Chapter 1248: The Consequences of Wit

“What is that?!” the onlookers exclaimed, shivering. They couldn't see what it was at all, apart from tongue. Not knowing what it was left them all terrified.

Even Yan Xuehen and the other women frowned. They weren’t exactly scared, since as grandmasters, they had seen their share of beasts that were even more mysterious and terrifying. Still, women had a natural sense of disgust toward sticky tentacle-like things.

Meanwhile, the remaining fiend race experts all frowned as well. They were trying to figure out what kind of monster was below when suddenly, a loud, stormy noise boomed all around them.

Rumble…

The noise was like muffled thunder, or perhaps a giant hammer smashing down viciously on an ancient drum. The sound was deeply uncomfortable.

Rumble… Rumble…

More rhythmic, muffled thunder rang out. Those present felt as if their chests were becoming tighter. One after another, their expressions began to turn pale.

𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

After a few more rumbles, suddenly, someone couldn't stand it anymore and vomited a mouthful of blood. Lying in the pool of blood was a heart that seemed to beat along with the rhythm of the muffled thunder. After one more rumble, the heart exploded on the spot.

The survivors’ expressions changed. Someone cried out, “Cover your ears! If our hearts beat along with this rhythm, we’ll undoubtedly die!”

The others quickly covered their ears, many even tearing off bits of cloth to use as earplugs. However, those with higher cultivation ranks sneered. This kind of sound wave attacked at the body directly, so covering one’s ears was useless. Instead, they either used weapons or techniques to face the strange sound.

With Zu An’s current cultivation, even though the sounds were uncomfortable, it wouldn’t do much against him. He was more worried about the women at his side.

Even though Yu Yanluo had been seriously injured, after experiencing the Primordial Origin Sutra’s special shared cultivation treatment, she had already mostly recovered. Her strength hadn’t been low to begin with, and she had the ancient Medusa’s bloodline. The unknown beast’s sound wave attack wasn’t a problem.

However, Yan Xuehen had a much harder time. Her injuries were too severe, leaving almost all of her cultivation useless. Normally, with her grandmaster knowledge and experiences to rely on, she would be able to defend herself against other strong cultivators. However, she couldn't find out the basis of the sound wave technique. Soon afterward, her ki and blood surged, and her complexion instantly paled.

She was about to use her Unshakable Daoist Manual to resist the sound waves, but she suddenly noticed a warm hand grab hers. Then, warm streams of energy entered her body. Her face turned red.

She subconsciously wanted to pull her hand back, but Zu An said, “It’ll be bad if you end up worsening your previous injuries.”

Yan Xuehen obviously knew the importance of that. She could only let him hold her hand. The strange cries hadn’t even made her heart twitch, and yet now, her heart was beating furiously with emotion, almost matching the sound of the strange cry. She was alarmed, quickly using her Unshakable Daoist Manual to calm herself down.

She was too embarrassed to look at the other two women. Instead, she pretended to be looking at the center of the swamp, as if trying to figure out what kind of beast was over there.

Just then, Zu An also tried to help Yun Jianyue, but Yun Jianyue pulled her hand back. She said proudly, “You just need to take care of that stone cold woman. I’m not as weak as her.”

Zu An was speechless. Your injuries clearly aren’t light either, okay?

Sigh, why do you always have to act so tough?

Some strong cultivators couldn't take it anymore. A tall and sturdy white-haired man roared, and his muscles quickly began to bulge. He picked up a massive boulder next to him and threw it at the center of the swamp.

There was a tremendous rumble as water and sludge flew in all directions. The strange cry also came to a grunting halt.

“As expected of the Blackwhite Bears’ Xiong Great! He’s rumored to have extraordinary strength that can move mountains and seas. Today, it looks as if he deserves his reputation after all!”

“Xiong Second hasn’t even made a move yet. If the two of them work together, which beast can’t they subdue?”

…

Those present began to cry out in surprise. Some people wanted to show off their knowledge too and explained, “There’s the Golden Peng king race’s young master Jin Shi, the Peacock king race’s Princess Changning, and the Elf race’s Qiao Heng!”

Someone else who didn’t want to be outdone added, “That’s not all! There’s the Demon Sect’s Princess Suolun, the Lion race’s prince Shi Ling, the ocean races’ prince Yin Sha… Hm? Why does that person look like the Blood race's Ma Huang?”

