Chapter 393: Caught Off Guard

As he approached the mysterious cloud he was aiming for earlier, Shang Xia could confirm that the elusive world origin he had been looking for was definitely present.

Concealing himself to the best of his abilities, he got even closer to the strange cloud. The nearer he got, the clearer the battle between the rank four beasts became. As he watched the battle play out before him, he could guess who had the upper hand.

The marsh he was in seemed to be a prime hunting spot for the Poison Miasma Frog, and its main food source was very possibly the swamp lizards Shang Xia had seen it eat earlier.

Because of the Tongyou Institution’s actions of drawing in energy from the Origin Tide and causing traces of world origin to return to the battlefield between the two worlds when they forcefully closed the spatial tunnel during the war for the Tongyou Mysterious World, the rank four giant swamp lizard seemed to have seen a trace of hope, If it could refine the world origin that was contained in that weird cloud, it might finally be able to get rid of its fate of being the Poison Miasma Frog’s prey!

Because of the little ray of hope it had, the swamp lizard chose to take the risk and approach the frog’s hiding spot! Despite it being in the fourth rank, Shang Xia could tell that it had broken through not too long ago! It might have been attempting its breakthrough earlier as it sent those rank three swamp lizards to secure the area around it.

That was how Shang Xia fell into their trap in the beginning. Luckily, his strength could be said to be at the pinnacle of the Martial Intent Realm. Even when faced against five rank three swamp lizards, he wasn’t suppressed at all. He even managed to kill two of them.

Who would have thought that the giant frog would appear and start hunting those poor little swamp lizards from out of nowhere? Shang Xia, who had just escaped their encirclement earlier, ran into the lizards’ natural predator! Now that the rank four Poison Miasma Frog had arrived, the Swamp Lizard King that was breaking through was naturally discovered.

With a trace of rage in its heart that the prey it has been hunting all along was starting to play tricks on it and was trying to break free of their fate, the Poison Miasma Frog decided to take action immediately.

It didn’t hold back and killed the three remaining swamp lizards immediately before ignoring Shang Xia a mere human. Rushing over to the cloud containing world origin, it started to do battle with the swamp lizard king immediately!

The reason behind the frog’s action wasn’t anything too deep. It wanted to stop the swamp lizard king from advancing even further and posing a threat to its position as the king of the marsh! Well… Obtaining the world origin that could allow itself to grow stronger was also one of the reasons behind the frog’s action.

Entering a hundred feet radius from the cloud, Shang Xia’s heart trembled and he discovered that the Crimson Soul Tablet had the ability to attract the world origin at such a close distance.

With his divine sense extending over to the cloud despite the corrosion of the poison miasma in the air, the Crimson Soul Tablet released a strong force of attraction. It was like a starving beast that hadn’t eaten in years when it discovered the world origin. The moment the world origin was drawn over, it was devoured in an instant.

Before any creature could react, the world origin that was contained in the strange cloud disappeared! Not even a smidge of it was left.

Shang Xia didn’t expect something like that to happen, much less the two beasts who were locked in combat. Their actions froze in an instant and their gazes landed in the direction where the world origin seemed to have moved to and they quickly discovered the little ant that was Shang Xia who was wearing a helpless expression on his face.

God damn it, brother tablet, what the hell was that?! I’m in deep shit now…

Cursing silently, Shang Xia didn’t freeze up completely. Tossing out a Lightning Fire Jujube that was shining a deep golden red, he turned around to flee.

The detonation of the Lightning Fire Jujube could be heard behind him as he ran away and the enraged croak of the Poison Miasma Frog boomed through the air. It was followed by a miserable cry from the swamp lizard king.

Shang Xia didn’t dare to turn his head and he poured inner qi into his legs desperately. Pushing himself to the limit, he only prayed that he would be able to move faster. At the same time, his divine sense was operating in overdrive to conceal his aura to avoid detection.

While making his escape, he didn’t forget to curse his movement techniques once again. He swore that he had to obtain a better movement technique no matter what.

However, there was one thing he forgot. It was entirely possible for him to break through to the Martial Extermination Realm by the time he returned. When that happened, he would be able to soar through the air with the use of his extermination origins. Movement techniques would be completely useless then!

As he made his frenzied escape, he was unable to place his attention on the Crimson Soul Tablet that was in his sea of consciousness. At that moment, it was undergoing an extreme transformation.

Anyway, back to the Lightning Fire Jujube, it deserved its reputation as a miraculous treasure born from the heaven and earth. The moment Shang Xia tossed out the rank four Lightning Fire Jujube, neither the Poison Miasma Frog nor the swamp lizard king could remain unaffected. The Poison Miasma Frog was stopped dead in its tracks and it couldn’t chase after Shang Xia immediately while the weaker swamp lizard king suffered injuries.

Earlier, when the world origin disappeared abruptly, the frog’s first instincts told him to chase after the culprit immediately. Unfortunately, the Lightning Fire Jujube was too strong. It forced the frog to defend itself and bought Shang Xia some time to escape. However, his actions only caused the Poison Miasma Frog to become more determined to obtain the world origin that was taken away.

