Chapter 1411: Plotting the True Toad

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More than ten days later, a clear, ringing cry suddenly echoed from outside the ice house. Although not loud, it was enough to awaken Han Li from his meditation.

Han Li's eyebrows twitched, and he opened his eyes.

His gaze flickered. After pondering for a moment with his head lowered, he stood up, his figure tall.

He pushed open the ice door and walked out.

In the open space before the ice house, a vast, hundred-zhang wide ice hall had appeared at some unknown time. The hall was supported by several thick ice pillars. Although exceptionally crude, it glittered translucently in the sunlight, possessing a unique grandeur.

Within the hall was an ice platform several zhang high, upon which stood a man and a woman.

The man was a handsome young fellow with a full head of silver hair but a youthful face. The woman had her dark hair coiled high, a full figure, and was exceptionally beautiful. Her lotus-root-like arms and jade-like feet were exposed, seemingly oblivious to the mountain peak's biting cold.

Both of them, surprisingly, possessed Void Refinement stage cultivation. The silver-haired man was even at the mid-Void Refinement stage.

The long cry had originated from the silver-haired man.

Below the ice platform, four or five people were already standing, notably Fairy Ying and the old man surnamed Liu, among others. Upon hearing the cry, Han Li was not the only one to emerge from the ice dwellings; others also walked out of their houses successively.

In the blink of an eye, nearly twenty cultivators had appeared on the entire mountaintop.

All these individuals were of the Deity Transformation stage or above. Upon hearing the cry, they all headed towards the great hall, their expressions varied.

Han Li, without revealing his emotions, followed them and entered the hall.

As the cultivators entered, many immediately offered respectful greetings to the man and woman on the ice platform:

“Greetings, Senior Zhu, Senior Qing!”

“The two seniors have also arrived! This junior greets both seniors!”

Han Li casually found an inconspicuous spot and stood there calmly.

Among those who had personally invited him, this pair was well-known among the Golden Guards of Tianyuan City.

Although it was his first interaction with them, their reputation was quite good, and they were also cultivators who had ascended from the lower realms. Otherwise, no matter how great the promise, it would have been difficult to say whether he would have agreed to participate in this matter.

The long cry from the man surnamed Zhu had abruptly ceased. He smiled as he responded to the greetings, and finally announced loudly and clearly:

“Almost everyone is here. Fellow Daoists, please take a seat first. Let us discuss properly how to eradicate the nest of those Azure-eyed True Toads.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the beautiful woman standing beside him immediately cast a spell with one hand towards the ground beneath them.

Immediately, white light flickered on both sides of the ice hall, and exquisitely crafted jade chairs successively emerged under the effect of simple magic formations.

Seeing this, the cultivators took their seats as instructed, then redirected their attention to the Void Refinement stage couple who had also sat down on the ice platform.

After the silver-haired man's gaze swept across both sides, he smiled and spoke again:

“It seems things are as my wife and I expected. Only about forty percent of the fellow Daoists originally invited have truly been able to make it here. The others are either tied up with missions and couldn't come, or something happened that prevented them from traveling thousands of miles to reach this place. However, even so, as long as we work together, we can still successfully eliminate that group of Azure-eyed True Toads. Afterwards, we will each take what we need: you fellow Daoists will receive the True Toad Spirit Blood, while my wife and I will obtain the several Thousand-Heart Flowers guarded by these ancient beasts. We have already discussed all of this with you in advance, so there shouldn't be any objections, right? Of course, the distribution of the True Toad Spirit Blood will depend on each of your performances; it won't be equally divided. We hope that any fellow Daoists with other intentions do not fantasize about gaining without effort.”

The handsome young man spoke these words, and as he uttered the last few sentences, a powerful spiritual pressure characteristic of the Void Refinement stage subtly emanated from him, while his expression grew stern.

The other cultivators, upon hearing this, all sat quietly, seemingly having no objections. “Good, since everyone understands,” he continued.

“Let us discuss the specific steps of the operation. This group of Azure-eyed True Toads was first discovered by Fairy Ying and others, so I’ll ask Fellow Daoist Ying to explain a bit.” Seeing this, the handsome young man revealed a satisfied smile and turned his head to speak to the masked woman seated below.

“Senior Zhu has commanded, this junior would not dare disobey.”

Fairy Ying smiled, gracefully stood up, and after sweeping her gaze across the faces of the other cultivators, calmly began to narrate:

“I won’t elaborate on how the Azure-eyed True Toad nest was discovered. What I can tell everyone is that this group of true toads consists of nearly ten individuals. Two adult toads, a male and a female, likely possess mid-Void Refinement stage strength, while the remaining young toads are equivalent to Nascent Soul stage cultivators. This group of true toads has been hiding deep within their underground nest and typically does not emerge. If we wish to kill them within their nest, the difficulty would likely increase significantly, as the environment near the nest is very unfavorable for our encirclement and attack.”

At this point, her voice paused, but she immediately continued:

“If it were just these, there would actually be no need to invite so many fellow Daoists simultaneously. The key is that near this Azure-eyed True Toad nest, there are also two formidable symbiotic beasts: one is the Black Blood Ant, and the other is the Shadow Worm Beast.

