The golden toad's phantom image spoke calmly, but its words gave Chen Lin a fright.
"One thousand Nightmare Coins?"
Even with his composure these days, Chen Lin was still stunned by the price.
It clearly had no intention of giving him a choice. It might as well have punished him outright!
"Correct. One thousand Nightmare Coins. Please hand them over within ten breaths, or you will be deemed to have forfeited this option."
The golden toad's phantom image spoke in the same unchanging tone, but Chen Lin sensed something amiss.
He refused to believe that every angler had to pay such an enormous sum to escape punishment. Otherwise, this option would be meaningless. It was deliberately making things difficult for him, intent on devouring his qi luck!
His qi luck differed from that of ordinary people, and it must have stirred the creature's greed. Its failure to warn him during his first visit had probably been deliberate as well.
He glanced at the old man and found a very strange expression on his face. He seemed to want to say something, but held himself back.
Chen Lin dared not delay. He immediately pulled the talisman Niuniu had given him from inside his robes, then activated it with his divine soul power, releasing its aura.
Then he looked nervously at the golden toad.
Although Niuniu had assured him it would work, the creature had clearly set its sights on his qi luck. He did not know whether the talisman would still be effective.
To be safe, he secretly prepared to use Soul-Destroying Finger.
The sense of rejection had already brought him to the verge of being expelled, and only the Xianji Stone was keeping him here. If he could drive the creature back and buy a little time, he could put