Chapter 51: Ambush, the Appearance of the Magic Orb!

It turned out that besides the Crystal Toad, there were other demonic beasts in the lake. Immediately following, several demonic crabs emerged. The nearby rogue cultivators were caught completely off guard; the most tragic case was a cultivator who was clamped in two by the crabs. Even for a cultivator, unless they were a powerful grandmaster, such an injury would be extremely fatal.

Screams and cries of alarm rang out one after another.

*Clang! Clang!*

Low-grade and mid-grade spiritual blades and swords only left shallow white marks on the crab shells, failing to cut through directly. The hardness of the crab shells was notorious among demonic beasts. Relying on their incredibly high defense, several demonic crabs rampaged through the crowd of rogue cultivators.

"Get back! Witness my Flame Blade!" a roar erupted. A burly man with a tiger-like back and a bear-like waist dragged a twelve-foot-long saber. Under the stimulation of his magical power, the saber carried a flame several feet long. As the man swung it down, a semi-circular arc of fire streaked through the air like a crescent moon.

"A top-grade spiritual tool, the Flame Blade!" someone cried out in shock. In the entirety of Wangyue City, the most powerful weapons among ordinary rogue cultivators were roughly top-grade spiritual tools. As for the rumored Dharma Tools, those could only be refined by Foundation Establishment stage cultivators. Occasionally, if one or two drifted into an auction house, they would fetch astronomical prices, mostly being collected by cultivation clans or used for other purposes; an ordinary Qi Refinement stage rogue cultivator could not even dream of owning one.

*Slash!* The Flame Blade struck the crab shell, cutting three inches deep into the casing. A third-order demonic crab was instantly struck with heavy injuries.

"Good! Well struck!" The rogue cultivators who had been chased by the crabs erupted in cheers, using their various blades and swords to swarm and attack the crabs.

After a flurry of clashing sounds, although the demonic crabs possessed formidable defense, they were nonetheless besieged to death by the swarming rogue cultivators.

As the water in the small lake was gradually drained away, the Crystal Toad remained motionless. Lu Xiaotian frowned slightly, a thought crossing his mind: *Could the Crystal Toad have already escaped through the drainage channels?*

No, he quickly dismissed the idea. To prevent such an occurrence, the rogue cultivators had laid down over a dozen layers of spiritual nets along the drainage channels to blockade them. Furthermore, they had enlisted two lightning-attribute cultivators to set water mines. With such layers of obstacles, even a fourth-order demonic beast would find it impossible to escape silently.

Although some spiritual items that made his heart race began to appear as the lakebed was gradually revealed, Lu Xiaotian ultimately suppressed his inner restlessness, waiting for the moment the entire lakebed was exposed.

As only a small pool of water remained in the lake, a massive shadow loomed faintly within. *Splash!* That massive shadow leaped up.

It was the Crystal Toad. After waiting for several days, it had finally revealed itself. The groups of cultivators waiting by the lakeside were instantly stirred with excitement. Led by high-level experts such as the Flying Peng Elder and the Long-browed Monster—both at the late stage or Great Perfection of the Qi Refinement stage—the cultivator groups concentrated a massive amount of low-level spells and bombarded the Crystal Toad.

"Damn it, are these people crazy? They're attacking before we've even gone down!" Many rogue cultivators who had already entered the lake were caught in the barrage of spells. They cursed loudly but were helpless, fleeing toward the shore with bloodless faces.

Having lost the cover of the water, the Crystal Toad was struck by a large number of low-level spells, crashing heavily back down and splashing up a massive amount of silt.

"Gua!" The Crystal Toad let out an angry cry. Immediately following this, centered on the fourth-order demonic beast, ripples began to appear in the air, oscillating outward in successive circles. Wherever these ripples passed, a crisp sound of flowing water emerged, like a stream striking stones.

"This sound can actually bewilder one's consciousness."

Lu Xiaotian had been staying at the very back of the crowd of rogue cultivators by the lake. Upon hearing the sound of flowing water in the air, his expression became momentarily dazed. However, because he was positioned on the periphery, he was not as severely affected as the other cultivators. He watched in shock; those closer to the impact, even the Great Perfection Qi Refinement expert Flying Peng Elder, had expressions of confusion.

"Not good, this fellow possesses a formidable spiritual sense attack!" The Crystal Toad's attack did not radiate to everyone. Long-browed Monster and the others, who were not severely affected, bit the tips of their tongues to snap themselves awake. But it was already too late. A massive number of ice spikes generated out of thin air, shooting toward the dazed rogue cultivators.

Screams rose one after another. Even Flying Peng Elder and the Yellow Peng were actually killed by the ice spikes. Had they been conscious and prepared with defensive shields, they might have only sustained injuries rather than losing their lives.

Lu Xiaotian gasped. Even in such a desperate situation, the Crystal Toad had killed forty or fifty cultivators in an instant. This included extremely powerful Great Perfection Qi Refinement experts like Flying Peng Elder. This spiritual sense attack, supplemented by spell attacks, was indeed terrifying.

"Everyone, attack together! We cannot let this toad attack at will, or it might break through our encirclement!" Long-browed Monster shouted. As he finished, he unleashed over a dozen spiritual talismans.

"Right! Kill the Crystal Toad first, then we divide the spiritual items!" The continuous deaths of the cultivators by the lakeside and the ferocity of the Crystal Toad caused the cultivators to unite quickly. After all, scattering would not only mean failing to seize the treasures but also risking their lives.

Although Qi Refinement late-stage cultivators were stronger when using spiritual sense to control blades or swords, the hundreds and thousands of low-level spells of various attributes raining down from all directions were essentially indiscriminate attacks. The spiritual tools controlled by spiritual sense were also subject to being hit.

The Crystal Toad was quite innocently subjected to a rotating barrage of various spells from nearly two thousand Qi Refinement stage cultivators. No matter how powerful a fourth-order demonic beast was, it could not withstand such intensity. Thousands of low-level spells hammered the lakebed centered on the Crystal Toad, carving out a massive crater. More water spirit stones and ice spirit stones were unearthed from the bottom.

The Crystal Toad likely lasted for less than half an incense stick's time before being blasted into fragments by countless small fireballs, wind blades, ice spikes, and earth spears. Lu Xiaotian watched with a sense of dread; the difference between Qi Refinement and Foundation Establishment cultivators was indeed as vast as the sky. If he were in this situation, he would likely have been turned to ash in less than a heartbeat.

With the death of the Crystal Toad, a blue demonic core floated up. Simultaneously, a few feet away from the core, a thumb-sized, crystal-clear small bead hovered in mid-air. The bead radiated ten thousand rays of light under the sunlight; for a brief moment, the brilliance was so intense that people could barely keep their eyes open. Only after the light subsided could everyone see it clearly.

"Stop! Don't destroy the demonic core!"

"What is that transparent little bead?"

"Who knows? Don't demonic beasts only have one core? Why are there two appearing now?"

"A... a Dharma Bead!" the head of the Liao family, who had previously fought Flying Peng Elder, said with a trembling voice.

Lu Xiaotian's mouth hung open, unable to close. A Dharma Bead—such a rare and peerless treasure actually appeared!

(End of Chapter)