"Kill the Crystal Toad! Seize the demon core! Grab the treasures!" Although there were many experts present, there were far more people of lesser strength hoping to snatch some benefits in the chaos. A single expert, or even two, couldn't hope to stop them. Someone shouted, and the scattered, chaotic loose cultivators all unleashed their spells at once, bombarding the small lake, which was only a few hectares in size.

  Fire, wind, earth—spells of all elements turned the once calm lake surface into a boiling cauldron. Waves surged and crashed, water spraying in all directions.

  "Stop! This is useless, just a waste of spiritual power! We have to drain the lake to force the Crystal Toad out!" an elder who seemed quite powerful shouted, using a sound transmission technique.

  "Nonsense! I'll force that beast out with my Lightning Strike Technique!" someone from the crowd retorted. A thunderous crack followed, the bolt striking the water just a few meters from the elder. The thick, crackling arc of lightning plunged into the lake. Leo, standing relatively close to the shore, could even feel the numbing tingle of the electricity.

  The lake surface was utter chaos now, a relentless barrage of low-grade spells. No one noticed the inconspicuous vortex forming beneath the churning water.

  Whoosh! Something burst from the water. Startled cries erupted all around. It was a massive toad, nearly two meters across, its body transparent like water crystal. A terrifying aura emanated from it as it emerged.

  "Ah! A demon beast!"

  The cultivators nearest the shore stumbled back in terror. They had been shouting about killing the Crystal Toad, but now that it had actually appeared and they felt its overwhelming, unmatched presence, they suddenly remembered it was a fourth-grade demon beast—a being far beyond any one of them.

  The Crystal Toad was thoroughly annoyed. It had been resting peacefully at the bottom of the lake. A single accidental emergence, spotted by some human cultivators, had brought this entire mob down upon it. Most of the low-grade spells crashing into the lake barely affected it, but the few lightning-element spells made it deeply uncomfortable. So it had decided to teach these ants a lesson.

  Swoosh! Something like a sharp arrow shot from the Crystal Toad's mouth. But it wasn't an arrow—it was more like a thread. Few could even see the line clearly; it was just a blur before it retracted.

  But in the instant that line appeared, several agonized screams followed in quick succession.

  Leo's eyes focused. Just a few meters to his side, seven or eight cultivators who had been standing roughly in a line now had bloody holes in their chests. As the white line retracted, it tore out chunks of flesh and blood. Some were hit in vital spots and died instantly. Others, standing slightly off-line, only had large chunks of flesh torn away or a few bones broken—not dead, but severely wounded.

  If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

  The white line lashed out several more times. It was the Crystal Toad's tongue! Leo suddenly recalled scenes from his childhood, helping his father in the fields, watching frogs eating insects. A chill ran down his spine. The Crystal Toad was dangerously close to him. If that tongue—an attack from a beast equivalent to a Foundation Establishment cultivator—struck him, even with the best luck, he'd be severely injured. People were packed tightly all around; he couldn't even flee. Panic welled up inside Leo, but then he saw a few people who had fallen to the ground. A sudden idea struck him. He deliberately dropped to the ground as well.

  Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh...

  The white line shot out over a dozen times. The Crystal Toad's emergence had been so sudden that at least sixty or seventy unprepared loose cultivators fell to its surprise attack. The lake shore where it had appeared was stained crimson with blood. Only then did the remaining cultivators react, unleashing another barrage of low-grade spells.

  The Crystal Toad was hit by dozens, if not hundreds, of spells in an instant, but it seemed largely unharmed. It slipped back into the water, its already transparent form seeming to vanish entirely. A few moments later, it resurfaced near the center of the lake, leisurely, as if mocking all the cultivators.

  "Damn toad." Leo scrambled back to his feet, shaken. He had been stepped on at least dozens of times in the surging, panicked crowd. But several corpses now lay where he had been standing. Compared to that, a few kicks and stomps were nothing.

  "Revenge!" The sudden death and injury of dozens, many of whom had friends or relatives among the crowd, ignited a blaze of fury. But these were the same people who had been shouting to kill the Crystal Toad earlier. Were cultivators allowed to slaughter demon beasts, but demon beasts forbidden from fighting back? A cold sneer curled Leo's lips as he dusted himself off. Having learned his lesson, he retreated to the very edge of the crowd, where he finally felt safe.

  The scattered cultivators finally calmed down, realizing they couldn't defeat this fourth-grade Crystal Toad in the lake. Soon, someone proposed digging a channel to drain the water. The surrounding mountains were filled with low-lying valleys and gorges. As long as they dug a trench, there would be plenty of places to drain the water. Once the lake was empty, they could join forces and kill this fourth-grade beast.

  The plan agreed upon, the cultivators immediately set to work. Several artifact-forging cultivators fashioned spirit shovels suitable for digging on the spot. Others simply used their spirit sabers and swords. For mortals, digging such a channel through mountains would take years, if not decades. But for these cultivators, it took only a few days.

  As the lake water gushed through the channel, draining away, the deep lake bottom was gradually revealed in its true form.

  "Springwater Algae!"

  "Whiteheart Taro!"

  "Water Spirit Stones!"

  "Ice Spirit Stones!"

  As the lake bottom emerged, various spiritual objects were exposed to the eyes of the scattered cultivators. Some were items required for sect tasks.

  Some of the more impatient cultivators, seeing the lake level dropping and no sign of the Crystal Toad, began venturing down to collect the closer spirit stones and algae.

  "Damn it, those bastards are going down already. Have they no fear of death?" someone cursed. But when they saw dozens of people already down there, they couldn't resist any longer. Activating their protective shields, they stepped into the mud.

  "Haha! I got three Ice Spirit Stones! Hey, who hit me with a Fireball? Show yourself if you've got the guts!"

  But who would step forward and admit it at a time like this? The fault was his for being too flashy. Several more low-grade spells, fueled by envy, struck the burly man, who yelped in pain.

  As more and more people reaped benefits, even more cultivators began descending into the lake. The aloof Great Perfection experts who had been standing on the shore watched, their faces turning green with fury, but the situation had spiraled completely out of their control.

  Leo mingled with the crowd but didn't immediately go down. Although these spiritual objects were valuable, having learned his lesson from earlier, he wasn't about to descend until he was sure the Crystal Toad wasn't present.

  "Ah! My foot!" Suddenly, a scream erupted from the crowd. Amidst the mud, a cyan-colored demon crab emerged, brandishing its massive pincers. Caught between them was a severed leg.