Chapter 341: The Golden Toad
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
A few hours ago…
In the middle of the lava sea, there was a floating golden island.
It was a barren land. Not a single blade of grass grew there, let alone trees.
In mid-air, a bloody giant eagle flew across the ocean. The size of the giant eagle was extremely gargantuan. If it was to extend its wings, it would measure at least hundreds of meters long. It was at least a blue flame-level monster that exuded a threatening aura.
Its appearance had caused many of the monsters around the lava sea to sink further into the water as they were all afraid that they might become its prey.
When the bloody giant eagle saw the golden island, it circled above the sea. As soon as it had confirmed that it was safe, it then landed on the island to get some rest.
Right at that moment, a red glow burst out from the surface of the ocean. A long howl was heard and the red glow instantly penetrated through the giant eagle's body.
Soon, the golden island rapidly floated in the air and the area of the island constantly expanded. Eventually, a pair of large eyes suddenly appeared, opening its mouth wide in mid-air. The red glow that struck the giant eagle reflected, drawing the giant monster into its huge mouth.
Impressively, the golden island was actually an extremely large, giant toad. At that moment, it had revealed half of its body. The people could now see how it actually looked like.
The bloody giant eagle was unaware of it and had become its food. The Golden Toad was chomping on its food furiously and soon, it had swallowed the giant eagle in less than two minutes. It then sank back into the sea, revealing part of its back that was more than 10,000 square meters wide.
In just a short while, a yellowish brown, calf-sized toad swam towards it. "Boss! The Molten Dragon's assistant is here. It has an important message to deliver!"
The Golden Toad floated up, revealing its green eyes and asked, "Which assistant?"
"It's the Blazing Alligator."
"Bring it over." Golden Toad drifted further up in the air, showing its chin and belly.
A few moments later, the yellowish brown toad swam towards the Golden Toad together with the Blazing Alligator. The yellowish brown toad then left.
"Tell me, why is the lizard looking for me?" Golden Toad asked rudely, intentionally criticizing the black dragon as a lizard.
"Mr. Jin, our boss has died. We're here to take refuge in you," the giant alligator directly told the Golden Toad the terrifying news and the purpose that it was there as well.
"What?!" The Golden Toad was dumbfounded. He never thought that this would happen.
Could it be a trick?
The Golden Toad reacted as if Blazing Alligator was lying to it in the first place. It opened the lumps on its back. There were green eyeballs inside the lumps. People who suffered from trypophobia would get goosebumps if they saw it.
As soon as the eyes opened, the giant alligator began to go into a trance.
"Has the Molten Dragon died?" Golden Toad asked as he wanted to make sure that it was in a state of hypnosis.
"Yes!"
The Golden Toad was stunned right after it heard the answer.
"Is it because it failed to upgrade to a dragonkin?" It immediately recalled the dragonkin's aura that it had sensed on the first day. At that moment, it wondered if the Molten Dragon had leveled up. It originally thought that the Molten Dragon had sent its assistant to capture them.
"I don't know how it died. However, its remaining soul fire has been completely extinguished right after the aura of the dragonkin appeared." As soon as the giant alligator finished its sentence, it told the Golden Toad about how Luo Li had forced the Molten Dragon to run away without its shell two days ago.
"Are you saying that a woman nearly killed the black dragon with just one hit?!" Golden Toad was stunned. "Is she a chief-level human?"
"No, from her aura, perhaps she's the same level as Boss which was also on gold flame-level. However, she has indeed defeated Boss with just one hit." The Blazing Alligator shook its head.
"They are on the same combat strength. How could she defeat a double mutated dragon? The human must be comparable to a triple mutated genius." The Golden Toad could hardly remain calm, knowing that there was such a powerful human invading their little world. "Why is she looking for trouble with your boss?"
"Boss asked us to look for a human the last few days. It says that the human owns a relic that can help him to complete the third mutation. Therefore, we are catching many humans. Perhaps the woman is here for revenge."
"A relic that helps it to complete the third mutation…" The Golden Toad made a human-like move as it extended its claw and rubbed its chin as if it was falling into deep thought. After a short moment, it mumbled with confidence, "It must be God's Blood! It didn't get God's Blood a few days ago…"
Of course, the Golden Toad did sense the aura of God's Blood a few days ago. However, when it had rushed over there with the Shadowflame Boa, the Molten Dragon was already there. As the aura of God's Blood had disappeared, both of them thought that the Molten Dragon had eaten the monster with God's Blood.
However, listening to what the giant alligator had said, perhaps the Molten Dragon did not manage to kill the monster with God's Blood. Furthermore, according to the instruction it had issued, it must be a human that had gotten the monster that contained God's Blood. Therefore, it had instructed its assistant to catch humans.
Gathering all the clues, the Golden Toad roughly knew what had happened.
"Are there any unique characteristics of the humans that you are going to catch?" The Golden Toad asked with envy as it was related to God's Blood.
"Boss said that it is looking for an Imperial Censor that owns a black Dimensional Portal," The Blazing Alligator answered honestly.
"That's all? No other details?" The Golden Toad felt that the information was too brief.
"There's nothing else. Boss said that it doesn't know how the person looks like as well. It only saw them when the black Dimensional Portal is closed. It doubted the human's identity as Imperial Censor. It is not sure of it."
"Is there any other information?" The Golden Toad asked again.
"I don't think so…" The giant alligator then thought for a while and shook its head.
"Are you the only one who came over here? Where's the rest of them?"
"Right after I knew what happened to Boss this morning, I immediately rushed over here. Perhaps the rest of them know nothing about this."
"That's good…" As soon as the Golden Toad finished its words, it immediately opened its mouth. A beam of red light shot out of its mouth and penetrated through the giant alligator's body. The next moment, the red glow withdrew and the Golden Toad munched on the giant alligator's dead body.
"It has been a long time since I last ate the meat of a purple flame-level. It's quite delicious." In just a few bites, the purple flame-level giant alligator had disappeared into the Golden Toad's belly. "I must not let anyone know about God's Blood. The Black Dragon has died, so there's no need to keep the black flame alive either. Once it's killed, I'll be the only ruler of the world!"
After finishing its sentence, the black eyes on its body gradually closed, returning to its lumpy form.
Half an hour later…
At the Shadowflame Boa's territory.
"Old Jin, why…?" The Golden Toad had pierced through seven inches of the gold flame-level Shadowflame Boa's body with its tongue. It did not die immediately.
"The lizard has died. There is no survival value for an earthworm just like you." The Golden Toad cackled loudly, "From today onwards, the world is mine!"
An hour had passed and the Golden Toad's announcement echoed in all the monster's ears.
"The Molten Dragon and the Shadowflame Boa have died. They were killed by humans. Not only have the two of them with incredible power died, many of our companions have been killed by humans in the past few days. They wanted to kill all the creatures in our world and possess our world. I can't accept such a shameless action. I've thought about it for a long time and I've finally come out with a solution to overcome the danger – we have to start a monster attack! I need everyone to team up and trigger a monster attack. Let's kill all the humans! This is the only way that we can get rid of the crisis and we'll no longer be the humans' target. Killing all the humans is the only way to create world peace!"
As soon as the announcement was made, many of the monsters started to look for traces of humans.
The Golden Toad stayed away from the lava sea and its body had shrunk. It hid in a spiritual volcano that was far away from the lava sea.
All the eyeballs on its back were opened. Different scenes were projected in each of its eyeballs. Everything that happened in the ruins could be seen by the Golden Toad.
"I don't care who you are, I'll find you. God's Blood, I want you!"
Chapter 342: Another Attack By The Monster Horde
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Lin Huang and the rest of them gathered and sat with their legs crossed, patiently waiting for the results of the investigation from two of the examiners. Some of the teams were bored and started playing card games. Zang Bing did not bother though.
Of course, there were only a few of them that felt relaxed. Most of them were sitting in their original positions.
All of a sudden, Lin Huang's sleeve vibrated. He then connected to Bloody through his mind.
"Master, many of the monsters are about to trigger a monster attack. They seemed to have known that the humans are all gathered over here. A large batch of monsters is rushing over here."
