Serpent Ancestor
Chapter 494: Spirit Beast Ring

The rule of Liefeng City is that entering the city requires a payment of one thousand spirit stones, allowing residence for a year. Thirty thousand spirit stones grant a hundred-year residence, but one must abide by the city's laws, or the right to reside can be revoked at any time.

A clear notice was posted at the city gate, listing over a hundred rules and regulations, ending with "All rights of interpretation belong to the City Lord's mansion."

In short, whether you have violated the rules or not is up to the City Lord's mansion to decide.

Xu Hei directly handed over thirty thousand spirit stones to the guard at the gate, registered his information briefly, and received a hundred-year residence token.

Holding the token, Xu Hei strode into the city, found a secluded spot, and continued to change his appearance.

The thirty thousand was just the entry fee; accommodation needed to be purchased separately. Xu Hei spent another five hundred thousand spirit stones to buy a cave dwelling in the southeastern corner, finally settling down.

…………

Inside the cave dwelling.

With a wave of his hand, Xu Hei released the Insect Emperor, and Ji Ying followed, landing beside it.

"I'm suffocating! I'm never going back into the storage bag, not even if you kill me!"

The Insect Emperor was full of grievances, lying down beside the cave dwelling, its eight legs curled up, warily watching Xu Hei.

Xu Hei ignored her, changing his hand gestures to carve formation patterns on the ground. Then, he took out materials like golden silkworm skin, heavenly willow silk, the bones of a hundred beasts, and his ten dragon scales, along with a void stone, placing them on the ground.

He planned to refine a spirit beast ring.

Ordinary storage bags could no longer meet the needs of the insects, especially with such a large number, requiring several storage bags, which was very inconvenient.

However, the spirit beast ring from Huangfu Duanlong's memory could meet Xu Hei's requirements and make the insects more comfortable.

Of course, these materials were just cobbled together by Xu Hei and couldn't refine a perfect spirit beast ring, only a makeshift one.

"What are you doing?"

The Insect Emperor looked wary, glaring, "Are you planning to turn me into a puppet?"

She had heard from Ji Ying that this average kid was skilled in puppet techniques, making it a real possibility.

"I only promised to follow you for a hundred years, I never agreed to become a puppet!" the Insect Emperor said angrily.

"Shut up!" Xu Hei scolded.

His voice was deafening, using the Dragon Shatter Roar, immediately making the Insect Emperor dizzy and dazed.

Ji Ying was also frightened into silence. She wanted to say something but seeing Xu Hei's unfriendly expression, she could only fly to the Insect Emperor's side and whisper, "Your Majesty, although this guy is annoying, he does keep his word."

The Insect Emperor was so angry she was grinding her teeth, but the lightning mark on her forehead was faintly aching. She had been an emperor all her life, and it was the first time she was under someone else's roof, controlled by others, which filled her with resentment.

Xu Hei took a deep breath, sat cross-legged, and a flame appeared in his palm.

This was his first time refining an artifact since obtaining the artifact refining inheritance, and he could only succeed, not fail.

With a wave of his hand, the materials in the formation floated up, landing in his palm, slowly melting in the flame.

In the formation, lightning occasionally appeared, striking the materials, refining them with divine thunder and forging them with true fire, a method known as the Thunderfire Forging Technique.

Xu Hei's fire and thunder came from the Azure Dragon Immortal Spell, and although not as natural as those formed by heaven and earth, they were definitely not inferior.

"Go guard the door, don't let anyone approach," Xu Hei ordered.

The Insect Emperor watched for a long time, finally convinced that Xu Hei didn't intend to turn her into a puppet, and breathed a sigh of relief. But upon hearing Xu Hei's order, her face stiffened again.

She didn't resist, reluctantly crawling to the door, spitting out spider silk to block the entrance.

"I've become a doorman, damn it, this person is too hateful!" The Insect Emperor was filled with resentment, and Ji Ying hurriedly comforted her.

…………

That night, at the City Lord's mansion.

Fatty Ding Yi held a booklet in his hand, recording the day's entrants into the city.

