Chapter 1196: The Curtain Falls on a Generation of Multi-Treasure (Combined)

Within the "Ear-Knowledge Dharma," there was no lie.

Liang Qu's mood sank rapidly; he tightened his webbed feet.

"How could you be unable to handle this? Frog Elder, you possess vast divine powers, endless wisdom, and strategic brilliance, deciding victories from a thousand miles away. Within the Great Marsh, is it possible you haven't used your profound arts to collect life-extending treasures? Or has the family stock already run dry?"

"Rest assured, I will go to the Heaven-Sailing Chamber of Commerce right now, or find General Yuan in Peng Ze. Both places have longevity treasures. Oh, right, there is also 'Cannot Move.' 'Cannot Move' possesses a life-extending divine power! No need to worry about the burden of medicinal potency; you just need to hold on for two more months!"

"Cannot Move" flicked its tail and burrowed into the frog circle; Big Fatty and Second Fatty immediately moved aside to clear a path.

They had rushed to Huangzhou in late October to use the 【Longevity-Increasing Seal】 on Xu's parents, and they recovered in late January. It had been paid out, and now it was mid-February. "Cannot Move's" divine power would recover in two and a half months, ready for the Old Toad.

"Sigh—it's useless." The Old Toad sighed long and hard. Its protruding round belly had two more wrinkles, making it look even more shriveled. "As a Multi-Treasure, I am an exotic species, born of heaven and earth, seizing the creation of heaven and earth, absorbing the essence of the sun and moon. *Cough, cough*, Liang Qing..."

Its gaze turned toward him. Liang Qu understood the meaning. He racked his brains and searched his gut: "The changes of heaven and earth give birth to divine objects. Clouds blow and moisture exhales, floating air gathers; in the changes of vitality, Frog Elder is the spirit of creation fostered by heaven and earth!"

The Old Toad said nothing, its frog eyes expectant for more.

Liang Qu scraped his stomach fluids again: "Though heaven is supreme, it must rely on the light of the sun and moon; though earth is spiritual, it must have the transformation of mountains and rivers. Though a sage has the virtue of ten thousand, he must have the worthy three dukes, nine ministers, twenty-seven grand masters, and eighty-one original scholars to follow heaven and complete his Dao; heaven and earth are precisely showing their infinite power through Frog Elder."

Still, there was no word.

Liang Qu felt like he was scraping his stomach wall off: "The two energies interact to give birth to all things; all things grow and change infinitely, and only Frog Elder has obtained the elegance and is the most spiritual! Frog Elder, in this situation, my heart is truly filled with inexplicable sorrow, a tangled mess, I cannot compose any more."

"Good, very good! Liang Qing has poetic talent! Big Fatty, remember to carve these three sentences on my tombstone."

"Wa!"

Big Fatty and Second Fatty tilted their frog heads to the sky and wailed loudly, leading the entire frog clan to begin mourning. It was a chorus of wails, one after another, a sea of frog sounds. The Frog King slumped its body, becoming increasingly hunched.

"Wa!!!"

A louder wail instantly drowned out the chief and deputy commanders.

A black fatty charged left and right, throwing itself beside the Old Toad. The fat catfish was grief-stricken; those who heard it shed tears, and those who listened felt heartbroken. A catfish had mixed into the big frogs, but since everyone was broad and fat with smooth skin and big mouths, it didn't seem to feel out of place.

"Sigh—adversity reveals true feelings. A little frog without feet actually has such a loyal heart. From now on, I will not remove you from the frog registry." The Old Toad's eyes were filled with reminiscence and loneliness. It steered the topic back. "Liang Qing, where did I just leave off?"

"Frog Elder mentioned life-extending treasures, that the Multi-Treasure clan seizes the creation of heaven and earth—"

"Right. To tell you the truth, life-extending treasures are useless to me, and divine powers are also ineffective."

"Why?"

"Multi-Treasures, Mysterious Turtles, Coral Crystal Insects—we exotic species of heaven and earth were born into this world, originally acting against heaven. Our lifespan has a fixed number, and our fate has a return path. When I, this Elder, became a demon, the Great Marsh had lightning for three days without stop. Wherever I went, it was a rolling sea of thunder. At that time, I also felt my limit was approaching. Fortunately, the Dragon Lord extended a claw, so—I am unable to handle this."

Life-extending treasures were useless...

Liang Qu took the National Teacher Seal handed over by the Old Toad, a dull hammer striking his heart. Perhaps his cultivation was too fast; he had never experienced a familiar person reaching the end of their life. Even Uncle Chen's father, Chen Renxing, could now eat two bowls of rice at a meal, his complexion rosy.

