Vol 6 Chapter 26: The Toad Who Wants Swan Meat
Lin Jing took the descendant of the Heavenly Emperor frog with him.
Although this descendant of the Heavenly Emperor’s bloodline surprised Lin Jing somewhat, after thinking it over carefully, Lin Jing felt it was actually better than a human.
He could completely raise this Heavenly Emperor descendant frog as a pet beast.
Even if he couldn’t obtain any of the Heavenly Emperor’s legacy for himself, as long as this frog could get it...
Once he bonded it, wouldn’t they all be one family?
On the other hand, if it had been a human, things would be more troublesome.
Not because humans can’t be contracted—after all, as the founder of the Human Control Technique, anything in existence can be contracted.
But compared to demonic beasts, humans are more complicated. Yu Xun’er had told Lin Jing that the human species was naturally unsuited to being contracted; managing her human contractors left her emotionally exhausted.
“Ribbit.”Sitting on the cloud next to Lin Jing, the Heavenly Emperor descendant frog had never seen a view like this before. Its eyes filled with delight.
But after being fed who knew what nonsense by the weasel, and after taking in the marvels, the Heavenly Emperor descendant frog suddenly wore a worried expression for the country and its people.
“Ribbit? (When will we go suppress that even more vicious mosquito clan...?)”
Seeing how responsible the frog seemed, Lin Jing couldn’t help but say, “With your current strength, you probably can’t suppress them. Anyway, I’ll take you to see them first.”
After speaking, Lin Jing grabbed the Heavenly Emperor descendant frog and brought it into his Void Mystical world—his inner Nascent Soul space. Here... the mosquito beasts were the only species.
At first, the frog-emperor had been thinking, how powerful can a mere mosquito clan be?
If one tongue won’t do, then two tongues will.
But when the palm-sized frog-emperor arrived in the Life and Death Reincarnation Immortal Domain and saw one after another of the Ten Cloudsea Terrors drinking Longevity Immortal Blood as they grew, it swallowed hard and tucked its extended tongue back into its mouth.
Its pupils trembled as it watched that black mass sweep by like a cloud. Each mosquito-beast measured several meters, rivaling giants. The frog took a step back.
One of those could probably crush it to death.
Provided it could win the fight.
These were only ordinary swarms of mosquito beasts. Some of the better-developed ones were like great dragons, occupying feng shui-rich territory, looking down on the surroundings. When they unfurled their wings, they could blot out an area’s light, plunging it into darkness, their bodies like a blood moon hanging in the sky.
“Ribbit? (These are mosquitoes?)” the frog-emperor asked, a question probing the soul.
“Scared? Didn’t you call yourself the Frog Heavenly Emperor?” Lin Jing smiled. “Truth is, you’re just a knockoff Frog Heavenly Emperor. These mosquito beasts have a history with the real Frog Heavenly Emperor.”
“According to the Records of Ancient Strange Events, the ancient demon emperor called ‘Frog Heavenly Emperor’ bred his people with terrifying methods and raised a group of mosquito beasts that, by sucking blood, could rapidly proliferate—meant as food for his clan.”
“The Frog Heavenly Emperor came from the Sky-Swallowing Frog clan. But later, that clan was wiped out by accident, and the mosquito beasts became ownerless creatures, reproducing and mutating at will in a cursed area until they turned into such monsters. The whole frog world could do nothing against these vicious mosquitoes...”
“I see unusual potential in your bones— you’re not worse than that true Frog Heavenly Emperor. Speaking of which, although it calls itself Heavenly Emperor, it was actually only a demon emperor, not even an immortal. A true Heavenly Emperor should stand above the Immortal Emperor. Only then can one legitimately claim the title. Do you want to become a real Heavenly Emperor, a true Frog Heavenly Emperor?”
“If you want that, suppressing the calamity bred by the Sky-Swallowing Frog clan would be the most important step toward you becoming king of the frog forest.”
“Ribbit!!” Hearing this, the frog who had followed Lin Jing felt fear at the sight of the giant mosquitoes. But thinking that the disaster had been brought about by the frog clan’s own reckless fire-playing, a sense of duty welled up inside it. It could not simply sit by; it had to take responsibility. Its gaze, torn with inner conflict, hardened.
Alright then, fight.
Even if it died here, it would set an example for frogkind.
However, just as it prepared to plunge into a bloody battle, the Heavenly Emperor descendant frog suddenly realized something was off.
Wasn’t it supposed to accompany Lin Jing in cultivation?
Logically, shouldn’t it get stronger through cultivation before coming here to fight those mosquito beasts?
“Good—though you look easily brainwashed, you’re not stupid,” Lin Jing nodded in his heart.
“Sending you straight onto the battlefield would indeed be rough on you.”
“Next, I’ll have several of your seniors each give you a welcome gift, and I’ll also give you a cultivation method. With these, how far you go will depend on your own fate.”
At that moment, Lin Jing summoned Pine Leaf Mouse, Dragon Carp, Ice Soul Gu, and Star Longevity Crane.
He also took out from his collection all the imperial-grade-and-above cultivation methods suitable for demonic beasts and laid them out before the Heavenly Emperor descendant frog, letting it choose freely.
There were eighteen in total.
You didn’t even need to be literate to understand these methods; just touch the jade slips lightly and the effects would be clear in your mind.
After arranging everything, Lin Jing asked the remnant spirit,
“How high a cultivation level must it reach to safely enter the Heavenly Emperor’s Tomb?”
The remnant spirit replied, “From my years of research into the Heavenly Emperor’s Tomb, after so long, entering the outer areas probably requires no cultivation level. To get into the interior, you would likely need at least Nascent Soul.”
“I hope your research is accurate.” Lin Jing was already skilled at raising a pet beast from scratch. With the Time Dao Immortal Banner, the Time Dao Nascent Soul space, and cultivation golden cores, raising a Nascent Soul Transformation being in a few decades was more than doable. But going higher would be trickier.
At this time, Pine Leaf Mouse and the others watched the frog carefully. They especially found it intriguing that the frog carried the noble Heavenly Emperor bloodline.
They waited for the frog to finish choosing a cultivation method before presenting their gifts.
Gifts should match the frog’s chosen method to be most effective.
Otherwise, if the frog picked a water-attribute method but Dragon Carp immediately offered a fire-origin item, that would be counterproductive.
Meanwhile, the frog observed the other demonic beasts training with Lin Jing one by one.
Pine Leaf Mouse... hmm... prettier than a rat.
Dragon Carp... hmm... a pond fish, also a mosquito killer when provoked—combat-ready.
Ice Soul... looks decent.
Star-beast Crane...
The Heavenly Emperor descendant frog stared at the Star Longevity Crane, its white feathers bathed in starlight, and froze slightly. When had it ever seen such a beautiful creature? Could this be... the Crane Immortal of the Immortal Realm that the Yellow Sage had spoken of?
Truly beautiful.
The frog swallowed, a little nervous and shy, then buried itself in selecting cultivation methods, its webbed claw hesitating among one method after another.
But at the same time, its mind was filled with images of the crane’s beautiful feathers—completely distracted.
Lin Jing watched with an exasperated look. He felt this Heavenly Emperor descendant frog seemed a little smitten with the Star Longevity Crane.
No.
Aren’t your species a little too far apart? You aren’t a toad, and it isn’t a swan.
“Focus. Concentrate on choosing your cultivation method.”