Chapter 299 A Toad That Was as Big as a Car!
The next day, Fang Qiu woke up at 3:00 am as usual and started to train. Then, he went for a jog and had his breakfast.
At 8:00 am, he changed into his mysterious man “John Doe” costume, left the campus and rushed toward the suburbs.
Soon, Fang Qiu arrived at Elder Yi’s manor as planned.
“Senior,” Elder Yi flew over when he spotted Fang Qiu. “It is already snowing and the weather is so cold. I can’t believe you’re wearing such refreshing clothes in this weather.”
He was wearing training wear and it was indeed refreshing.
“I’m a young man, so I’m not afraid of the cold,” Fang Qiu replied calmly.
Elder Yi was left speechless at his words.
Was this kid showing off his youthfulness?
He wasn’t left with a choice.
He still had to address the mysterious man as ‘Senior’ even though he knew that the mysterious man was a young man.
“Based on my calculations of the timing, the Bingdi Lotus should be ripe today,” Elder Yi said.
“That’s great.” Fang Qiu nodded and said, “Let’s go.”
He had assumed that they’d still have to wait another two days. After all, Elder Yi said that the timing wasn’t fixed when he had requested for help, so he was surprised to hear that the Earth Treasure would ripen today.
Then, Elder Yi started the car and drove Fang Qiu toward the forest known as the Deep Forest.
They chatted with each other along the way.
Elder Yi would occasionally ask Fang Qiu some questions on improving his cultivation while Fang Qiu was more concerned about Elder Yi’s ancestor’s circumstances and he also had questions about the flowering Dantian.
Time passed quickly as they made their journey toward the forest.
Three hours later.
“Whoosh!”
The car screeched to a break.
The car stopped at the foot of a snow-capped mountain.
They both disembarked from the car.
Fang Qiu looked up and saw an innocuous-looking mountain.
However, due to the lack of visitors and the snow the night before, its peak looked like it was completely wrapped in cotton.
“The Bingdi Lotus is within the mountain. There isn’t a road up a mountain, so we’ll have to make our way up ourselves,” Elder Yi said.
“Yes,” Fang Qiu said when he realized why Elder Yi had stopped and nodded.
Then, they looked around and flew up rapidly toward the mountain peak after they were sure that no one was around.
Although the entire area was covered in snow, they moved as nimbly as swallows.
They quickly flew past and did not leave any marks on the snow as they passed.
They passed three mountains before Elder Yi finally stopped.
There were flatlands just ahead.
This area was not covered in snow, unlike the rest of the mountain, and seemed like it was an independent piece of a land.
“We’re here,” Elder Yi said as he pointed at the area ahead.
“This is a marsh and the Bingdi Lotus is right in the middle of this marsh.”
Fang Qiu looked in the direction Elder Yi pointed at and realized that there were many lotuses in the area ahead.
He took a closer look and noticed that there was something special about the marshy land ahead.
There were six lotuses that faced six different directions and the lotuses in the middle were all connected to form a bowl-like depression that resembled a funnel.
He could clearly see the lotus that had a pair of flowers on each stalk in the funnel that was completely clean of dirt even though it was growing on mud.
This was the Bingdi Lotus and its flowers grew as one.
There were tiny spots of white light around the area which made the area seem very magical.
“It is indeed odd to see lotuses in winter,” Fang Qiu said.
“The earth must be warm here.”
Elder Yi nodded and said, “The earth is indeed warm but there is also a huge toad that is 1.5 meters tall. It is as big as a car and it is hidden here in this very marsh. I can only tell you that its tongue is very powerful, so you must be wary.”
“A toad?” Fang Qiu froze in surprise.
Did a toad that was as big as a car really exist in this world?
Weren’t toads usually the size of a fist?
If this toad was truly as big as a car, wouldn’t it scare everyone to death?
“Yes,” Elder Yi nodded. He looked very sure of himself as he said, “I stumbled upon this Bingdi Lotus when I went climbing up this mountain to train myself. This is also the first Earth Treasure I’ve seen in my entire life. I was so excited and anxious to pluck the Bingdi Lotus but the moment I approached it, this toad appeared. I suffered under its attacks and nearly fell into the marsh. Upon careful observation, I’ve noticed that the quicksand is very gooey, more so than an average marsh. I guess that it is due to the sticky fluid on the large toad. I’m afraid one would not be able to get out of the marsh if one falls into it.”
“Interesting,” Fang Qiu’s brow arched and he said, “I’ll head in there now that the Bingdi Lotus has ripened.”
“Be careful,” Elder Yi warned him.
Fang Qiu nodded and jumped nimbly into the air like a dragonfly skimming the surface of the pond. He made his way across the marshy land and headed toward the pond.
He moved so quickly that he was already next to the Bingdi Lotus in a blink of an eye.
“Swish.”
He stretched out his right hand and he was just about to pluck the lotus when suddenly something moved beneath his legs.
He heard a loud splash!
Then, he saw a brownish-green bat that was as large as a basketball appear in the lotus pond all of a sudden.
This brownish bat rushed out from the mud and hurtled toward Fang Qiu.
“Hmm?” Fang Qiu’s brow arched when he sensed danger.