Lin Huang's heart sank as soon as he heard this. He was not worried about the monster horde. He was worried about the effect that the monster horde would cause instead. If it was a massive monster horde, the examiners would not take the risk of allowing the training to continue. Even if Luo Li was unwilling to end the training, her final decision would put everyone's life at risk.
"Did many of the monsters join the attack?" Lin Huang asked secretly.
"Based on my observation, most of the monsters joined the attack, including all the holy fire-level monsters." Bloody's answer was not what Lin Huang desired to hear. The truth was heavy.
Lin Huang's heart had completely sunk as it seemed like ending the training was a foregone conclusion!
After a few moments, he recovered from his thoughts. "How's it going on Kylie's side? There's no conflict with other monsters, is there?"
"No. However, some of the monsters will pass by her place soon. I can't guarantee that nothing will happen then."
Lin Huang immediately contacted Kylie through his mind. "Kylie, can you hear me?"
Kylie remained silent for a moment and said, "Go ahead and speak!"
"There's a monster outbreak in the ruins. It's possible that a large number of monsters will pass by you soon. It's better for you to hide in the spiritual lava. I'll inform you once the monster horde is over."
"Alright," Kylie answered.
After Kylie's issue was settled, Lin Huang was slightly relieved. However, it was obvious that he had some thoughts flashing through his mind.
"Lin Huang, what happened? Are you worried about the monster horde?" Li Lang asked. He thought that Lin Huang had never experienced a monster horde before, hence he was so nervous. "There's nothing to worry about. If the situation of the monster horde gets too severe, the examiner will definitely stop the assessment and send us out."
Yi Yeyu noticed that Lin Huang was behaving abnormally as well. However, she did not think that it was because of the monster horde. Ten months ago, she had experienced a monster horde with Lin Huang before. Lin Huang had not even achieved iron-level then but he did not look as worried as he did now. "Lin Huang, are you okay?"
"I'm fine. Don't worry." Realizing that they were both concerned, Lin Huang immediately calmed himself and shook his head with a smile. He did not tell them what he was worried about since they would not be able to help him even if he told them. It would put them in trouble instead.
Soon, another half an hour passed.
"It's coming! There are three massive monster hordes approaching us from three different directions!" Again, Bloody's conscious thoughts were transmitted to Lin Huang. "We'll probably encounter the monster hordes in less than ten minutes."
As soon as the message from Bloody was received, Zang Bing seemed to have sensed something as well and he leaped into the air. He looked around and his face immediately turned grave.
"Everyone, please get ready to fight!" A loud voice was heard coming from mid-air.
Many of them looked curiously at Zang Bing who was floating in mid-air.
"What're you doing there? Are you waiting for the monsters to barrage this place?!" Zang Bing yelled angrily.
Everyone immediately got up. The teams who were playing cards panicked. They did not even put away their cards and immediately took out their weapons.
Even Yi Yeyu and Li Lang who had leveled up were nervous. Lin Huang was the only one who remained calm as he had already known that the monsters had arrived.
"The monster horde is coming from three different directions. Please get ready to fight!" Zang Bing instructed again. "Perhaps. the monsters are here for a trial attack. No Transcendent monsters will appear, so I'll not fight."
"Let me tell you about the third round of training. The third round of training is related to the number of monsters killed by each of you. The more monsters killed, the higher the points accumulated. Therefore, if you want to be the one with the highest score in the third round of training, enjoy the slaughter!" Zang Bing intentionally revealed the mechanics of the third round of training to motivate the people.
In fact, many of them were excited when they listened to what Zang Bing said. They wanted to get the pet monster egg that contained the phoenix.
"No Transcendent monster…" Lin Huang took a glance at the relic in his hand. He then stored it and took out a gold weapon ring from his storage space. The gold weapon ring was activated in the state of a battle sword.
"Lin Huang, what're you doing?" Li Lang asked as he could not understand what he was trying to do. "Isn't it easier to kill monsters with a sword relic?"
"I can save my Life Power by doing so," Lin Huang explained with a smile.
"He has strong combat strength. A gold-level battle sword is enough for him to kill gold-level monsters. Relics that have to be activated by a gold-level user require Life Power that is a few times greater than the Life Power needed by a gold-level battle sword. Therefore, he is wise to make such a decision." Yi Yeyu understood the reason why Lin Huang did that.
"That's true. If you have any weapons with fewer stars, it will be best to use that. For hunting monsters below holy fire-level, a one-star weapon is adequate. It saves your Life Power," Lin Huang suggested with a smile.
"I don't have a 1-star weapon. The relic that ranks the lowest is a 4-star weapon." Yi Yeyu was not showing off but was just telling the truth.
"I don't have one too. I have weapons that are 3 and 4-stars," Li Lang said while shrugging his shoulders.
"That's fine. It's just a suggestion."
While the three of them were chatting, the crowd began to stir and one of the girls shouted as she pointed in a certain direction, "The monsters are coming!"
Many of them immediately looked towards the direction that she was pointing at. It was a group of Terraflame Scorpions. Apparently, their combat strength was on gold-level. There were at least 3,000 of them. The number of monsters far surpassed the number of people there.
"Please take note that the monster horde is not coming from only one direction!" Zang Bing's voice was heard again.
After finishing his sentence, the people then saw that there were monsters approaching from two other directions.
One of the monster hordes consisted of Volcanic Spiders while the other batch was made up of Redtail Rodents.
There were at least a total of 12,000 monsters from three batches of the monster hordes.
Many of them who had never experienced such a massive monster horde panicked as they were surrounded by a large group of monsters.
"Don't panic. Although the number of monsters is more than the number of people we have here, they are only gold-level monsters. It's not difficult to kill them. As long as we stay calm, there's no way for the monsters to attack us. Now, quickly divide yourself into three groups. Each group is responsible for killing one batch of the monsters and fight your enemies! Each team, please remember that your responsibility is to block the monsters as the other two groups will rely on you. Even if one monster is missed, it'll seriously affect the defense of the other two teams. A slight negligence may lead to a great disaster. The monsters may even break through the line of defense…"
Obviously, Lin Huang was the one who said that. As soon as the monster horde appeared, the people lost it. Many of them had no idea what they should do. He had no choice but to take the initiative by speaking up. He did not wish to see the first batch of monster attack causing any injuries since it was just a trial attack. If that happened, Zang Bing might immediately stop the training.
"Act quickly, stop dragging your feet. I need 300 people over here!" Yi Yeyu was the first one who stood out in the crowd. Many of them could sense that she was on holy fire-level from the vibe she exuded and immediately joined her team.
"Be quick, I need 300 people over here too!" Li Lang immediately raised his hand and shouted. Some people joined him as well.
The remaining 200 people had automatically formed a group and Lin Huang joined them. However, he was not the leader as he knew that his combat level could not convince the crowd to let him lead. He then appointed one of them who was on holy fire-level instead. "You're on holy fire-level, so you shall be the leader of the team. Since our team has the least members, we'll choose the Terraflame Scorpions as it is the smallest group of monsters."
"Alright!" The holy fire-level leader soon assumed his role, leading Lin Huang and the rest of them to kill the Terraflame Scorpions…
Chapter 343: Lin Huang Shows His True Power for the First Time
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Lin Huang was quite familiar with the Terraflame Scorpion.
Not long ago, the three of them had come across the Terraflame Scorpion attack. However, the number of monsters was only a tenth of the total number that they encountered now.
The Terraflame Scorpion had an incredibly fast attack speed. It was even faster than many of the monsters of the same level. This type of monster usually lived in groups. Therefore, it did not have many enemies.
However, the monsters had a fatal weakness. When they encountered creatures that were even faster than them, they would lose their innate abilities and fall into chaos. It was also the reason why Lin Huang and two of them could easily kill the Terraflame Scorpion.
About 200 of them built their defensive line and blocked the Terraflame Scorpions. Despite there being a large number of Terraflame Scorpions, all the humans were elites.
Most of them were on gold-level rank-3 and were capable of killing seven to eight monsters while those who were on complete gold-level distracted about 20 of the Terraflame Scorpions. In addition to that, two of them were on holy fire-level and they managed to successfully defend against all the Terraflame Scorpions.
