Chapter 487 – Toxic Gray Frog
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As the puppet appeared, Nanyun Wang growled and leapt upwards. The saber in his hand slashed out, and a bloody light flashed with a resounding ‘kacha’, and a huge cut was opened directly in the red metal of the Giant Demon puppet’s chest.
Nanyun Wang’s blows rained down, and cracks appeared on the Giant Demon puppet’s body. Its entire body was soon cut to pieces, and then it fell onto the floor, shattering into bits.
Then, Nanyun Wang waved his hand and took all of the remains into his spatial ring. The value of this late Revolving Core puppet to a sect could be imagined. If it wasn’t for Nanyun Wang, then even Mu Fengxian would have trouble dealing with it.
After this Giant Demon puppet, there were two more that arrived.
Xuan Wuji didn’t make a sound. A dark energy flowed around his body, and his palms shined with a ghostly light as he slammed his hand down on a puppet. At the same time, Abbot Whitebrow also flourished his staff to attack the other puppet.
These three Giant Demon puppets were cleanly destroyed by these three people.
And all of the puppet remains were also taken by them.
The massive underground place was nearly 100 miles long, and it was an extremely long path to the medicine garden. The entire time, Lin Ming carefully followed behind everyone to maintain distance from Xuan Wuji. But it seemed as if Xuan Wuji had completely forgotten about Lin Ming, and was concentrating all of his efforts into killing any puppets that they saw, not even bothering to glance at Lin Ming.
As everyone walked through the Imperial Palace, the path looked entirely the same. Although it seemed complicated, it was basically a well-designed branching layout. The truth was that as long as one chose a direction and walked there, they would eventually reach the same destination, so there was no fear of getting lost.
Bang!
Three more puppets were also destroyed by the three third stage Life Destruction masters. In this time, there had already been over a dozen Giant Demon puppets that had appeared.
But this path was only one among countless others within the Demon God Imperial Palace. If just this path had so many puppets, then perhaps in the entire Demon God Imperial Palace there might be over 10,000 Giant Demon puppets!
These puppets all had strength equal to a Revolving Core martial artist. In a fourth grade sect, that was equal to an Elder.
A combat strength of 10,000 Revolving Core masters comprised only of puppets. If all the other martial artists in the sect were counted too, then it was even more incredible. To have Emperor level powerhouses as Elders, Life Destruction masters as protectors, and Revolving Core martial artists as deacons… the deep heritage of a sixth grade sect was truly terrifying!
On reflection, one could see just how much more developed the martial arts civilization of the Sky Spill Continent was tens of thousands of years ago; it was far superior to how it was currently. There were many Realm of the Gods array formations and even cultivation methods that had once appeared in the Sky Spill Continent. However, some unknown event had occurred, and afterwards, the Sky Spill Continent had become what it was today.
“Mm? That in front is…” Lin Ming carefully looked at the corner up head and saw that there was a 20 foot tall frog statue.
This giant frog had its mouth open, with rows of vicious fangs peeking from its maw. Its tongue was like a long and sharp sword that stretched out, and its entire body was a dark mottled gray. Its entire body seemed like a small lump, and it gave off a very savage and dangerous feeling.
“This is the ancient Toxic Gray Frog…” Lin Ming recalled details about this statue from his memories. In fact, it was not a statue, but a corpse puppet made from the body of a slain Toxic Gray Frog.
This corpse puppet had strength equal to an extreme Revolving Core master, which was also the strength of a first stage Life Destruction martial artist. It had an appearance no different from a statue, nor could it be sensed by one’s perception. It seemed as if it were placed in the Demon God Imperial Palace as an ornament, but the truth was that it was a guard statue.
Lin Ming’s mind stirred and he immediately slowed down his pace. But Xuan Wuji and the others all calmly walked around the corner, not realizing that this was a Toxic Gray Frog.
Xuan Wuji also noticed this statue, but only looked at it for several moments. He swept through it with his sense and didn’t discover anything strange, so he didn’t care too much about it. Quietly, he went around the corner.
However, as they passed several feet from the Toxic Gray Frog, its eyes suddenly lit up. Its tongue shot out like an arrow!
“Mm!?”
Xuan Wuji’s complexion immediately changed, and a black fog instantly wrapped around his body. He slammed out two palms and retreated backwards.
Peng!
The arrow-like tongue was struck by Xuan Wuji’s true essence-wrapped palms. The direction of the tongue was slightly deflected, and with a splattering sound, that tongue actually savagely pierced through a South Sea Demon Region first stage Life Destruction Elder. Although this Elder had true essence protecting him, that tongue pierced through his heart and lungs!
This sudden change had only taken a split second, leaving everyone in shock. But at this moment, that blood-red tongue changed direction with a speed difficult to see and shot backwards, piercing through the dantian of that Elder.
Pu!
Blood shout out. The Elder stared with wide eyes at the tongue that came out of his stomach, his vision filled with disbelief. All this way through the Demon God Imperial Palace there hadn’t been any danger, so he never thought that anyone would perish here…
Life or death only took a moment to decide. Although this old man’s cultivation had reached the first stage of Life Destruction, he simply couldn’t block the Toxic Gray Frog’s attack while being suppressed by the laws of this world.
With a ‘peng’ sound, the tongue rewinded. The Life Destruction Elder’s body burst open in a shower of blood.
