Chapter Forty-One: The Serpent’s Venom and the Poisonous Toad

Liu Junhuai leaped toward the two cultivators at the mid-stage Foundation Establishment. The three, seeing him fall into their trap, were inwardly delighted, yet their hands did not relent, continuing their feigned battle in earnest.

Just as Liu Junhuai’s body was about to descend in midair, his Five Elements Chaos Blade suddenly shifted direction, slashing toward the late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator.

The two mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators, who had been secretly watching Liu Junhuai, were greatly alarmed by this abrupt change in blade trajectory, and their own saber and sword turned to strike at him.

Liu Junhuai paid their attacks no heed, relying entirely on the counter-strike protection of the Primordial Shield Cauldron.

With a whoosh, the Five Elements Chaos Blade, wrapped in true essence, reached the late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator first. In the instant their true essences clashed, the blade’s aura, riding the deafening collision, penetrated his body, severing his head and half his shoulder.

Meanwhile, the attacks of the two mid-stage cultivators struck Liu Junhuai. At the moment their blades touched his body, a golden protective radiance burst forth. Even before the golden light faded, a beam of gold shot from Liu Junhuai’s forehead, piercing straight through one of their heads.

In the blink of an eye, two adversaries fell dead. The last mid-stage cultivator stood dumbfounded, as the female cultivator behind Liu Junhuai, who had given chase as soon as he moved, arrived at his side.

Without letting his Five Elements Chaos Blade lose momentum, Liu Junhuai swung it back at the female cultivator. A sharp, colorless blade-flash burst forth, slicing both her and her sword clean in two.

Only then did Liu Junhuai’s body land back on the ground. Yet these two simple strokes had already consumed more than half of his internal true essence.

The death of the female cultivator clearly drove the remaining mid-stage cultivator into a frenzy. Regaining his senses, he hurled a parasol-shaped magical weapon; as its leaves unfurled, a barrage of pitch-black, foul-smelling Xuan Iron needles shot toward Liu Junhuai.

At this perilous moment, as Liu Junhuai hastily raised the Five Elements Chaos Blade to defend himself, the Godslayer Spear in his spiritual sea, wrapped in a surge of golden essence, shot like lightning into the chest of the mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator.

On Liu Junhuai’s side, the Five Elements Chaos Blade deflected most of the Xuan Iron needles, and the last dozen or so were intercepted by the golden radiance of the Primordial Shield Cauldron. By the time the cauldron’s beam launched its counterattack, the foe had already collapsed to the ground.

Though brief, this battle was fraught with peril. Had that final mid-stage cultivator not been stunned for a heartbeat, Liu Junhuai likely would not have emerged unscathed.

Now, his true essence was spent, and half his golden essence depleted, yet to slay four Foundation Establishment cultivators at the early stage of Foundation Establishment—news of it would leave others speechless with shock.

After a short rest, Liu Junhuai gathered the four corpses. He could have summoned Azi to burn them to ash, but that would still leave traces behind.

With his spiritual sense confirming no one nearby, he subtly changed direction, circled around, and found a secluded hollow to enter the Myriad Phenomena Tower.

After a brief greeting to the old steward, Liu Junhuai entered the cave within the Crimson Flame Valley.

Once he set up the auxiliary formation, he focused on rapidly restoring his true essence—the less time lost, the greater his chances at acquiring treasures.

Within the formation, after six hours, his true essence had completely filled his body.

He took out the five corpses, keeping only their storage rings and weapons, then summoned Azi to burn the bodies to nothing.

He obtained four weapons in all, mostly mid-grade Xuan blades and swords, which he stowed away without much interest. The parasol-shaped attack artifact, however, caught his eye, and he set it aside for future study.

The real bounty lay within the storage rings: a great hoard of spirit stones, which would make a sizable pile if dumped out all at once.

There were also many herbs, some still fresh with sap, evidently just recently looted as spoils of war.

Most pleasing of all, Liu Junhuai found a lump of secret silver the size of a baby’s fist among the materials—a long-sought item requested by the old steward.

Without lingering further, Liu Junhuai packed away the formation and returned to his residence.

There was still nearly half the journey left to the entrance of the sixth floor. After a cursory scan of his surroundings, Liu Junhuai quickened his pace.