It didn’t expect the swamp lizard king to be injured by the surprise attack earlier and the frog quickly fell into a dilemma. It could choose to quickly deal with the obstruction from the Lightning Fire Jujube and chase after the little thief who had stolen the world origin, but it could also take the chance to eat the injured swamp lizard king! That was another rank four spiritual beast and it definitely had the ability to threaten the frog’s position in the future!

The world origin concerned the frog’s future achievements and the height it would able to reach while eating the swamp lizard king would provide the Poison Miasma Frog with a huge strength boost immediately!

Also, the world origin was getting further and further as it continued to weigh its options. However, the injured swamp lizard king was right in front of it! Killing and devouring it wouldn’t be a problem.

A rank four spiritual beast might be a lot more intelligent than spiritual beasts of lower ranks, but its intellect was still far from an old monster cultivator of the human race. To make a huge decision like that, the Poison Miasma Frog’s bestial instincts quickly took over.

“Croak!” A shadow shot out from the mouth of the frog in the next instant and went straight for the swamp lizard king.

…

Running close to five miles without so much as slowing down, Shang Xia finally felt secure enough to turn around. He was shocked but pleasantly surprised to see that there was no rank four spiritual beasts on his tail.

With the luxury of time to gather his thoughts, he seemed to have understood the situation. He couldn’t help but heave a sigh of relief and thank his lucky stars.

Loud roars came from where he originally was and Shang Xia quickly made up his mind to continue running. The swamp lizard king seemed to be buying him some time as it held on for its dear life against the Poison Miasma Frog who was determined to kill it, but Shang Xia didn’t wish to risk his life for the threat of the Poison Miasma Frog that would descend at any time.

The distance of five miles was something it could cover in several leaps, and with the marsh being where the frog hunted most of the time, Shang Xia made the smart choice to run. He ran towards the outskirts of the marsh, and after ten or so miles, he finally noticed some disturbance in the heaven and earth qi in the air around him. It seemed as though the swamp lizard king who was injured by his Lightning Fire Jujube earlier was no longer able to hold on. It eventually died in the hands -or tongue- of the Poison Miasma Frog.

Since it dealt with the swamp lizard king who had the ability to threaten its position as the king of the marsh, the Poison Miasma Frog’s thoughts quickly returned to the little ant who had the guts to seal the world origin from right under its nose. Not to mention the fact that Shang Xia threw out a Lightning Fire Jujube earlier to disrupt the frog’s movement. Its instincts were telling it to kill the damn human! Moreover, the world origin concerned its future too!

Without devouring the body of the swamp lizard king, the Poison Miasma Frog leaped in the direction where Shang Xia escaped.

Shang Xia could barely make out the huge figure that was bouncing in the distance as it started to grow bigger and bigger. Estimating the distance he had run, Shang Xia felt that there was close to 34 miles between himself and the location where the two rank four spiritual beasts did battle earlier.

With the speed at which the shadow was growing, Shang Xia could tell that it was moving extremely quickly!

He had seen Martial Extermination Realm experts in the past, and he experienced how fast they were first-hand. Some of them were fast, and some of them were slow. However, their speed seemed proportional to their cultivation level!

With how fast the damn fat frog was moving, Shang Xia estimated that it was definitely comparable to a third layer Martial Extermination Realm expert.

According to his calculations, it wouldn’t take long before the frog caught up!

Pushing himself to the limit, Shang Xia continued to make his escape. In the blink of an eye, Shang Xia could feel the fluctuations in the air that were caused by the frog’s movements.

With the pressure that brought with it the weight of a mountain crushing down on Shang Xia, he felt that the Poison Miasma Frog could descend at any moment and crush him to bits. However, lady luck seemed to be shining on him at the moment as the scenery before him started to change once again. The mountains range where he came from could be vaguely seen in the distance!

With a burst of joy filling his heart, Shang Xia knew that he was finally about to emerge from the damned marsh. Behind him, the giant frog was trying its best to catch up to Shang Xia as if it was trying to make it before Shang Xia left the marsh completely. It would take three to four more leaps before it could chase down the little ant who dared to mess with it, but seeing as Shang Xia was about to leave the marsh, it circulated its inner qi desperately. In an instant, its aura nearly strengthened itself onefold!

Opening its mouth, a thunderous croak rang through the air as a wave created from the mud and sludge from the marsh was formed before striking at Shang Xia.

𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

The abrupt disturbance was naturally unable to avoid Shang Xia’s detection and his expression changed drastically.

Reacting the best he could, he reached for a handful of Lightning Fire Jujubes in his Embroidered Cloud Case and tossed them at the wave.

Four rank three Lightning Fire Jujubes that were the size of a chicken’s egg exploded when they came into contact with the wave, greatly reducing the power behind the Poison Miasma Frog’s attack. As it continued on to Shang Xia, the power contained in it no longer possessed a threat. However, Shang Xia felt an ache in his heart. One had to know that he only had 6 rank three Lightning Fire Jujubes! In an instant, he lost two thirds of them!