Lin Huang held the gold battle sword in his hand, activating Seraphic Speed and unleashed consecutive hits. The surrounding Terraflame Scorpions' heads immediately exploded. As soon as he got rid of the scorpions that tangled around his body, Lin Huang lifted his head and looked at the others. The Terraflame Scorpions were attacking at an alarming speed and there was a large number of them. The people could only manage to avoid and defend themselves against them. However, they could not fight back.
Similarly, it seemed like the other two groups were at a standstill.
"If this continues, I have no idea how long it'll take to clear all three groups of monsters. We'll be in trouble if another horde of monsters come over!" In just a short moment, Lin Huang decided to activate his Cloud Steps, sneaking into the monster horde.
Complementing his Seraphic Speed with Cloud Steps , Lin Huang made his way through the monster horde like a ghost. It was a quick, clean attack as he killed all the Terraflame Scorpions with just one hit. There were dead bodies of the monsters wherever he passed.
In mid-air, Zang Bing could soon notice that something was wrong with Lin Huang.
"A gold-level rank-3 genius… I've no idea who trained this guy. His sword skills are amazing and his body movement skill is pretty good too!" Zang Bing's eyes brightened. The examiners and staff had entered the ruins before Lin Huang and the rest of the trainees. Therefore, Zang Bing did not know Lin Huang's relationship with Mr. Fu.
There were elites from various organizations who had joined the training. However, there was a difference between elites and a genius. It was not a big problem for elites to fight enemies that were one or two levels higher. However, a genius was capable of engaging in a battle to fight enemies that were a few levels higher.
Even without the help of the summoning monsters, Lin Huang could kill a white flame-level monster on his own. He was a genuine genius with core competencies which every organization was looking for. Anyone with such core competencies was highly valued by most of the organizations. They would never release the genius if nothing serious happened. The organizations had only chosen some of the elites to participate in the joint training organized by the Union Government but none of the geniuses had joined the training.
Zang Bing was clearly aware of that. That was why he was surprised the moment he saw Lin Huang.
"He has joined our joint training. Could he be an undiscovered talent? I shall discuss with Si Kongjian and Sister Luo later. Let's see if we can persuade him to join the Demon Slayer Legion," Zang Bing stroked his chin and mumbled in a low voice, staring at Lin Huang.
Lin Huang was like a loach among the Terraflame Scorpions, wriggling freely. Meanwhile, there were dead bodies collapsing all over every spot that he passed.
After a few minutes, the people then felt more relaxed as it was obvious that the number of monsters that attacked them had reduced.
Two of his teammates, who were on white flame-level, soon noticed that Lin Huang was making his way through the monster horde. A flicker of fear flashed through their eyes right at the moment that they witnessed the terrifying speed of his assault. Both of them seemed to be motivated by Lin Huang and their frequency of attack spiked as well.
In less than fifteen minutes, Lin Huang alone had killed up to 2,000 Terraflame Scorpions. The entire team then managed to clear all the rest of the Terraflame Scorpions. The number of monsters killed by Lin Huang was on par with the total number of monsters killed by 200 of them.
Many of them looked at Lin Huang with respect and envy.
"Now, divide yourself into two groups and back up the other two teams!" Nobody dared to doubt Lin Huang's orders anymore. As soon as they divided themselves into two teams, they immediately headed towards Li Lang and Yi Yeyu's teams.
Lin Huang joined Li Lang's team. It was because Yi Yeyu had the ability to control fire element monsters. She managed to kill the Volcanic Spiders at a relatively fast speed and her team had killed almost half of the monsters. On Li Lang's side, it was rather dangerous since the number of monsters killed was not even a quarter of them.
Li Lang and the rest of them were relieved as soon as Lin Huang and the remaining 100 people joined them.
Again, Lin Huang sneaked into the monster horde and killed the monsters like what he did previously. There was not much difference between Redtail Rodents and Terraflame Scorpions to him. Thanks to his abilities, he managed to defeat all the monsters easily. Only one hit was needed to kill the Terraflame Scorpions. Similarly, he did not require a second hit to kill the Redtail Rodents and the frequency of his attack remained unchanged.
About five to six minutes had passed. Lin Huang alone had killed thousands of monsters. He resembled a slaughter machine that would not fatigue at all.
Seeing Lin Huang's performance, Li Lang teased, "This fellow is truly a monster!"
"His accuracy and mental focus are scary…" Zang Bing gave Lin Huang a deadly stare as he realized that Lin Huang's attack was extremely consistent. Be it encountering the Terraflame Scorpion or Redtail Rodent, he could definitely defeat them all. Zang Bing had met some of the geniuses before. Most of them were definitely unnerving when their power was unleashed. However, Zang Bing had never met a person like Lin Huang who was capable of maintaining such powerful kills consistently. He had a constant attack speed and it never once dipped.
He was stimulated by Lin Huang and was now even more determined to persuade Lin Huang to join the Demon Slayer Legion.
Thanks to Lin Huang, Li Lang and his team spent about fifteen minutes to complete the slaughter.
The battle between Yi Yeyu's team and the monsters were coming to an end as they defeated all the Volcanic Spiders two minutes later.
Seeing the carcasses scattered all over the ground, everyone was relieved.
Unexpectedly, the fight was a success. About 60 of them were injured but nobody had died.
Fortunately, they did not suffer from serious injuries. Soon, the medical staff was there to provide immediate medical treatment.
Many of them secretly sized up Lin Huang as they had witnessed how Lin Huang helped in the battle. Without Lin Huang, perhaps the fight would be a difficult one.
Among 12,000 of the monsters, Lin Huang had killed almost a third of the monsters on his own. The number of monsters killed by him surpassed that of those who were on white flame-level. Yi Yeyu was ranked second in killing the most monsters as she had killed thousands of them too. Many of the young men admired her.
"Everybody, please take a break so that your Life Power and strength can be quickly restored. That was just the first batch of the monster horde. The monster attack will intensify later." Lin Huang's voice was heard. He looked young but what he said was absolutely beyond dispute.
Almost everyone was sitting with their legs crossed and they were replenishing their Life Power and energy.
While Lin Huang was talking, Zang Bing could vaguely see that Lin Huang exhibited the characteristics of a Demon Slayer Legion leader. What he said was of doubtless, convincing, and comforting.
"Regardless of which organization he is from, I have to make sure that he joins us!!!"
Chapter 344: Reactivating the Ruins?
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
The first wave of the monster attack lasted for about half an hour. Most of them had used up a large portion of their Life Power and their energy was severely drained. They needed all the rest they could get to recover.
Despite the fact that Lin Huang was the one who had killed most of the monsters, only a small portion of his energy had been consumed. With the help of his Super Robust, his strength and stamina were beyond comparison. His ability to recover was abnormally fast as well. Compared to the others, a relatively small amount of Life Power had been consumed. Only his sword blade was covered by a layer of Life Power. He did not even activate his defensive relic. Only a rather small amount of Life Power was required to activate his Body Movement Skill whereas a lot more was needed to launch a defensive skill.
After resting for a while, a Dimensional Portal activated abruptly out of nowhere. Si Kongjian then walked out from the Dimensional Portal.
Many of them shifted their gaze towards Si Kongjian as they sensed an energy wave in the place. They hoped that he would bring them the good news.
There was no expression on Si Kongjian's face. However, they were all so eager to hear the good news that nobody noticed his somber mood. Lin Huang could sense that he was upset. Therefore, he felt that Si Kongjian was not bringing back any positive news.
As soon as he descended from mid-air, Si Kongjian whispered into Zang Bing's ear.
Although they could not hear what they were talking about, many of them did notice that Zang Bing's facial expression turned serious at once.
Soon, both of them took out their Transmission Snails and Luo Li was added to the conversation.
After a few moments, the three of them finally ended their conversation and Zang Bing recalled his Transmission Snail. He then gradually floated in mid-air with Si Kongjian.
"Everyone, please put aside the work that you are doing. Here's the latest news on the investigation from Si Kongjian." After uttering the last word, Zang Bing nodded at Si Kongjian.
