The Blood-Patterned Jade Tablet

This battle had been won chiefly thanks to his naturally toxic Poison Body.

Every Five Poisons Sect cultivator had a Poison Body, and every one of them could administer poison with ease.

Against fellow sect members, their natural poison wasn't nearly as potent. But against cultivators from other sects, its power became instantly apparent.

The Water Surge Stealth Technique deserved the second most credit.

Without this technique, Li Shuidao could never have toyed with the Azure Scale Beast, ruler of the waters, in the palm of his hand.

Though the technique was miraculous, it was countered by large-scale ice spells. Once the river froze over, Li Shuidao would immediately be exposed.

Next came the Clear Pool Sword Dao and the Water Moon Flowing Pearl technique.

The Clear Pool Sword Dao seemed to have little effect. It was nowhere near as miraculous as a spell.

Without the boost from the Water Surge Stealth Technique, relying on the Clear Pool Sword Dao alone, Li Shuidao would have died countless times over.

This cultivation art had limited potential, so there was no need to keep exploring it. Perhaps he could focus his efforts on the Ice Heart Jade Water Sword instead. At least that was more than just a martial technique; it leaned much more toward spellcraft.

"Husband, that boat is sinking." Xia Ruoxue pointed at the small boat in the middle of the river.

"Wait here." With that, Li Shuidao jumped into the river.

Gurgle, gurgle, gurgle...

The hole in the cabin grew wider and wider, and water poured in at an astonishing rate. Lin Yunzhi, unconscious from the poison, was about to be completely submerged.

By the time Li Shuidao entered the cabin, Lin Yunzhi was on the verge of drowning. The river had already reached his nostrils. One more moment, and he would have been a corpse.

Li Shuidao took a yellow-brown jade bottle from his robe. It contained earth-aspected medicinal ingredients.

He pried Lin Yunzhi's mouth open and poured in some powder. Lin Yunzhi coughed twice, and his complexion grew surprisingly rosy.

In the Five Elements, earth countered water.

This was the true antidote to the toad's poison.

Li Shuidao carefully controlled the dosage. Lin Yunzhi was no longer in danger, but he still hadn't regained consciousness.

By then, the gunwale had sunk beneath the water. The small boat disappeared under the surface in an instant.

A tiny whirlpool appeared in the middle of the river.

Dragging Lin Yunzhi behind him, Li Shuidao made it to shore.

He reached into Lin Yunzhi's pockets but found only a few emergency medicine bottles. There wasn't a trace of the Blood Cloud Jade Tablet—not even a single Jade Coin.

How could it be missing?

Li Shuidao frowned and immediately plunged into the river again.

Lin Yuanren's headless corpse bobbed up and down in the waters of Flowing Cloud River. A school of arm-long fish circled his body, ravenously devouring his flesh. The sight made one's blood run cold.

Li Shuidao swam over quickly and searched the corpse. Before long, he pulled off a Storage Bag.

The bag looked drab and unremarkable, but its material was extraordinary.

Li Shuidao slung it at his waist and swiftly swam back to shore.

As soon as he reached land, he held the gray bag in both hands and focused intently on channeling his Mana.

Drawing on the pure Mana granted by the Jade Toad Qi Cultivation Art, Li Shuidao quickly refined the Storage Bag. He sent his Spiritual Sense inside, taking in everything it contained at a glance.

First, he took out a bottle of pills. Inside were sixteen Qi Circulation Pills, each worth fifty Jade Coins.

These were good stuff. Li Shuidao had built a solid foundation and now needed something like this to rapidly increase his Mana.

Next, he pulled a strange weapon from the Storage Bag: the Azure Scale Scissors.

The magical artifact looked like a pair of enormous scissors. Its appearance was exceptionally ornate: the handles were silvery white, set with blue jewels that gleamed with a captivating light.

The blades were made from the Azure Scale Beast's teeth, their sharp edges shimmering as if imbued with boundless power.

