Ti flies like an arrow; the sun and moon shuttle by.
In the blink of an eye, Xu Hei had been in seclusion at the Netherworld Mine for over a year.
Throughout this year, the storm of Spiritual Qi never ceased.
The other three Chosen, including the Nine-Headed Worm, benefited greatly, reaching the Great Perfection and preparing to break through to the Elental Infant stage.
Xiong Dabao also reached Great Perfection but felt his state of mind was lacking. He chose to travel and break through during his journey.
Xu Bai had long since developed her own state of mind, but her cultivation progress was slow, and she had yet to reach the Great Perfection of the Core Formation stage.
Finally, after a year and three months, the Spiritual Qi in the Netherworld Mine gradually diminished until it completely disappeared.
The Spirit Stones were exhausted.
This mine, which had been excavated for five hundred years and benefited countless people in the Penglai Sea, had finally reached the end of its life.
The cracks in the Formation had automatically repaired themselves a year ago, and they had no idea what happened to the group of Frogn who had left.
Nor did they know what awaited them.
"Ah!"
Xu Hei opened his eyes and exhaled deeply.
This was the first ti he had opened his eyes after a year and three months in seclusion.
At this mont, the Golden Core within him was full, Spiritual Qi was overflowing, and the Demon God Cauldron still stored a considerable amount, forming a lake—a sign of the Great Perfection of the Core Formation stage.
"I've absorbed enough Spiritual Qi. I can break through to the Elental Infant stage at any ti, but I feel like sothing's missing," Xu Hei murmured to himself.
He had comprehended various states of mind, and his cultivation had no bottlenecks. If he wished, he could reach the Elental Infant level with just another half month of seclusion.
But he felt he was missing a step!
Xu Hei knew what it was.
—The Dragon Vein!
He had already developed five complete Dragon Veins, and the remaining four showed signs of sprouting, but they hadn't continued to grow.
This kind of Elental Infant stage wouldn't be a perfect Elental Infant.
Just like after Xu Hei's Foundation Establishnt, he was missing a piece of dragon scale, which wasn't a perfect Foundation Establishnt.
During this ti, Xu Hei speculated on various possibilities but couldn't find an answer.
This wasn't sothing any predecessor could hint at; he had to find it himself.
"Perhaps I still have unfulfilled wishes," Xu Hei thought to himself.
Speaking of wishes, he had many back then, and the destruction of the Snake Catchers Sect was the foremost.
Back then, he was forced to flee his ho by the Snake Catchers Sect, escaping to the East Sea, and was hunted down by Xu Qingzhi, like a dog without a ho. Now, it was ti to return and settle the score. With his current strength and ans, he was more than qualified!
"Senior, I need to go ho," Xu Hei said.
"Go ahead."
Yu Jianqiu didn't question him, rely nodding calmly.
Compared to last year, his figure had beco even more transparent, almost semi-transparent, but the sword intent at his brow remained unchanged.
As long as there were enemies, his sword could still be drawn!
Xu Bai opened her eyes and said nothing, silently following Xu Hei.
"Xu Bai, let's go ho."
"Mm!"
With a leap, the two snake forms left the cave and soared into the sky.
In an instant, they broke through the Formation of the Netherworld Mine and erged into the outside world.
Having not seen the sun for a long ti, the sunlight was sowhat dazzling.
"Brother Xu, are you going back?"
At this mont, another voice appeared, as the Nine-Headed Worm chased after them.
Compared to last year, the Nine-Headed Worm's aura was completely different. The nine snakes on his head swayed in the wind, his robes fluttered, and his eyes were solemn and imposing, exuding a kingly presence.
He had reached the Elental Infant stage.
The only thing unchanged was his spotless white robe and perfectly symtrical posture.
"That's right."
"I just broke through and have nothing to do. Why not accompany you on your journey?"
The Nine-Headed Worm suggested, sensing that Xu Hei was going back to kill soone. Having him along would provide an extra hand.
"Thank you," Xu Hei gladly accepted.
This trip ho was to fulfill his wish of destroying the Snake Catchers Sect, and having an extra ally increased his chances.
"Heh, a year has passed, and you're still at the Core Formation stage. I'm truly disappointed."
At this mont, a mocking voice ca from underwater.
A large snake with azure scales erged from the water, appearing above Xu Hei's head in an instant, looking down at him from above.
Xu Hei had to look up to see him.
This sea snake had grown a pair of claws on its chest, and two short dragon horns had appeared on its head, already in the form of a young Flood Dragon.
Who else could it be but Hai Teng?
"What are you doing here?" Xu Hei asked in surprise.
"Hmph, just passing by."
Hai Teng replied arrogantly.
Of course, he wouldn't admit that he had been waiting here for a year.
He had intended to teach Xu Hei a lesson after his breakthrough, but seeing that Xu Hei was still at the Core Formation stage left him disappointed and uninterested in sparring.
He didn't want to rely on his cultivation to overpower others; winning that way wasn't honorable. Losing... how could he lose? It was impossible for him to lose.
