Crystal Toad

"Kill the Crystal Toad, seize its Monster Core, and snatch the treasures!" Although there were many experts present, there were even more weakly backed people hoping to fish for benefits in the chaos. Not even one or two experts could stop them. No one knew who had shouted first, but the scattered Rogue Cultivators each unleashed their techniques, furiously bombarding the several-acre lake.

Fire, wind, earth, and all kinds of techniques churned the tranquil lake into a pot of boiling water. Waves surged violently, and water splashed in every direction.

"Stop! This won't accomplish anything. It'll only waste your spiritual power. Only by draining the water from the lake can we force the Crystal Toad to reveal itself." An elderly man who looked quite formidable shouted in all directions through voice transmission.

"Bullshit! My lightning strike will definitely force that beast out!" someone in the crowd retorted. A moment later, a thunderous boom erupted, striking several yards in front of the old man. A thick arc of electricity hissed as it plunged into the water. Lu Xiaotian was fairly close to the lake and could even feel the numbing sensation caused by the lightning.

The lake was far too chaotic now. Waves of various low-tier techniques came one after another, but no one noticed the inconspicuous whirlpool beneath the churning surface.

Splash! Something leaped out of the water. A wave of startled cries suddenly rang out all around. It was actually a gigantic toad, half a zhang square, with a body as transparent as water. A terrifying aura spread out as the toad emerged from the lake.

"Ah, a monster beast!"

The Rogue Cultivators closest to the lakeshore retreated in terror. They had shouted about killing the Crystal Toad, but once it truly emerged and they felt that overwhelming aura, they suddenly remembered that this was a fourth-order monster beast—a mighty existence no one present could possibly rival.

The Crystal Toad was furious as well. It had been resting peacefully at the bottom of the lake, but after occasionally exposing itself at the surface and being spotted by human cultivators, it had unexpectedly drawn so many people here. Most low-tier techniques could not affect it even when they struck the lake's surface, but a few lightning techniques made its whole body feel extremely uncomfortable. Thus, it decided to emerge and teach these ants a lesson.

Whoosh! Something like a sharp arrow shot from the Crystal Toad's mouth, but it was not an arrow. It was something as thin as a thread. Almost no one could see it clearly. Their vision blurred, and it had already retracted.

Yet the instant that thread appeared, several screams rang out one after another.

Lu Xiaotian focused his eyes and saw that six or seven Rogue Cultivators standing roughly in a line about a zhang away had all gained bloody holes in their chests. When the white line retracted, it dragged out large chunks of flesh. Some had been struck in vital spots and died on the spot. Others had been standing slightly askew and had only lost great chunks of flesh, with several bones broken. They had not died, but they had suffered grievous injuries.

The white line appeared several more times. It was the Crystal Toad's tongue! Lu Xiaotian suddenly recalled helping his father tend the crops when he was young and watching frogs prey on insects. A chill shot through his heart. The Crystal Toad was quite close to him, and after attacking several times in succession, if he were struck by this monster beast comparable to the Foundation Establishment Realm, the best outcome would still be grievous injury. The surrounding people were packed together so tightly that he could not escape even if he wanted to. Lu Xiaotian panicked, but when he saw one or two people fall, inspiration struck. He pretended to stumble and sprawled onto the ground as well.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.

The white line appeared more than a dozen times in succession. The Crystal Toad had appeared too suddenly, and at least sixty or seventy Rogue Cultivators died unprepared beneath its surprise attacks. The lakeshore where it had emerged turned blood-red. Only then did the gathered cultivators react, furiously hurling wave after wave of low-tier techniques.

The Crystal Toad was struck by dozens, even hundreds, of techniques in the blink of an eye, yet it suffered hardly any injury. It fell into the water, and the already transparent toad suddenly seemed to vanish. After a moment, it surfaced in the middle of the lake, looking so leisurely that it seemed to be mocking every cultivator present.

"That damned toad." Lu Xiaotian climbed up from the ground, still shaken. In the surging crowd, he had been stepped on dozens of times. However, several corpses now lay in the direction where he had been standing. Compared with that, being stepped on a few times was nothing.

"Revenge!"

Dozens had suddenly been killed or injured, and many of the cultivators were relatives or friends of the victims. The crowd instantly flared with rage. These were also the people who had shouted about killing the Crystal Toad earlier. Could cultivators kill monster beasts, while monster beasts were forbidden from fighting back? Lu Xiaotian sneered inwardly and dusted himself off. Having learned his lesson, he retreated to the very edge of the crowd before he finally felt safe.

The Rogue Cultivators finally calmed down and realized that they could not defeat this fourth-order Crystal Toad in the lake. Soon, a cultivator proposed digging a channel to drain the water. The mountains were full of low-lying valleys and ravines. As long as they dug a ditch, they would have no shortage of places to release the water. Once the lake was drained, the cultivators could join forces to surround and kill the fourth-order monster beast.

After agreeing on the plan, the cultivators immediately got to work. Quite a few cultivators skilled in weapon refinement forged spiritual shovels suited for digging on the spot, while others simply used spiritual knives or spiritual swords. If ordinary mortals had to dig such a channel through the mountains, it would have taken years of work and still might not have been possible. But with these cultivators, the channel was completed in only a few days.

As the lake water rushed away through the channel, the deep lakebed gradually revealed its true face.

"Springwater Algae!"

"White Lotus Taro!"

"Water Spirit Stones!"

"Ice Spirit Stones!"

As the lakebed emerged, various treasures within it were exposed one after another before the eyes of the Rogue Cultivators. Many were even items required by sect missions.

Some impatient Rogue Cultivators saw the water level dropping without any sign of the Crystal Toad and began climbing into the lake to pick up nearby Spirit Stones and gather spiritual herbs.

"Damn it, these dogspawn are going down already. They really aren't afraid of dying." Someone cursed a few times, but when he saw dozens of people gradually descending, he could no longer sit still. He raised a spiritual shield and began wading through the mud.

"Haha, I've got three Ice Spirit Stones! Damn, who threw a Fireball Technique at me? If you've got the guts, come out!"

But who would step forward and admit it at a time like this? He could only blame himself for showing off too much. Several more low-tier techniques were launched by jealous people, pounding the middle-aged man until he cried out repeatedly.

As more and more people reaped benefits, even more began descending into the lake. The Qi Refining Great Perfection cultivators standing on the higher cliffs immediately turned ashen, but the situation had completely spiraled out of control. Even they could no longer turn it around.

Lu Xiaotian remained mixed in with the crowd and did not go down into the lake directly. These treasures were valuable, but after suffering earlier, he would not risk descending before seeing the Crystal Toad.

"Ah! My foot!" A scream suddenly rang out from the crowd. In the mud, a blue-green monster crab emerged, waving a pair of enormous pincers. Clamped in them was a severed leg.