The Toad King saw the talismans flying towards it. It raised its arm to block and began to retreat.
However, its entire body had been temporarily restricted by the Yuan Zhong Binding technique, and its speed of movement in that instant was severely hindered.
Reluctantly, the Toad King sought another way to defend itself. It let out a low growl, and the black poisonous mist in front of it quickly solidified, turning into a thick black shield.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The explosive sounds of the blasts echoed through the Five Poison Swamp.
The first few talismans did not shake the black shield that the Toad King had formed. However, the dozens of talismans that followed slammed into the shield, shattering the hastily formed defense.
The Toad King's left front arm was also badly injured during the blocking process. Half of its flesh was blown off, revealing a cold, exposed bone.
After the talismans exploded, the Toad King roared in anger. Its head lowered slightly, and its stomach expanded faster. A frog-like tongue, as thick as an arm, shot out, aimed straight at Wei Tu.
The frog tongue was incredibly fast. In the moment it was released, it left behind only an afterimage, and the end of the tongue was already dangerously close to Wei Tu's body.
At that moment, Wei Tu was preparing to use the damaged Demonic Buddha Bell. Seeing this, he didn’t dare to be careless. He quickly pulled back his mana and threw the Five Elements Ring that he had been preparing in his sleeve.The Five Elements Ring spun rapidly, emitting five colors of light to block the Toad King's tongue.
However, unexpectedly, the Five Elements Ring, which had performed brilliantly in several previous battles, emitted a mournful sound and began to falter under the force of the Toad King's frog tongue. The spiritual light on the ring dimmed considerably.
In less than two seconds, the Five Elements Ring’s spiritual power decreased significantly and was heavily damaged.
Fortunately, the Five Elements Ring bought Wei Tu enough time to complete the final activation of the Demonic Buddha Bell.
Since obtaining the Demonic Buddha Bell, this was the first time Wei Tu had attempted to use it with his Golden Core-level mana.
Above the sky, the Demonic Buddha Bell emitted a blood-red glow, and three blood-colored Buddha images appeared. These Buddha images joined their hands together and began chanting scriptures.
Waves of sound energy, under the Demonic Buddha Bell's control, shot towards the Toad King on the ground.
The Toad King was not to be outdone. Its frog tongue, as thick as an arm, collided with the sound waves, immediately clashing with them, entering a direct confrontation.
To Wei Tu's surprise, the frog tongue seemed invincible. Even under the full force of his Golden Core-level attack, it remained unscathed.
“Poisoned again.” Wei Tu suddenly realized that his mana had become sluggish once more, just like when he crossed the swamp earlier. Moreover, he was poisoned more deeply than before.
But now, Wei Tu had no time to focus on expelling the poison. The Toad King was already too determined to fight him. If he didn't kill the Toad King, he wouldn’t even have the chance to retreat.
Wei Tu's expression darkened as he pondered his next move.
Without the frog tongue’s help, the Toad King would have long been defeated by his repeated attacks. But with this indestructible frog tongue, his attacks could only significantly injure the Toad King.
“This Toad King used its front legs to block my talismans, not the frog tongue. It seems the frog tongue is just a divine technique, not a part of its physical strength.” Wei Tu analyzed the battle process and quickly formed a plan.
He withdrew the Demonic Buddha Bell and focused his mana on other defensive artifacts. Facing this three-legged demon toad “Toad King,” he decided to only defend and wait for the Toad King's frog tongue technique to exhaust itself.
At the same time, Wei Tu secretly controlled three Seven-Colored Phantom Moths, hiding behind the Toad King. Using their innate illusion techniques, he planned to obstruct the exhausted Toad King.
—He had more than seven defensive artifacts of second-tier quality on him.
The Toad King would find it extremely difficult to break through them all.
As expected...
After several dozen breaths, the Toad King's attacks on Wei Tu became noticeably weaker. Both the force and speed of its attacks could no longer compare to earlier.
At this moment, the Toad King also realized Wei Tu's strategy. It glanced at him coldly, then prepared to retreat back into the Five Poison Swamp.
But just then, the Seven-Colored Phantom Moths, which Wei Tu had set up in advance, released a rainbow-colored mist and began using their illusion techniques to control the Toad King.
Of course, with the Toad King's cultivation level, it would not be as helpless as “Wu Sheng” and others, who were easily controlled by the Seven-Colored Phantom Moths at a glance.
The Toad King's pupils momentarily glazed over before it regained focus, not falling under the control of the Seven-Colored Phantom Moths. In fact, it opened its mouth again and prepared to use its frog tongue to capture the three phantom moths.
However, this brief moment of control was more than enough for Wei Tu, who had already prepared in advance.
Wei Tu made a hand seal and activated the Demonic Buddha Bell floating in the air to attack once more.
At the same time, he began to activate another of his techniques—the Ice Jiao Sword.