"I've asked few of the monsters the reason behind the sudden outbreak that happened today after I left." Si Kongjian gazed upon the crowd and continued, "The answer given to me was the Golden Toad, which is the overlord of the ruins. It alleged that humans have killed two of the overlord-rank monsters – the Molten Dragon and the Shadowflame Boa. Also, it claimed that humans are going to kill all the monsters in the ruins, so it called on all the monsters to start a monster attack. They're going to kill all humans with the large number of monsters they have…"
Lin Huang was the one who had killed the Molten Dragon. However, Lin Huang was curious after listening to what he said as he wondered who had killed the Shadowflame Boa.
"I've walked around and noticed that there's no safe place to go in the ruins. Most of the monsters have joined the monster attack. Based on the statistical data we have obtained previously, there're more than one million of monsters living in this 2-star ruins. About 10,000 of them are holy fire-level monsters. Therefore, there's no way for us to defeat them. Even with the help of three examiners as well as about 300 of the holy fire-level staff, the probability of winning the fight is almost zero.
"The only way is to look for the Golden Toad that instructed the whole attack. Kill it and reactivate the ruins. Otherwise, we'll have to stop the assessment. This is what Luo Li is working on now. For the sake of everyone's safety, three of the examiners have come to a conclusion. We will give Luo Li 24 hours to look for the Golden Toad and kill it. If she can't complete the task, we'll end the assessment here," Si Kongjian told them their final decision.
Despite many of them not achieving their goals yet and being reluctant for the assessment to end, nobody raised their objections.
"What's the meaning of reactivating the ruins?"Lin Huang asked Yi Yeyu softly. He knew some of the information about the ruins from the network but did not have a thorough understanding.
"When all the monsters with the highest combat level have died or more than 50% of the total number of monsters have died, the ruins will be reactivated. As soon as it's reactivated, the memory of all the monsters will be reset. A virtual door will be activated in the sky and a large number of monsters will be randomly sent into the ruins to make up for the total number of monsters required. If there's a vacancy for the monster of the highest level, it'll be filled as well," Yi Yeyu explained in detail.
"There's such a thing?" Lin Huang muttered in disbelief.
"In a nutshell, if two of the overlord-rank monsters have died, killing the Golden Toad will reactivate the memory of all the monsters. This'll definitely put a stop to the monster attacks." Li Lang was afraid that Lin Huang could not understand it, so he explained further.
"Will the reactivation of the ruins affect the humans?" Lin Huang asked.
"No, resetting of the memory will only affect the local creatures. All the creatures outside the ruins including the Imperial Censor's summoning monsters won't be affected, let alone humans. It has been verified by many of the researchers," she explained with a smile. Yi Yeyu knew what Lin Huang was worried about.
"That's good…" After confirming that, Lin Huang immediately contacted Bloody in his mind. "Bloody, quickly look for the Golden Toad!"
"Okay, I understand," Bloody immediately replied.
The decision made by the examiners was the worst one ever. He did not want the training to end. Ending the training would cause Tyrant's unlocking process to completely stop as well. Tyrant's card would no longer be able to be trained and the card would end up becoming a collection.
Fortunately, there was still hope. Lin Huang could only try his best to cling on to the last straw of hope. He was secretly waiting for Bloody to track the Golden Toad's location. If Bloody managed to track its location and kill it, the entire ruins would be reactivated. It was the only way to remove the danger and Tyrant's card would not just become a collection!
In mid-air, Si Kongjian, who had just announced their decision, looked into the distance. Zang Bing shifted his focus as well and soon, he instructed, "Everyone, please get ready for the fight. The second monster attack is coming!"
"Master, the second batch of monster attack is coming in about 12 minutes," Bloody's voice was heard at almost the same time. "They are coming from two directions. The number of monsters is greater than before as there are about 20,000 of them."
"Are there any Transcendents?" Lin Huang asked.
"No, based on their current battle strategy, it seems like the first few waves of the monster attacks are just a trial."
"That's good. It won't be a big problem to fight them since there are not many of them and there's no Transcendent. We have about 300 people who are on holy fire-level."
Instead, Lin Huang was worried if the monsters would directly attack the humans. If that happened, everyone would definitely be forced to leave the ruins in an hour, forget about the 24 hours that had been given to Luo Li.
Ten minutes later, two monster hordes attacked from two different directions. Again, Lin Huang and the rest were divided into two teams to fight the monsters…
Chapter 345: Big Wave From The Monster Horde
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
During the evening, the seventh wave of the monster horde came and went. There was a wave almost every 50 minutes. Every time the monster horde appeared was when the people had just sat down to rest. It felt like the monsters were intentionally interrupting their rest time. Many were frustrated as they preferred to just fight the monsters instead of having their rest interrupted. It had only been six hours but it felt like the longest six hours in their lifetime. Most of them had drained most of their Life Power and were left with limited strength. Although the monsters were below Transcendent level, many of the humans were burnt out.
"This is tiring." Li Lang sat next to Lin Huang as the seventh wave of monster horde was over.
"Looking at the situation, don't even talk about 24 hours. It might be a problem to even stay until the next morning."
A holy fire-level physique was more than ten times stronger than a gold-level. Although Li Lang had just leveled up not long ago, his strength and tolerance, as well as his recovery speed, were more than ten times higher than most gold-levels. If he was tired, one could imagine how much more fatigued the rest were.
"We try our best as God works in His way," Lin Huang said and closed his eyes to rest. He was calm when he said that but he was actually worried. Six hours had gone by but there was no news about the Golden Toad from Bloody. He did not urge Bloody for updates; as long as Bloody did not come back to him, that meant that it did not find anything. Zang Bing spoke again after they rested for less than 20 minutes.
"The eighth wave is here. Let the staff settle the proceeding waves. You guys should rest for a couple of hours and fight again after you've recharged your strength."
Many were relieved after hearing what Zang Bing said but some were concerned. There was no Transcendent monster sent their way so far. If the humans were to use Transcendent monsters before the horde did, would that trigger the monsters to send Transcendents as well? Lin Huang had the same concern. If that really happened, the battle would be much more difficult than before.
"Perhaps I'm overthinking…" Lin Huang did not join the battle as he saw four Transcendent humans heading towards four different directions.
The staff from the Union Government were all crimson and blue flame-levels with great abilities. Many of them could even fight a purple flame-level. Killing monsters that were below Transcendent was like eating a snack to them. In less than three minutes, the four Transcendents came back glorious. As this wave ended, Lin Huang and the rest managed to rest for more than two hours. The long wait made many of them panic. Under normal circumstances, it would take around 50 minutes for each wave to hit while the longest one lasted for less than an hour and ten minutes. However, almost two and a half hours had passed but the ninth wave had yet to come.
Time passed by and soon it was night. Lin Huang was getting more and more concerned. He sensed that the monsters were brewing a plan. When it was almost 9 p.m., Bloody spoke to Lin Huang, "Master, there're many monsters coming this way. There're more than 100,000 of them with more than 1000 holy- fire-level monsters."
Lin Huang was shocked. He did not expect his largest worry to come true. The attack of the Transcendents had backfired. The intensity of monster horde was now heightened!
"More than 1,000 holy fire-level monsters…" Lin Huang looked at Zang Bing and Si Kongjian, full of hope. If the staff could not manage the horde, there two gold flame-level examiners could help.
"More than 100,000 monsters…" Lin Huang mumbled to himself. He thought it was tricky as there were just over 800 participants after all. Th difference in their numbers was huge.
"Lin Huang, what did you say?" Li Lang asked as he heard Lin Huang talking to himself.
"The monsters are here. Prepare to fight," Lin Huang said softly to Li Lang and Yi Yeyu.
The both of them were shocked but they stopped doubting him as they recalled Lin Huang having a summoning monster with investigative abilities.
"Are there any Transcendents?" Yi Yeyu thought the same thing as Lin Huang did.
Lin Huang nodded.
"There are more than 1000 holy fire-level monsters and more than 100,000 monsters in total," Lin Huang informed.
"How about we inform the examiners to stop the training and send all of us out of here before the monsters come?" Li Lang suggested.