Although Liefeng City accepted everyone, each person's information had to be accounted for. Otherwise, if dangerous individuals infiltrated and caused destruction in the city without their knowledge, it would be intolerable.

After flipping through the day's register, a name caught Ding Yi's attention.

"Xu Hei?" Ding Yi was stunned, muttering to himself, "Isn't he the one who made Luo Gang return empty-handed? Didn't he die? Could it be someone with the same name?"

Ding Yi pondered for a moment, thinking the probability of someone having the same name was too small. After all, the name itself was quite abstract, and no one would choose such a rustic name.

Unaware of the rusticity of his own name.

"Someone, investigate this Xu Hei's whereabouts for me!" Ding Yi ordered.

"Yes!" His subordinates immediately went to work.

Before long, the news came back.

Xu Hei disappeared after entering the city, and no one knew where he went.

"Disappeared?"

Ding Yi was not unfamiliar with this situation and immediately ordered, "Continue the investigation, and notify me as soon as you find him!"

"Yes!"

The guards of Liefeng City immediately sprang into action.

Three days passed without a trace of Xu Hei, but Ding Yi received an important piece of news.

In the ruins of the Divine King's Hall, a demonic cultivator named Insect Demon appeared, killing everyone present with brutal methods, ranking among the top ten in the eastern wasteland in terms of strength!

The most terrifying part was that this person seemed to have the ability to control Spirit-Eating Ants!

If true, being in the top ten was a conservative estimate. Who in the world would want to face an endless army of Spirit-Eating Ants?

"Insect Demon?" Ding Yi's sense of caution kicked in, and he immediately shouted, "Investigate this Xu Hei, and capture him on sight."

The information couldn't be confirmed, but to be safe, he had to issue such an order.

Xu Hei, who mysteriously disappeared after entering the city, was highly likely to be that terrifying Insect Demon!

"Understood!"

All the guards of the City Lord's mansion mobilized, including the strongest person in the city, Wang Xiu, known as the Evil Sword Emperor.

…………

A week quickly passed.

Xu Hei was not found, but Luo Gang had arranged to meet with someone from the Nine-Headed Snake at the City Lord's mansion.

That day, the people from the Nine-Headed Snake arrived as promised. The other party was dressed in black, their face covered, identity unknown, and their aura fluctuated, making it impossible for Luo Gang to discern their cultivation level.

"Didn't we agree on five million? Why raise the price?" Luo Gang frowned.

"Five million was last year's price. This year it's ten million because even the Skynet couldn't find it. The difficulty is imaginable. Besides, as far as I know, you offered Skynet thirteen million," the masked cultivator from the Nine-Headed Snake said calmly.

"Outrageous!"

Wang Xiu slammed the table, about to erupt, but was stopped by Luo Gang.

"Ten million is acceptable, but what if you can't find it?" Luo Gang asked.

The masked person replied indifferently, "Give us a year. If we can't find it in a year, we'll refund half."

"Ridiculous! What if you take the money and do nothing, earning half for nothing?" Wang Xiu, with his fiery temper, immediately shouted angrily.

The masked person coldly said, "Once we accept a commission, we will do our utmost, but we don't guarantee it. There are no absolute certainties in this world, and you should understand that."

No one else said anything, but Gongsun Bo nodded in agreement.

"In the end, you're just like Skynet!" the Evil Sword Emperor Wang Xiu said coldly, "If you don't find it within a year, I'll personally come and wipe out the Nine-Headed Snake."

The masked cultivator didn't speak, but a cold light flashed in their eyes.

"Boom!!"

Suddenly, a thunderous explosion sounded outside.

Luo Gang stepped out of the door and looked up. The sky was covered with dark clouds, layers of thunderclouds gathering, descending on a certain spot in the city, crashing into a cave dwelling.

"Is someone undergoing tribulation?" Gongsun Bo said in surprise.

"No! Someone is refining a treasure, and the grade of this treasure is probably at the fourth-tier top grade!" Luo Gang said solemnly.