Night fell low, and Zhuangxing City's outline looked especially desolate beneath the starlight. The bluestone of its walls bore marks of varying depths worn by time, mottled dark red stains that might have been rust—or blood dried long ago.
Toad General stood in the corridor, the armor on his body already badly damaged. A bone-deep wound on his left shoulder still slowly seeped pale golden blood.
Strands of black qi coiled around the edges of the wound. They were the result of demonic qi corrosion from his battle with the Heavenly Demons a few days ago. At this moment, they were tearing against his stellar power, bringing piercing, bone-gnawing pain every instant.
"Lord Zhao, when will the lord inside... emerge from seclusion?" Toad General's voice was hoarse, and the anxiety in his eyes was impossible to hide.
Zhao Santian stood with his hands behind his back, his brows tightly furrowed.
He reached up and stroked the nonexistent beard on his chin, his gaze fixed on the great doors before him.
"It's been nearly two months already," Zhao Santian muttered, as if asking Toad General, yet also asking himself. "Is this spring water really that difficult to refine?"
A bitter smile appeared on Toad General's bumpy green face. "You jest, Lord Zhao. Among our Star Beast race, no clansman has ever been able to absorb the energy within Emperor's Spring." He shook his head. "How would I know how long it takes to refine it?"
Before he finished speaking, an urgent buzzing suddenly came from Toad General's waist.
He lowered his head sharply and saw that a white jade pendant hanging from the left side of his belt was radiating a blinding red light. The star patterns that had once lain motionless across its surface now darted about wildly as though