Fierce Battle, Escape

"Croak!" The Jade Blood Toad, which had been absorbing the power of the moon, let out an angry cry upon seeing the flying swords attack. It immediately ceased its absorption, opened its massive maw, and spewed a stream of dark green poisonous mist, engulfing the two flying swords.

A hissing sound filled the air as the two crimson flying swords were shrouded in the mist, their surfaces instantly corroding with a sharp, sizzling noise. The two cultivators by the pool turned pale with shock and hurriedly maneuvered their swords out of the mist and back to their sides, only to find the blades dim and lusterless, as if they had lost most of their spiritual essence.

Furious, the two men stowed their swords and each produced their own prized magical artifacts to strike at the Jade Blood Toad. The toad croaked loudly, its hind legs tensing before it leaped toward the edge of the pool, dodging the attacks while simultaneously opening its mouth to spray another cloud of poison at the pair.

As the two cultivators retreated, they manipulated their respective artifacts to strike at the toad. A seal and a needle-shaped artifact spun through the air, darting rapidly toward the Jade Blood Toad's belly.

The Jade Blood Toad opened its mouth and spat out a cloud of toxic mist, enveloping its own body within it. Seeing this, the two cultivators quickly diverted their artifacts to avoid the corrosive poison. Following this, both men began chanting incantations to unleash their signature spells.

A golden spiritual spear and a massive green wooden pillar appeared, crashing straight into the Jade Blood Toad. The toxic mist was shattered by the spear and the pillar, but both were heavily corroded and significantly weakened, allowing the toad to swat them away with its claws.

Observing the scene from afar, Xu Yang and Lin Heng immediately activated their Breath Concealment Technique to suppress their presence and avoid detection. The Breath Concealment Technique was a low-level, widely circulated spell in the cultivation world that almost everyone knew how to use.

However, the efficacy of this technique was remarkably potent; once a cultivator employed it, even someone an entire major realm higher would fail to detect the slightest trace of their aura unless they conducted a meticulous search.

After activating the technique, Xu Yang and Lin Heng watched the fierce battle with bated breath, both hoping that the two sides would exhaust each other so they could swoop in as the beneficiaries.

The two cultivators in the arena were disciples of the Blood Refining Sect, both in the Foundation Establishment Realm. One was Song Lu, at the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage, and the other was Zhang Wanli, at the Foundation Establishment Early Stage. The Jade Blood Toad was a Foundation Establishment Middle Stage demon beast, but because it possessed the diluted bloodline of the Yinyue True Toad, its strength was comparable to a cultivator at the Foundation Establishment Late Stage.

At this moment, the expressions of Song Lu and Zhang Wanli were grim. They had not expected the Jade Blood Toad to be so formidable; not only had their attacks proven ineffective, but their flying swords had also been damaged, leaving them in a precarious position.

Just as Song Lu and his companion hesitated, considering a retreat, the Jade Blood Toad let out a sudden, angry croak. The dense clusters of bumps on its back swelled rapidly, and it fired a barrage of poison arrows toward the two men.

Song Lu and Zhang Wanli were struck with terror. They scrambled backward while simultaneously releasing sword light from their hands, attempting to intercept the poison arrows. However, the toxicity of the arrows exceeded their expectations; their sword light was instantly corroded upon contact, failing to provide any defense.

Seeing this, the two men immediately huddled together and deployed their defensive artifacts. A top-grade Blood Spirit Pearl and a top-grade Blood River Seal appeared in the air. The Blood River Seal expanded rapidly to block their front, while the Blood Spirit Pearl hovered above their heads, casting a red light barrier that shielded them.

With a series of hissing sounds, the Blood River Seal was struck by the poison arrows. The intense corrosion left the seal pitted and scarred until it fell to the ground, completely ruined, causing Zhang Wanli a pang of heartbreak. The remaining arrows then struck the red light barrier, causing it to ripple violently before finally dissipating.

Seeing that they had blocked the arrows, the two men felt a surge of relief. Without further hesitation, they retrieved spare flying swords and took to the air, fleeing rapidly away from the valley.

The Jade Blood Toad was enraged to see them escaping. It croaked twice, fixing its emerald eyes upon the pair. Its eyes flared with intense green light, and it fired two beams of toxic radiance that streaked toward the fleeing men with terrifying speed.

This toxic light was the Jade Blood Toad's trump card, the Corrosive Poison Death Strike. It was not only violently toxic but also incredibly fast, vanishing and reappearing in an instant. Song Lu and Zhang Wanli had no way to dodge. Two screams echoed in the air; Zhang Wanli was pierced through the chest by a Corrosive Poison Death Strike and plummeted to his death.

Song Lu proved worthy of being a Foundation Establishment Middle Stage cultivator; his reaction was lightning-fast. At the critical moment, he twisted his body, avoiding a fatal blow to his chest, but the Corrosive Poison Death Strike struck his left arm, punching a thumb-sized hole through it.

A terrifying dark green toxin surged up his arm toward his shoulder. Song Lu's expression shifted violently. Gritting his teeth, he raised his right hand and severed his left arm at the shoulder. The excruciating pain forced a roar from his throat as a spray of blood rained from the sky. He then poured all his remaining strength into his flying sword and fled the valley.