Five cold, sharp sword beams shot out from Wei Tu's sleeve with a long, clear hum, piercing fiercely toward the Toad King's head.
As the swords neared the Toad King, the runes carved into the bodies of the five Ice Jiao Swords flared brightly, transforming into large ice Jiao phantoms, each about ten feet in size.
Wherever these ice Jiao phantoms passed, the surrounding area immediately froze, becoming an icy domain coated in layers of frost.
Unlike previous battles, this time Wei Tu used the five Ice Jiao Swords as a one-time method, which was why they unleashed such tremendous power in this moment.
Several attacks came one after another.
This time, the Toad King could no longer block as easily as before. In the blink of an eye, it was already suffering from several injuries.
After about fifteen minutes, the Toad King's vision went dark. After letting out a final mournful roar, the life force within it vanished almost entirely.
“Finally dead.” Seeing this, Wei Tu exhaled a breath of relief, feeling a weight lift from his chest.
This three-legged demon toad “Toad King” was the first “same-realm cultivator” he had killed since reaching the Golden Core stage.
Though its techniques were simple, it still caused him quite a bit of trouble.
Next, Wei Tu didn't rush to deal with the Toad King's corpse. He sat cross-legged first, activating his “Divine Wood Origin Technique” to expel the poison that had tainted his body during the earlier battle with the Toad King.
Once the poison was fully cleared, Wei Tu approached the Toad King's body. He searched around for a moment before taking out the Ice Jiao Sword and dug it into the Toad King's abdomen.
Soon, a yellowish demon core and a fist-sized “poison sac” were extracted from the Toad King's body.
“With this poison sac and the Toad King's demon core, breaking through to the third stage of body cultivation won't be difficult. But...” Wei Tu’s expression turned contemplative. “There’s no place for closed-door cultivation here.”
The formations for the fourth trial reset once every month.
If he stayed in the Five Poison Swamp for over a month, it's possible that Gui Luo, the Demon Lord, and the others would catch up to him and trap him like a turtle in a jar.
“I’ll go to Xieshan Ridge first.” Wei Tu made up his mind and continued on through the Five Poison Swamp.
Xieshan Ridge was the fifth trial of the Great Void Realm.
...
Wei Tu’s concerns were entirely valid.
However, he miscalculated the timing. On the fourth day after Wei Tu and Bao Siyan entered the Five Poison Swamp, Gui Luo and his group broke through the Blood Mirage Cave and reached the other formation space for the fourth trial, the “Flame Crystal Desert.”
The cultivators waiting for the fourth trial's formation to reset were not just them.
Not long after Gui Luo and his group left, four figures appeared inside the Blood Mirage Cave.
These four figures—three men and one woman—each exuded the pressure of the Golden Core realm, all being in the mid-Golden Core stage or higher.
One of them was none other than the “True Monarch Wanhai” Wei Tu had seen outside the Cloud Ze Secret Realm a hundred years ago.
In the cultivation world, there was a common rule: only cultivators who reached the mid-Golden Core stage could give themselves a title.
This indicated that True Monarch Wanhai had already reached the mid-Golden Core stage a hundred years ago.
Now, a century later, his cultivation level had undoubtedly deepened.
“The fourth trial of the Great Void Realm has now seen two groups enter. If we want to enter, we’ll have to wait for the formation to open again in a month,” said True Monarch Wanhai, standing at the entrance of the Blood Mirage Cave, his hands clasped behind his back. His sleeves fluttered in the wind, creating a soft rustling sound.
After speaking, True Monarch Wanhai's gaze shifted from the blood-colored mist ahead to an elderly man beside him.
This elderly man, with hair like the feathers of a crane and skin like the hide of a chicken, wore a red robe, and his eyes were cloudy, giving him the appearance of someone near the end of their life.
“Daoist Jia, your Jia family once belonged to the Stone Demon Sect. Your ancestors joined the Stone Demon Sect and became Nascent Soul cultivators there. In the Great Void Realm, your Jia family should know many secrets.”
“I wonder if there’s a way to bypass the one-month limit? If not, if Gui Luo and his group get ahead, it’ll be extremely disadvantageous for us.”
True Monarch Wanhai spoke in a calm voice.
The elderly man, named Jia, shook his head and sighed. “I’ve shared all the information about the Great Void Realm with Fellow Daoist Wan and Fellow Daoist Bai. There is no concealment.”
A young male cultivator in splendid clothing and with sharp brows, standing beside True Monarch Wanhai, snorted coldly upon hearing Jia’s slippery words.
“Jia Tianlong, we are in this together now. If you’re hiding anything, once Gui Luo and his group break through and reach the 'Blood Slaughter Sea,' he won’t spare you. He certainly won’t leave you any 'Blood Spirit Fruits' to prolong your life.”