"It's too late now…" Lin Huang said and Zang Bing started to order,"Everyone, prepare to fight! There're many monsters coming to us. At least 100,000 of them and many are holy fire-level monsters!" Hearing what Zang Bing said, many people were dumbfounded.
"You guys will start formation to fight the monsters below Transcendent level while Zang Bing and I will lead the staff to kill all the Transcendent monsters as soon as we can and help the rest of you. Please hold on until our support arrives!" Si Kongjian looked serious for the first time.
"Demon Slayer Legion, listen here!" Zang Bing shouted and all the staff stood in a formation.
"Kill all Transcendent monsters and support the participants! Do you copy?!"
"Understood!" More than 300 staff said at the same time.
"I shall announce that the fight begins!" As Zang Bing shouted, more than 300 holy fire-level staff headed in every direction like arrows. They headed towards the Transcendent monsters that were coming close to them.
"Let's see who kills the most monsters!" Si Kongjian squinted at Zang Bing.
"Come at me, bro!" Zang Bing agreed without thinking twice.
The both of them headed for different directions. Lin Huang and the rest who were below formed a gigantic circle while waiting for the monsters to come.
"Later, the both of you block my spot. I'll go into the monster horde." Lin Huang knew he was better at fighting than defending.
The both of them nodded without asking questions, full of confidence in Lin Huang. As the watched the monsters coming closer, Lin Huang kept the gold sword in his hand into its ring form and put it into his storage space, then he took out a black sword. Looking at what Lin Huang was doing, Yi Yeyu and Li Lang looked at each other as they knew Lin Huang was serious!
Chapter 346: Arrival of Will
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
The ninth wave of the monster horde was different from before. Whether it was the quantity or quality of monsters, it was even more dangerous than the eight times summed up together. As Zang Bing and the rest fought the Transcendent monsters, the monsters below Transcendent stormed the front. More than 10,000 monsters of different sizes came from every direction, overwhelming all 800 participants.
"This battle is a matter of defenses. Your main mission is to buy time. I'll do the killing," Lin Huang said to everyone. His obnoxious instruction was comforting to many of them who were nervous.
Lin Huang then activated his Seraphic Speed with Thunder Steps and fought with his epic Thunder Sting sword skill. He was like a sharp blade with bloodlust, stabbing into the monsters' abdomens endlessly. The monsters that were arranged neatly became as chaotic as a rock tossed into still water as Lin Huang got into the thick of the horde. Many of them were shocked when they saw Lin Huang fighting alone among the monsters like a tiger that was released amongst the sheep. All the monsters where the sword flashed through were cut into half, none of them needing a second slash to be slaughtered.
"Is this guy really a gold-level?" Many of them were thinking the same thing as they watched him move flawlessly. Although some of the monsters went into a chaos when he attacked, that did not stop them from coming closer. Many monsters targeted the other participants and attacked them. As they watched Lin Huang, many of the participants were riled up to fight. However, they realized the truth when they engaged the monsters - they were not Lin Huang. The monsters were killed in one hit as Lin Huang was too powerful, not because the monsters were too weak!
Lin Huang was like a fatal sword weaving through the monsters, killing all the monsters that he encountered. Many of them attacked him at first but when they realized that he was a killing machine, they started running away from him. Within seconds, Lin Huang had killed more than 100 monsters. However, he thought it was still too slow.
"This is too slow, I need to be faster!" He stood on top of a gigantic monster carcass and looked where the people were. He realized that they were fighting a tough battle and that they did not have much time.
"Bloody, do you have the strength to control the monsters here?" As Lin Huang hopped off from the monster carcass and proceeded to kill, he asked Bloody.
"I have used most of my leech pods to look for the Golden Toad, so I can release 10,000 leech pods at most," Bloody said.
"Release all the remaining leech pods that you have to get them to attack the other monsters," Lin Huang instructed as he summoned Lancelot the Ruthless Sword Master and the Sanguine Skeleton Spirit. He shrunk the Sanguine Skeleton Spirit to human size.
"Lancelot, Bloody Robe, try your best to kill the monsters without getting seen!" Lin Huang had reached his limit of summoning five monsters at the same time when he summoned the both of them.
He got them to help to increase his speed as well as providing him with more Life Power to prevent himself from being drained of Life Power. As Lancelot and Bloody Robe left, Bloody got out of Lin Huang's sleeve and released countless leech pods into the monster horde. Meanwhile, Lin Huang's eyes began to turn red. The Vampire Particles turned into four bloody blades on his back… He could not hide anymore under such circumstances. Every second that he could save was a win.
As the bloody blades opened on his back, Lin Huang held his sword and dashed into the monsters. The bloody blades that were transformed from the Vampire Particles were even harder than his Blood Spirit wings. They were comparable with a grade-2 relic together with the effect of the sword that Lin Huang was holding. With the help of Vampire Particles and the Life Power that he released, Lin Huang could cover tens of meters away, which increased his killing efficiency by more than tenfold. The Vampire Particles could actually reach out to 100 meters, but its strength would drop after 30 meters. Otherwise, the efficiency would be even higher.
If Lin Huang was compared to a blade earlier, he was now a bulldozer. Everything within 30 meters that he touched would drop dead. What he did not know was that he was being watched as he summoned Lancelot and the Sanguine Skeleton Spirit.
"I've finally found you!"
In a spiritual volcano, there was a gigantic Golden Toad soaking in the spiritual lava. An eyeball on its back was projecting the scene where Lin Huang summoned Lancelot and the Sanguine Skeleton Spirit. Although it did not see Lin Huang summoning his dimensional relic, the Golden Toad was sure that Lin Huang was the Imperial Censor that it was looking for as well as the one who had the monster with God's Blood. As Lin Huang's performance was so stunning in the battle, the Golden Toad could not imagine who else would it be if Lin Huang was not the one who had captured the monster with God's blood.
"The God's Blood is mine!"
The Golden Toad's green eyes turned black and so did its eye on its back. Within the dark, there was a reflection of a red toad. The red toad was less than 100 meters away from Lin Huang, its green eyes turning black as its aura and size grew. Within seconds, it transformed into a mini size of the Golden Toad while its aura was transformed from complete gold-level to white flame-level, crimson flame-level and finally stopping at blue flame-level.
The growing of the aura had gotten Lin Huang's attention. He looked at the gigantic Golden Toad that was almost 10 meters tall.
"The Golden Toad?" Lin Huang was skeptical but he soon noticed the toad's strange aura.
"Its aura is extremely unstable…"
"This should be the Will of the Golden Toad where it can attach its Will on any monster of its own that is two levels lower than itself," Bloody said as it was familiar with the monster encyclopedia as well as the Golden Toad's skill.
"However, this skill is limited by the owner's strong ability and won't last for too long. This toad that's being used as a host is only a complete gold-level. With the limitation of its physique, it'll last less than ten minutes under such a powerful possession."
The toad that was possessed looked towards the crowd with its black eyes and stopped on Lin Huang.
"Human kid, hand over the monster with God's Blood!" It spoke suddenly.
Chapter 347: A Setup
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Lin Huang thought that the Golden Toad was after him as it had sent its Will here to the battle. He did not expect that what it really wanted was the God's Blood.
"How does it know that Bai was taken away by me?" Lin Huang thought it was strange as the Molten Dragon that was searching for him up and down had not been sure who had the monster with God's Blood but listening to the Golden Toad's tone, it sounded like it was sure that Lin Huang had the monster.
"I've no idea what you are talking about." Although Lin Huang was clueless about how the Golden Toad knew about this, he declined without thinking twice.
"Are you pretending? Only Imperial Censors can take the monster with God's Blood away. Looking at your performance and the Punishment Chains on the Sanguine Skeleton Spirit, it's likely that you managed to capture the Transcendent monster that had just leveled up to holy fire-level," Golden Toad explained why it was after Lin Huang.
"It's okay if you don't admit. As soon as I capture you, I have my ways to hand me the monster with God's Blood."
Hearing what it said, Lin Huang figured that it meant it would capture him to hand him over to the real Golden Toad. Lin Huang was tempted as he could not find where the Golden Toad was hiding.
