Chapter 258

Chirp chirp...

In a forest, four water buffalo-sized warty toads lay belly-up, each with a sword wound of equal length and width on their belly, their bloody entrails spilling all over the ground.

Heng Xian wiped the blood off his meteoric copper sword on the ground, his eyes looking deep into the forest through his golden helmet and mask.

Ribbit ribbit...

At this moment, large multicolored toads all around leapt up, their zhang-long tongues flailing across the sky.

Heng Xian tapped his foot and darted swiftly through the dense forest, soon reaching its deepest part.

Ahead lay a red toad king the size of a small hill, currently asleep, its body covered in blood-red warts that rose and fell, its yellowish-brown belly expanding and contracting with each breath, and a strong fishy stench pervaded the surroundings.

On the cliff behind the toad king grew a verdant, spiritual-aura-exuding vine, bearing a snow-white spirit fruit.

Heng Xian lay prone on the ground, using hands and feet together, quickly crawled to the base of the cliff, then, like a gecko, climbed the wall to the vine's edge, and pinched off the white spirit fruit with two fingers.

Meanwhile, the toad king below remained asleep.

Heng Xian exhaled, the Twenty Ways of Creation Escape Art not only useful for fleeing, but also superb for stealing.

He had been in this poisonous insect and rodent place for four days, this spirit fruit being the thirty-fourth spirit item he had gathered.

The sixth refinement of his Qi Sea was halfway done, the future full of promise!

However, the remaining monsters in this place that possess spirit fruits and spirit herbs seem to be growing stronger and more restless.

Take the toad king below, for instance: just judging by its aura, it is far stronger than the beast and insect kings of the past few days, and he stared at it for two full hours before daring to act.

Furthermore, according to the hexagram analysis, to pass the trial and reach the next place, one must stay here for a full nine days.

Nine is the ultimate number!

So, five days remain.

Within five days, the sixth refinement of the Qi Sea must be completed.

Thinking of this, he quietly stored the spirit fruit, opened the Heavenly Hexagram and cast another divination to see how those sect disciples were faring.

At this moment, outside the toad forest, aside from the great mountain to the west, each of the east, south, and north directions had fifty or sixty disciples from the major sects monitoring the forest.

To the east, He Bijin, Yu Qiuyi, Ye Hongxue, Jiang Ruyan, and Xiao Yujian stood behind a clump of dog-tail grass, their gazes equally burning as they looked at the toad forest.

"After two days of tracking, our fellow brothers have already locked on—the cat-faced armored man has entered this toad forest!" He Bijin felt slightly excited.

Jiang Ruyan said: "He must be going to fetch the spirit herb guarded by the toad king; once he comes out, the west is an unknown great mountain, while east, north, and south are flat small paths; according to normal logic, he will surely choose these three directions!"

He Bijin said: "Now each direction has at least five Golden Core experts and fifteen Qi Hai Realm Ninth Level cultivators, forming a heavenly net; capturing him alive should be no problem; I want to personally remove his mask to see who he really is."

Ye Hongxue hesitated: "But… I feel he won't follow normal logic; this guy is very sly!"

"Let's see what happens," Yu Qiuyi lowered her voice, "he should be coming out soon; the toad king's aura has appeared in the thicket—he must have been startled awake!"

Just as her words fell, sure enough! From ahead in the toad forest came the toad king's angry roar, blue-green miasma shooting up to midair, clusters of treetops violently shaking.

"Get ready!" He Bijin extended his right hand, a golden wheel spinning round and round.

The others also each began to manipulate their Dharma artifacts.

Just then, the cat-faced armored man came running out of the toad thicket in a sorry state.

"He's coming this way, attack!"

The five immediately led a group of ordinary disciples behind them, leaping up and rushing straight at the cat-faced man.

He Bijin, mid-air, shouted twice toward the south and north: "The person is in the east, encircle!"

"Here they come!"

From the south and north came a simultaneous response.

Immediately, Shen Qiong, Niu Wanli, Tiankong Monk, Du Qiyue, and others led a group of fellow brothers in a pincer attack from south and north.

The cat-faced man, having just run out of the toad forest, looked up and was instantly stunned.