After crossing several low hills, dawn was breaking when he suddenly spotted an ugly three-legged, six-eyed snake-tongued poison toad squatting atop a green stone. Its body was huge and plump, with three short, weak limbs, skin like red bronze covered in massive boils, and a layer of transparent mucus on the boils.

A fifth-rank demon beast! Liu Junhuai was alarmed. His spiritual sense had been active the whole time, yet he only noticed it when less than thirty feet away. It must have had some spell to conceal its presence. A fifth-rank beast was equivalent to a mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivator—a whole major realm above Liu Junhuai.

Fortunately, it seemed not to have noticed him yet. Liu Junhuai masked his own aura and cautiously retreated, taking utmost care with every step.

But the snake-tongued poison toad suddenly opened its six eyes, which gleamed with a fierce red light, crisscrossed by black veins, turning with a sickening, uncanny motion.

Liu Junhuai instantly froze, not daring to move a muscle.

The massive toad’s body trembled and sprang to the ground. Its snake-like, venomous tongue shot out, nearly the length of an arm. Wherever it touched the shrubs and leaves, they sizzled and smoked with green fumes.

With a soft thud, the toad leapt before Liu Junhuai. Its six eyes, arranged symmetrically like those of a spider, all blinked at him, making his skin crawl.

Liu Junhuai’s mind raced for a response, but it seemed that none could outpace the toad’s deadly speed.

Under the suffocating pressure, he could only trust in the protection of the Primordial Shield Cauldron, hoping to withstand a blow and slip into the Myriad Phenomena Tower when the counterattack landed.

Even as he thought this, the toad’s venomous tongue licked toward him. From above, Liu Junhuai could see the black tongue’s pink, tumor-like coating, exuding a nauseating stench.

The instant the tongue touched his protective golden aura, it drew back as if startled, then its jaws gaped wide, and a gurgling sound rose from its belly. Instantly, a mass of black poisonous mist billowed toward Liu Junhuai.

His golden aura flared brilliantly just as a golden bolt of lightning shot into the heart of the black mist. A thunderous bellow resounded—and Liu Junhuai’s figure vanished.

A shadow the size of a small hill swept through where he had stood.

Now hidden within the Myriad Phenomena Tower, Liu Junhuai watched the swiftly passing coppery shadow with dread. The force of the toad’s charge was immense; the golden aura and black poison mist, not yet dissipated, were dragged along for sixty feet before slowly fading.

With another thud, the toad leapt back to the tower’s exterior. Through his spiritual sense, Liu Junhuai could see the toad’s two fist-sized nostrils flaring with rage.

It seemed the cauldron’s counterstrike had wounded it. The transparent mucus on its boils was now stained blood-red, and as the drops fell, the crimson deepened.

The six eyes flashed anxiously in all directions, the tongue darting out to probe the surroundings. But how could it spot the Myriad Phenomena Tower, now a golden little book, hidden in the weeds?

The old steward inside the tower was far less nervous than Liu Junhuai, watching the poison toad with great interest but offering no advice.

Frustrated, the toad kept gurgling, spraying black poison mist in a broad area.

As its bloated form shifted and spat toxic clouds in all directions, Liu Junhuai sensed an opportunity.

Activating all his inner arts, he waited until the toad turned its back, then appeared outside the tower, summoning all his golden essence to wrap the Godslayer Spear, hurling it at the toad before instantly returning to the tower.

When the poison mist dispersed, Liu Junhuai emerged again.

No sooner had he reappeared than the Godslayer Spear flew into his hand, its tip skewering the toad’s still-struggling translucent soul.

At that moment, the Golden Cauldron in his spiritual sea shuddered, as if begging for the toad’s soul. Liu Junhuai took out an extremely cold crystal, and in a moment, the soul was frozen stiff. He sent the cauldron a reassuring thought and stored the soul in his ring.

Turning to the corpse, he saw the toad’s back had been ripped open from tail to head by the Godslayer Spear, its bloody organs exposed to the air—a gruesome sight.

He extracted the demon core, which was half the size of a fist, perfectly round, shrouded in a misty chill, with a dark-red halo slowly swirling around it.

After collecting the corpse and remembering the cauldron’s request, Liu Junhuai quickly returned to the Myriad Phenomena Tower.

Upon seeking the old steward’s instructions, Liu Junhuai sat cross-legged, circulating his arts, and began slowly absorbing the extremely cold crystal containing the poison toad’s soul.