Serpent Ancestor

As time passed, consciousness drifted in the darkness.

Xu Hei had been unconscious for who knows how long before he slowly awoke, a pungent smell overwhelming his senses.

He opened his eyes and found himself in a pool of dark green water, filled with a strong medicinal scent that was quite overpowering.

On a nearby counter hung several pill bottles, and as he looked around, he realized he was in a cave dwelling.

Xu Hei tried to move but felt intense pain throughout his body, the agony piercing to his very bones, leaving him unable to move and gasping for breath.

"So much pain! It's unbearable!"

This reminded Xu Hei of the first time he was severely injured, but this time, the injuries were clearly more severe than ever before.

He couldn't even move, and his divine sense was in a weakened state.

Xu Hei examined his body internally; his Golden Core had shrunk by half, countless muscles were torn, and most of his meridians were severed. Even his indestructible dragon bone had suffered some damage.

This shocked Xu Hei. During the battle, he hadn't realized it, but now that he was awake, he saw just how badly he was hurt.

Even though he possessed dragon bones and dragon scales, facing an enemy a whole realm higher than himself still left him damaged.

He was certain that if it were any other demonic beast, survival would be impossible; only he could have held on until now.

"So thirsty, so very thirsty!"

Xu Hei glanced at the dark green liquid and plunged into it, drinking more than half in one gulp.

Though the potion's smell was pungent, it felt quite good after drinking, and Xu Hei immediately felt much more comfortable.

The spiritual qi here was abundant, suggesting it was some kind of clinic in the Penglai Sea.

"You're awake?"

At this moment, a voice came from outside the cave dwelling.

Xu Hei looked up to see a crane walking in, though its legs were a bit short, resembling a seagull.

"You've just woken up, so don't move around. You're seriously injured, and according to medical advice, you need at least a week's rest. You must take one Divine Pill, one Celestial Blue Pill, and one Meridian Renewal Pill each day, and soak in the Miasma Dispelling Powder daily."

The short-legged crane came to the counter and took down two pill bottles.

"So troublesome?"

Xu Hei was surprised; he'd been injured before but never found it this troublesome.

"This is the only treatment plan Xu Bai developed for you without side effects. You forcibly used high-level immortal spells and were attacked twice by the Soul Refining Demon Lord. It's a miracle you're not dead."

"Though the Soul Refining Demon Lord didn't kill you, he clearly intended to cripple your foundation, and he had the ability to do so!"

"If you want to be discharged early, you can, but if problems arise later, don't blame me for not warning you."

The short-legged crane spoke tirelessly.

Xu Hei fell silent.

He looked at his shrunken Golden Core and suddenly remembered that the Soul Refining Demon Lord had implanted a divine sense imprint in him. Although he used the Phantom Jellyfish and Hei Huang's three-piece set to prevent the enemy from locating him, the divine sense remained a hidden danger.

The opponent was a master-level expert in soul arts; who knew what trouble a single imprint could cause?

"The divine sense imprint... seems to be gone," Xu Hei mused.

Since the medical advice was to rest, he couldn't go against it, knowing how severe his injuries were.

The Elemental Infant decree, combined with the Wild Dragon, and the mysterious dragon claw were all far beyond his level.

Any one of them could have left him severely injured for a long time.

With all three combined, the side effects were terrifying, and being slashed by the Soul Refining Demon Lord was a miracle Xu Hei survived.

At this moment, the short-legged crane brought a pill bottle, opened the stopper, and intended to pour the powder into the pool.

"Huh? Why is the pool water more than half gone?" the short-legged crane exclaimed in surprise.

Xu Hei was taken aback and explained, "I... was thirsty just now."

At this, Xu Hei's voice trailed off.

The short-legged crane raised its head, looking at him with eyes wide in disbelief.

"What's wrong, is there a problem?" Xu Hei asked.

He added, "The taste was quite nice, what formula was it made from?"

