, he dared not hesitate and immediately opened his mouth to swallow it.

"Gulp!"

The pill melted as soon as it entered his mouth.

Swallowing an ancient pill was a risky move. Xu Hei didn't know its effects, but under these circumstances, he couldn't afford to waste it.

"Boom!!"

In an instant, Xu Hei's body trembled violently as the pill's Spiritual Qi formed whirlwinds, rushing through his meridians.

This Qi was vast and boundless, yet extremely pure, easily absorbed.

It was Spiritual Qi from ancient times.

In both quality and quantity, it far surpassed the modern era!

The whirlwind grew stronger, turning into a gale, then a hurricane, raging within his body, causing his meridians intense pain, his flesh to swell, as if his body might burst.

Blood seeped from his skin, dyeing his body red, even his bones resonated with a trembling sound.

"Damn! This is definitely a third-grade pill, meant for those above the Core Formation Stage, and I actually swallowed it!"

Xu Hei's heart was heavy, and he exerted all his strength to activate the Demon God Cauldron, compressing the violent Spiritual Qi.

"Suppress it for me!!"

Xu Hei roared inwardly.

The endless storm of Spiritual Qi was drawn into the Demon God Cauldron, yet the pain and swelling remained intense, his body echoing with booming sounds, like thunder, threatening to destroy his physical body. ȑΑƝƟВÊs̩

This pill was too powerful, definitely above third-grade.

And this was after losing some potency and being preserved for so many years. If it were at full strength, Xu Hei had no doubt that even a tiny bit would cause him to explode instantly.

This was a battle!

A battle between Xu Hei and the pill.

More and more Spiritual Qi emerged from the pill, and Xu Hei's body expanded at a terrifying speed.

He was only two and a half meters tall, yet within ten breaths, he swelled to ten meters, twenty meters...

He had become a balloon with a diameter of twenty meters.

This was Xu Hei's reinforced body; anyone else would have perished long ago. He was on the verge of exploding, even the Demon God Cauldron was struggling to suppress it.

"What the hell kind of pill is this, why is it so fierce?" Xu Hei's heart trembled.

Calling it a third-grade pill was an understatement.

Xu Hei didn't know its grade, but if this continued, he surely couldn't withstand it, his body would explode, and the Spiritual Qi would be lost.

"What should I do? What should I do?"

Xu Hei was extremely anxious, then suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck him.

Xu Hei opened his mouth and spat out the Black Dragon Pagoda, entering it directly, channeling the vast ocean-like Spiritual Qi into the Black Dragon Pagoda.

Previously, he had absorbed a lot from the Black Dragon Pagoda, now he returned it all.

"Whoosh!"

As if finding an outlet, Xu Hei's body began to shrink slowly, his meridians retracting, and the Black Dragon Pagoda actively absorbed the Spiritual Qi, cooperating perfectly.

Seeing the effect, Xu Hei continued to transfer the Spiritual Qi while striving to refine it.

This was ancient Spiritual Qi; he couldn't waste it and had to absorb as much as possible.

Xu Hei's cultivation rapidly soared, reaching a perfect state in mere moments.

He decisively attempted to break through to the mid-stage of Qi Condensation.

This was originally a long process, but the earlier Qi upheaval had widened Xu Hei's meridians, and even the spiritual foundation within the Demon God Cauldron had expanded significantly.

It all happened almost effortlessly.

The next day.

With a crisp "crack," his spiritual foundation split into two, marking Xu Hei's official entry into the mid-stage of Qi Condensation.

At this moment, his body had completely returned to normal, and the vast flow of Spiritual Qi had mostly been sent into the Black Dragon Pagoda, with a small portion absorbed by himself.

Now, Xu Hei's second spiritual foundation was initially formed, not only reaching the mid-stage but also accumulating a certain amount.

After a long while, he examined his body internally and, finding no major issues, let out a long breath.

Randomly consuming pills was too risky, leaving Xu Hei with lingering fear, but fortunately, the outcome was good.

In one night, he surpassed the ten years of arduous cultivation that others would spend in seclusion, directly advancing to the mid-stage of Qi Condensation, a speed rarely seen in the world.

However, he wouldn't dare to consume another pill like that again.

Now, with a second wooden box at hand, Xu Hei dared not open it recklessly. If another pill emerged, swallowing it would be dangerous, and not swallowing it would be a waste.

The Black Dragon Pagoda, having absorbed a large amount of Spiritual Qi, seemed to have gained a hint of spiritual charm, showing signs of breaking through the void. Xu Hei quickly stored it away.

Next, he checked Zhou Wenjun's magical treasures, which were mostly ordinary items with little use.

However, one eyeball caught his attention.

Inside the eyeball, a flame burned, very eerie, and it could rotate, as if alive, resembling a magical treasure, yet not quite.

When he probed it with his Divine Sense, he couldn't see through it, nor did it reveal any information about a magical treasure.

"What is this thing?" Xu Hei didn't quite understand.

He instinctively wanted to cut it open with dragon scales but feared damaging this mysterious object, so he decided to leave it for future study.

With that, Zhou Wenjun's storage bag was cleared.

Xu Hei packed his belongings, observed his surroundings, and saw endless desert in every direction. After a brief contemplation, he decided to head towards the area with dense Yin Qi, which should be the deepest part.

Meanwhile, he released many puppets to guard the surroundings, with the butcher leading the way.

He had also quietly refined some sand puppets, only about a hundred, not very powerful, and wrapped them around his body to prevent accidents.

The vast, endless desert seemed to have no end.

Xu Hei continued forward, the Yin Qi growing heavier, and he had a feeling he was getting close.

Half a day passed.

At the edge of his vision, a small black dot appeared. Xu Hei didn't dare to speed up, continuing at a steady pace as the black dot gradually enlarged.

Moments later.

Xu Hei gazed at the massive structure before him, his eyes gleaming with curiosity.

The building was pyramid-shaped, a design Xu Hei had never seen before, about a hundred meters wide, entirely black, and he could only think of one word: pyramid.

The source of the dense Yin Qi seemed to be this pyramid.

"A desert pyramid, could it be another puppet?"

Xu Hei instinctively became alert, now suffering from puppet paranoia, seeing everything as a puppet.

He hoped the pyramid wouldn't suddenly transform into a humanoid and charge at him; that would be absurd.

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