Chapter Eighty-Three: The Toad Daoist

  Two updates delivered! "You should be grateful that you didn't choose to take action!"

  Just as the two were conferring, a voice broke through the boiling frog croaks. The whole mountain forest seemed to have only this one sound, which was not loud but very loud and had a few playful tones.

  "Who is it?" Wu Ming quickly turned around, he hadn't even noticed this person's arrival.

  This man was wearing a grey-blue Taoist robe, which was dirty and hadn't been washed for who knows how long. It had layers of grease on it, making it almost black in color. His hair was combed into small buns on top of his head, and with his short and stout build, from afar, he didn't look like a Taoist at all, but rather a real-life Buddha!

  Look at that person who doesn't speak, just staring at them, Wu Ming whispered again: "He's really a strange person."

  "Who are you?" Shi Jingxuan asked, turning her head. She had never known that there was such a Taoist in Wanshou Mountain. When she came, she specifically asked her master, but Bai Yanniang had never mentioned that there was such a sloppy Taoist. Was this Taoist also coming to Nanjiang to find Huaxingcao or something else?

  "I am the Toad Path Immortal!"

  That lazy Taoist priest bowed and said with a smile.

  "Hiss, hiss, hiss......" The big laughing frogs all around started shouting loudly.

  "Go away, what are you arguing about? Honestly, no respect for elders, do you dare talk to your ancestors like that? Oh, still daring to be mouthy? Believe it or not, I'll split your buttocks open!"

  This self-proclaimed toad Taoist is actually quite interesting, and I don't know if he really understands the sound of toads or just pretends to. Anyway, Wu Ming and Shi Jingxuan didn't understand a single sentence.

  After quarreling for half a day, the toad immortal said helplessly to the two of them: "Alright, these little guys are getting more and more talkative, I'm already at a loss for words. Are you here looking for the Shape-Shifting Grass? What do you want that thing for?"

  Wu Ming exchanged a glance with Shi Jingxuan, and Wu Ming smiled: "That, the sect's mission, I don't know if it's for the sect's demonic beast or not, but the merit points are quite high, so we came to find you."

  "It was a mission from the sect, no wonder. I said it before, humans rarely come to pick this. Even Zi Yun Merchant House only comes once a year. So, you help me with something and I'll give you ten stalks of Transformation Grass, how about that?" Dao Ren smiled and nodded.

  Wu Ming was taken aback, pointing to himself with his hand and saying: "You're saying me? But my strength is too low, that... I'm afraid it's a case of having the will but not the power!"

  The Toad's face turned serious again, and he said: "I'll give you another one, the Dragon Egg!"

  "What? Dragon egg?" Wu Ming hadn't spoken yet, but Shi Jingxuan had already shouted out loud. She felt her whole body trembling with excitement, and couldn't help but grab onto Wu Ming's arm.

  "Dragon egg?" Wu Ming was also stunned. According to the book, the strength of an adult dragon is at the Earth Stage? What kind of strength is the Earth Stage? Simply put, the old ancestor of the Xuantian Sect has such strength!

  The boundary of martial arts is divided into levels, starting with the gathering of spirits, which can gather spiritual energy for one's own use, borrowing external forces to break through and merge with the heavens and the earth. In other words, from this boundary onwards, it is completely different from innate martial artists, who ultimately still use their own energy, but when human strength is exhausted, they will eventually be unable to surpass the power of nature.

  After the gathering of spirits, it is the Bright Spirit! The Bright Spirit sees its nature, knows its original nature, removes impurities, and uses the spiritual energy between heaven and earth to gather and form the pre-heavenly yuan spirit. This layer is the realm of the Bright Spirit. Next is Wu Wang, representing a certain ideological realm, also known as the entrance to martial arts. If we say that the previous realms were an application of natural spiritual energy, just like using one's own true yuan, then from the Wu Wang realm onwards, it is officially contacting the laws and principles of the Tao.

  If the Unwarranted Realm is to touch upon the laws, then the Earth Stage is truly entering the realm of laws. For example, the shrinking of the earth into inches by the old ancestor of the Xuantian Sect is an application of the laws, and it's no longer just a simple light body skill, this is the domain of the Tao. This is just a simple explanation, more is the application of one's own properties, for example, the tree demon that Wu Ming encountered a few days ago, if he reaches the Earth Stage, he can control things with wood attributes, it's not just a simple swing of branches to grab people, the surrounding trees, the roots and branches underground, all can be used.

  Strictly speaking, a martial artist who reaches this level has already transcended the realm of martial arts and is more aptly referred to as a Daoist, entering the domain of the Dao. Many ordinary people believe that this is what it means to be an immortal, especially after reaching the heavenly stage following the earthly stage, able to soar through the skies like a divine being.

  This was the miscellaneous knowledge that Wu Ming had read in the Scripture Pavilion before, but so far, he hadn't seen such a god-like figure. This time when they came, they even joked about finding an awesome pet to take back, but neither of them took it seriously, as everyone knew how hard it was to catch a demon beast, especially one with innate talents.

  Unexpectedly, the toad immortal in front of him actually claimed to give himself a dragon egg? What's the concept? As long as it hatches, that would be having a quasi-divine beast as a pet! By the time it grows up, not to mention more, even places like Jingzhou and Haizhou can be traversed horizontally without any problem.

  Is there anything more attractive than this?

  "Hmm, dragon egg. If you can help me with one thing, I'll give you ten stalks of transformation grass and another dragon egg!" The toad immortal still had a smiling face, looking somewhat like Maitreya Buddha.

  "Wu Ming asked: 'As long as I can help, I will definitely help you! But, what do I need to do?'"

  The Toad Demon saw Wu Ming nod in response, turned around and walked away, saying as he went: "Follow me, this isn't a place for conversation."

  The two of them exchanged a glance and followed suit. To say nothing of the great temptation, even if they wanted to leave now, there was no way to do so. Don't be fooled by the smiling face of the toad immortal, Wu Ming believed that this guy would turn his back faster than flipping through a book if he were to change his mind. Different species must have different hearts. This sentence is not only referring to human races, but also to the fact that demons and beasts do not trust humans either.

  After walking for more than two hours, they entered the Wanshou Mountain and a stone cave appeared in front of them. This should be the residence of the Toad Daoist.

  "It's safer inside," said Toad, extending a welcoming hand.

  "Isn't it safe? Isn't this the territory of the Toad Clan? What's not safe?" Wu Ming asked in confusion.

  The toad's face was filled with a smile, but it was a bitter one. "That was in the past," he said. "Now things are different. Mount Wanshou has been divided into two parts, and the land behind the mountain has all been taken over by the snake tribe."

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