"Master, I've found a way to locate the Golden Toad," Bloody spoke to him in his mind.
"I've located the spiritual aura sent by the Golden Toad for the arrival of Will earlier. My leech pods are as alert as a touch in the dark. As soon they get closer to the Golden Toad, they'll sense it immediately; even the force from the spiritual lava can't affect them. We should be able to locate it soon!"
"Well done!" Lin Huang complimented and looked at the Golden Toad. After scanning it, Lin Huang smirked as he had an interesting idea. The Golden Toad's size was perfect to clear the ground with. As he thought about it, Lin Huang turned around and headed into the monster horde. The Golden Toad was surprised to see Lin Huang doing so and chased after him right away. It stuck out its pink tongue directly at Lin Huang but he managed to avoid easily by activating Micro Territory . The tongue assault killed many monsters along the way.
The Golden Toad naturally would not care about the lives of other monsters. Nothing was more important than the God's Blood. Moreover, its Will would only last for a limited time, so it had to kill all the obstacles between it and Lin Huang. Lin Huang passed through the monsters fast, unafraid of the Golden Toad's host. However, he knew very well that it would take some time for him to kill it if they were to fight face to face. He would also be very slow to kill the monsters. Therefore, he decided to get the Golden Toad to kill the monsters instead.
The speed of Golden Toad killing the monsters was nothing slower than Lin Huang. It tongue could reach almost a kilometer away and each time it stuck out its tongue, many monsters were killed. Lin Huang was like a loach slithering among the monsters. All the monsters that he passed by fell dead. His killing efficiency was slightly lower than before but it was indistinct. The Golden Toad realized what Lin Huang was up to after chasing him for five to six minutes.
"If you continue to run, I'll have to kill all your human friends!" The Golden Toad stopped and shouted to Lin Huang.
Lin Huang had to stop running when he heard that. He turned around and grinned at it.
"What's wrong? I thought you were having fun chasing after me! How about we exchange positions? You run and I'll chase after you," Lin Huang said.
Knowing that it did not have much time left, the Golden Toad did not entertain Lin Huang's mocking and darted its tongue towards him. The attack this time was no weaker than the other times. Any gold-level monsters that were attacked would die on the spot. However, it knew that Lin Huang would not be killed easily. It had already known about Lin Huang's ability before sending its Will here, so it knew that it had to give its best in order to get Lin Huang. It had high expectations on Lin Huang.
As he saw the tongue coming towards him, Lin Huang managed to avoid the attack with the help of Cloud Steps and Seraphic Speed . He then activated Thunder Steps and blitzed towards the Golden Toad. It turned its tongue around and attacked Lin Huang again. As it was within the coverage of the Micro Territory , Lin Huang did not even have to turn his head around to sense the attack behind him. He activated Dark Shield to block the tongue and with the help of the force, he bounced even faster towards the Golden Toad.
Seeing that Lin Huang was coming, Golden Toad extended its front claw to step on him but it missed, the ground reverberating as an effect. Lin Huang activated Seraphic Speed to its peak and dashed under the Golden Toad's abdomen. Using Thunder Sting , he attempted to slash open its abdomen. His sword was so swift that he managed to stab it more than ten times within seconds. The Golden Toad was jumping in pain.
Suddenly, a couple of flaming chains coming out of nowhere and tied its two legs. They pulled hard and it fell to the ground. Lin Huang was not surprised by the appearance of the Punishment Chains . He might have seemed like he was running helter-skelter, but he was actually running towards the Sanguine Skeleton Spirit. It was a setup. It was too late when the Golden Toad realized that it was being used by Lin Huang as he had already stepped into the coverage of the Sanguine Skeleton Spirit. If it did not find out that it was being used, Lin Huang would have gotten it to kill more monsters but it would still end up in the same situation.
Lin Huang flapped the four wings on his back and flew up to the sky. The golden glow on the tip of his sword was as bright as the sun. His sword pierced into the Golden Toad's abdomen easily without anything blocking. Perhaps, because it was triggered, the Golden Toad's body started to expand.
"Master, you must back off now. Its flesh has reached the maximum capacity of Will and it's going to explode."
Lin Huang pulled out his sword and stepped on the Golden Toad's abdomen with Thunder Steps and darted far away with the help of his Seraphic Speed.
Boom!
Within two to three seconds before Lin Huang even landed, an explosion came from the back. A strong wind blew ferociously as he landed on the ground. Just when he was turning around, blood splattered on his chest from the sky. A couple of chunks of flesh fell on his feet. Lin Huang looked up at the sky but what was left was the flesh on the ground. It was clear that the Golden Toad with its strong Will was completely dead.
"This damn human kid!" Someone shouted from a spiritual volcano, its voice echoing across 10 miles away. It sounded furious.
Soon, Bloody spoke to Lin Huang in his mind, "Master, I've found where the Golden Toad is hiding!"
Chapter 348: The Revenge of the Golden Toad
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
The Golden Toad did not expect that its furious roar would reveal its location. Bloody's leech pods had spent more than nine hours without finding any clue of the Golden Toad but the roar was heard by an Exploding Ladybird with a leech pod. Following the roar, the Exploding Ladybird soon found the volcano and confirmed that the Golden Toad was hiding in it.
Lin Huang wondered if he should laugh or cry as he listened to Bloody's explanation. Within seconds of the Golden Toad's vent, it managed to reveal its whereabouts.
"Does this Golden Toad have any long-distance monitoring ability?" As soon as Lin Huang got the Golden Toad's location, he asked Bloody as he continued fighting the monsters.
"Yes, all Golden Toads are born with eyes on their backs. The eyes come with a variety of skills including hypnosis, monitoring, and illusion-type abilities. They can even learn new skills on their own," Bloody explained.
"We must have been monitored by it since the beginning," Bloody added.
"It seems like we shouldn't tell anyone about its location at the moment. Let's tell Luo Li straightaway when she gets back to avoid the Golden Toad from finding out that its location has been revealed and escaping." Lin Huang decided to keep the news to himself when he found out that they were being monitored.
"I think so too," Bloody agreed.
"If the news gets out, it'll definitely run away and we'll need to spend more time to look for it."
"My concern is that since the Golden Toad didn't manage to get what it wants, it might extend its Will for the second and third time. If that happens, that will affect the speed I'm killing monsters at." Lin Huang frowned.
"Moreover, since it was defeated by me once, it will take more time to kill it if there's a second and third time."
"Master, you don't have to worry about this as such a skill is limited. It won't be able to do it the second time in such a short period of time. Master, you can kill the monsters without worrying about it." Bloody knew very well about the secret skill of its Will. Each time it activated it, there would be a 24 hour cooldown period.
"But I think it won't give it up just like that." Lin Huang thought that the Golden Toad's persistence for the God's Blood would not just end like this.
"If it wants to attack for the second time, it would have to come here itself." Bloody smiled.
Lin Huang shook his head to get the thoughts out of his head while focusing on killing the monsters. His efficiency had peaked again in his bulldozer mode. All the monsters within 30 meters were killed. Meanwhile, on the battlefield thousands of meters away, Si Kongjian and Zang Bing were leading many of the staff to slay more than 1,000 holy fire-level monsters. Although they were fewer humans than monsters, their strength was much more powerful than this bunch of holy fire-level monsters. Especially since Zang Bing and Si Kongjian were both gold flame-level, while there were only two purple flame-level monsters among them. The humans were winning.
They managed to kill more than 1,000 Transcendent monsters around 20 minutes. More than 300 Transcendent humans were heading towards the monster horde to send help. As Zang Bing and the rest were almost done with the Transcendent monsters, Bloody reminded Lin Huang to recall Lancelot and the Sanguine Skeleton Spirit into their card forms while Bloody released all the leech pods that it had cast within the 10,000 monsters.
As Zang Bing and the rest arrived, they did not find anything odd. There were just glad that everybody had made it. Many of them saw the monster carcasses and Lin Huang with blood stains standing among the dead bodies. They realized that they would have lost without Lin Huang. Since Zang Bing and the rest came to help, the 10,000 monsters were killed in an instant.
