Chapter 50: Crystal Toad

“Kill the Crystal Toad, seize the Demon Core, and snatch the spiritual treasures!” Although many experts were present, their factions were weak, and even more people were looking to profit from the chaos. It was not something one or two experts could stop. Someone let out a shout, and the disorganized rogue cultivators each unleashed their spells, raining them down upon the several acres of the small lake in a sudden surge.

Fire, wind, and earth—spells of various elements turned the calm lake surface into a boiling cauldron, surging with violent waves and splashing droplets.

“Stop! This won't work; it's just a waste of mana. Only by draining the water from the lake can we force the Crystal Toad to reveal itself!” an old man, who appeared to possess considerable strength, shouted to the surroundings using transmission arts.

“Bullshit! I can definitely force that beast out with my Lightning Strike!” a rebuttal came from the crowd, followed immediately by a sound like a thunderclap. It struck exactly a few yards in front of the old man, and a thick arc of electricity hissed into the water. Even standing a short distance from the lake, Lu Xiaotian could feel the numbing sensation of the lightning.

At this moment, the lake surface was in total chaos, with waves of low-level spells crashing one after another. However, no one noticed the inconspicuous vortex churning beneath the turbulent surface.

*Splash!* Something leaped from the water. A sudden wave of screams erupted from the surroundings. It was actually a massive toad, about half a zhang square, with a body as transparent as water. A terrifying aura radiated from the toad as it emerged.

“Ah, a demon beast!”

The rogue cultivators closest to the shore retreated in terror. Although they had been shouting about killing the Crystal Toad, once it actually emerged and they felt that peerless aura, they suddenly remembered that this was a Rank 4 demon beast—a powerful existence that none of them could hope to match.

The Crystal Toad was also extremely irritated. It had been resting peacefully at the bottom of the lake, and after occasionally surfacing to be spotted by human cultivators, it hadn't expected to attract so many people. Normally, most low-level spells hitting the surface wouldn't affect it, but a few lightning-type spells had made it feel quite uncomfortable. Thus, it decided to come out and teach these ants a lesson.

*Swish!* Something like a sharp arrow spat out from the Crystal Toad's mouth, but it wasn't an arrow; it was something like a thread. Hardly anyone could see the thread clearly; it was merely a blur before it retracted.

However, the moment this thread appeared, several screams rang out in succession.

Lu Xiaotian focused his gaze and saw that just a few feet away from him, six or seven rogue cultivators standing roughly in a line each had a bloody hole in their chests. As the white thread retracted, it dragged out large chunks of flesh. Some were hit in vital spots and died instantly; others might have stood slightly off-center and only had large pieces of flesh torn away, leaving them with broken bones—not dead, but severely wounded.

The white thread appeared several more times. It was the Crystal Toad's tongue! Lu Xiaotian suddenly recalled the scenes of his father and him processing crops in the fields when he was a child, watching frogs hunt. A chill instantly rose from the depths of his heart. The Crystal Toad was quite close to him; if it launched a continuous attack and he were hit by this beast, which was equivalent to the Foundation Establishment stage, he would at best end up severely injured. At this moment, the crowd was so packed that he couldn't even move to escape. Lu Xiaotian felt a surge of panic, but seeing one or two people fall, a sudden thought struck him, and he made a show of dropping to the ground.

*Swish, swish, swish...*

The white thread appeared over a dozen times. The Crystal Toad had appeared so suddenly that at least sixty or seventy rogue cultivators died without preparation under its surprise attack. The water near the shore where the toad emerged turned blood-red. Only then did the cultivators react, unleashing a barrage of various low-level spells.

The Crystal Toad took dozens, even hundreds of spells in the blink of an eye, yet it sustained no significant damage. It plunged back into the water, and the already transparent toad seemed to vanish instantly. A moment later, it surfaced in the center of the lake, looking leisurely, as if in total contempt for all the cultivators.

“That damn toad.” Lu Xiaotian climbed up from the ground, trembling with lingering fear. In the surging crowd, he had been stepped on dozens of times. However, looking at the several corpses that had appeared where he had just been standing, being stepped on a few times was nothing in comparison.

“Revenge!”

With dozens of people suddenly killed or wounded, many of the cultivators were the friends and relatives of the deceased, and their emotions flared instantly. These were the same people who had been shouting to kill the Crystal Toad just moments ago. *Is it only allowed for cultivators to kill demon beasts, but not for demon beasts to fight back?* Lu Xiaotian sneered inwardly. He brushed the dust off his clothes; having learned his lesson, he retreated to the outermost edge of the crowd to feel secure.

By now, the rogue cultivators had finally calmed down and realized they could not defeat this Rank 4 Crystal Toad in the lake. Soon, a cultivator proposed digging a channel to drain the water. The surrounding mountains were filled with low-lying valleys and canyons; as long as a trench was dug, there would be plenty of places for the water to flow. Once the water was drained, the cultivators could work together to surround and kill the Rank 4 beast.

Once the plan was agreed upon, the cultivators immediately set to work. Many weapon-refining cultivators began crafting spiritual shovels on the spot to aid in the excavation, while others used spiritual knives and swords directly. If they were ordinary mortals, digging such a channel through the mountains would be impossible without years of labor, but for these cultivators, the channel was completed in just a few days.

As the lake water gushed out along the channel, the true face of the deep lake bottom gradually emerged.

“Spring Water Algae!”

“White Lotus Taro!”

“Water Spirit Stones!”

“Ice Spirit Stones!”

As the lake bed was revealed, various spiritual treasures were exposed to the eyes of the rogue cultivators. Many were items required for sect missions.

Some impatient rogue cultivators, seeing the water level dropping without any sign of the Crystal Toad, began to descend into the lake to pick up nearby spirit stones and gather spiritual herbs.

“Damn it, these bastards are actually going down now? They really aren't afraid of death!” Someone cursed, but seeing dozens of people descending one after another, he couldn't sit still either. He raised a spiritual shield and began wading through the silt.

“Haha, I got three Ice Spirit Stones! Dammit, who hit me with a fireball? Step forward if you've got the guts!”

But who would step forward to admit it at a time like this? He could only blame himself for being too flashy. Several more low-level spells were launched by jealous onlookers, making the middle-aged man wail in pain.

As more people reaped benefits, even more began to enter the lake. The cultivators at the peak of the Qi Refinement stage, who held themselves with high dignity on the cliffs, turned pale with rage, but the scene was completely out of control and beyond their ability to reverse.

Lu Xiaotian blended into the crowd but did not go directly into the lake. Although these spiritual treasures were precious, having suffered earlier, he would not easily descend until he saw the Crystal Toad.

“Ah, my leg!” Suddenly, a scream erupted from the crowd. From within the silt, a green demon crab emerged, waving a pair of massive claws, one of which held a severed leg.

(End of Chapter)