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“Immortal, what’s wrong with my little son?” Wang Da Niu asked nervously.

“No need to worry.”

Chen Ping’s tone was gentle. Looking at the tattered books behind Wang Xiao Niu, he said, “He was born with a high spiritual awareness, but unfortunately, his aptitude is too poor for cultivation. It would be better for him to be a scholar. If he can pass the county exam, he could enter the Celestial Monitoring Bureau for a civil position; just report my name.”

Earlier, he had noticed Wang Xiao Niu but didn’t have time to examine him in detail. Now, after the inspection, he was somewhat disappointed.

With that, he turned and left without lingering.

Once Chen Ping left, the nearby villagers gathered around, their faces full of envy.

“The Celestial Monitoring Bureau, that’s the place of the immortals!”

“To be recognized by an immortal, the Wang family is truly fortunate!”

Amidst the flattery, Wang Da Niu gritted his teeth and resolved to send Xiao Niu to study, even if it meant selling everything he had.

……

After the officials left, the snake hunters came again. They searched the mountains but found no trace of the Old Snake King.

Instead, they encountered a water demon by the river and fought it, suffering injuries on both sides.

As time passed, the incident gradually faded from memory.

……

Downstream of the big river, where the current was swift, a long black shadow slithered through the water.

Suddenly, water splashed as if a huge fish was struggling in the water, but it soon calmed down.

Moments later, a snake head emerged from the water and crawled onto the shore.

This snake was pitch black, its scales gleaming with a faint shine, its belly swollen and its body fat, as if it had just swallowed a large fish.

It was Xu Hei.

A month had passed since Xu Hei arrived here, and the torrential rain had gradually stopped.

Living by the river, the food was much better, often catching some fish over a meter long, allowing Xu Hei to feast.

However, these ordinary foods provided little benefit to his cultivation. He still longed for demon beast meat and even considered returning to the river ditch.

But such dangerous thoughts were fleeting.

Xu Hei had a cultivation method now, and with time, his cultivation could slowly improve without risking danger.

Xu Hei lay on a rock, coiling up, and practiced the Breathing and Nurturing technique, absorbing strands of spiritual energy from the heavens and earth, which transformed into dragons and entered the gaps between his scales.

Gradually, his scales began to shine.

The scales at the tip of his tail even developed faint golden lines, forming a triangular pattern, a new kind of scale he had never seen before.

Xu Hei opened his eyes, and as his scales rubbed against the stone, stone powder fell off, while his scales remained intact.

“These scales… have reached the level of fine iron!” Xu Hei was astonished.

This phenomenon, unknown to him until recently, had been occurring for the past month. He had discovered that his tail had developed two special new scales.

Moreover, a third one was gradually forming next to them, though very slowly.

He searched his memories but found no explanation for this.

Xu Hei suspected it might be related to the cultivation technique he practiced, which came from Chen Fan and was rather mysterious.

As for the Demon God Cauldron within him, he had been studying it as well.

The cauldron had completely replaced the function of the Demon Core, with the spiritual energy mist inside representing Xu Hei’s cultivation. Although the mist’s volume had not changed, its density had increased with Xu Hei’s breakthroughs.

Xu Hei focused his mind, looking at the surface of the cauldron. There, a vividly carved dragon was depicted. The dragon’s body appeared smooth but actually had countless tiny scales that were only visible when magnified a hundred times.

Inside the dragon’s body, there were numerous fine lines resembling blood vessels and meridians, vividly detailed and requiring at least a thousand times magnification to be seen.

Even with Xu Hei’s divine sense, he could only magnify it a hundred times.

Xu Hei sighed and withdrew his divine sense.

“My divine sense is still insufficient. When I become stronger and can see the paths of these meridians clearly, I might gain some insights,” Xu Hei thought thoughtfully.

…

Upstream of the Zhang River, a gigantic shadow moved stealthily through the water, heading downstream.

It was a massive octopus.

Its huge, jet-black body and seven tentacles extended up to three meters long, grabbing and devouring any fish in its path.

This was a tidal-time predator in the river.

Recently, it had fought with a snake-catcher, sustaining injuries. Now, with the tide receding, it was returning to the main river.

If observed closely, one could see that one of its tentacles was severed, as if sliced by a sharp sword, and its underside bore burns from flames.

Demon beasts possessed spiritual intelligence.

Before leaving, it had lured a human child to consume a snake-catcher in the Qi Refinement stage, taking out its vengeance.

Now, it was at the Third Level of Spiritual Beast, nearing the mid-stage, having lived for countless years and reigning supreme in the waters.

The giant octopus flowed downstream, preying on fish, which all fled in panic.

On the riverbank, Xu Hei’s gaze was fixed on a willow tree. His tail was retracted behind him, like a tightly wound spring, ready to strike.

Xu Hei focused his mind.

Suddenly, the two scales at the tip of his tail stood upright, sharp as blades. In the next moment, the tail whipped out like a steel whip, striking the willow tree.

“Bang!”

A crisp sound echoed as the willow tree was cleanly cut, falling into the river and splashing water everywhere.

Seeing his work, Xu Hei mused, “These scales are as hard as iron, and their edges are sharp. They can be used as weapons. Unfortunately, only two of them are on my tail. Once I have these scales all over my body, my defense should be quite formidable.”

Xu Hei also had his own poisonous fangs, but their toxicity was too weak. In contrast, these scales were much more direct in their impact.

“Let’s catch a fish and test their effectiveness.”

Xu Hei’s figure flashed, and he submerged into the river. Every technique must be tested in practice.

If catching a fish was difficult, it would be better to avoid using it, as it could endanger him instead of protecting him.

Oddly, after searching for a while, Xu Hei found no fish.

Just as he was about to return, he suddenly sensed a rush of current beside him. A massive shadow was emerging from the riverbed, rapidly approaching.

“A giant octopus?”

Xu Hei was momentarily stunned. He had never seen such a large octopus before, but he didn’t dwell on it. He had seen even larger fish, and the taste of the three-meter-long fish caught in the snake village was still unforgettable.

As the octopus approached, Xu Hei moved forward, his serpent scales erect, and his tail lashed out like a long whip, treating the creature as an experimental subject.

“Swish!”

The octopus recoiled, two of its tentacles severed.

Xu Hei, taken aback, continued advancing. Another lash targeted the octopus’s head. The creature seemed to try to escape but was too late. With a flash of cold light, its head was cleaved open.

The massive body thrashed in the water before sinking to the riverbed, lifeless after a moment.

Xu Hei was not satisfied with his performance. It took two strikes to kill a fish, which would be inadequate against a real demon beast, let alone a snake-catcher.

“This move is best avoided. If catching an octopus is this tough, encountering a demon beast would be suicidal, not to mention a snake-catcher,” Xu Hei thought, shaking his head.

Just as he was about to consume the octopus’s corpse, he noticed a wooden token floating up from the cracked area of the octopus. It floated in front of Xu Hei, clearly visible.

The sight of the token left Xu Hei stunned, as he recognized it as a snake-catcher’s token!