Chapter 399: Chapter 19: The Toad King’s Inner Core
Snake King’s decision was undoubtedly the right one.
For Garon the Great Wizard, his combat power was far less useful than the traits he displayed.
A Physique Evolver who had broken through the limits of mortality was, in every way, naturally a material prepared for researching Physique Evolution.
Since Snake King had agreed, Richard said nothing further and had the World Mushroom prepare a Destiny Contract.
The binding power of a Soul Contract was limited; for creatures that had surpassed mortal limits, a Destiny Contract was undoubtedly the best form of restraint.
With the contract signed, Richard had gained a powerful new subordinate.
Once the contract was completed, Richard voiced a question that lingered in his mind.
“Snake King, I have a question for you. You and that toad are both creations of the Supreme, so logically, you shouldn’t be enemies. How did you end up in this state?”
Snake King sighed helplessly upon hearing this.
“Logically, it is indeed so, but that toad bears grudges mindlessly. Our clan’s task is to limit the number of those toads, preventing them from overbreeding.
But that toad is brainless; as a weapon, it doesn’t have a lineage.
So, as it grew, it began to reproduce massively, and I had no choice but to intervene and resolve this issue.
But, as you can see, the results were evident.”
Snake King sighed helplessly; as the toad’s predator, it had been nearly killed by its own prey.
Admitting this would be rather humiliating.
Richard furrowed his brows, sensing something amiss in Snake King’s words.
“If I may ask boldly, Snake King, how did you break through the mortal boundary?
I could understand you breaking through as you speak of it, but how could a biological weapon, break through the mortal boundary?”
Hearing Richard’s question, Snake King was momentarily stunned.
Indeed, it had broken the mortal boundary because its lineage came from the Supreme, but these toads, as disposable weapons, how could they also break through the mortal boundary?
The mortal boundary wasn’t like the fragile paper wall in martial arts TV shows that could be punctured with a bit of saliva.
Recalling its ancient memories, Snake King grew more and more puzzled.
“You’ve really stumped me with that. I broke through the mortal boundary because I desperately devoured a seed of the World Tree, by a fluke.
But these toads, easily startled into self-destruction as consumables, how could they achieve the breakthrough?”
Seeing that Snake King had no clue either, Richard suddenly grew more curious.
This toad seems to have more research value than Snake King.
“Gah, stop pondering,” Ulysses said. “You can’t figure out anything by just speculating.
Just go and kill that toad, and once its body turns into a specimen, the answer will naturally become clear.”
“Or fall into an abyss never to be discovered,” Richard continued Ulysses’s thought.
“But this is indeed a method. Just by pondering, we definitely won’t think of an answer.”
Having said that, he looked towards Snake King and asked, “Do you need to prepare anything? We are going to kill that toad next.”
“Prepare?” A fierce smile appeared on Snake King’s face, “No preparation needed!
I’ve been constantly thinking about how to kill that toad these years. In the upcoming battle, all you need to do is assist by distracting it.”
As the predator of the toad, Snake King naturally had a restraining effect.
If it hadn’t been for the extreme toxicity of the toad’s venom, Snake King would have swallowed it long ago.
“In that case, let’s see how you perform,” Richard chuckled, “but it would be best if you can leave the body. I want to see what kind of fortune allowed this biological weapon to break through the mortal limit.”
Snake King nodded slightly, “Alright, no problem.”
Once they left the Secret Realm, Snake King entered the swamp, and Dragon Horn sent out a surge of energy.
The energy wave propagated through the swamp’s filthy water, and the snakes in the swamp stirred turbulently, like a tidal wave of venomous snakes rushing towards Snake King.
Seeing the snake tide in the swamp constantly converging towards Snake King, a chill suddenly rose in Richard’s heart.
He had not expected that the swamp hid such a large number of venomous snakes. Even the White Wizard Army would have to be cautious faced with such numbers.
“Do you need to summon a host of snakes to kill that toad?” Richard asked.
“To kill the toad? No need for that, but that toad can summon little toads,” explained Snake King. “Though those little toads aren’t as powerful as the big one, they are quite troublesome.”
Richard nodded understandingly, indeed, even those little toads possessed significant power.
Once there were enough of them, even a creature that had transcended mortal limits would face significant trouble.
After gathering the host of snakes, Snake King hissed a few sentences in snake language to them, then proceeded towards the direction of the Crystal Tower.
The host of snakes followed him like a relentless white surf, unending.
Below the Crystal Tower, Toad King was leisurely sunbathing. Occasionally hungry, it would just use its tongue to catch a couple of seeding eagles from the sky to eat, living comfortably.
Suddenly, Toad King felt a strange sensation. It stood up, its frog eyes scanning the surrounding white fog continuously.
As a creature that had broken through the mortal limits of its physique, it also possessed a rather strong intuition.
It could distinctly feel a tremendous danger approaching.
A low croak came from within Toad King, the sound instantly spreading through the entire swamp via the sewage.
Countless purple-skinned toads emerged from the water, the bushes, and the reeds, converging towards the Crystal Tower.
Yet before Toad King could prepare further, a black shadow erupted from the mist, two cold lights heading straight for its head.
