The Prodigies War

There was a certain saying in the empire that a three-legged toad was difficult to find, but two-legged cultivators were everywhere.

Lin Xun had just seen a three-legged toad!

An odd look immediately surfaced in Lin Xun’s eyes. The green-robed youth had cultivated from a toad?

The toad was as large as a basin. Its body sparkled like gold as an auspicious light seemed to flow along its skin. Its eyes looked like a pair of gold coins while it sat there on its three legs. It did not look like a monster, but was instead wrapped in a sacred, treasure-like aura.

“Croak croak!”

It was clearly miffed, cheeks ballooning in agitation as it released thunderous croaks.

Lin Xun asked, “So you’re not a resentful spirit but a…toad?”

His words were like a knife that stabbed deep into the toad’s ego. It jumped three feet into the air and bellowed, “This king is a golden toad! The one and only three-legged golden toad that is super famous in ancient times and born with great luck! Divine beasts will bow when they see this king, and the ancient sages will immediately worship me! You…what does a kid like you know!”

Its voice loudly boomed like thunder, filled with frustration and anger.

“Three-legged golden toad?”

Lin Xun suddenly recalled that there was indeed some description of such a unique lifeform in ancient times. It was born with great intelligence and could identify all things. It could also chase away evil and disaster, turn misfortunes into blessings, and possessed an inconceivable mysterious power.

Legend has it that the three-legged golden toad was a terrifying variant species that could swallow the sun and moon and store the universe in its stomach. Its combat power was also extremely heaven-defying.

However, these were ultimately legends and rumors. Lin Xun did not believe that the crafty and shameless braggart before him who liked to use sneak attacks could possibly possess such an incredible background.

“Human, you’ve seen this king’s true form. Although I can’t escape for the time being, this wonder-gold dao light cannot kill me either. How about we make a deal? I will give you some guidance in exchange for letting me go. What do you say?”

The three-legged golden toad tried to broker a deal. It was clearly scared by the wonder-gold dao light and no longer dared to act so high and mighty.

As the saying went, people had no choice but to bow their heads when they weren’t in a position of power. The three-legged golden toad could only console itself with this saying.

Lin Xun sighed. “It seems that you still don’t understand your situation.”

Whoosh~

As he spoke, wonder-gold dao light began to flow, causing the toad to tremble as it cried out, “What do I have to do for you to let me off?”

Lin Xun displayed a wide smile and said, “Answer me a few questions first.”

The three-legged golden toad replied without hesitation, “Speak.”

It was indeed afraid, but also felt sullen and frustrated. If it was any other expert, they would have begun worshiping it as a supreme treasure. Why did it have to encounter someone like Lin Xun who was callous, sick in the head, and did not respond kindly to soft or hard approaches?

“What’s your name?”

“Jin Duyi, the one and only under the heavens and above the earth! What do you think, isn’t it a domineering name? Hey wait a minute, don’t hit me! We can always talk things out…”

“Did you eat my ego fragments?”

“What ego fragments?”

“Still refuse to admit it?”

A miserable scream rang out. The three-legged golden toad was repeatedly thumped by wonder-gold dao light, causing it to try and scurry away as it cried for its parents.

“I’ll answer, I'll answer, okay?!” It dejectedly hung its head and spat out a dozen balls of light. The balls glimmered like crystals as dao sound flowed from them.

They were ego fragments!

Lin Xun was elated. He originally did not have high hopes and never expected that the treasures were still around and had not been absorbed.

Soon after, his expression darkened as he icily chuckled and said, “You’re such a deceitful toad. If I didn’t beat you hard enough, you would never have cooperated!”

The three-legged golden toad’s face twitched, but it remained silent. It was clearly afraid of Lin Xun’s abuse and had no choice, but to grit its teeth and endure for the moment.

Lin Xun followed up with a few more questions. This time, the three-legged golden toad was extremely cooperative and did not dare to try anything funny.