"Great job, Lin Huang!" As soon as the battle ended, Zang Bing walked to Lin Huang and patted his shoulder. He was satisfied with Lin Huang's performance these days. Even Si Kongjian could not help himself but tease Zang Bing to get Lin Huang to marry his daughter.
"Lin Huang, are you alright?" Although Yi Yeyu was usually obnoxious, she was a girl after all and she soon noticed that Lin Huang was feeling down.
"Nothing, I'm just tired." Lin Huang smiled and shook his head, wanting to keep the secret.
"Take a good rest then." Her sixth sense told her that Lin Huang was hiding something from her but she did not ask further.
Lin Huang nodded and sat down while he closed his eyes to recover his strength. With Lancelot and the Sanguine Skeleton Spirit's help, he did not lose much Life Power but his strength was drained.
In a spiritual volcano 20,000 kilometers away, the Golden Toad was solemn as it watched the entire battle.
"If 10,000 monsters are not enough, I shall give you a million monsters. If 1,000 holy fire-level monsters are not enough, I shall give you 10,000 of them. I don't believe that a couple of hundred of you can kill everyone in this world!"
…
It was late at night. A lady was sitting next to a gigantic volcano crater under the bright moonlight. She seemed to be only 13 or 14 years of age and was wearing a dark green military uniform that was clearly custom made. She was upset as she mumbled to herself, "What should I do? I've already looked everywhere I know but I just can't locate that damned toad… If this persists, I'll have to stop the training…"
Since noon until 10 p.m., Luo Li had spent more than ten hours at many locations including the hiding place of the three overlord-rank monsters. She had searched up and down but she still could not find the Golden Toad. The only thing she had retrieved from followers of the overlord-rank monsters was that the Molten Dragon and Shadowflame Boa were really dead. However, none of the monsters knew where the Golden Toad was. She even went to all big spiritual volcanoes, lava lakes and lava rivers that were starred on the map that was provided by the Union Government but she found nothing.
"Eh, what's wrong with these monsters?" Luo Li noticed that the monsters around the volcano were heading towards the same direction as she stood thousands of meters on top of the volcano. Some of the monsters that were hibernating seemed to be triggered by something and joined the horde. She leaped to her toes and flew towards the direction the monsters were heading to. Along the way, she realized that monsters of all directions were gathered at one place like countless streams coming together to join a big river. The big river was heading towards the humans. She could see more than 100,000 monsters within her field of vision.
"Oh no, I must tell Zang Bing and the rest!" Luo Li took out her Transmission Snail immediately.
…
Thousands of meters away, Lin Huang, who was resting, opened his eyes suddenly. He was concerned as he heard news from Bloody. The final monster horde was arriving!
Chapter 349: An Ugly Rejection
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
As she put her Transmission Snail away, Luo Li summoned her dimensional relic. She informed the news about the monster horde to Zang Bing and Si Kongjian as well as updating them that she could not manage to find the Golden Toad. She really had no idea of where it was. After some discussion, Zang Bing and Si Kongjian suggested stopping the training before the monster horde arrived and to send all of the participants out of the ruins. Although Luo Li was reluctant, she accepted the suggestion anyway.
As the white dimensional relic appeared, Luo Li sighed and walked into the door. Soon, a white dimensional relic appeared on top of the gathering point. A petite human walked out of it. Lin Huang's eyes lit up when he saw Luo Li who landed slowly towards Zang Bing and Si Kongjian. They were relieved when they saw her as they were worried that Luo Li would disagree to stopping the training.
"Let's stop the training now, don't waste any more time." Luo Li looked at the two examiners solemnly.
"You do the announcement since you didn't have the chance to be an examiner." Zang Bing smiled kindly.
Luo Li glared at him and agreed, floating into the air again.
"Dear participants, this is Luo Li, your examiner for the third round of the assessment…"
Just when she was speaking, somebody interrupted, "Examiner Luo, I have something to say!" It was Lin Huang who had interrupted her by shouting with his hands up.
"Let me finish my announcement!" Luo Li frowned as she looked at Lin Huang.
"I need to say it now as it has something to do with your announcement." Lin Huang walked out of the crowd and locked eyes with Luo Li.
Everyone was puzzled as they peered at Lin Huang.
"Lin Huang, stop messing around!" Zang Bing scolded.
"I'm not messing around. This is something very important." Lin Huang glared at Zang Bing and looked up at Luo Li again.
"Alright, then. What you're going to say better be useful, or else, I'll be furious." Luo Li descended from the sky. She would not have bothered if it was somebody else. Knowing that Lin Huang was Yi Yeyu's friend, she decided to let him speak.
"What is it? Tell me now." Luo Li landed next to Lin Huang and scrutinized him in an unfriendly manner. Lin Huang got closer to her, making Luo Li want to avoid him by instinct but she tolerated him. As she listened to what Lin Huang was saying, she became serious.
"Don't say anything first. Listen to me, this area is being monitored by the Golden Toad…"
What Lin Huang said made Luo Li realize the reason for his odd behavior.
"I have located the Golden Toad but I'm afraid that it will escape if it realizes that we know about it. That's the reason why I need to talk to you like that."
Just when Luo Li wanted to ask where the Golden Toad was, she recalled that they were being monitored. She grabbed Lin Huang's arm, summoned her dimensional relic and brought Lin Huang along with her. Seeing Luo Li leave with Lin Huang, not only all the participants, even Zang Bing and Si Kongjian thought that it was strange.
A white dimensional relic opened in a dormant volcano and Luo Li stepped out with Lin Huang.
"We're definitely not being monitored here, so you can speak now."
Lin Huang nodded, then projected the map while Bloody slithered out of his sleeve to mark the volcano where the Golden Toad was located at. Luo Li looked confusedly at Bloody and regarded Lin Huang.
"Are you sure it's here?"
"Yes!" Lin Huang nodded vigorously. He had never suspected Bloody's resources.
"I'll be really mad if it's not here." Luo Li did not ask how had Lin Huang gotten the location. Instead, she threatened him.
"It won't be wrong, I'll go with you." Lin Huang was calm.
"Alright, let's go right away!" Judging from Lin Huang's seriousness, Luo Li summoned her white dimensional relic immediately.
The both of them stepped into it and soon they appeared under a mid-sized spiritual volcano.
"Wait here," Luo Li commanded Lin Huang and she flew to the crater within seconds. She dived into the volcano right away.
The Golden Toad thought that it was strange that Lin Huang and Luo Li had disappeared. It did not expect its location to be revealed as it thought that it was hidden securely. There were at least 800 of such mid-sized spiritual volcanoes in this world.
In fact, it was correct to assume that it was hidden as the mid-sized spiritual volcanoes were not marked on the map provided by the Union Government. They were only marked in white as a volcano just like the rest of the normal volcanoes. There were up to 10,000 of them in this world. Only the big spiritual volcanoes that were higher than 3000 meters would be marked in red. That was why Luo Li did not even bother looking for it in such a volcano.
It was too late when the Golden Toad noticed that Luo Li and Lin Huang were there as Luo Li arrived inside the spiritual volcano within seconds.
"Damned toad, I've been looking for you!" Luo Li saw the Golden Toad that was soaked in the lava as she entered the volcano.
"Human lady!" Golden Toad was shocked when it saw Luo Li.
It remembered clearly when the Blazing Alligator came to it, mentioning that the Molten Dragon was killed in one hit by a petite lady. It was sure that Luo Li was the one that the Blazing Alligator was talking about. It was hiding here as it did not want to be found by this lady, so it did not expect her to come to it.
The Golden Toad did not wait any longer after confirming her identity. The spiritual lava at the bottom of the volcano roiled up and assailed Luo Li, almost drowning her in it. Suddenly, the Golden Toad shrunk to the size of a palm within seconds. It leaped using its back legs together with the lava that rumbled out.
"What's the use of your powerful ability? I managed to escape anyway…" Just when the Golden Toad had that thought, it suddenly realized that its body had been captured by a hand.
"Do you naively think that you actually got away from me?" Luo Li said and revealed herself. The spiritual lava was isolated a few inches away from her body.
