Chapter 115 - 81 Toad Spirit

Chapter 115: Chapter 81 Toad SpiritBefore the tunnel collapsed, Ji Xinghuo and three others had already entered the cave. The diameter of the cave was around three hundred meters with a height of over thirty meters; the light was dim, the air humid and sultry. Half a meter deep, there was a pool underfoot covered with a layer of silt that could be felt when stepping into it. "Ren Mian, are you sure we have a way out?" Chi Zhonglin asked nervously as he looked at the completely blocked passageway. If the tunnel hadn’t collapsed, the legendary Dagon people would have broken in. Ren Mian didn’t reply, rather she observed the situation inside the cave, shooting a questioning look at Ji Xinghuo. "Where’s the Toad Spirit?" Ji Xinghuo pointed in a direction. A large number of aquatic plants grew in the cave, various duckweeds and weeds; the rock walls were also covered with vegetation, and many insects chirped away. From time to time, there were croaking sounds coming from tadpoles hidden in the aquatic grasses. If one only heard the sounds, they might think they were by the pond in the wild. Ren Mian turned to the place Ji Xinghuo indicated, which was in the center of the cave. There was a hillock rising out of the water with an area of dozens of square meters. A shadow loomed over it and although it was murky, a suffocating pressure could be felt from it. At that moment, two green glows shone from within the dim shadows. The Toad Spirit had awakened! But it made no further move; it merely stared in the direction of the cave entrance with eyes as large as lanterns, showing a hint of perplexity, as if it had just been startled awake from a nap and was unaware of what was going on. "Nobody move or speak." Ren Mian’s voice rose in the minds of all three, as she took out a bottle of black liquid slowly from her waist pouch, unscrewed the cap, and poured all of its contents into the water. Right after that, she handed out a few fruit the size of fingers to the three beside her. "Eat them quickly." Ji Xinghuo immediately understood they were antidotes; he chewed and swallowed the fruit in one gulp. Ren Mian had already poisoned the water. As long as the poison took effect, they could kill the Toad Spirit without lifting a finger. However, it was not that simple. Boom! The already-collapsed tunnel behind them suddenly trembled violently. It seemed completely blocked, but there were still gaps between the broken stones. Ji Xinghuo faintly heard the shouting of the Dagon people; that legendary Dagon person was clearing the rubble to reopen the passage. Boom! Boom! Boom... A chill seeped through the gaps in the rubble, making Ji Xinghuo and the others feel the cold. The Beiluo Shimen Clan, like the humans of Earth, also had Professional Templates suitable for their genes, and there were some similarities between the two, such as the Water Master and Bing Feng. These were the most common Professional Templates for the Dagon people. And the legendary Dagon person outside, he had mastered both of these templates, forming an Advanced Profession known on Earth as the "Ice River Messenger"! A legendary combatant combined with an Advanced Profession could crush a whole team of Super Mutants. Not to mention, they had only three Advanced Mutants and one Intermediate Mutant. If the legendary Dagon person broke through, they would face a dead end. "Don’t panic, he won’t get in so quickly," Ren Mian reassured her teammates. "All we have to do is wait for the poison to take effect." Boom! Another loud bang erupted. The Toad Spirit squatting in the middle of the cave blinked and seemed rather impatient. "This is bad." Ji Xinghuo had a bad premonition, and in the next instant, he was struck by an invisible force that sent him flying and crashing against the cave’s rocky wall, causing him pain all over. That was the Toad Spirit’s attack. Spiritual Energy! "Take action," Ren Mian commanded in a low voice, her body already transformed into a crystalline state akin to diamond, rendering her unscathed by the attack. Chi Zhonglin, having been thrown harshly, grimaced in pain as he stood up. "Damn