While these two types of insect-beasts might not be individually significant, they are both gregarious species, numbering around a hundred. To eradicate the Azure-eyed True Toads, we must simultaneously deal with these two symbiotic insect-beasts.”

“Black Blood Ant?”

“Shadow Worm Beast.”

After speaking, the masked woman nodded to the handsome young man, then returned to her seat.

“No need to be nervous. Since I invited all of you fellow Daoists here, I naturally already have a solution for this.”

“Senior Zhu! It's not that we don't believe your words, but this matter does indeed seem perilous. Senior, could you please explain the specific countermeasures?” An old man wearing a bamboo hat stood up and bowed slightly towards the ice platform as he spoke.

This elder was one of the few late-Deity Transformation stage cultivators present below the platform.

“Ah, it's Fellow Daoist You. Please sit, fellow Daoist. Even if you hadn't brought it up, I, Zhu, would have explained it shortly.” The young man smiled, appearing unconcerned.

Upon hearing this, the old man said no more, clasped his fist, and sat down.

“Actually, it’s simple.

While these two types of symbiotic insect-beasts are somewhat troublesome, my wife and I have already acquired Sandalwood Crane Incense. This incense has a great attraction for Black Blood Ants. If we light it from a distance, we can easily lure them out of the ground, then collectively attack and eliminate them. The Shadow Worm Beasts, however, are more difficult to deal with. Nevertheless, my wife and I have also borrowed a set of Profound Clarity Heavenly Thunder Flags from a friend. As long as eight fellow Daoists hold these treasures and form the Heavenly Capital Ring Thunder Formation, it will be sufficient to trap these Shadow Worm Beasts. Furthermore, we have specifically invited Fellow Daoist Han and Fairy Xiao, whose cultivation techniques specialize in countering shadow worms. With these two fellow Daoists assisting the thunder formation, it should be foolproof. The remaining people can then join forces with my wife and me to focus on dealing with the true toad beasts. What do you all think, fellow Daoists?” The young man surnamed Zhu spoke a great deal clearly and resonantly. His voice was not loud, but it reached everyone’s ears with exceptional clarity.

Upon hearing his name mentioned, Han Li’s expression stirred. After scanning the hall, his gaze suddenly met with another from diagonally opposite him.

This was a young woman in a silver-white gown, appearing to be twenty-five or twenty-six years old, with an unusually refined and elegant appearance. Seeing Han Li look her way, she offered him a gentle smile.

“Is this the ‘Fairy Xiao’ mentioned? What kind of divine ability does she cultivate that can also counter Shadow Worm Beasts?” Han Li instinctively returned a smile, but his thoughts were filled with curiosity.

For the remainder of the time, other cultivators occasionally raised various questions they had.

The young man surnamed Zhu was exceedingly amiable, answering each question in detail, which greatly satisfied all the seated cultivators.

However, Han Li noticed that from beginning to end, the beautiful woman beside the young man had not uttered a single word, merely standing there with a silent smile.

This struck Han Li as somewhat peculiar.

If he remembered correctly, on the day the Zhu couple had brought people to his cave dwelling to find him, it seemed only the handsome young man spoke; he had not heard the woman utter a word.

Could this woman have cultivated some strange technique like a 'closed-mouth meditation,' similar to those eminent monks of Buddhism? Otherwise, if she were naturally deaf and mute, cultivators of their level could naturally resolve such congenital ailments with a single thought.

Han Li mused to himself.

An hour later, with no further questions from anyone, the young man surnamed Zhu began to allocate personnel.

As it turned out, among the cultivators invited this time, aside from Han Li and the woman surnamed Xiao, who were specifically there to counter Shadow Worm Beasts, many others cultivated rare lightning-attributed techniques, intended to be assigned to the Profound Clarity Heavenly Thunder Flags to form the Heavenly Capital Ring Thunder Array.

These individuals, including Han Li, were all ascended cultivators or direct descendants of ascended cultivators. There was not a single native cultivator among them.

Therefore, although there were quite a number of people, they generally had no major objections to the assigned tasks.

Once the assignments were complete, the young man surnamed Zhu and his group had no intention of further delay. With a single command, the party of over twenty people immediately flew away from the mountain, transforming into streaks of light heading directly west.

After flying for a full three days and three nights, the group, having encountered no incidents along the way, finally arrived before a vast lake.

At a glance, the lake was entirely enveloped in dense, unusually saline and humid mist, giving off a profound sense of mystery.

Upon seeing this, many cultivators couldn't help but frown.

Generally speaking, in ominous-looking places like this in the Savage Realm, most cultivators are reluctant to enter easily. Who knows what formidable ancient beasts might be hidden beneath the mist and lake waters? If one were to be ambushed and killed, wouldn't that be seeking one's own demise?

Almost without needing a reminder, everyone slowed their escape lights and stopped before the mist. (To be continued. For more chapters, please log in, support the author, and support legitimate reading!)