Hai Teng suddenly recalled the first ti he t Xu Hei, where he almost lost despite using his cultivation to suppress him.
"By the way, you said you were going back. Where to?" Hai Teng quickly asked.
"To a faraway place. It might take about a week round trip," Xu Hei replied.
"Central Divine Continent," Xu Bai added.
"Central Divine Continent?" Hai Teng was taken aback, then sneered, "Heh, what a coincidence. I have so business to attend to there, visiting a distant relative."
"..." Xu Hei was speechless.
This guy had changed, yet sohow hadn't changed at all.
But Xu Hei wasn't foolish enough to expose him. He simply went along with it, "Why not travel together?"
"Travel together? You're just at the Core Formation stage. You should call senior when you see ."
Hai Teng raised his head high, placing his newly grown claws on his waist, looking very arrogant.
Xu Hei was at a loss for words.
Xu Bai couldn't stand it and quickly said, "Alright, alright, senior, is that okay? Also, can you stop looking down on people?"
Hearing this, Hai Teng was so pleased that his eyes squinted, descending from the sky with a smile, "Heh, seeing that you juniors know your place, I'll accompany you."
"I suddenly find you quite annoying."
This wasn't Xu Hei speaking, but the usually silent Nine-Headed Worm.
"What did you say?"
Hai Teng imdiately glared at him.
The Nine-Headed Worm didn't like to talk much. He directly sent his nine snake heads attacking Hai Teng, and Hai Teng wasn't one to be trifled with, imdiately unleashing his phenonon to suppress. A fierce battle erupted instantly.
The logic behind the battle between these two Chosen was simple. They had both just broken through to the Elental Infant stage and were itching for a fight, needing a worthy opponent.
As a result, they clashed perfectly.
Xu Hei and Xu Bai were in the center of the battle, but he remained calm, a layer of earth-yellow light enveloping him, blocking all the shockwaves without taking a step back.
Upon closer inspection, this earth-yellow light was actually the earth-elent Spiritual Qi in the air, perfectly controlled by Xu Hei.
Controlling the power of heaven and earth in battle was rare even among the Elental Infant stage.
The light ford by the earth Spiritual Qi wasn't just a simple barrier; it combined to erode any attack, serving as an absolute defense!
This was just a basic defensive technique taught by Mo Cang, not even a Divine Ability.
Xu Hei watched for a while, seeing that the two were relentless, seemingly ready to fight for a day and a night. He sighed helplessly, "You two take your ti. I'll be on my way!"
Xu Hei swiftly left.
"Hey!"
"Wait for !"
The Nine-Headed Worm and Hai Teng quickly stopped fighting and chased after Xu Hei.
…………
The road is long and winding.
Back then, Xu Hei had traveled from Yanluo River in the Chu Kingdom, downstream to the East Sea, taking half a month.
At that ti, he had just reached the Core Formation stage, being chased relentlessly, running for his life.
Today, Xu Hei could step into the Elental Infant stage at any ti, a world of difference from before, with speed more than ten tis faster.
It only took him a day to travel from the Netherworld Mine to the estuary at Haiya City.
This was where the Nightmare Demon Lord first captured people, with the eight ships still on the river, leaving a deep impression on Xu Hei.
This ti, Xu Hei didn't take on his snake form but transford into a black-robed human cultivator.
His Ever-changing Fish and Dragon technique had reached a higher level, allowing him to maintain a half-human form without a Transformation Pill, though he couldn't eliminate the scales on his body.
Hai Teng and Xu Bai relied on Transformation Pills, while the Nine-Headed Worm was originally a humanoid demonic beast.
"Central Divine Continent, it's my first ti here," Hai Teng remarked with curiosity.
Tis had changed, and Haiya City no longer bore the flag of the Qin Kingdom; the City Lord's mansion's army had beco the Xiang Family Army.
With a sweep of his Divine Sense, Xu Hei learned of the Qin Emperor's death, and that the Qin Kingdom was now ruled by the Second Qin Emperor.
"Oh, it seems there's a battle ahead!"
Hai Teng stroked his chin, gazing in a direction, then said, "Oh, I almost forgot, you're just at the Core Formation stage, so your Divine Sense can't reach that far."
His implication was to mock Xu Hei for his low cultivation.
Little did he know, Xu Hei had already detected the situation ahead, where the Xiang Family Army was attacking a small city.
Not only that, but Xu Hei could also see much farther, with his Divine Sense unknowingly reaching a radius of three thousand miles.
This was farther than most in the Elental Infant stage.
It only showed that Xu Hei had long since broken through in terms of Divine Sense.
"Indeed, there's a battle, but it's already over," Xu Hei said.
Now, it was Hai Teng's turn to be surprised.
Hai Teng didn't believe it, flying forward for a mont before realizing Xu Hei was right.
Xu Hei wasn't interested in competing on this matter. He headed straight for the Snake Catchers Sect.
"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"
Four streaks of light flashed across the sky, and only the top-tier Core Formation experts could sense them; the rest were oblivious.
Four Elental Infant-level combatants could walk unchallenged anywhere in the Central Divine Continent!
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