“Oh no, oh no!”
In the mountain forest, Cheng Dongfeng was beside himself in anxiety, muttering in regret, “I should have known—with Jiang He’s usual attitude, how could he not start trouble since he was so keen on changing our heading to Lake Kanas?”
“It’s over… Jiang He is definitely dead if he angers the Red Toad King!”
Beside him, Chen Jingzhou had yet to fully recover from the shock of hearing the chain of explosions and muttered as well, “Jiang He was merely rank-nine last night. How could he be so bold? Didn’t he say that he just wanted to fish? Why would he blow up the lake?”
“Did you assume that he got his Bomber Prince nickname out of nothing?” Jiang He chuckled begrudgingly.
That was when a blade light landed.
Delighted, Cheng Dongfeng ran towards it, even shouting from the distance, “Blade King senpai, please help save Jiang He—it’s not easy for a genius to come by Lingzhou City.”
Chen Jingzhou ran up to them too.
From afar, He Litong, Zhou Rui, and Yang Chengwei were rushing towards them as well, and came to stand beside Three Blades Lin.
They were positioned higher up on a mountain slope, and even happened to have a clear view of Jiang He as he stood on the shores of Lake Kanas.
Three Blades Lin had a somber gaze, and appeared at a loss towards Cheng Dongfeng’s request. “I want to help, but…’
“A while ago, Jiang He started some major trouble by killing the Black King Drake. In addition, Minister Wang slew the Blue King Drake as well in order to intimidate the other Feral Kings, which left them utterly infuriated. In fact, some of the other Feral Kings within the country is on the move, and war would ignite if I act now.”
Right now, Three Blades Lin was between a rock and a hard place.
Taking a deep breath to calm his mood, he threw up his hands, saying, “Let’s wait and see. Jiang He is not weak, and the Red Toad King would not be able to restrain him if he wanted to flee… by the way, why would he throw bombs into Lake Kanas for no reason?”
Three Blades Lin had ten thousand questions in his head!
Had Jiang He gone mad?
Beside him, Cheng Dongfeng offered meekly then, “Perhaps he wanted some fish. I did hear Jiang He mumble about getting bored of eating the meat of the Black King Drake and the Blue King Drake…”
“…”
Hoho.
Three Blades Lin sneered and seethed through clenched teeth. “Bastard. I’m letting the Red Toad King do him in!”
However, he had already made up his mind.
If Jiang He was really in danger, Three Blades Lin would step up even if he risked war. After all, the kid would not stay beneath Wang Hou if he continued to grow!
He must be saved!
***
Back at the lake, the shockwave from the explosion had already faded. However, the surface of the lake was churning and kicking up massive tides as a colossal toad that was over a dozen meters tall swam beneath, before it abruptly leapt and crashed out of the surface.
A tide arose beneath its feet, turning into a gigantic pillar that kept its gigantic body aloft.
On the shores of the lake, Jiang He was standing with his hands clasped behind his back, a calm expression on his face as he looked out at the Red Toad King that was a hundred meters away.
In spite of that, he felt slight surprise inwardly—
“Red Toad King, Red Toad King… I’ve always thought that it was a nickname. I didn’t expect that its whole body is red!”
Aside from being around six-floors tall and being entirely scarlet, it did not look at all different from a normal toad endlessly enlarged. Its protruding eyes were a demonic red as well, and it had many orifices over its back that resembled miniature volcanoes.
On the way here, Jiang He had already read about the data on the Red Toad King.
That Feral had evolved from a ‘red-eyed toad’, a species of toad newly discovered ten years ago. A mutation might have taken place after it evolved, causing its whole body to become red.
“Toad… Can toads be eaten?”
The thought occurred to Jiang He’s mind then… that thing was probably edible. One should not be obsessed with its ugly looks, but there were many spots on its body where one could pour in condiments. Still, it was poisonous and the cooking method is very specific, and one should not have too much or they would die.
And now, Jiang He was staring at the Red Toad King, and it was staring back at Jiang He too.
But for some reason…
Even as the thought of ‘could the Red Toad King be eaten’ occurred to Jiang He, the Feral King could not help shuddering in fear inwardly, although that was soon consumed by its endless fury.
“Human!”
The Red Toad King gaped its maw and thundered in rage, “You dare provoke this king, human?”
“Die!”
At the sound of the word ‘die’…
Swish!
The Red Toad King abruptly shot out its tongue!
How quick did its tongue moved?
Five times the speed of light? Ten?
It was inestimable!
In the very least, all Jiang He felt was his vision blurring in that instant.
Without the time to react, the Red Toad King’s tongue had coiled around Jiang He… and while its tongue shot out rapidly, it retracted even quicker.
Burp…
A dozen miles away and on that mountain slope, all Three Blades Lin saw from afar was the Red Toad King open its mouth, firing out its tongue and retracting it…
After that, Jiang He was gone.
“Jiang He!”
Three Blades Lin roared in rage, instantly turning into a blade light and rushed towards Lake Kanas.
Cheng Dongfeng and the others had weaker vision and could not even see much—all they saw was the Red Toad King open its mouth and close its mouth, after of which was Jiang He disappearing from the banks of the lake.
Amongst them, Chen Jingzhou was a top rank-nine and had better eyes.
There was a look of disbelief on his face, and his whole body shuddered before he went limp and fell on his knees, muttering, “Jiang He… was eaten by the Red Toad King?”
Whoosh!
Meanwhile, Three Blades Lin had covered the dozen-kilometer distance in the blink of an eye.
Three Blades Lin’s blade swung down as he bellowed in rage, “Red Toad King, spit out that person you just swallowed—even if I don’t slay you, Minister Wang would personally arrive and turn your Lake Kanas upside down!”