"Help me up."

Liang Qu helped the Old Toad lean against a lotus stalk.

The Old Toad pulled a yellow leather bag from under its bottom. It rummaged around and pulled out a stack of waterproof land deeds, extracting two.

"In Pingyang Prefecture, I have four acres of ponds. They belong to our frog clan. Great King, you must keep them well. The land price here is precious; I bought it when it was cheap, and it can still appreciate. It has risen to ten fish per acre. Unless absolutely necessary, do not sell them."

"Remember, remember, the shore surrounds the Great Marsh, three thousand miles of lotus flowers; this is truly the national policy that the frog clan has implemented for a hundred years. The policy must not die with the frog. Remember, there is a round stone in the pond that is very comfortable to lie on. Since it has my seal, I like it very much; just take it as my tombstone."

Liang Qu couldn't help but feel a little awkward.

The Frog King gripped the small stack of contracts, carefully put them away, and answered in a muffled voice.

"In Huangzhou, there is a two-entry residence. The pond inside belongs to us, and there are also one hundred acres of paddy fields that are ours. Big Fatty, Second Fatty, give this to you two brothers. In Jianshui, this Elder has one hundred acres of ponds, already planted with lotus flowers, blooming every year. Shuangli, this is for you."

The Ice Jade Toad clan leader was sorrowful, stepped forward, and took the land deed.

"And the old Dragon Lord's Cloud Immortal Island, until the next Bing-Fire day, all belong to our frog clan. This is the lease agreement. This is the most expensive one. Liang Qing, leave it to the Dragon Palace."

"In my house, there are still two gold and silver cups, exquisite works of art. They were gifts from the Dragon Lord at a banquet in the past, and they have extraordinary significance. I will give them to you together as a wedding gift for you and the Dragon Lady. Just place them in the Dragon Palace; it can be considered returning the objects to their original place."

Liang Qu gripped the lease agreement tightly, his thoughts inexplicable, guilt rising in his heart.

"In my small building, there are still many treasure fish, treasure plants, treasure books, treasure minerals, and gadgets. Sigh, I collected so many, and they are useless... Frog Big Treasure—"

One by one, piece by piece, item by item, share by share.

The Old Toad distributed the treasures it had accumulated in its lifetime to the big frogs of the frog clan.

After finishing, it suddenly aged ten years. The frog skin on its back faded more and more severely, as if it had weathered all at once, without the original bright and vivid brown-yellow color, forming a layer of hard shell. Its belly no longer had its previous round luster, resembling a pile of towels, and its frog head drooped again and again.

"Elder!"

"Elder, don't die!"

"The frog clan cannot do without the Elder."

The grief could no longer be calmed. The earth-shaking wailing resounded through the Great Marsh. The fishermen catching fish on the marsh were terrified, hearing the faint wailing, and knelt on their boats, kowtowing repeatedly.

"Don't cry or make a fuss. Be quiet for a while and let me rest, rest—"

The frog clan suppressed their grief, stopped crying, and choked back sobs.

The Dragon-Man Elder in the outer waters sighed silently.

The Frog Elder was stingy, greedy, went back on its word, and was a bit treacherous, but if it weren't for Frog Elder, they wouldn't even have the chance to spend money to buy long-breath.

The Frog King tilted its head forty-five degrees, not letting the sadness fall, and once again recalled the afternoon when the Old Toad took it to attend a banquet, carrying a yellow leather bag, stealing the Dragon Lord's gold and silver cups.

The sunlight shone down hazily, scattering into the water waves, converging into flowing golden light, rising and falling silently.

Everyone and every frog was filled with tears.

Finally.

The Old Toad's frog head tilted to one side.

"Wa—"

"I said don't make noise! Don't make noise! Noise, noise, noise, what are you making noise about all day long, you two idiots! Fools! Confused eggs! I'm not dead yet!"

The wailing stopped abruptly. The Old Toad opened its eyes suddenly, jumped up, hugged Big Fatty's frog head, opened its frog arms, and fiercely pulled Big Fatty's corners of the mouth. Then it jumped onto Second Fatty's face, slapped left and right, gave a headbutt, and kicked the fat catfish three times.

"This Elder is sleeping! Sleeping! Crying for your big ghost's funeral!"

"Pa!"

The skin rebounded, emitting white steam.

The Old Toad did a three-hundred-sixty-degree backflip, curled into a ball, shrank on the ground, and had no movement again.