The short-legged crane was silent for a long time, staring at Xu Hei before slowly saying, "The water in this pool is a mixture of the toxins and impurities expelled from your body, in short... excrement."

"..." Xu Hei was silent.

The next second, he rushed to the side and began to vomit, expelling everything he had drunk earlier, retching uncontrollably.

The short-legged crane took out a jade slip and entered information into it: "The patient's mental state is suspected to have issues, and the injury needs reassessment."

"Recommendation: Extend treatment time."

……

Three days passed in a flash.

Xu Hei was finally able to move, though still in great pain, it was much better than the first day.

This severe injury was different from before; his self-healing ability was extremely slow. Xu Hei had tried taking Spirit Medicine and refining it with the Demon God Cauldron, but it had little effect.

"I just turned into a dragon, and the side effects are this severe?" Xu Hei pondered.

His most severe injury was in the abdomen, where he had once grown a dragon claw. Although he originally didn't have a dragon claw, it was an additional growth, yet the injury was his to bear.

Xu Hei crawled out of the cave dwelling and wandered nearby.

This was a small island, part of the Heavenly Roc clan, specifically for treating the injured.

The Heavenly Roc clan was responsible for logistical support, and he could see some crane healers flying back and forth in the sky, carrying medicine in their beaks.

Near Xu Hei was another cave dwelling, and when he crawled to the entrance, he saw a porcupine fish inside.

Its spines were all gone, leaving only a limp ball, its eyes listless.

"Oh, you're here too," Xu Hei said in surprise.

The porcupine fish glanced at him, then closed its eyes.

Xu Hei wandered around the island and found that almost all the injured from the third team had been brought here, each needing ten days to half a month to recover. Compared to them, he was considered lucky.

But thinking of Captain White Tooth, Xu Hei's mood turned heavy.

The reason they could still be here recovering was because someone had borne the brunt of everything.

……

The recovery time quickly passed.

In the last three days, Xu Hei almost changed daily, no longer feeling sore in his waist, his back didn't hurt, and he was full of energy.

Fortunately, he didn't repeat the mistake of drinking bathwater, so there was no need to check his mental state.

Additionally, Xu Hei's second dragon vein had unknowingly been cleared. He hadn't even deliberately cultivated it, which was a pleasant surprise.

"The time is up, how do you feel?"

The short-legged crane stood in front of Xu Hei, gazing at him.

"I feel like I can take on ten people," Xu Hei replied.

"Good, you're in excellent condition," the short-legged crane noted.

After completing a series of procedures and conducting a simple physical examination, Xu Hei was finally allowed to leave.

Originally, given his injuries, he would have needed to lie down for several months, but thanks to proper treatment, the recovery was accelerated.

"Although you've recovered, I remind you not to engage in strenuous activities soon, especially the high-level immortal spells you used before. Avoid using them again for at least half a year!" the short-legged crane advised once more.

"Understood!" Xu Hei remembered it well.

Before leaving, Xu Hei considered visiting the other team members from the third team.

Though he wasn't familiar with them, they had shared life-and-death experiences together.

Xu Hei arrived at the porcupine fish's cave dwelling.

At this moment, the porcupine fish was bare, without a single spine, but covered in thick plaster from head to tail, looking quite comical.

The porcupine fish's pupils contracted, staring at Xu Hei, "You're... healed?"

"Yes, it took a week to recover, never been this slow before. Maybe I'm getting old, and my body isn't what it used to be," Xu Hei sighed regretfully.

The porcupine fish fell silent.

Xu Hei looked him up and down, hesitating, "Are you... alright?"

The porcupine fish glanced at him, proudly saying, "It's just a minor injury, nothing to worry about. I'm almost healed too."

Xu Hei nodded, "I thought so, let me help you remove this."

With that, he climbed up and removed the plaster from the porcupine fish's tail.

"Ouch!" the porcupine fish winced, letting out a cry of pain.

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!