Watching from the sidelines, Xu Yang and Lin Heng were dumbstruck. They hadn't expected the Jade Blood Toad to be so powerful, leaving one of the Blood Refining Sect disciples dead and the other severely wounded. Both felt a sense of relief; luckily, these two unlucky souls had acted as shields, or else they would have been the ones in trouble.

As for the current situation, the Jade Blood Toad had expended a significant amount of energy in the battle, and now that Xu Yang and Lin Heng knew its capabilities, they felt they had a decent chance of dealing with it. With this in mind, the two quietly crept closer to the toad.

The Jade Blood Toad had clearly exhausted itself by unleashing two Corrosive Poison Death Strikes. Seeing that its enemies were either dead or fled, it remained in place, closing its eyes to recover.

Just then, a purple Demon-Slaying Thunder Pearl flew through the air. The Jade Blood Toad immediately opened its eyes and spat out a cloud of poison, but with a deafening roar, the Demon-Slaying Thunder Pearl detonated, sending bolts of divine lightning crashing down upon the toad.

The Jade Blood Toad let out a miserable shriek and began to tremble violently. It tried to kick off with its hind legs to leap away, but the lightning pinned it to the ground, leaving it unable to move as bolt after bolt of divine lightning continued to strike, forcing it to wail in agony.

When everything finally fell silent, the area within a five-meter radius had been scorched into wasteland, and the Jade Blood Toad lay on the ground, its body charred black. However, seeing its body still twitching, it was clear it hadn't been killed by the lightning. It was far tougher than the Xue Meng they had encountered before; as expected of a demon beast, its physical body was far superior to that of a human cultivator.

The one who had launched the attack was Lin Heng. Seeing his strike succeed and leave the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage toad on the brink of death, he was filled with excitement. He patted Xu Yang and said, "Senior Brother Xu, this Jade Blood Toad was too careless. We managed to ambush it and leave it mortally wounded in one go!"

Xu Yang also smiled and said, "It wasn't its carelessness, but rather those two Blood Refining Sect disciples who acted as our pathfinders. Otherwise, it wouldn't have lowered its guard enough for us to succeed."

Lin Heng laughed and replied, "Senior Brother is right, but we were also lucky to have two unlucky fools step up to be our shields." As he spoke, Lin Heng walked toward the fallen Jade Blood Toad.

Xu Yang did not stop him, trusting that Lin Heng was not a reckless person and would handle the toad properly. However, as Lin Heng approached the beast, Xu Yang's keen senses suddenly triggered a frantic alarm, sending waves of danger signals through his mind.

Xu Yang's brow furrowed tightly as he scanned the surroundings. He then looked toward the pool in front of them and saw a large number of bubbles rising to the surface, with a massive black shadow emerging from the depths.

Xu Yang was stunned for a moment before his expression changed drastically. He leaped to Lin Heng's side, grabbed his shoulder, and retreated rapidly. Lin Heng, being dragged away, looked confused and was about to ask what was happening when he was frozen by the sight before him.

Emerging from the pool was another Jade Blood Toad, and this one was even larger—standing six meters tall, twice the size of the previous one. Clearly, its strength was even more formidable.

This Jade Blood Toad was staring coldly at the two men, its overwhelming aura pressing down on them until cold sweat drenched their backs.

Xu Yang cursed inwardly. He hadn't expected there to be another one—a Jade Blood Toad at the peak of the Foundation Establishment Realm. It was only one step away from condensing a Demon Core, a powerful existence that would gain sentience and become a demon cultivator once the core was formed.

Demon beasts also cultivated by absorbing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. Those at the Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment stages possessed little intelligence, relying mostly on animal instinct, with only rare, special beasts born with sentience.

However, once a demon beast cultivated a Demon Core, it was equivalent to a human in the Golden Core Realm. After successfully surviving the lightning tribulation, it would gain intelligence equal to that of a human and become a true demon cultivator. If a demon beast broke through to the Nascent Soul Realm and condensed a Demon Infant, then successfully survived the lightning tribulation, it could take on a human form and become a Great Demon.

The Jade Blood Toad before them was only a step away from condensing a Demon Core. With such immense power, it was far beyond what Xu Yang and Lin Heng could handle.

Xu Yang secretly transmitted his voice to Lin Heng: "Junior Brother Lin, the situation is dire. This toad is too powerful; we must flee immediately! In a moment, I will use the Demon-Slaying Thunder Pearl to block it, and we will take the chance to escape on our swords."

Upon hearing this, Lin Heng's eyes lit up, and he blinked at Xu Yang to signal his understanding. Seeing that Lin Heng was ready, Xu Yang threw the Demon-Slaying Thunder Pearl toward the toad in the pool.

Without waiting for the pearl to detonate, the two men leaped onto their flying swords and fled toward the edge of the valley at top speed. Seeing the pearl flying toward it, the Jade Blood Toad let out an angry croak and retreated rapidly.

With a thunderous boom, the Demon-Slaying Thunder Pearl exploded, but it failed to harm the toad, as the beast had already moved out of the blast radius.

After escaping the explosion, the Jade Blood Toad immediately fixed its gaze on the direction in which the two men were fleeing. Its eyes flared with green light, and two beams of dark green Corrosive Poison Death Strike flashed through the air, shooting straight toward Xu Yang and Lin Heng.