Big Fatty looked at Second Fatty, Second Fatty looked at the fat catfish. The fat catfish stepped forward cautiously, poking with its whiskers.

"Hu-ha, hu-ha—"

Low snoring.

It was indeed sleeping, but no frog was happy. The Elder had already divided the family property, leaving only these two days of effort. As for the treasure fish and treasure minerals received, no frog cared.

The backbone was gone, so what was the point of getting treasure fish?

No amount of treasure fish was as fragrant as the Elder's impending treasure fish.

Clang, clang, tiles fell to the ground and shattered. The hibernating grass snake curled up stiffly on the roof, was flicked away by a monkey with a wooden stick, and grabbed a broom to sweep the roof dust.

The construction of the Prince's Mansion was in full swing.

Three monkeys raised their tails, carrying a large beam across the courtyard. Seeing the Great King and the Princess passing by, they immediately put down the beam, feet together, tails standing straight up, right hands pressed against their foreheads at ninety degrees, heads turning from left to right, watching them leave, then moving the beam again.

Liang Qu and Eying returned to the pond to take the round stone under the waterfall that the Old Toad often lay on.

"Everything was fine, how could its life end?"

Sitting by the pond, Liang Qu hung his hands on his knees, his mood lonely.

It was clearly the joyous day of the first New Year since entering the Dragon Palace, when they should be hanging lanterns and streamers, spending the New Year together, and the whole family should be happy.

However, the Old Toad's limit was approaching, instantly scattering the warm atmosphere. It wasn't just that the frog clan had no backbone; Liang Qu also felt empty in his heart, losing a sense of security.

The Great Marsh without the Old Toad was like the Jianghuai without a True Dragon.

Long Eying gathered her skirt and sat beside him: "Otherwise, Husband, ask Frog Elder if it is willing to accept governance? If it can be forcibly promoted, wouldn't that be a way?"

Liang Qu shook his head: "It shouldn't be useful."

"Husband has tried?"

"I have tried treasure fish; they can be governed, they can communicate, but there is no way to promote them."

Long Eying was surprised: "Actually like this?"

Liang Qu nodded: "There are roughly three types of creatures born and raised in the Great Marsh. One type is treasure fish, small as ox horns, medium as Golden Gong fish, large as blood lions; the Dragon Lord also counts as one, appearing every two sixty-year cycles, and is also unique, even requiring the river itself to reach a certain scale."

"The third type belongs to the 'exotic species' between the two, Uncle's Mysterious Turtle Wu Cangshou, Iron-Head Fish's Coral Crystal Insect, and the frog clan's Frog Elder."

"The characteristics of these three types are all 'no father, no mother,' jumping out of the Great Marsh. Mysterious Turtles, Crystal Insects, and Frog Elders can all seek good fortune and avoid disaster, but the Multi-Treasure Toad is considered the most powerful one in the same realm. Just wait and see. In two more days, if Frog Elder is really not working, I will ask..."

Liang Qu clearly remembered that the Old Toad had given him a Mysterious Turtle shell, which was still buried under the pond, showing that there was some kind of status suppression among exotic species.

"Splash."

The black and bright turtle shell broke through the water bag, ripples turning into white foam sticking to the pond stone.

"Haha, hi, Mysterious Turtle, heard someone calling this old man?" Wu Cangshou poked its head out, greeting enthusiastically, "Prince of Huai, Princess of Huai! Long time no see! You two are truly becoming more handsome and beautiful, a talented man and a beautiful woman, a match made in heaven."

"Speaking of which, I don't know what's going on in the Great Marsh recently, good things have suddenly increased, and I can't catch them all. The King is planning to hold a banquet, do you two have time—whoa, such large smoke and dust, why so many monkeys?"

Long Eying apologized: "Grandpa Shou, these past two days the Liang Prefecture has been undergoing renovations to become a Prince's Prefecture, so there is a bit more dust. My husband and I have both moved to the Yang Prefecture in Pingyang Prefecture to stay. Since you have come today, if you are looking for Magistrate Su, he should be working at the River-Lake Office right now."

"So that's it, also, you are a Prince now, the Prince's Mansion is good, more spacious, must be built well."

Wu Cangshou climbed onto the round stone, stretching its limbs to sun its back, "This old man is not looking for Guishan, just too busy recently, searching for treasures, and having some insights, feeling it's a good day to sun in the pond without being disturbed by a toad. Oh, this round stone in your pond is really good, slept on so many stones, this one is the most comfortable."

"Grandpa Shou, I'm afraid you won't be able to sleep on this stone from now on. I'll have A-Fei change another one for you another day."