beast!" His body immediately swelled up like a two-meter-tall mini Giant, his hair turned green, and his body was covered in a layer of black metallic scales. Holding a long spear, he charged toward the Toad Spirit. Jiangnan Caiyi’s figure blended into the air and disappeared. Bang! Ren Mian concentrated a crystal in her hand and shot it out only to see it deflected mid-flight, exploding instantly. The blinding white light illuminated the entire cave as if it were daylight. The Toad Spirit didn’t like the light. Thousands of juvenile Toad Spirits in the cave began to frantically jump around, croaking noisily, creating a deafening cacophony. The large Toad Spirit perched on the hillock also reflexively closed its eyes as its invisible Spiritual Energy faltered. Chi Zhonglin seized the opportunity to reach in front of it, and thrust his long spear fiercely at its head. Crack. A snapping sound rang out. Chi Zhonglin was instantly thrown back, almost losing grip on his Molten Rock Spear. There was a deep dent in his chest as if he had been struck by something flying at high speed, too fast to see with the naked eye, heavy and forceful, giving no chance to react. Ji Xinghuo saw it clearly. He was aiming at the Toad Spirit with his Dragon Falcon Eagle Bow, and through his Wanxiang Star Pupil, he caught the moment it attacked Chi Zhonglin. The creature suddenly opened its mouth, and a thick tongue shot out with lightning speed like a fleshy long spear, striking Chi Zhonglin. This was the fastest attack Ji Xinghuo had ever seen, probably even faster than his own arrows. But he still released his arrow. Crack! The bowstring vibrated as Ji Xinghuo fired a Capacitor Arrow, which instantly sped towards the Toad Spirit, only to slow dramatically as if mired in a quagmire, struggling to advance through the air. The Toad Spirit’s long tongue shot out, batting the Capacitor Arrow away. Jiangnan Caiyi appeared behind it, not of her own volition, but because she was forced out. She seemed to be grabbed by an invisible hand, suspended in mid-air, then viciously thrown backward, flying over a hundred meters and slamming into the cave’s rock wall. In the instant before she hit the rock wall, Jiangnan Caiyi’s body turned transparent and she became an Evil Spirit, thus avoiding serious injury. Even so, Jiangnan Caiyi was in bad shape. She had just expended most of her Star Power outside the palace, unleashing Indescribable Fear, and no longer had much fighting strength left. "Caiyi, fall back," Ren Mian called out lightly, as several green thorns fell into the water, growing and spreading wildly, coiling towards the Toad Spirit in the water like thick snakes. The Toad Spirit sensed the danger and, activating its Spiritual Energy, yanked the Green Lock Dragon out of the water. Ren Mian didn’t care about the captured Green Lock Dragon, but allowed the thorns to grow even faster, becoming thicker and longer, forming a thorny tide that surrounded the mound where the Toad Spirit was. At the same time, she threw out a palm-sized red piece of wood. The chunk of wood grew rapidly in the wind, expanding to over three meters in diameter in a single breath, its surface bristling with thick spikes, the center glowing blood-red, resembling a blood-stained giant’s palm. Under Ren Mian’s remote control, it brutally smashed towards the top of the Toad Spirit’s head. Flying Dragon Palm Blood! Bang. The crimson hand struck an invisible barrier, creating a shockwave upon impact, sweeping the air all around and causing the entire cave to shake momentarily. The Flying Dragon Palm Blood was held at a stalemate against the invisible kinetic force. Dividing her attention, Ren Mian kept the Green Lock Dragon growing wildly, its numbers surging, tightly enveloping the mound where the Toad Spirit was. An invisible wall of force kept the Green Lock Dragon’s frenzy at bay. Croak! Suddenly, the Toad Spirit let out a cry as its Spiritual Energy burst forth. The Flying Dragon Palm Blood was pushed back, and the Green Lock Dragon tide was blasted outward, flipping the entire pond and forming a several meters high wave crashing towards Ren Mian. Taken off