Chapter 227: Third Eye

Ribbit!!

That giant toad, like a hillock, when coiled and lying down already exceeded dozens of zhang in height, let out a resonant long cry.

The sound resembled an ox and a tiger, with wave after wave of overwhelming momentum.

This toad's back is earthen, covered with black specks like stones, exuding a misty black vapor.

Its mouth bristled with two rows of extremely fine yet sharp teeth, and its bright red tongue was smeared with a strange mucus.

And the most remarkable thing was:

It was that between its two ruby-like eyes, spaced far apart, there stood a vertical fissure.

The left and right eyelids wriggled.

As if something was contained within.

"Three-Eyed Earth Toad?"

As for this giant toad demon beast, Yunhe, Ning Sisi, and Li Yuanfan were all somewhat unfamiliar with it.

But the aura it exuded was clear to them: late Third Stage!

This is a Third Stage Late Phase toad demon beast, tentatively called the 'Three-Eyed Earth Toad'!

In fact, it wasn't just this Three-Eyed Earth Toad; as the sand burst open, toads of various sizes emerged from the sand layers, one after another.

Although these little toads lacked the aura and the faint third eye of the giant toad, they were still not weak.

"We've poked a toad nest," Li Yuanfan murmured.

"Earth Essence Fruit" is a fruit where earthly spirits converge; growing near it, one can absorb more earth-attribute spiritual energy, so this group of toads likely feeds on the spiritual energy gathered by the Earth Essence Fruit.

"What should we do?" Ning Sisi asked, lowering her voice.

Although the Earth Essence Fruit is precious, that Three-Eyed Earth Toad is clearly not comparable to the previous Rotten Sand Worm; just its late Third Stage demon beast strength surpasses the Rotten Sand Worm by more than a notch.

If they tried to seize it by force, they would surely face a siege of toads big and small, and the two obviously had little confidence.

But Yunhe could not possibly sit idly by and ignore the treasure; from that brief glimpse just now, he saw not only the Earth Essence Fruit but something else, though he wasn't sure what it was, he was determined to obtain the Earth Essence Fruit.

Thus Yunhe's inner mana began to surge, his robes fluttering, and he said in a deep voice:

"You two fellows, please step aside for now; I, Yun, am not resigned and wish to try again."

As his words fell, he clasped his palms, and two flying swords shot out from his palms, accompanied by a humming vibration, flying toward the Three-Eyed Earth Toad.

"Strike!"

Right after, he gave a light shout, and the two flying swords instantly turned into six, shooting from all directions toward the Three-Eyed Earth Toad.

Ribbit!!

Sensing the threat, the Three-Eyed Earth Toad's belly and mouth bulged, and it roared again.

In an instant.

The already pervasive yellow sand became even more violent, rolling up terrifying yellow sand tornadoes that howled toward the oncoming flying swords.

At the same time, the surrounding toad demon beasts all sprang up from the sand in a frenzy, recklessly rushing at Yunhe.

"Fellow Daoist Yun!"

Seeing this, Li Yuanfan cried out in alarm.

But the next moment.

Yunhe's expression remained calm as he swiftly swept his hand across his waist and flung out three spirit insect pouches.

Buzz—

With the sound of fine wings vibrating, large numbers of crimson-gold six-winged bees emerged from those three spirit insect pouches.

Thousands of Crimson Shadow Golden-Winged Bees gathered into a cloud, swirling around Yunhe; every toad that lunged at him was swiftly wrapped by a Crimson Shadow Golden-Winged Bee before it could even touch him.

Whether the toads were large or small, the size of a ball or even a water jar, the instant they were wrapped by the Crimson Shadow Golden-Winged Bees, their bodies rapidly shrank; in less than a breath, when the bee swarm dispersed again, those toads had vanished without a trace.

"This"

Seeing this scene, the pupils of Li Yuanfan and Ning Sisi suddenly contracted.

This time, even Li Yuanfan's face was full of astonishment.

Although he knew Yunhe a little better than Ning Sisi and was aware that Yunhe was no ordinary mid Golden Core cultivator, he had never seen Yunhe summon Crimson Shadow Golden-Winged Bees for battle.

Just the crimson-gold cloud formed by those thousands of Crimson Shadow Golden-Winged Bees made him feel an immense threat.

A feeling suddenly arose in Li Yuanfan's heart.

It seemed that even if Yunhe did nothing, those thousands of strange spirit bees could take his life!

He knew Yunhe was strong, but he never imagined Yunhe could be this strong.