"Can't sleep?" Wu Cangshou was stunned, "What do you mean?"

"Sigh, it's Frog Elder."

Wu Cangshou clapped its claws in anger: "This old toad, is it bullying me because my turtle claws are not sharp? Does it even want to move a stone to its own house? This is tolerable, that is not! I want to duel with it!"

"It's not like that, it's that Frog Elder's great limit is approaching, and it wants to take the round stone in the pond back to carve a tombstone."

Wu Cangshou was stunned, suspicious: "Great limit approaching, who?"

"Frog Elder."

"Little Toad is Little Toad, what Frog Elder, what happened to it?"

"Great limit approaching."

"Who?"

The question suddenly began to cycle, Liang Qu opened his mouth.

"I know, I know." Wu Cangshou waved its claws, falling into deep thought, "Back then it said one hundred ninety-six, it's been ten years, this year two hundred six, for a Hunting Tiger Multi-Treasure Toad, it is indeed two and a half times longer, but I just don't believe it—where is that Little Toad now?"

"Frog clan territory."

"Plop."

Wu Cangshou turned and fell into the pond, burrowed through the waterway, paddled its four limbs, and rushed to the frog clan territory.

"What does Grandpa Shou mean?" Long Eying asked.

"Don't know, maybe it feels unbelievable? I didn't want to believe it at first either."

The "Ear-Knowledge Dharma" didn't lie, the blood and energy were in a state of decay, looking like the limit had arrived no matter how you looked at it.

"Don't care about that much, take the stone out first. Eying, what is the general format for a tombstone? Are there any regulations for length, width, and thickness? What font is better? You say Frog Elder is so old, should it be handled as a happy funeral or a sad funeral? How much money should be given?"

"I'll go check."

The New Year was approaching, and another major event had occurred.

There was no mood to explore the Blood River Realm.

Sent the Little Star body to stretch its tentacles, watching the clouds roll and unfurl.

"Sigh, it's been almost a year, why hasn't Master come out of seclusion yet." Lao Mengyao lay under the peach tree and sighed, watching the fruits hanging on the branches, reaching out to pick one and gnaw on it, "If you don't eat it, you don't eat it, put it on Master's account!"

Night.

Lotus leaves fluttered.

Wu Cangshou waved its four limbs, quietly arrived at the frog clan territory, saw the "Little Toad" curled into a ball under the lotus leaf, guarded by the frog clan, and was shocked to realize its blood and energy were decaying. Originally full of vitality, now the skin was faded, like a stone on the roadside, not finding it without looking carefully.

"Grandpa Turtle?" Frog Mobile Corps Commander landed on the ground, "Why are you here?"

"Shh, this old man came to see." Wu Cangshou waved its claws.

Frog Mobile Corps Commander thought for a moment and cleared the way.

The West Turtle and South Frog had always had a friendship, knowing each other. Wu Cangshou was also a great general under the Turtle King, the Fortune Mysterious Turtle, an exotic species like the Frog Elder, and they all knew each other.

Should be considered friends?

Without obstruction, Wu Cangshou leaned closer, circling the Old Toad to observe, rubbing its chin, looking at the moonlight, looking at the toad.

It was indeed a look of dying, but it still didn't quite believe it.

Since the beginning of the Jianghuai, the only Multi-Treasure Toad to become a demon, pulling out a Demon King, unprecedented, rarer than the Dragon Lord, just like that, the great limit approaching suddenly? Clearly the Great Marsh had just become prosperous, with so many treasures appearing, just this one look, from dark to dawn.

Sunlight pierced the water area, scattering into golden needles along the edge of the lotus leaf.

White sand was soft.

"Ha!"

Wu Cangshou suddenly realized, stretched out its turtle claws, and fiercely slapped the Old Toad's back.

A dull sound, like slapping a cowhide drum.

The Old Toad swayed back and forth like jelly.

"!" Frog Mobile Corps Commander was shocked and angry, falling from the sky, smashing Wu Cangshou away, "Old fellow, what are you doing!? Does the West Turtle bully my frog clan for having no frogs?"

The entire frog clan was shocked and flew out.

Wu Cangshou kicked its four feet, turned over in the water, facing the steel fork and large anchor, unafraid.

The Old Toad woke up faintly, looked at the turtle head that popped out, rubbed its eyes, and finally recognized it was the Mysterious Turtle Wu Cangshou, only to hear a loud curse.

"Die a fart, you are clearly about to be promoted!" ===== CHAPTER 1197 =====