Lin Ming gloomily sighed in his heart and lightly shook his head. It was just a pity that Xuan Wuji hadn’t been wounded. Also, there was such a good Life Destruction powerhouse corpse in front of him that would go to waste. Lin Ming didn’t believe for a second that he would be able to feed the Magic Cube that Life Destruction Elder’s blood essence or even refine a Blood Drinking Seal with so many people here.
“Evil beast, die!”
Xuan Wuji was furious. The Elder who had died was part of his Xuan bloodline.
He shouted out and took a black spear from his spatial ring, and then thrust it at the Toxic Gray Frog; this was also the first time that Xuan Wuji had used a weapon here.
Ping!
Xuan Wuji poured 70 to 80% of his true essence into this strike and struck the Toxic Gray Frog. However, the attack only sunk in just a bit.
“Mm!?”
Xuan Wuji’s face flashed with dark surprise.
Behind Xuan Wuji, Abbot Whitebrow also attacked. He saw just how difficult this Toxic Gray Frog would be to deal with.
Abbot Whitebrow covered himself with golden light, and a Buddhist chant seemed to sound out in the air. A golden light wrapped around Abbot Whitebrow’s staff, and he pounded it down at the Toxic Gray Frog.
The Great Zen Temple’s secret Buddhist techniques seemed extremely capable of suppressing the Toxic Gray Frog. With explosive sounds, cracks began to appear on the back of the Toxic Gray Frog like a spider web.
The Toxic Gray Frog had no concept of pain. It opened its great mouth and spat out massive clouds of gas.
Xuan Wuji gave a cold humph and then flicked his fingers. A black bolt of lightning shot out, and there was a simmering ‘chi chi chi’ sound as the gas clouds were covered by small arcs of lightning and then burnt completely clean.
Then, Xuan Wuji’s spear and Abbot Whitebrow’s staff slammed onto the Toxic Gray Frog’s body. Nanyun Wang also attacked.
He flourished his thick scarlet saber too. There was a series of explosive sounds as the Toxic Gray Frog was attacked by three great masters; it just couldn’t defend itself at all.
“Die!”
Xuan Wuji’s spear finally pierced through the Toxic Gray Frog’s mouth. The eyes of the puppet immediately dimmed, and no longer shined.
Although they had solved the threat of this Toxic Gray Frog, the atmosphere was extremely poor. Especially those first stage Life Destruction old fellows – they all had very grim expressions.
This was the first time that someone had died since they entered the Demon God Imperial Palace. Of these Life Destruction fellows, which one wasn’t an amazing overlord-like existence? They lived over a thousand years. They could topple mountains and turn seas with their strength, and also receive everything they wanted. Naturally, such a person would treasure their own life to the extreme.
They were all aware of their own situation and weren’t planning on fighting for the Nirvana Dragon Root. They only wanted to pick up some other lucky chances on the way. But, if this opportunity cost them their life, then it really wasn’t worth it at all.
They were only halfway along their path into the Demon God Imperial Palace. Against that violent sneak attack from the Toxic Gray Frog, a first stage Life Destruction powerhouse didn’t even have the strength to resist. Who knew whether or not they would suffer the same fate as they continued down this path?
Xuan Wuji put the Elder’s remains into a coffin. The remains of the Toxic Gray Frog were also taken by him. As he swept his eyes past the other first stage Life Destruction martial artists, he sneered at them with disdain. He naturally didn’t care if they lived or died.
“All the Elders of the South Sea Demon Region, stick closer to me.”
As Xuan Wuji spoke, he gathered all the remaining South Sea Demon Region Elders and slowly made his way forth. As for the other free martial artists, they grouped closer with Nanyun Wang, and the other smaller sects all grouped together with the Great Zen Temple.
Along the way, the entire group became increasingly cautious. They also encountered several more Toxic Gray Frogs. However, after being prepared this time, the three great masters attacked at once to eliminate the Toxic Gray Frogs, and there wasn’t a single martial artist that died again.
After they went along the dangerous path for a while, they began to walk up flights of stairs. Lin Ming guessed that they were less than 1000 feet from ground level. As for the Demon Emperor’s medicine garden, they were closing in on it. It was probably around 10 miles away still.
As Lin Ming realized this, he felt a hundred emotions pass through his heart. The Nirvana Dragon Root was almost in front of him, but his chances of obtaining it were near zero.
After they walked another distance, a low stone platform appeared in front of everyone. This stone platform was inscribed with faint lines. These lines seemed extraordinary; they were obviously runes.
As Xuan Wuji walked past the stone platform, whether intentionally or unintentionally he stopped his steps and swept his sense through the stone platform as if he were searching for something.
This was noticed by all the other old fellows. Nanyun Wang smiled with a ‘hehe’ and said, “What is it Brother Xuan, are you interested in this ancient array?”
Nanyun Wang knew that this stone platform was some sort of ancient array. As for what sort of ancient array it was, he was completely clueless.
Xuan Wuji coldly humphed and said, “And what does it matter to you if this old man is interested in this ancient array or isn’t interested in this ancient array. Whatever I do has no relation to you!”
As Xuan Wuji finished speaking, he withdrew his perception and strode away.
As for Nanyun Wang, he smirked and did a few laps around the stone platform to see if he could discover anything. However, he had no understanding at all about the complex runes carved onto this ancient array.
The other old fellows also did the same. It was only Lin Ming whose eyes flashed as he saw this ancient array. He was able to faintly guess just what it was that Xuan Wuji was trying to do.
A hint of a smile began to bloom on Lin Ming’s lips. If he had an opportunity to ruin Xuan Wuji, he naturally wouldn’t miss it.