“Yeah, I think that’s him! I thought I saw the Dark Elf race’s Duan Tiande just now. There’ll definitely be some good drama to watch soon.”

Zu An gave those people a look. Based on the methods they had displayed earlier, he could more or less match the names to faces.

Yu Yanluo explained quietly, “These are all outstanding members of the younger generation from the fiend races’ various tribes. However, apart from Princess Suolun and Shi Ling being from the direct line of descent, the others from the different tribes aren’t. Looks like this treasure map appeared only recently, or else it wouldn’t only be these people who made it here.”

The women all nodded. This was fine, since it was better than having some old freaks contending over the treasure. In their current state, there wasn’t much they could do either.

Zu An voiced his surprise. “Isn’t the Demon Race’s king race surnamed Yun? Why is this Suolun also a princess?”

He even snuck Yun Jianyue a look. Madam Wu, also known as Yun Yuqing, was precisely from the demon race… What kind of a relationship did she really have with the Demon Race then? Unfortunately, Yun Jianyue didn’t show any reaction. He couldn't read what she was thinking.

Yu Yanluo explained, “There’s always a misconception that there’s only one clan within a race. The same way humans have countless powers and great clans, though, the fiend races’ various tribes are similar.

“The authority of the massive Demon race is managed jointly by the Yun, Suo, Rong, and Wu families. Even though the Yun clan is a king race, the other clans control various other departments, so they all stand on equal footing with each other.

“Meanwhile, this Princess Suolun is the Suolun clan’s beloved daughter, so it makes sense for her to have the title of princess.”

Yun Jianyue asked with an ambiguous smile, “Why do you care that much about this Princess Suolun? Are you interested in her? Should big sis catch her for you to accompany you in bed?”

Princess Suolun was the most beautiful woman among the people they were talking about.

Beside her, Yan Xuehen became unhappy. This witch was always trying to cause trouble. She remarked, “Hmph, with your current condition, would you be capturing her or just giving yourself up to be captured?”

“Stone cold woman, do you want to make a bet? What will you do if I really do seize her?” Yun Jianyue retorted, raising her brow.

Zu An was speechless. These two women were starting to fight again. He quickly interrupted them and said, “I was just asking about the Demon race, that’s all. After all, the Demon race and Devil Sect share some resemblance in name. Do you two have any relationship to each other?”

Yun Jianyue said seriously, “Brat, we’re the Holy Sect. If anyone else dared to say Devil Sect or whatever in front of me, I would make sure not even bones were left of them.”

Zu An chuckled. “Come on, big sis. We’re all close; don’t treat me like an outsider like this.”

Yun Jianyue harrumphed, but then ignored him. Zu An wanted to inquire about more information, but suddenly, an ear-splittingly painful rumble loudly filled the air and left their ears in pain. The swamp began to churn, and a mountainous body surfaced.

It was a giant toad, covered in several pustules that stored all sorts of viscous liquids. It really was nauseating and disgusting. Half of someone’s leg was hanging from the corner of its lips, clearly what was left of one of the victims who had been eaten.

“A master rank beast…” Those present felt an empty sensation in their stomach. Beasts were more powerful than normal cultivators of the same rank to begin with. This was the toad’s home turf, so how in the world were they going to deal with it?

Still, seeing how the treasure-filled tomb was already within reach, no one was willing to leave just like that.

The toad was clearly unhappy about being hit by the massive boulder. Its belly inflated before it returned to normal, groaning loudly as it stared in the direction of the Blackwhite Bears.

The other experts quickly ran away in fear. There were some who were already planning their next move, thinking that once the toad and the bear brothers started fighting, they would use that chance to cross the swamp.

There were many who thought that, and they all began to move. They had witnessed the length of the tongue earlier, so they made sure to maintain distance several times its length away. That way, the toad wouldn’t be able to harm them at all.

We’re freaking geniuses!

Just then, however, a large, bloody mouth suddenly opened up from the left side, then swallowed up all of the passing fiend race experts like a whale eating plankton.

On the left side, dark light flickered in the air, as if several massive scythes had hacked outward. The fiend race experts on that side were all diced up!