In response, the currents in the lake shot in the air, turning into jet streams as it deflected the blade light while replying, “So, it’s the Blade King… you would allow a young human bombing my residence and break the rules, and now attack me? Are you really sure that our kind would not dare to attack your nation?”
“Wang Hou may be outstanding to outclass the Blue King Drake with a single stroke, but could he do anything to me if this king would leave?”
The Red Toad King was right about that.
It was an amphibian, and that was no exception even if it evolved into a Feral King…
No!
Feral Kings could fly, and now could reside in the skies, on land and beneath the water. If the Red Toad King headed towards the sea, nothing could be done against it.
And now, it was swimming towards the lake, laughing out loud, “Moreover, why would this king spit out what I devoured by my skill? It may merely be rank-nine and doesn’t have much flesh, it’s enough for a scrumptious meal for this king. Indeed, it should have been digested in this instant… What… Argh!”
Suddenly, the Red Toad King which swam to the center of the lake suddenly shivered and shrieked in agony.
***
Inside the Red Toad King’s belly.
His Dark Golden Combat Suit equipped and added with a green layer of Cloudscraper Vine armor, Jiang He’s face was a somber greenness.
How…
Embarrassing!
He was actually eaten by a toad?
Most importantly…
“I’m just afraid Chen Jingzhou and the others were looking from the distance. I, Jiang He, may have a legendary life, but it’s all gone now to one mishap…”
Six silhouettes of suns appeared around Jiang He then. As his abundant True Qi shielded his body, it kept the Red Toad King’s rapid-digestive gastric acid from reaching his body.
The goo that could instantly melt the True Qi of any martial artist’s protective True Qi could not affect Jiang He at all.
“That goo is so disgusting!”
“Although it’s fine for me to get hit with my current physique, and the Red Toad King would never digest me even if I sleep in its belly… would I be able to face the others if I’m all goo later?”
Jiang He was about to restore himself.
That ‘restoration’ was not to save his own hide—from where he stood, he would not face any danger against the Red Toad King that spat venom. The reason he was eaten was merely because that bastard was ruthless enough to spit its tongue at a moment’s notice… and Jiang He wasn’t prepared yet.
To put it in another perspective, the Red Toad King’s devouring of Jiang He was not much different from suicide.
If he did not eat Jiang He, he only had a small chance of killing the Feral… the condition being having to use his soul weapon, the Scarlet Flame Sword.
It being Jiang He’s trump card, Jiang He did not really want to use it now, since there were people watching him fight out in the distance.
But now that the Red Toad King had eaten him…
There’s nothing stopping him.
After all, innards were extremely fragile, and Jiang He was confident in killing the Red Toad King even without using the Scarlet Flame Sword.
Firstly, Jiang He took out two handfuls of Strengthened Pea Bombs…
Whoosh.
And threw them all out.
At almost the same instant that Jiang He threw the bomb, he had already dropped down, clutching his head.
Boooom!
Up to eighty Strengthened Pea Bombs hence blew up inside the Red Toad King’s belly.
The Strengthened Pea Bomb was not powerful in the first place, and it would hardly damage a rank-eight martial artist’s protective True Qi.
Even so, the inside of the Red Toad King’s belly was an enclosed space.
Moreover, Jiang He had thrown a lot of pea bombs…
Hence, the violent explosion that could not be vented anywhere else in that single instant began to shatter and bleed the various organs of the Red Toad King…
And yet, even before it bled, the organs were burnt and cauterized by the scorching, violent flames generated by the explosion.
Jiang He could even smell a sweet aroma of meat…
“What the hell…”
Having clutched his head and dropped to the ground, Jiang He felt the force of the explosion and exclaimed in shock, “So, this is how powerful eighty Strengthened Pea Bombs could be when detonated in an enclosed space…”
***
Beneath Lake Kanas, the Red Toad King’s belly abruptly bloated because of the violent explosion, its red body turning to an even brighter crimson—just like a red-hot furnace.
Shrieking in agony, it kept breathing massive pillar of flames from its mouth each time it did, venting the fires within its belly.
It was crashing around under the lake, splashing waves that slapped on the cliffs of the lakes on both ends of the eggs and blowing it up.
Nearby, Three Blades Lin was astonished.
What happened to that Red Toad King?
What was that thunderous rumbling in its belly?
And why the hell was it breathing flames?
Was the Red Toad King not adept at water skills?
Boom….
Suddenly, there was a second ‘thundering’ in the Red Toad King’s belly… even the Red Toad King’s hisses had become powerless, just as its vigor began to decline.
And when the sound of explosions faded, there was a slicing sound as a thunder slash cut apart the Red Toad King’s belly from the inside out.
Shunk!
The second thunder slash burst out, slicing open the Red Toad King’s back.
After throwing a second round of pea bombs and slashing out twice, Jiang He put away his Cloudscraper Vine armor. Then, leaping into the air, he sliced a gaping gash over the Red Toad King’s back. With his Dark Golden Combat Suit equipped, he was bathed in blood from head to toe, just as the silhouette of six suns rose to the air, shinning in faint golden radiance with faint starlight in its fold, even as a dragon’s roar and an elephant’s trumpeting echoed around him!
His ‘special effects’ going on full drive, he descended like a god upon the mortal realm before his feet rested atop the head of the dying Red Toad King, letting out a long roaring before he yelled, “Monster, how dare you attempt to eat me! Did you really think that I couldn’t kill you?”
Hmm…
This feels very awesome.
Hence, Jiang He managed to ‘restore’ his personal image on his own.
After making short work of the Red Toad King to demonstrate his gallantry as a man, surely he could negate the infamy of being eaten by the Red Toad King, could he not?