The wind howled as over two hundred disciples from the various sects, emanating fierce momentum, closed in from three directions, while behind him loomed the ferocious toad king and his horde of toad monsters.

This instantly plunged him into a situation of being surrounded on all sides with no escape.

"Where do you think you'll run this time?" He Bijin could not contain his excitement, his voice trembling slightly.

"Hehe…"

Even Yu Qiuyi, Ye Hongxue, and a large crowd became excited.

For them, capturing this mysterious cat-faced man, opening his mask, checking his identity, and then publicly denouncing him seemed even more stimulating than obtaining an immediate fate opportunity.

Especially, aside from cultivation, this cat-faced man seemed stronger than them in many aspects; the stark contrast made people feel delighted in body and mind.

At this moment, the cat-faced man's reaction was also quite cooperative, trembling with fear and panic.

This is truly rare!

At this moment, the hill-sized toad king in the forest, accompanied by a flock of small toad monsters, had already caught up.

"The timing is perfect!"

He Bijin, Yu Qiuyi, Jiang Ruyan, Ye Hongxue, and Xiao Yujian immediately locked their spiritual sense onto the cat-faced man, enveloping him with powerful pressure as they lunged forward first.

The cat-faced man seemed dumbfounded with fright, falling seated on the ground still wearing his armor.

However, just as the five thought they had him in hand,

The cat-faced man suddenly slid along the ground like a loach, strangely dodging the toad king's lashing tongue, slipping beneath its belly, then kicking off its stomach with both feet, twisting left and right, and vanishing in the blink of an eye among the rear swarm of small toad monsters.

That maneuver was way too sudden!

He Bijin, Yu Qiuyi, and the other five had just lunged forward, now directly facing the toad king.

The toad king, having lost its target, immediately redirected its hatred onto them, puffing its chest and belly and spewing a scorching flame.

The five and the surrounding sect disciples who had rushed over were all momentarily dazed.

It wasn't because the toad could spit fire.

But rather… it was just too much of a coincidence!

No! It's that the "Mao Lian Nan" picked the timing too cunningly!

Just a little more or less breath, or if his body leaned slightly to one side or slanted, he couldn't escape.

He, at the most appropriate time, used an unimaginable action; not only did he escape, but he also used the Toad King to attack his own people!!!!

It was as if he had rehearsed countless times in advance.

Seeing the Toad King's flames about to blaze over, Jiang Ruyan immediately flicked her finger, manipulating a shield-like magic artifact to block the flames, then turned and shouted: "Primordial Dan Realm experts, attack together, kill the Toad King; the rest search inside, don't let him escape!"

"Yes!"

At that moment, over ten Primordial Dan Realm experts joined forces to strangle the Toad King and the toad swarm, while the remaining two hundred-plus people spread out in a fan shape to search the toad forest.

At the middle of the Toad Tree Forest, Heng Xian was sitting on a tree branch, wiping the wet toad slime off his armor while looking eastward, a faint smile on his face.

After he finished wiping off the toad slime, a series of breaking-wind sounds came from ahead, and a row of disciples from various sects surrounded him.

Heng Xian's smile turned to terror, and he turned and ran inward.

"Found him, he's here!" shouted a disciple of the Overlord Sect.

"Mao Lian Nan, where do you think you're going?"

Outside the forest, the Toad King flipped belly-up, already slain. He Bizhi, Yu Qiuyi, and a large crowd quickly rushed over.

"You... how can you do this! Bullying others too much!"

Heng Xian ran west like a headless fly, while shouting loudly in panic.

Seeing this, the disciples from various sects behind him felt immense relief.

"So what if you just dodged us? How does finding the perfect timing help? Could you possibly vanish into thin air?"

Ye Hongxue's tone was pressing, his long sword razor-sharp.

"I, I..."

Heng Xian staggered, unable to speak.

Then he reached the foot of the western mountain, panicking and choosing no path, he darted to the summit, crossed over the ridge, and ran to the other side of the mountain.

Behind him, over two hundred disciples from the major sects pursued relentlessly; in the midst of their shouts, they all reached the summit, then looked downward.

Upon seeing that, they all stared in shock.

(End of chapter)