The Jade Blood Toad, which had been absorbing the power of moonlight, saw the Flying Swords rushing toward it and let out an angry croak. It immediately stopped absorbing the moonlight, opened its great mouth, and spewed a cloud of dark green poisonous mist that enveloped the two Flying Swords.
A hissing sound rang out as the two crimson Flying Swords were engulfed by the poisonous mist and began to corrode. The two cultivators by the pool paled. They hurriedly controlled their swords to fly out of the mist and return to their sides. The blades had gone dull and lifeless, as if they had lost most of their spiritual power.
Furious, the two men put away their Flying Swords and each brought out a prized Dharma Artifact to attack the Jade Blood Toad. Croaking, the toad sprang toward the edge of the pool with a kick of its hind legs. It dodged their attacks, then opened its mouth and sprayed poisonous mist at the two cultivators.
The two cultivators retreated while controlling their Dharma Artifacts to strike at the Jade Blood Toad. A seal and a needle spun in the air, then shot toward the toad's belly.
The Jade Blood Toad opened its mouth and spewed poisonous mist, shrouding its body. Seeing this, the two cultivators hurriedly recalled their Dharma Artifacts to keep them from being corroded. Then they each formed hand seals and unleashed their signature spells.
A golden spear of spiritual energy and a giant green log appeared, hurtling straight toward the Jade Blood Toad. The spear and log broke through the poisonous mist, but the mist corroded most of both, greatly weakening their power. The Jade Blood Toad shattered them with a swipe of its claw.
Seeing what was happening, Xu Yang and Lin Heng hurriedly circulated the Breath Concealment Technique, concealing their auras so they would not be discovered. The Breath Concealment Technique was a low-level spell widely practiced in the cultivation world; almost everyone knew how to use it.
Yet the Breath Concealment Technique was remarkably effective. Once a cultivator used it, even someone an entire major realm above them would be unable to detect the slightest trace of their aura without searching carefully.
After using the Breath Concealment Technique, Xu Yang and Lin Heng cautiously watched the battle, both hoping that the two sides would suffer so badly that they could reap the benefits.
The two cultivators in the clearing were disciples of the Blood Refining Sect, both at 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 mid-stage Foundation Establishment demon beast, but it possessed a thin trace of the True Spirit bloodline of the Yinyue True Toad, allowing it to rival a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator.
Song Lu and Zhang Wanli looked grim. They had not expected the Jade Blood Toad to be so powerful. Their attacks had done nothing, and their Flying Swords had been damaged. They were caught between a rock and a hard place.
Just as Song Lu and Zhang Wanli hesitated, considering retreat, the Jade Blood Toad suddenly let out an angry croak. The dense bumps on its back rapidly swelled, and it fired poisonous arrows one after another at the two men.
Song Lu and Zhang Wanli were horrified. They hurriedly leaped backward, sending streaks of sword light at the poisonous arrows in an attempt to block them. But the arrows were far more poisonous than they had imagined. Their sword light was corroded outright and could not stop them at all.
Seeing this, the two men immediately regrouped and brought out defensive Dharma Artifacts to protect themselves from the arrows. A top-grade Blood Spirit Pearl and a top-grade Blood River Seal appeared in the air. The Blood River Seal quickly expanded, blocking the two men from the front, while the Blood Spirit Pearl flew above their heads and released a red curtain of light that enveloped them.
A series of soft hisses sounded as the poisonous arrows struck the Blood River Seal. Their potent corrosive force ate through it, leaving it riddled with holes before it fell to the ground, completely ruined. Zhang Wanli's heart ached at the sight. The remaining arrows then struck the red curtain of light, making ripples spread across it before they vanished.
Seeing that they had blocked the arrows, Song Lu and Zhang Wanli felt relieved. They no longer hesitated. Quickly taking out another Flying Sword, they rose into the air on their swords and fled at full speed toward the mouth of the valley.
Seeing Song Lu and Zhang Wanli flee on their swords, the Jade Blood Toad grew furious. It croaked twice and fixed its green eyes on them. A brilliant green light blazed in its eyes, and two beams of poisonous light shot toward the pair at tremendous speed.
This poisonous light was the Jade Blood Toad's trump card, the Corrosive Poison Death Strike. It was not only incredibly venomous but also so fast it vanished in a flash. Song Lu and Zhang Wanli had no chance to dodge. Two screams rang through the air. One Corrosive Poison Death Strike pierced Zhang Wanli through the chest, and he fell from the sky, dead on the spot.
Song Lu was worthy of being a mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator; his reactions were incredibly quick. At the critical moment, he twisted aside and avoided a strike to the chest, but another Corrosive Poison Death Strike hit his left arm, punching a hole the size of a thumb through it.
A shocking amount of dark green poison surged from his left arm toward his shoulder. Song Lu's expression changed drastically. He gritted his teeth, raised his right hand, and cut off his left arm at the shoulder. The searing pain made him cry out, and copious blood dripped from the air. Then Song Lu urged his Flying Sword with all his might and escaped from the valley.
Watching from the sidelines, Xu Yang and Lin Heng stood dumbfounded. They had never imagined the Jade Blood Toad would be so formidable, leaving one of the two Foundation Establishment cultivators from the Blood Refining Sect dead and the other severely wounded. Both felt a wave of relief. Fortunately, those two unlucky bastards had taken the hit for them; otherwise, they would have been the ones in trouble.
