Chapter Seventy-Eight: The Ugly Duckling

Several light years away.

The great Golden Toad strode forward on four legs, its chubby belly rising and falling across the starry sky, leaping over the distance of four or five Desolation Belts of the Grand Cold Furnace, arriving directly in the Lunar-Solar star system.

The Yellow Toad Immortal held a Celestial Bamboo staff, his robes billowing, shrouded in mist and smoke, his aura boundless. With thick, yellow, rough eyelids closed, he appeared deep and inscrutable.

As his words echoed, meteors and dust within tens of millions of miles shattered, and fissures appeared in the void.

Simultaneously, sixty-four array flags cracked with a sharp snap, fractures spreading as the entire Nine Tribulations Prison Array swiftly dissolved and collapsed!

Words resounded, shaking the cosmos—one utterance from a God Master could shatter the Nine Tribulations Array.

“Lord Yellow Toad!”

Crane Xuan’s eyes brimmed with hot tears. Upon seeing the ugly, yellow-robed Immortal riding the Golden Toad and wielding the Celestial Bamboo, he felt an unprecedented sense of intimacy.

Immediately, Crane Xuan cast a cold glance at Feng Shang. With the Yellow Toad Immortal present, that wretched boy was doomed.

“Is that a toad? And that person who looks like a toad—how terrifying!”

On the Dao Vessel, the three young maidens turned pale with fright.

The Golden Toad, at least, was wholly golden, radiating divine light, its aura sacred. But the Yellow Toad Immortal, yellow, coarse, obese and deformed, his mouth and nose no different from a toad’s, was truly horrifying.

Little Phoenix and Shadow’s faces turned white, nearly traumatized; as for Qing’er, though she remained cold and silent, she couldn’t help biting her lower lip after witnessing the Immortal’s appearance.

“Do you still want to extract Guangxi?”

The Yellow Toad Immortal opened his eyes, two narrow orbs gleaming with tangible brilliance, transforming into clouds of yellow that swept across the starry sky, attacking Feng Shang.

“Someone’s arrived?”

Feng Shang raised his head slightly as the two corrosive yellow clouds, accompanied by a foul stench, melted the void in their wake, rules of law roaring forth, overwhelming in dominance—a swallowing law, most fierce and tyrannical.

Just then, a blue-green glow shimmered on the back of his hand.

A deep, dark green aura of doom, accompanied by a roar, a vicious shadow devourer, collided headlong with the two yellow clouds. In the universe, countless energies exploded, a spectacular sight.

“Hm!”

The Yellow Toad Immortal’s casual demeanor receded.

His eyes opened and closed, giving an unfathomable impression; now he looked at Feng Shang with surprise, not expecting the opponent to withstand his attack.

“So what if I extract?”

Feng Shang sneered coldly, looking down indifferently at Crane Xuan. The yellow bamboo rod exerted force, connecting to Guangxi, accelerating dozens of times over, instantly extracting the bright, radiant Guangxi imbued with the essence of life.

“No!”

Crane Xuan clutched his head, eyes nearly cracking, his throat issuing a heart-rending scream.

With Guangxi removed from his core, part of his soul shattered. His face lost all color and light, the tearing pain spreading to the core of his soul, convulsing and trembling…

In that moment, the agony Crane Xuan suffered was thousands of times worse than having his heart devoured or skin flayed. He glared at Feng Shang with hatred, eyes burning with murderous intent.

“I keep my word—there’s still the Light Core yet to be shattered!”

Feng Shang spoke coldly, conjuring from nothing a supreme blade, its snowy brilliance flashing, tip aimed directly at the pure Light Core.

“Hmph!”

From the distant stars, the Yellow Toad Immortal snorted coldly. The universe trembled, many stars collapsing.

Before his eyes, Crane Xuan’s Guangxi was extracted. If the Light Core were shattered by Feng Shang, it would leave him utterly disgraced as a God-Slayer.

“Whoosh!”