Even Li Yuanfan felt this way, let alone Ning Sisi; besides being unable to suppress her shock, her gaze toward Yunhe gained an indescribable luster.

Almost instinctively, Ning Sisi whipped out her whip, and with a crisp 'crack-crack,' several Second Stage Toads were lashed into powder.

At the same time she shouted, "Fellow Daoist Yun, leave these little things to us!"

Upon hearing that, Li Yuanfan also reacted with a start, hastily drawing the wooden sword on his back, pricking his finger to smear essence blood on the sword, then tossing it out to sacrifice it, and in an instant he also split several small toads in half.

Seeing the two's actions, Yunhe couldn't help but let out a low laugh.

These two turned out to be more sensible than imagined.

But after laughing, he again wore a solemn expression, formed hand seals with both hands, and said in a low voice:

"Crimson Shadow!"

Buzz—

In an instant, the already enormously sized Crimson Shadow Golden-Winged Bee swarm expanded somewhat at a speed hard to catch with the naked eye.

No, it expanded exactly threefold!

The immense crimson-gold cloud formed by the bee swarm spread out like a sun-obscuring veil.

Even the surrounding yellow sand seemed to vanish into thin air; the ravaged Wu Earth Yellow Sand was forcibly isolated into a vacuum zone!

Because, those flying sands, even the slightest bit of earthly Qi,

This made the old Daoist Li Yuanfan almost bite his tongue.

How many more tricks does Daoist friend Yunhe have hidden?

If before he was still wondering whether relying solely on the bee swarm could kill him, now he has no doubt; he should consider how many breaths he can endure under this bee swarm.

"Gu?"

The suddenly disappearing wind and sand also left the three‑eyed earth toad somewhat bewildered and unaccustomed.

It has lived here for hundreds of years, even up to a thousand years, and has never seen the moment when the wu earth yellow sand disappears.

This also greatly reduces its ability.

Moreover, the disappearance of the wind and sand caused the tornado it had previously summoned to dissipate into nothing, and the obstructed Five‑Element Thunder Sword advanced unimpeded to the three‑eyed earth toad's vicinity, its lightning flaring fiercely, making the toad's heart race.

The three‑eyed earth toad, which has already reached the late third stage, fears the power of heavenly thunder even more than other demonic beasts, not less.

Then its body swelled, and a murky black vapor spewed from the lumps on its back.

Yunhe's eyes flashed with a cold light, and he formed a sword seal with both hands.

Instantly, the two flying swords expanded several times; the separated illusions merged back in, turning into two golden flood dragons zhang‑long, bathed in golden thunderlight, thrashing about and completely shredding the black mist sprayed by the three‑eyed earth toad.

Seeing this, the three‑eyed earth toad's huge eyes showed a hint of panic; it opened its mouth again and shot out a scarlet tongue at a speed impossible for the naked eye to catch.

Its speed was so great that Yunhe couldn't react in time, and he sent the two flying swords, now transformed into golden flood dragons, flying away.

The Five‑Element Thunder Sword broke free from the illusory heavenly thunder, spun dozens of times in the air, and only then, under Yunhe's control, barely steadied.

Moreover, the scarlet tongue was now completely coated with a thick layer of scorched black, accompanied by a strong burnt smell, causing the three‑eyed earth toad great pain.

Its huge body, wracked with pain, kept thrashing in the sand, kicking up great clouds of dust.

However, having witnessed the Five‑Element Thunder Sword and the might of heavenly thunder, the three‑eyed earth toad, though badly wounded, temporarily overcame its innate fear of heavenly thunder.

This heavenly thunder, though strong, is still far inferior to the metamorphosis thunder tribulation it is awaiting.

At the same time, it realized that the opponent was merely using heavenly thunder's power to intimidate it.

Intense pain combined with fury made the three‑eyed earth toad's eyes, already like rubies, turn ever more crimson; it violently shook its head, its tongue coiled with thick yellow‑earth qi, and lashed toward Yunhe at maximum speed.

But Yunhe, having witnessed its earlier swat of the Five‑Element Thunder Sword, had long been prepared.

He clapped his palms together forcefully.

"Gather!"

"Humm—"

Then one saw the yellow sand, briefly blocked, slowly recover, as a vast swarm of scarlet‑shadow gold‑winged bees surged down in a mass.

"Pa!!"

The toad's tongue slapped the massive bee swarm, countless illusory scarlet‑shadow gold‑winged bees dissipated, and many real ones fell like raindrops.

One lash of the tongue alone killed at least several hundred scarlet‑shadow gold‑winged bees.