“Junior Brother Zhou, there's no need to rush,” True Monarch Wanhai patted the shoulder of the young man with sword-like brows, smiling. “We still have plenty of time. Let’s just wait here. There haven’t been many who’ve broken through the seven great demon trials in the Great Void Realm throughout history. Even with an additional month, it’s not certain that Gui Luo and the others will get ahead of us.”
At this point, True Monarch Wanhai glanced at the old man surnamed Jia, a slight smile curving his lips. “What we truly care about is the inner domain's treasures, not the 'Blood Spirit Fruits' of the Blood Slaughter Sea. Without the Blood Spirit Fruits, neither of us will suffer too much of a loss.”
Jia Tianlong, upon hearing this, shifted his cloudy eyes and did not speak, seemingly resigned to the situation.
“Enough, stop arguing,” a voice suddenly interrupted. It was the only female cultivator among the four.
She was dressed in a red robe, looking to be in her early twenties, youthful and beautiful. However, the malice in her brows made it clear she wasn’t someone easy to get along with.
“The fifth trial of the Great Void Realm, Xieshan Ridge, is the most time-consuming of them all. This trial tests a cultivator's physical strength according to their cultivation level. Passing this trial takes anywhere from three to four months, to two or three years at most.”
“Even if we waste a month now, it’s not a big deal. It won’t affect your brothers' chances to seize opportunities.” The red-robed female cultivator said bluntly.
Upon hearing this, True Monarch Wanhai and the sword-browed cultivator fell silent. They exchanged a glance before obediently sitting down at the entrance of the cave.
Despite the female cultivator’s cultivation not being enough to intimidate them, her status was not simple. She was the Dao companion of a Nascent Soul loose cultivator from the Zheng Kingdom.
With that connection, neither of them dared to offend her.
“Thank you, Lady Lan,” Jia Tianlong cupped his hands in thanks.
“No need to thank me,” the red-robed cultivator said coldly, even to Jia Tianlong. “If Daoist Jia is hiding something, don’t blame me for being impolite.”
Hearing this, Jia Tianlong smiled bitterly. Shaking his head, he, like True Monarch Wanhai and his companion, closed his eyes and began to rest.
...
Meanwhile, at the fourth trial of the Great Void Realm, the Flame Crystal Desert.
Shortly after entering the Flame Crystal Desert, Gui Luo and his group of five encountered the guardian beast of this domain, the Flame Lizard.
However, unlike Wei Tu’s difficult battle with the Toad King, Gui Luo’s strength was staggering. After drawing out the Flame Lizard King, a ghostly howl echoed from him. In just a few moves, the ground was left with only the mutilated corpse of the Lizard King.
“Interesting, it even has an extra tail,” after dealing with the Flame Lizard King, Gui Luo looked back with a half-smile, a glint of murderous intent in his eyes.
Upon seeing this, Bai Zhi, who was following behind Gui Luo, felt a jolt of anxiety. She wondered if the reinforcements she had secretly summoned had been discovered by Gui Luo.
Bai Zhi immediately became cautious, circulating her energy and preparing for a confrontation with Gui Luo.
However, not long after, Bai Zhi relaxed, realizing her concerns were unfounded.
At this moment, Gui Luo's palm suddenly revealed a transparent moth. The moth fluttered its wings but couldn't escape from his grasp.
“A second-tier Seven-Colored Illusion Moth! No wonder I didn’t notice it earlier. Only after entering the Flame Crystal Desert did I discover this little creature, thanks to the unique environment here,” Gui Luo said with a smile, his lips curling slightly.
He then tightened his grip and crushed the second-tier Seven-Colored Illusion Moth with ease.
“If it had been a third-tier Seven-Colored Illusion Moth, there would have been value in cultivating it. But a second-tier one is too weak. It’s hard to cultivate this kind of moth to the third-tier,” Gui Luo said, shaking his head.
“This second-tier Seven-Colored Illusion Moth, could it be left by the righteous cultivators ahead?” Bai Zhi stepped forward and asked.
“Does this mean that our movements have been exposed to them?” she added, her brows furrowing tightly. “No wonder they were ahead of us, breaking through the Blood Mirage Cave and entering the Five Poison Swamp.”
“Though, I wonder...” Bai Zhi paused, her expression darkening. “I wonder if the righteous cultivators ahead are using this second-tier Seven-Colored Illusion Moth to call for reinforcements.”
The reinforcements Bai Zhi had secretly contacted were True Monarch Wanhai and the others. Originally, she had hoped to keep this matter hidden, but now, this situation allowed her to easily shift the blame onto Wei Tu.
In reality, both Wei Tu and Bao Siyan had considered summoning reinforcements when they were in the underground palace and the Great Void Realm. However, because Gui Luo and his group were chasing them too closely, and the “Southern Wilderness Ancient Plains” was too far from the Loose Immortal Alliance, this plan had been put on hold.