The Yellow Toad snapped his fingers; the Celestial Bamboo gleamed with vibrant green, a single leaf falling, transforming into a streak of green cosmic light. Though small, it was not to be underestimated—its edge sharp and dazzling, rivaling the highest celestial blades, slicing toward Feng Shang in an instant.

Feng Shang frowned, retreating lightly; the bamboo leaf bore great magical power, the path of a true cultivator, leaving him no room for hesitation. He quickly shifted billions of miles away.

Yet this did not mean Feng Shang would spare Crane Xuan.

The supreme blade, condensed from the air, radiated dazzling light and fierce momentum, still slashing toward the Light Core, intent on cleaving mountains and heavens.

“You—”

Crane Xuan was terrified once more.

Guangxi gone, should the Light Core shatter, he would lose all chance to start anew. Even if he survived by luck, he would be forever cut off from cultivation, let alone dream of living as long as the cosmos!

Boom!

The green bamboo leaf, originally meant to strike Feng Shang, now whirled around to protect the Light Core, emanating a destructive aura as the void collapsed.

Unexpectedly, the supreme blade was unaffected, transforming into a stream, reappearing even closer to the Light Core.

He truly intended to smash the Light Core!

“You truly dare not regard me at all!”

The Yellow Toad Immortal’s eyes widened. Standing atop the Golden Toad’s head, he grabbed with five fingers, surging cultivation power swept forth, wrapping the Light Core in the split second before the blade fell, simultaneously seizing Crane Xuan, dragging both to him.

With a thump, Crane Xuan tumbled onto the sturdy back of the Golden Toad. Having escaped death, his expression was indescribable as he hurriedly clutched his Light Core.

“Lord Yellow Toad, kill him! Kill him!”

Frantically, Crane Xuan grabbed his Light Core, then, recalling his lost Guangxi, pointed at Feng Shang, screaming madly.

“Shut up!”

A cold shout from the Yellow Toad Immortal silenced Crane Xuan instantly.

“Well, well… Such a weak realm, barely an ant, yet you dare make waves before me. Who are you, really?” The Yellow Toad gazed at Feng Shang, a glimmer flashing in his eyes.

Feng Shang glanced at the Yellow Toad, saying coolly, “Ugly freak!”

“What did you say?”

For a moment, the Yellow Toad Immortal was dumbfounded. Then his yellow-brown, toad-like face twisted, an overwhelming aura exploding as the entire Lunar-Solar star system trembled thrice.

“What’s wrong with saying you’re ugly? I’ve never seen a cultivator as hideous as you.”

Feng Shang spoke bluntly, eyes full of disdain. He was honest; the cultivators he’d seen before were either handsome and heroic, possessed matchless bearing, or, if plain, held unique charm.

But this obese cultivator in yellow robes, with an evil aura and toad-like appearance, was simply repulsive.

“Good… good…”

Veins bulged on the Yellow Toad Immortal’s forehead, his anger rendering him speechless, eyes flashing with murderous intent as freezing cold swirled around him, locking the cosmos in ice.

Far off, Crane Xuan shrank back even further.

“That brat actually dared to call Lord Yellow Toad ugly! Has he gone mad?” Crane Xuan’s heart raced wildly. The Yellow Toad Immortal held high status in the alliance, once enraged to the point of exterminating an entire bloodline of a powerful clan—cruel beyond measure.

No one had ever dared provoke him so.

When he grew angry, billions of lives could perish, oceans of blood and mountains of corpses.

Today, his fury was so great that its consequences were unimaginable.

“Recalling the destruction of star domains, no king dares approach. The God Master realm is the peak of cosmic spiritual power, second only to Saints. Brother Feng Shang is reckless…”

Qing’er’s brows knitted gently. In the Cultivator realm, the disparity in power was immense. The strongest peak cultivator rivaled the weakest Saint; even the most ordinary cultivator could lay waste to a star domain.

Though Brother Feng Shang had the Azure Calamity’s Roar, he might not surpass this Immortal before them.