The entire artifact looked like a lifelike Azure Scale Beast. Its appearance alone conveyed its ferocity and mystery.

Since it was a magical artifact, he could refine it...

Li Shuidao closed his eyes and focused completely on infusing the artifact with Mana. Mysterious runes slowly surfaced across its body, as if the artifact's soul were speaking to him.

The refining went smoothly. After just the time it took an incense stick to burn, he felt the Azure Scale Scissors meld completely with him. He had become their true master.

He could summon the artifact at will and use it to attack.

With a thought, the Azure Scale Scissors rose into the air, wrapped in emerald light. Li Shuidao raised a hand and pointed. A flash of icy light swept across the blades, shearing the trunk of a tree so large it would take a man's arms to encircle it clean in two. He tried them on a boulder next, and they sliced through that in a single snip as well.

Their power was impressive, but unfortunately, they consumed too much Mana.

He could only activate them three times at most.

In battle, he could probably manage just once, since the Water Surge Stealth Technique and Water Moon Flowing Pearl also consumed Mana.

Besides, though the artifact was powerful, it took a long time to activate. If his enemy was quick and slippery, it would be completely useless.

That was precisely why Lin Yuanren had never used this powerful treasure before he died.

Next, Li Shuidao took out a water-blue stone. It was a Water Spirit Stone.

One spirit stone was worth a hundred and twenty Jade Coins, and there were fifteen of them in the Storage Bag.

The final treasure.

"The Blood-Patterned Jade Tablet."

This was the culprit behind everything, though it seemed to reveal its mysteries only at night, after absorbing moonlight.

Lin Yunzhi had indeed kept his most precious treasures on this man. This Storage Bag was probably shared by the entire Lin Household, not something belonging to the boatman personally.

The Storage Bag also held two large jars containing several hundred Jade Coins. Unfortunately, he couldn't spend them. These coins were called Qinglin Coins and circulated only in Cangzhou, not Black Mountain. The coins used in Black Mountain were called Five Poisons Coins elsewhere.

"Croak, croak..." A small green toad appeared from nowhere and squatted before Li Shuidao, croaking as if urging him on.

"I know." Li Shuidao gripped his long sword. A flash of sword light, and he easily sliced open the Azure Scale Beast's tough belly.

He reached into the beast's stomach and took out a glittering Demon Core. It radiated a captivating light.

"Ribbit, ribbit, ribbit..." The Jade Toad hopped impatiently, continuing to urge Li Shuidao on.

Li Shuidao tossed the Demon Core into the air.

The palm-sized Jade Toad strained to open its mouth and swallowed the Demon Core whole. It slid into the toad's mouth as if sinking into a bottomless abyss, then vanished...

The toad's body trembled slightly. It seemed to feel the Demon Core's power.

The air around them began to quiver as a powerful aura slowly radiated outward, enveloping the Jade Toad.

Though the Jade Toad's aura grew stronger, it still failed to break through the bottleneck. More importantly, its poison hadn't grown stronger.

A Five Poisons Sect Spirit Companion had to eat more poisonous things to strengthen its venom.

Without venom, cultivation alone would be laughable. It wasn't as if he could have this palm-sized Jade Toad fight like the Azure Scale Beast.

Perhaps it sensed Li Shuidao's thoughts.

In an instant...

The Jade Toad suddenly began to swell, as if being inflated. It grew thicker, bigger, stronger, and more powerful.

Its tiny body, no larger than a palm, instantly expanded to the size of a millstone.

A soul-shaking aura began to radiate from it.

Its original tender, translucent green skin vanished, replaced by brown, scale-like patterns.

Its body was powerfully built, its muscles taut and strong, like a sculpture carved from marble.

Green light flashed in the Jade Toad Demon's little eyes. Demonic aura burst from it, making the air around them feel heavy.

Then the Toad Demon opened its mouth wide, revealing rows of densely packed teeth like a blade array...