Wen Ning swung the Phoenix-Wing Gilt Trident, its length wreathed in red light.
The blow landed squarely on Golden Toad's swollen belly, like a strike against an oxhide drum.
Even the surrounding air shuddered with a hum.
Golden Toad had no time even to cry out. His entire body shot backward like a ball knocked away, tumbling through the air before crashing through the remaining stretch of Erping's earthen wall. Broken bricks and tiles clattered to the ground.
Dust billowed up, obscuring half the village.
Wen Ning did not pursue him. The trident's tip angled toward the ground, its red glow flickering. He watched the dust cloud with a steady, cool gaze, waiting for the Toad Demon to emerge. That blow would hardly kill him.
Yang Jian's Celestial Eye opened slightly, silver light flickering on his forehead. He, too, held back.
"He isn't hurt."
Yang Jian spoke so quietly that only Wen Ning could hear.
Before his words had faded, a wet, cloying laugh rose from the dust.
"Ha, hahaha! Such strength! What a fine weapon!"
A gray-green claw pushed aside the rubble, and Golden Cicada slowly crawled out. Dust covered his toad head. Several of the densely packed lumps on it had been sliced open by broken bricks, leaking yellow-green fluid that dripped onto the ground and sent up wisps of black smoke.
Yet the Toad Demon seemed to feel no pain. Instead, he extended his long tongue and licked the ooze off his face, his bulging yellow eyes shining eerily through the dust.
He brushed the dust off his belly. The gash left by the trident's blade had already closed, leaving only a faint white mark.
"It's useless."
Golden Toad split his enormous mouth into a grin. His voice remained thick and wet, carrying a rank stench from