Yet the remaining scarlet‑shadow gold‑winged bees, under Yunhe's control, frenziedly coated the toad's tongue.

For a moment.

The originally scarlet tongue turned crimson‑gold.

The next second.

A dense, rasping gnawing sound arose.

"Gu!!!"

Only belatedly did the three‑eyed earth toad summon its strength, trying to retract its tongue.

But it suddenly discovered that it could not do so for a moment!

One saw Yunhe gripping the tongue tightly with both hands, veins bulging on his neck, his hands claw‑like, and his legs having plowed two deep furrows into the ground.

At the same time, a powerful divine sense, like a spike, pierced deep into the toad's brain, leaving it briefly dazed.

However, this stalemate did not last long, for Yunhe's strength could not ultimately match the toad's; it merely delayed things by less than a breath.

Yet precisely because of this interval, when the toad retracted its tongue, the originally scarlet tongue was already bloody, its surface riddled with pits oozing blood.

A few scarlet‑shadow gold‑winged bees still clung fast, continuing to gnaw its flesh.

Most importantly, the originally extremely long tongue had been severed halfway!

Don't be fooled by its scarlet, soft appearance, which seems fragile; in fact it is the toughest part of the three‑eyed earth toad's whole body, yet it was bitten into this state in just half a breath.

If it had been even a breath or half a breath later, its tongue might have been gone entirely.

Of course, this result came at the cost of losing many scarlet‑shadow gold‑winged bees.

The enraged three‑eyed earth toad surged with an extremely terrifying demonic power; the tightly shut eye on its forehead twitched slightly and then slowly opened.

It revealed a vivid dark‑red eyeball.

At that instant.

Yunhe's whole body broke out in gooseflesh, his heart pounding incessantly.

Immediately his internal mana surged; as he opened and closed his mouth, a small shield appeared before him and quickly expanded, a huge, heavy turtle shell completely enveloping him.

Suddenly.

"Hum—"

The air gave a slight tremor.

From the third eye of the three‑eyed earth toad, a sharp divine light shot forth.

Bearing against the "Subdue‑Demon Armor," Yunhe instantly felt a tremendous force continually pushing him backward.

"What a powerful third eye!"

Yunhe secretly felt alarmed.

Without the "Subdue‑Demon Armor" to block it, he might well have suffered grave injury.

If one used the Thick Earth Cauldron, there might also be a chance to resist, but the cauldron would likely be destroyed more than half.

This Three-Eyed Divine Light shows that this toad is indeed a Three-Eyed Earth Toad, possessing a trace of the bloodline of the Three-Eyed Three-Legged Golden Spirit Toad.

This aroused Yunhe's great interest.

And when the power on the Demon-Subduing Armor gradually dissipated, Yunhe let out a long sigh.

Then he saw the Demon-Subduing Armor stained with a layer of blackish color, still giving off heat; seeing this, Yunhe felt heartbroken.

He had only just finished refining this magic treasure, and the time spent in its sacrificial refinement was not long; otherwise he would not be in such a sorry state.

Fortunately, this armor was not damaged; as long as it is put away and further refined with magic power and primordial spirit, it can be restored to its original state.

However, as this divine light was shot out, the Three-Eyed Earth Toad's aura instantly waned; it stared blankly at Yunhe, seemingly not expecting that even after using its last resort, it still failed to kill him.

But while it was stunned, Yunhe was not; after retracting the Demon-Subduing Armor, he formed a sword sign with both hands and descended from the air.

Puff! Puff!!

Two flying swords shot down, one to the left and one to the right, at great speed.

They pierced into the toad's left and right eyes, which were its weakest spots.

The fierce sword aura, accompanied by heavenly thunder power, burst forth suddenly; before the Three-Eyed Earth Toad could even struggle from the pain, its entrails were torn to shreds.

Its massive body trembled, it let out a mournful cry, and then heavily crashed onto the sand.

Yunhe raised his hand and drew it in.

An illusory image of a three-eyed toad fell into his hand.

Gazing at this demon beast's living soul, he revealed an interested expression.

Such a demon beast's living soul actually qualifies to become the artifact spirit of a magic treasure.

Based on that Three-Eyed Divine Light it just shot out, it is certainly not inferior to an ordinary flood dragon.

Moreover, there is its third eye.

If used well, it might not be impossible to refine it into a magic treasure of considerable power.

Of course, Yunhe would not forget what he most wanted to obtain after expending so much effort—the Earth Essence Fruit!

(End of chapter)