The Golden Toad was shocked and attempted to grow back to its regular size so that it could get away from her. However, it felt that its body was being sealed by something, preventing it from going back to its original size.
"Stop struggling. My Palm Seal can even seal a dragonkin of the same level, let alone a scabby toad like you." Luo Li rolled her eyes.
The Golden Toad became furious when it heard Luo Li calling it a scabby toad. It opened its mouth wide and darted its tongue towards Luo Li's head. However, its attack was soon blocked by an invisible wall. It could not reach anywhere outside her palm. After a couple of failed attempts, fear flashed in its eyes. Now, it finally understood how she had defeated the Molten Dragon in one hit.
"Master, I surrender!" Knowing that it could not escape, the Golden Toad decided to surrender in hopes that it might be released. Luo Li looked at it for a while and shook her head.
"No, you're too ugly!"
She said and pressed it hard, the space in her Palm Seal compressing quickly. Within two to three seconds, the Golden Toad was smashed into smithereens, croaking out its last groan…
Soon, Luo Li got out of the crater and spiritual lava was everywhere. Lin Huang had backed off a couple of kilometers away. She headed towards Lin Huang and tossed the monster carcass on the ground. The carcass returned to its normal size of a mini island.
Seeing the carcass that was completely destroyed into a pile of flesh, Lin Huang now thought that she was even more dangerous.
"Since you were the one who provided the information, you shall have the monster carcass," Luo Li declared while bending down to wash her hands with the spiritual lava.
"Thank you, examiner!" Lin Huang stored the monster carcass shamelessly.
"Since the toad is dead, the ruins will be reactivated and the training will go on." Luo Li announced, satisfied with the results.
"Let's head back!"
She then summoned the white dimensional relic.
Chapter 350: The Use of Assessment Points
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
The Golden Toad had fallen in less than three minutes. A black dimensional relic filled with black mist emerged slowly in the middle of the ruins. The black mist was like a big net that devoured all the monsters everywhere. Millions of monsters in the battle stopped suddenly. They looked around curiously as if they had no idea why they were there. They then left one by one. The dimensional relic opened slowly while a massive amount of monsters of different combat strength were sent down…
Lin Huang and the rest did not see this. When Luo Li and Lin Huang left, Zang Bing was in a bad mood while Si Kongjian seemed concerned. Yi Yeyu, Li Lang, and the other participants looked puzzled. They did not know what had just happened. Luckily, Luo Li and Lin Huang returned after leaving for only three minutes.
"There's no need for worry. I have killed the Golden Toad. The dimensional ruins should be reactivating now, so the last monster horde won't come. The training will go on!" Luo Li announced the outcome.
Zang Bing rushed to the front to ask about the specific situation while Si Kong Jian looked deeply into Lin Huang's eyes. He figured that this matter was related to Lin Huang.
The two examiners finally found out about the truth a while later.
"Actually, it's the same whether you tell me or Si Kongjian. That Golden Toad is only a double mutated monster. We can kill it regardless of whatever blood it has." Zang Bing smiled at Lin Huang mysteriously.
"I think that examiner Luo is more powerful, so I thought it would be better for her to handle this," Lin Huang honestly told Zang Bing the reason for choosing to inform Luo Li instead of them.
"Once again, I've been underestimated…"
Zang Bing looked at Si Kong Jian, who was in the same boat, helplessly but Si Kong Jian looked as if he did not mind. Instead, Si Kong Jian rubbed salt into the wound. "We really are weaker than Luo Li, that's the truth."
Luo Li beamed happily next to them.
Zang Bing thought that he could not talk to those people in please so he left with an excuse, "I'll check if the monster horde is really gone."
As Zang Bing left, Lin Huang returned to the team. Yi Yeyu and Li Lang quickly asked him what had happened. Soon, Zang Bing announced the good news that the monster horde was gone. After that, the three examiners brought the people to pitch their tents a few kilometers away. Although the staff had already cleaned up all the monster carcasses before the battle, the smell of blood still remained. Therefore, they moved the gathering point to the foot of an extinct volcano eight kilometers away towards the north.
Early in the morning on the second day, Zang Bing's voice rang out, "Everyone, assemble at eight later!"
Lin Huang had already finished washing up. He looked at the time. It was already 7:30 a.m., so he dismantled the tent immediately and started having breakfast.
All the participants gathered around at 8 a.m. The 160 participants, who had been injured yesterday, recovered under the treatment of the staff.
Zang Bing glanced at them, feeling that these young people had become more matured after the monster horde yesterday. They were not as impetuous as before.
"The goal of the second round of training is all about teamwork. Everyone did a great job in the battle yesterday. I would also like to praise Lin Huang who contributed very much no matter in terms of personal ability or team organization. It's all his credit that many people are still alive..." Zang Bing was very satisfied with Lin Huang's performance. He was also an honest person, so he was very direct when it came to praising.
The corners of Lin Huang's mouth lifted. He did not say anything as he knew that everything he did was purely for selfish reasons. If not for Tyrant, he would have chosen to end the training. After complimenting Lin Huang, Zang Bing finally revealed the purpose of assembling everyone.
"Since the purpose of the assessment is teamwork and everyone has shown great teamwork yesterday, there's no need for my part of training to proceed. I shall declare that all the participants have passed the second round of training! "
"I'd like to invite the examiner of the third round of training to come up to speak!" Zang Bing stepped aside after his speech.
Luo Li walked to the front and went right into business without any formalities. "My name is Luo Li, your examiner for the third round of training. The third round of training starts at 9 a.m. today!
"Considering the monster horde yesterday, some of you might be injured or unwilling to proceed with the training due to psychological pressure or other reasons. So, those who want to leave the training may now raise your hands and we will get the staff arranged to send you out later."
Luo Li's eyes scanned the crowd after speaking. There was not a single person who raised their hand to show that they wanted to leave.
"There's no need to feel embarrassed. It's not embarrassing to leave, it's just a reasonable choice," Luo Li added but there was still no one who chose to leave.
"Since no one raised their hand, those who don't want to participate in the training may stay after the training starts.
"I am going to talk about the instructions for the third round of training now. The instructions are very simple. Hunt individually. There's no limit to the way of killing. There's only one limitation -- the forming of teams is not allowed during hunting; there must be no help from the others and it must be done by yourselves individually."
"Each gold-level rank-3 monster carcass submitted will earn you 1 point."
"Each complete gold-level monster carcass will earn you 3 points."
"The terms to gather points are the same as in the second round of training."
"Each white flame-level monster carcass gets you 100 points.
"Each crimson flame-level monster carcass will be awarded 200 points."
"Each blue flame-level monster carcass will be awarded 400 points."
"Considering that everyone is exhausted from the monster horde, the monsters killed yesterday will be added to the total scoring this time."
"Everyone of you has experienced a lot yesterday, so I won't be giving you too much pressure in the third round of training. I don't mind even if you choose to be lazy. All I'll say is that except the reward according to the ranking of points, the total points accumulated in the training this time can be used to exchange resources with the Union Government. One point is almost equivalent to the purchasing power of one Life Crystal. Moreover, the military warehouse of Union Government Elite Troops will also be opened to you. If the points are enough, you can exchange anything you want from the military warehouse!"
Luo Li's last sentence excited the people. Even Lin Huang was tempted as many things that were available at the Union Government military warehouse were not sold in the market. Even if something was available on the black market, it was considered cheap if the black market price was ten times more expensive than what they were sold for. This extra bit of detail about being able to exchange points allowed everyone to redeem resources in the military warehouse at the normal market price. It was a golden opportunity.
"I've said everything that I need to say. The assessment starts sharply at nine. However, those who want to leave now can do so, while those who want to unregister from the training can update us now." After Luo Li finished, she descended from mid-air. Many left without hesitation. Lin Huang looked at the time. It was not even 8:20 a.m. but obviously, everyone did not even want to waste 40 precious minutes.
"We're on our own this round." Li Lang walked towards Lin Huang and greeted him, then left.
"It's not a guarantee that you'll be the first prize winner until the end." Yi Yeyu teased Lin Huang before she left. Lin Huang summoned his dimensional relic and disappeared from where he was.