56: White Lotus Toad

"Woman! You shouldn't have meddled in other people's business."

In the incredibly vast fork in the road, the demon cultivator's voice, hoarse enough to scratch tempered glass,

shot toward the surrounding walls like a sharp arrow, then quickly rebounded, forming waves of echoes that lingered for a long time.

"Meddling? Your White Lotus Sect is practically riding on the heads of all the cultivators in the North, running wild!"

"And you won't even let this young lady protect herself? You idiot!" Tang Tang glared, retorting without showing any weakness.

"Hmph, sharp-tongued Little Daoist! Today, this master will let you know the consequences of meddling!" The demon cultivator roared, and a layer of dark green liquid welled up all over its body.

Its figure expanded several times with a "swish," and in the blink of an eye, it turned into a three-meter-large toad.

"Damn! This smell is way too overpowering!"

Tang Tang hurriedly held her breath, her entire body's nerves tightening like a bow drawn to its limit.

It seemed that at the slightest movement, she would immediately shoot a fatal arrow to deal with a potential ambush from the demon cultivator.

Beside her, Shang Wan Ning appeared quite leisurely. She leaned against the wall nonchalantly, the corners of her mouth slightly upturned, revealing a trace of imperceptible mockery.

"What an interesting soul!" she pondered to herself, not expecting that the seemingly dark-bellied Little Daoist would actually have such a feisty side.

It really lived up to the saying—a woman's heart is like a needle at the bottom of the sea; women are all complex and changeable creatures, their thoughts so intricate and their emotions so fickle, they are comparable to unfathomable calculus.

"Host, actually, you are also quite multifaceted." Xiao Si popped up out of nowhere, hands continuously tapping on a keyboard, looking like a bystander eating melon.

Hearing this, Shang Wan Ning's face sank instantly. She glared at Xiao Si irritably and scolded in a low voice: "Shut up! Go find your sister system."

Seeing this, Xiao Si made a mournful face. It closed the system panel, squatted on the ground, and drew circles while grumbling about the Host.

"If it weren't for you exploiting me, leaving me no time for dating,"

"the sister system wouldn't have dumped Xiao Si."

Just then, the toad suddenly opened its mouth, and a stream of black air gushed out.

Tang Tang dodged to the side and took the opportunity to thrust her peach wood sword. However, this strike felt like hitting cotton, completely ineffective.

The toad jumped around nimbly, continuously spraying black poisonous gas.

Tang Tang gradually fell into a passive position, only able to struggle to hold on.

Shang Wan Ning's eyes narrowed, and she raised an eyebrow, saying: "Little Daoist, catch this." After saying that, she threw out a high-grade shield—a golden-purple talisman.

Tang Tang reached out and caught it. The purple talisman instantly turned into a ray of spiritual light, wrapping around her.

When the light dissipated, Tang Tang had an extra suit of armor on her upper body, and her peach wood sword was also imbued with a hint of sharp golden energy.

Tang Tang's eyes lit up, her confidence greatly increased.

"Thank you, Sister Lay Practitioner! Watch how I deal with this toad!"

Tang Tang's figure moved like lightning as she charged toward the toad... she lifted her foot and kicked, the angle quite tricky.

This kick landed squarely on the toad's abdomen. It let out a cry of pain, and its body flew backward.

Tang Tang did not give the toad a chance to catch its breath, immediately following up with several more sword thrusts.

The toad dodged left and right, exhausted from trying to cope.

Shang Wan Ning watched from the side, nodding inwardly. "The Little Daoist's skills are indeed not bad. Given time, she will surely achieve great things."

The tip of the peach wood sword in her hand grazed past the side of the toad's face.

The latter tilted its head, ignoring the bloodstain spurting from its skin, and opened its mouth to spit out its tongue, wrapping it fiercely around the peach wood sword!

"Fool!" The toad sneered, raising its head as if it had succeeded.

"Does your family live in a chemical plant or something? This corrosiveness is way too strong!"

Tang Tang widened her eyes, watching in shock as the originally incredibly hard peach wood sword was actually corroded by a small part. Her heart couldn't help but ache, and she couldn't help but start complaining.

This was a thunder-struck peach wood that had weathered a hundred years of wind and rain and had been struck by lightning several times! Plus, it was imbued with sharp golden energy; logically, it should have been indestructible.

But who would have thought that when facing the poisonous tongue extended by the cunning big toad in front of her, it would seem somewhat powerless.

At this moment, the peach wood sword in Tang Tang's hand was already tightly entangled by the toad's long tongue, making it impossible for her to get free. Helpless, she had to desperately grip it with her right hand, trying to break free from the restraint.

Beside her, Shang Wan Ning supported her forehead with her hand and sighed lightly. "Sigh, Little Daoist! You can't even look cool for three seconds!"

Shang Wan Ning bent her legs and leaped two meters high. Her figure flashed, and like a ghost, she instantly appeared above the toad.

She turned her spiritual power into a sword and struck at the toad, her movements clean and efficient, without any hesitation.

First, she accurately severed the toad's tongue tendon with one sword strike, then slashed several times at the poison sac on its back.

Accompanied by sparks flying everywhere, the severely injured toad let out extremely shrill screams that echoed through the fork in the road.

"Despicable villain, you are simply winning unfairly, absolutely shameless!"

Shang Wan Ning was murderous, revealing a trace of disdain.

She gracefully twirled a beautiful sword flower and responded coldly: "Hmph! I have never had any patience for dealing with dirty and ugly demon creatures like you."

"If it weren't for the fact that you are truly too disgusting and I didn't want to do it myself, I wouldn't have bothered wasting time with you!"

"Haha, if you want to blame someone, blame yourself for having such a bad heart that just looking at you is annoying!" After finishing, Shang Wan Ning raised her spiritual sword high again, preparing to deal the toad a fatal blow...

Shang Wan Ning's eyes narrowed, and she silently recited a spell. The light on the spiritual sword suddenly flared brightly.

The toad felt the pressure brought by Shang Wan Ning. It tried its best to mobilize the remnant demonic energy in its body.

"Expert! Please have mercy and spare my miserable life!" the toad begged bitterly, feigning sincerity.

"It was all because I was threatened and coerced by the White Lotus Sect."

Shang Wan Ning couldn't help but frown, a chill running through her heart.

She snorted coldly and rebuked mercilessly: "Evil cultivators always like to find various excuses to shirk their own blame. As the saying goes, 'Villains often die from talking too much'!"

Obviously, no matter how the toad begged, it was all in vain.

After all, just in terms of its appearance, it was enough to make people feel extremely uncomfortable—that bumpy skin, sticky secretions, and hideous, terrifying face, all made Shang Wan Ning have a strong physiological reaction—'nausea'!

Shang Wan Ning flicked her wrist sharply, and the spiritual sword in her hand hit the toad's demon core with precision.

Accompanied by a shrill scream... the toad lay flat on its back, dead!!!

Seeing this, Tang Tang breathed a sigh of relief. She hurriedly ran to the toad's corpse and used the peach wood sword to poke out a demon core. Then she bent down, wrapped it in a handkerchief, and gave Shang Wan Ning a sweet smile.

"Thank you, Sister Lay Practitioner, for your righteous action. You are so cool!"

"It was just a small favor," Shang Wan Ning said indifferently. "But remember, in the future, when you encounter demon cultivators, remember to attack from a distance first. Do not rashly get close."

Tang Tang nodded, keeping the Sister Lay Practitioner's warning in mind.

"Hehehe... Sister is so kind!"