guard, Ren Mian failed to maintain the balance, and inwardly shouted, "Dodge!" But Zhonglin didn’t dodge, instead charging forward, bravely darting through the Green Lock Dragons, his Molten Rock Spear piercing like a dragon, aimed straight at the Toad Spirit’s rear. Ji Xinghuo also released an arrow. It was still a Capacitor Arrow, nearing overload, wrapped in electric light. His right eye’s pupil flashed with a faint light, timing the release at the perfect moment, from the perfect angle. The Capacitor Arrow penetrated the waves, passing between the fingers of the rebounding red giant hand, using it to block the Toad Spirit’s view. By the time the Toad Spirit noticed the arrow, it was too late to block. It had just unleashed its Spiritual Energy, leaving it at its most vulnerable. Whoosh! With a loud boom, the Capacitor Arrow struck the Toad Spirit’s eye. It managed to close its eyelids in time, its smooth and greasy skin shining brightly, causing the arrow to slip off when it hit, slightly deviating to the side and creating a massive wound but ultimately failing to penetrate. "Croak..." The Toad Spirit let out a cry of pain. The Capacitor Arrow released a high-voltage current, paralyzing its entire body and causing its Spiritual Energy to go out of control. The massive wave that was sweeping in broke apart violently and fell back into the pond. Ji Xinghuo had anticipated this outcome, and his goal with that arrow had been achieved. Zhonglin finally seized the opportunity, thrusting his scorching spear into the Toad Spirit’s rear. The Toad Spirit, naturally slow and cumbersome at turning, couldn’t reach enemies behind it with its tongue, and paralyzed by the Capacitor Arrow, couldn’t dodge in time. "Croak!" The Toad Spirit’s eyes nearly popped out, filled with pain and despair, profoundly harrowing. Boom! Its Spiritual Energy erupted wildly, focusing on Zhonglin, who decisively retracted his spear and concentrated on Dragon Scale, allowing the Spiritual Energy to send him flying. A blood-red giant palm struck down from above. The Toad Spirit instinctively wanted to resist with its Spiritual Energy, but its gaze hesitated. The poison in the water normally didn’t take effect so quickly, but with injuries to its eyes and rear, the poison rapidly infiltrated through the wounds, hindering its energy flow and slowing its brain reaction. Drowsiness washed over it. The Flying Dragon Palm Blood solidly hit the Toad Spirit, with a thunderous noise, smashing it into the mound. Hundreds of Green Lock Dragons seized the chance to wrap around it. Within a few breaths, they tied the Toad Spirit up like a big zongzi, thorns piercing its flesh and tightening, much like a group of pythons seizing their prey. "Croak!" "Croak, croak..." The Toad Spirit cried out frantically, but soon its mouth too was bound by the Green Lock Dragons, silencing it completely. Zhonglin rapidly advanced, grabbing the end of the Molten Rock Spear and pulling it out, channeling Star Power along the shaft until it glowed hotly, then stabbed it into the immobile Toad Spirit’s head, killing it. Ji Xinghuo saw the notification: Spiritual Origin Ability +35! "Damn, finally killed it," Only then did Zhonglin feel the pain all over his body, but he didn’t forget the important matter and shouted, "Where are the Toad Spirit Eggs?" Ji Xinghuo had found them already. At the edge of the mound, in a shallow pit, there was a cluster of transparent mucus with thousands of tiny black dots within it, each a Toad Spirit Egg. "Take all the eggs, we’re leaving right now," Ren Mian walked over and said. She stood by the corpse of the Toad Spirit, taking out a hexagonal column-shaped Strange Crystal. Once Zhonglin had used a piece of cloth to scoop up all the eggs from the pit, wrapping them all up, and Jiangnan Caiyi had also come to regroup with the team, Ren Mian immediately twisted the crystal in her hands. A burst of light broke out, enveloping all four of them along with the Toad Spirit’s corpse. Sёarch* The NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. After a few seconds of flashing light, when it finally dissipated, the cave was empty.