Chapter 122: Hunting the Lustful Toad

The pit was incredibly deep. Qin Feng retrieved a glittering stone from his storage ring and descended along the stone steps.

Though he pursued with great speed, he remained constantly vigilant. Unaware of what unpredictable dangers might lurk within the cavern, he proceeded with extreme caution. From the very beginning, he had resolved to investigate this place; the sheer mystery of the Yin-Yang Blood Pool alone had piqued his curiosity, and the question of what lay hidden in the depths of the cave only fueled his desire to press on.

The lecherous toad had clearly been severely wounded by Qin Xin-yue’s methods, forcing it to resort to rebirth through a surrogate womb. This had greatly diminished its strength, a fact evident from the toad’s sluggish escape speed. With Qin Feng’s formidable spiritual sense and the creature’s weakened state, there was no way it could evade his tracking. After a short chase through the subterranean world, Qin Feng caught up to it once more.

As the distance closed, Qin Feng could clearly see the toad’s silhouette. Though currently in human form, the creature had not yet shed its toad-like habits; it still scrambled on all fours, pushing off with its hind legs in a series of awkward hops. Seeing such a posture on a human figure was profoundly unsettling.

Qin Feng, however, had no time to dwell on the sight. He had only one goal: to slay the lecherous toad. While not a saint, he was certainly no evildoer, and having encountered such a malevolent creature, he could not allow it to escape. If this thing were to reach the outside world, it would undoubtedly spell disaster for humanity.

Kill!

Qin Feng’s gaze remained locked on the toad, his steps relentless.

Sensing that death was closing in, the creature let out a few croaks and pushed itself forward with every ounce of strength. Upon reaching a fork in the path, it employed a duplication technique, splitting into two identical human forms of "Li Hao-ran," each fleeing down a different tunnel.

Qin Feng sneered. Did it really think it could fool him with a simple clone technique?

His Purple Celestial Eyes flickered. A single glance was enough to identify the true Li Hao-ran in the right-hand tunnel, and he set off in pursuit without hesitation.

The toad glanced back, its eyes filled with shock and horror. It had clearly been confident in its duplication ability and never expected Qin Feng to see through it so easily.

The chase continued, and Qin Feng swung his massive weapon, Zhong-wu, as he closed the gap once more.

Desperate, the toad realized the end of the tunnel was near. Its eyes lit up, and it turned back to spit three clusters of dark red blood toward Qin Feng. As the blood writhed in the air, it instantly hatched into three massive red toads, which stood side-by-side, completely blocking the passageway.

Qin Feng did not slow his pace; he charged straight through with Zhong-wu.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

After a frenzied barrage of blows, a rain of blood fell, and Qin Feng stepped out from the pile of mangled flesh to continue his pursuit.

Kill!

As the chase wore on, Qin Feng began to detect a strange, foul odor. The sensation made his entire body feel uncomfortable, even profoundly repulsed.

"Is this... demonic energy?"

Indeed, it was demonic energy—thick, heavy, and suffocating.

The tunnel finally came to an end. Qin Feng looked up to find himself in a massive underground karst cave. It was enormous, yet packed to the brim with two distinct things, their sheer quantity staggering.

The first was a dense, countless array of petrified, blood-colored cocoons clinging to the ceiling and walls. They were all shattered, hollow shells; presumably, the monsters within had already broken free to attack humanity.

The second was the thousands of human corpses littering the cavern floor. There were tens of thousands of them, and even in their mangled state, one could still sense the formidable power they had possessed in life.

The lecherous toad had vanished, clearly having found a place to hide. In such an environment, concealment was easy, but Qin Feng was not worried. With his powerful spiritual sense and Purple Celestial Eyes, he knew the toad could not escape his grasp.

The cave was thick with Yin energy and demonic energy. In such a unique environment, the corpses had not decayed, but most were incomplete, bearing witness to an epic battle fought long ago—a war between humanity and these mysterious monsters.

What was strange, however, was the complete absence of monster corpses.

Qin Feng frowned. "Could this painting wall be the central one of the nine? And is this the heart of the battlefield, where all who died gave their lives to repel the monsters? But why are there no monster remains? Could it be...?"

A realization dawned on him, and he stood frozen in astonishment.

The bizarre Yin-Yang Blood Pool!

That was it. All the monsters had dissolved into a mysterious blood, which, mixing with the blood of the fallen cultivators, had filled this space. The two types of blood did not merge because they were imbued with the eternal hatred and hostility of both sides. Over countless years, the blood had separated and continued to clash. In the Yin Blood Pool, the intelligent lecherous toad was born, while in the Yang blood, the Blood-Burning Purifying Fire was forged.

This was the only explanation for the eerie scene before him.

Qin Feng stepped out of the tunnel and into the vast underground world.

His first impression was that the demonic energy here was truly sinister. It was not only thick but actively sought to burrow into his body, causing a nauseating feeling that made it hard to breathe. He had no choice but to manifest a thin film of the Blood-Burning Purifying Fire over his skin to insulate himself.

Feeling slightly better, he continued forward. The countless dismembered corpses were a dizzying sight. These were ancient cultivators—any one of them would have been a powerhouse at the Earth-Gale Realm or higher. Now, they lay cold, their warmth extinguished forever.

Yet, even in death, the strong maintain their dignity. Qin Feng did not desecrate the remains; he walked carefully, avoiding the bodies so as not to step on them, which he considered a grave sign of disrespect.

As he walked, he observed his surroundings. There were indeed many treasures here, but most had lost their spiritual essence due to damage, becoming little more than scrap metal. While some items still appeared intact, they had been so heavily corrupted by the pervasive demonic energy that they radiated a violent aura. Qin Feng chose not to touch them. The place felt inherently dangerous; until he understood more, it was best not to disturb anything lest he invite a lethal disaster.

As for the storage rings and pouches of the fallen, most had shattered. Though strange at first, he soon understood why. These items relied on Profound Qi to maintain their internal space, often drawing small amounts from the atmosphere to keep their arrays functioning indefinitely. Even after a master’s death, they could typically persist for ages. But here, the air was saturated with aggressive, predatory demonic energy that had devoured all the Profound Qi in the cave.

In short, the neutral energy of Profound Qi stood no chance against such invasive, violent forces; it had been ruthlessly consumed. Without the support of energy, the arrays failed, and the pockets of space collapsed. Spatial collapse is the most unpredictable and lethal force imaginable, shredding anything within; when the space vanished, the treasures inside were lost with it.

Qin Feng could only sigh in regret.

As one mystery was solved, a new question arose: what lay at the end of this strange demonic energy?

He peered cautiously into the depths of the cavern. At the very end lay a deep, abyssal demonic hole—a "Well of the Nether." The concentration of demonic energy there was terrifying, and it possessed a powerful vortex-like suction that threatened to devour one's very soul.

It was horrifying.

At that moment, had his internal "Tai-A Forging of the Soul" technique not activated automatically, Qin Feng might have already lost his mind.

A sudden, irrational urge to retreat took root in his heart—a form of baseless terror. Even the Heavenly Demon within him spoke up in warning:

"Qin Feng, do not go any further. The aura there... even I feel a sense of inexplicable panic."