Now, however, the Jade Blood Toad had used up a great deal of energy in the battle, and Xu Yang and Lin Heng knew what it was capable of. They felt they had a chance of dealing with it. With that thought, the two quietly crept closer to the Jade Blood Toad.
The Jade Blood Toad had clearly expended a great deal of energy using the two Corrosive Poison Death Strikes. Seeing that one enemy was dead and the other had fled, it stood where it was and closed its eyes to recover.
Just then, a purple Demon-Slaying Thunder Pearl streaked through the air. The Jade Blood Toad immediately opened its eyes and spat out a cloud of poisonous mist. With a thunderous boom, the Demon-Slaying Thunder Pearl exploded, and bolts of divine lightning struck the toad.
The Jade Blood Toad let out a scream and began trembling all over. It kicked off with its hind legs and tried to leap away with all its strength, but the divine lightning struck it to the ground, leaving it unable to move. Bolt after bolt of divine lightning continued to strike its body, drawing anguished cries from it.
When all was quiet again, the ground within a radius of five meters had been scorched to ash, and the Jade Blood Toad lay blackened on the ground. Yet its body continued to tremble; it had somehow survived the divine lightning. It was far tougher than Xue Meng had been. As expected of a demon beast, its body was far stronger than a cultivator's.
It was Lin Heng who had made the attack. Seeing that his single strike had worked and left the mid-stage Foundation Establishment Jade Blood Toad gravely wounded, he was so excited that he immediately slapped Xu Yang and said, "Senior Brother Xu, this Jade Blood Toad was far too careless. It let us catch it off guard, and we blasted it nearly to death in one strike."
Xu Yang smiled too. "It wasn't careless. Those two disciples of the Blood Refining Sect were our trailblazers. Otherwise, it wouldn't have let down its guard, and we wouldn't have been able to catch it by surprise."
Lin Heng chuckled. "You're right, Senior Brother. Still, we were lucky to have two unlucky bastards rush over and act as our shields." As he spoke, Lin Heng stepped toward the Jade Blood Toad lying on the ground.
Xu Yang did not stop Lin Heng from approaching. He trusted that Lin Heng was not reckless or careless and would handle the Jade Blood Toad properly. But as Lin Heng drew closer to it, Xu Yang's keen senses rang an alarm, repeatedly warning him of danger.
Xu Yang's brow immediately furrowed. He swept his gaze around with all his might, then looked toward the pool ahead. Bubbles were rising across one patch of its surface, and a huge shadow was emerging from beneath the water.
Xu Yang froze for a moment, then his expression changed drastically. He immediately leaped to Lin Heng's side, grabbed his shoulder, and retreated with him. Lin Heng was whisked backward at speed, bewildered. He was about to ask Xu Yang what was going on when the sight before him left him stunned.
Another Jade Blood Toad had emerged from the pool before them, and this one was much larger, standing about six meters tall—fully twice the size of the previous one. Its strength was clearly greater as well.
The Jade Blood Toad coldly watched Xu Yang and Lin Heng. Its powerful aura pressed down on them until their foreheads were slick with sweat and their backs were soaked through.
Xu Yang inwardly groaned. He had never expected there to be another one here—a Jade Blood Toad at the peak of the Foundation Establishment Realm, just one step away from forming a Demon Core. Once it formed one, it would awaken its intelligence and become a Demon Cultivator.
Demon beasts cultivated by absorbing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth as well. Those at the Qi Refining Realm and Foundation Establishment Realm had little intelligence, relying mostly on the instincts of beasts. Only a few special demon beasts were born with intelligence.
But when a demon beast formed a Demon Core, it reached the equivalent of the human Golden Core Realm. After successfully surviving a lightning tribulation, it would awaken its intelligence and gain intellect no less than a human's, becoming a true Demon Cultivator. If a demon beast broke through to the Nascent Soul Realm and formed a demon infant, then survived a lightning tribulation, it could transform into human form and become a great demon in human form.
The Jade Blood Toad before them was only one step away from forming a Demon Core. With such powerful strength, it was far beyond anything Xu Yang and Lin Heng could handle.
Xu Yang secretly sent Lin Heng a message. "Junior Brother Lin, things look bad. This Jade Blood Toad is far too powerful. We need to run for our lives, now! I'll use a Demon-Slaying Thunder Pearl to hold it off for a moment, and we can use the chance to escape on our swords."
Hearing Xu Yang's words, Lin Heng's eyes lit up. He hurriedly blinked at Xu Yang to show that he understood. Seeing that Lin Heng was ready, Xu Yang immediately tossed the Demon-Slaying Thunder Pearl toward the Jade Blood Toad in the pool.
Then, without waiting for the Demon-Slaying Thunder Pearl to explode, Xu Yang and Lin Heng rose into the air on their swords and sped toward the mouth of the valley. Seeing the Demon-Slaying Thunder Pearl flying toward it, the Jade Blood Toad let out an angry croak and swiftly retreated.
With a thunderous boom, the Demon-Slaying Thunder Pearl exploded, but the Jade Blood Toad was unharmed. It had already escaped beyond the pearl's blast radius.
Once it was clear of the blast radius, the Jade Blood Toad immediately looked toward the direction in which Xu Yang and Lin Heng had fled. Green light blazed in its eyes, and two dark green Corrosive Poison Death Strikes flashed toward the pair in the sky.
Before you continue