He quickly twisted his body to dodge the blow.
He immediately turned to look at the odd bat as he dodged the blow.
All it took was one glance for him to freeze in shock.
He saw two large brown eyes in front of him and these eyes were rectangular shaped.
These eyes rose from the marsh and even pushed up the lotus flowers on the surface of the marsh.
“What a huge toad,” he exclaimed.
He realized that the ugly ‘bat’ that tried to attack him earlier was that toad’s tongue!
“Swish!”
The toad’s tongue shot out without warning again from the marsh when Fang Qiu was still in shock.
He immediately dodged the blow.
“The toad’s tongue is very agile and extremely sticky. Once it gets stuck to me, it looks very likely that I’d be sent into its mouth while I struggle to break free,” Fang Qiu thought to himself and muttered. “This is such a huge toad; I wonder how many patients I’d be able to treat if I turn it into a medical ingredient?”
# #
Fang Qiu chuckled at that thought.
He didn’t wait for the toad to launch another attack but instead, he made the first move and aimed for the toad’s head.
However, the toad suddenly sank and disappeared into the marsh before Fang Qiu managed to approach it.
Fang Qiu immediately stopped himself.
He was afraid that he would accidentally end up in the marsh if he continued to rush forward.
Then, Elder Yi suddenly shouted out a warning.
“Watch out, senior!”
Fang Qiu smiled.
Beneath him.
“Splash!”
A large wave appeared in the marsh and charged toward him.
Fang Qiu turned and saw a huge shadow that blotted out the sun.
This shadow was right on top of him.
He took a closer look and saw that it was indeed that huge toad.
“It moves rather quickly.”
Fang Qiu smirked coldly as he watched the toad that had jumped out of the marsh and was crashing down toward him in an attempt to drag him into the marsh. Then, his right hand curled into a fist and he moved toward the toad fearlessly.
The next moment, there was a loud boom.
“Boom!”
Fang Qiu jumped into the air and delivered a hard punch to the large toad’s stomach. Wrinkles immediately appeared all over the toad’s flabby body.
It froze mid-air.
Elder Yi watched in astonishment by the edge of the marsh.
Did the mysterious man just manage to block the attack of such a humongous toad without leveraging on any other forms of strength?
It had to be noted that even though Fang Qiu’s punch had a weight of 5,000 kilograms, this toad was very experienced and its belly had an amazing defensive ability.
Moreover, it was so large that it seemed like it could instantly crush a 10,000-kilogram rock, let alone be defeated by Fang Qiu’s 5,000-kilogram punch.
Elder Yi was extremely astonished because he was well aware of that face.
If their positions were reversed, he knew that he would flee instead of trying to face it head-on.
He had been forced to retreat by this large toad the last time as well.
On the other hand, Fang Qiu immediately shifted away after he punched the toad’s belly.
As expected, he wasn’t able to overthrow the toad and all he was able to do was just to slow the toad’s speed down.
There was no doubt about it.
The moment Fang Qiu moved away, the large toad plummeted down once it lost its center of support.
Then, Fang Qiu moved toward the large toad’s head.
“Croak!”
The large toad croaked angrily and opened its mouth to release its tongue that moved like a spring. Its tongue shot out and it was as though it treated Fang Qiu like a bug that was meant to be eaten.
Would Fang Qiu let this toad have its way?
“Whoosh...”
The air flickered as he moved away.
He continued to charge ahead after he dodged the blow.
The moment the large toad landed hard into the marsh, Fang Qiu landed on top of its head.
Then, the large toad immediately sank.
It tried again to drag Fang Qiu into the marsh.
How could Fang Qiu let this hard-won opportunity slip by?
“Let me send you on your way!”
Fang Qiu said as he smashed down hard at the large toad’s head. He drew on his own strength to jump into the air while the large toad was sent into the marsh by Fang Qiu’s large force.
“Haha,” Fang Qiu smiled.
He didn’t use his full strength earlier because he was afraid that he would kill this toad. After all, this toad had definitely reached a spiritual stage. It must have spent ages cultivating in order to grow so large. He’d be courting disaster if he were to kill it just like that.
Fang Qiu immediately turned and rushed toward the Bingdi Lotus before his smile faded.
Then, the large toad jumped out from the marsh once again.
“Splash!”
“Croak! Croak!”
It let out a fierce croak as it attempted to use its body to crush Fang Qiu once more.
“Hmm?”
Fang Qiu was surprised.
He thought that he would have knocked out that large toad with that punch earlier, so he was surprised to see the toad launching another attack.
“I guess that punch earlier didn’t hurt as much as I expected!”
He had an idea and clenched his hands into fists.
The moment the toad was about to land on his head, his internal force exploded from within him and he threw another hard punch at the large toad’s belly.
Unlike the previous time, the large toad’s body didn’t pause but instead, it was sent flying by Fang Qiu’s punch.
“Croak...”
There was a strange-sounding croak. This large toad seemed a little frightened.
Fang Qiu moved and shot into the sky.
He charged up in the air and only turned when he was 10 meters above the large toad. Then, he unleashed an incredibly powerful internal force and took advantage of the force of gravity to send a huge punch at the large toad’s head!