Though Toad King appeared large and clumsy, when it moved, it was as quick as lightning.
Its four legs exerted force simultaneously, and its body abruptly lunged forward while the venom sacs on its back sprayed thick green poison at the dark shadow.
Poison shot out like arrows.
The shadow noticed just in time and dodged, an invisible Airflow Barrier appearing around him, which blocked the poison that he couldn’t evade. The venom fell to the ground, instantly darkening the swamp as algae and driftwood were turned into black water.
Behind the Toad King, the pustules were about to shoot again.
But then a gust of wind burst out of the fog, whipping it into the air.
Now, the Toad King finally saw clearly what the attacker was.
The Toad King issued a loud cry, the will within it allowing others to understand its meaning as if it were a Spiritual Message.
“Big toad, long time no see.”
The Snake King looked at the Toad King, his face coldly smiling. In the next instant, Thunder began to flash from his Dragon Horns.
A white and purple Thunder as thick as a barrel shot out from the Dragon Horns, cutting through the air and striking the Toad King.
The Toad King’s body stiffened abruptly as the Thunder paralyzed it, causing its limbs to stop responding.
But before the Thunder completely dissipated, he saw the Snake King, with his mouth wide open, diving straight towards him in mid-air.
The Toad King’s body jerked fiercely in the air, a violent gust of wind of unknown origin held up his body and then quickly lifted him higher, just avoiding the Snake King’s bite.
As beings that transcended human limits, the Toad King naturally also self-taught the ability to manipulate Elements.
Having missed his attack, the two animals distanced themselves.
One could see the several meters long Snake King, his body shimmering with gold, Thunder flowing between his scales, as if he were the thunder god himself. The Toad King, not to be outdone, saw his own body suddenly expand, like an inflated pufferfish, as big as a giant mammoth, his pustules on the verge of bursting.
The two were old adversaries, and in a battle years ago, the Snake King had been defeated. That defeat left him with a slow, venom-infiltrated death pending.
Now, fighting again, the Snake King had changed immensely.
Suddenly, a pitch-black beast ablaze with a Black Flame shot out of the fog, heading straight for the Toad King.
This beast’s presence was in no way inferior to the two monster kings.
Distracted by the beast, the Toad King gave the Snake King an opening, who dashed towards the Toad King with jaws wide open.
The Toad King tried to dodge but was entangled by the pitch-black beast.
The Snake King bit into the Toad King, whose pustules burst open, the rule-laden venom instantly corroding the Snake King’s jaws into bare bones.
Yet even so, the Snake King kept his hold, his venom continuously flowing into the Toad King’s body through his fangs.
A fear of death instantly shrouded the Toad King’s heart.
Suddenly, a terrifying energy fluctuation erupted within the Toad King.
Once a biological weapon, even though he had transcended human limits, his instincts as a biological weapon were merely suppressed by his intellect, not completely erased.
Now, the Toad King no longer had the intellect to suppress his instincts.
As a biological weapon, his instinct was to explode when frightened.
“What’s going on, why is this thing about to explode!” Ulysses sensed the fluctuation within the Toad King and cried out in alarm to the Snake King.
“Don’t worry, it won’t explode.”
The Snake King calmly injected venom into the Toad King’s body, his venom serving as a stabilizer for this type of self-destructing toad.
Just as the Snake King expected.
The energy fluctuation within the Toad King quickly subsided.
Soon, the Snake King opened his mouth as wide as possible and slowly swallowed the gigantic Toad King.
Ulysses, puzzled, asked, “You swallowed this thing, how are we supposed to retrieve its body?”
“If I didn’t swallow it, it would have exploded soon,” the Snake King explained while swallowing, “Once I fully dissolve its poison sac, I will regurgitate it…”
Suddenly, the Snake King’s expression changed drastically. A violent energy wave burst from within him, severing him at the waist.
“Damn! If you can’t handle it, why push yourself?”
Seeing this, Ulysses was instantly enveloped in a dignified Holy Light, as he hurled Divine Arts at the Snake King as if they cost nothing.
Fortunately, the Snake King was governed by the Life Rule; even though most of his organs were turned to pulp by the blast, he could still hang on to life by relying on the rule.
“Don’t worry about me, go check that toad’s remains, I won’t die. There’s something in the remains!”
Ulysses reached out with a Crow Claw, lifting the lower half of the Snake King’s body from the swamp.
The flesh of the Toad King was almost dissolved by the venom, leaving only a calcified orb lying quietly in the venom.
“What is this thing?”
Soon, Ulysses took the weakened Snake King back to the Secret Realm.
Seeing the Gasping Snake King, Richard quickly cried out, “World Mushroom! Come and help.”
Then, turning to Ulysses on the side, Richard asked, “What’s going on, was that toad that strong?”
Ulysses shook his head, “That toad wasn’t particularly strong. But something went wrong with that snake, causing the toad to burst open inside it.
By the way, this is the thing I retrieved from the toad’s stomach.”
Saying this, Ulysses handed the calcified orb to Richard.
Richard stared at the orb, momentarily puzzled.
“What is this? An inner core?”