It turns out that it was indeed called Jin Duyi and had been wandering in ‘Dao Burial Sea Mound’ ever since it awakened.

‘Dao Burial Sea Mound’ was the sea region they were currently located in. It was rumored to be an ancient dao burial ground or rather a cemetery where countless ancient experts had been entombed.

Lin Xun’s heart had jumped in alarm when he first heard about this secret rumor.

Dao Burial Sea Mound!

If the rumors were true, it would be horrifying, to say the least.

Although Jin Duyi had awakened its consciousness, it had forgotten many things and could only remember its name.

For the past hundred years, he had been searching for his past memories and a way to leave Dao Burial Sea Mound.

Unfortunately, he had been captured and imprisoned before he could find an exit!

The imprisoner was the king of the great wraith army and was known as the ‘Wraith King’.

However, the Wraith King did not harm him and merely forbade him from leaving.

As such, Jin Duyi had no choice but to take on the form of a wraith and stay at the Wraith King’s side.

This continued until today when he saw the Wraith King locked in battle with someone and was preparing to use the chance to escape, only to be captured by Lin Xun instead…

This was how Lin Xun learned that the entity fighting Elder Gao Yang was called the ‘Wraith King’!

Lin Xun suddenly asked, “Why did the Wraith King keep you by its side instead of killing you?”

Jin Duyi immediately displayed a proud and dignified expression, “Who do you think this king is? I am the one and only three-legged golden toad below the heavens and above the ground! No matter how formidable the Wraith King is, he wouldn’t dare to show even the slightest disrespect to this king!”

This guy is clearly becoming cocky again…

Lin Xun was already tired of arguing with the toad. After a little thought, he suddenly frowned and suspiciously asked, “Since you were trying to escape, why did you try to sneak up on me and attack?”

Jin Duyi faked a cough and said, “Sigh, it’s my one fatal flaw. I can never hold back when I see a rare treasure…”

“What do you mean?” Lin Xun raised his brow.

Jin Duyi’s gaze swiveled left and right before he suddenly erupted, “Why else but this dumb tower! Why did it have to appear now of all times? Why did it have to entice this king? Abominable, truly abominable! If not for it, this king would have fled long ago and finally be enjoying freedom instead of being trapped here!”

Lin Xun was taken aback. It took him some time to realize that the toad had been lured by the ‘Nameless Pagoda’.

Lin Xun curiously asked, “You know its origins?”

“I don’t know.” Jin Duyi’s answer was very straightforward.

However, he seemed to be afraid that the answer would offend Lin Xun and quickly elaborated, “Although this king does not know the pagoda’s origins, I am certain that it is an extremely incredible ancient treasure because its aura feels far too special. Why else would it have managed to draw this king’s attention?”

Lin Xun could not help but feel somewhat disappointed.

Regardless, the fact that the pagoda could make the three-legged golden toad try to steal it instead of escaping meant that it was very special indeed.

“This king feels that you should not recklessly use this treasure or it will bring you disaster.”

Jin Duyi suddenly cautioned, “This pagoda is far too abnormal. The three-legged golden toad race is born with an encyclopedic knowledge of all things and can identify even the rarest and most peculiar treasures in the world. However, this pagoda is very unusual. It is forged from the purest Genesium, and yet it somehow possesses a cryptic and mysterious power undulation that transcends everything I know. How bizarre…”

Genesium!

Lin Xun had originally been uninterested, but immediately gasped at the word ‘Genesium’ as his heart violently shuddered. As a rune founder, he deeply understood the value of Genesium. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call it a godly material!

Such a godly material should have gone extinct long ago and be impossible to find.

Even in ancient times, a mere thumb-sized piece of Genesium could cause unspeakable chaos. Countless experts would go crazy fighting over it, leaving rivers of blood in their wake!

It was not an exaggeration to say that the word ‘Genesium’ could even draw the attention of the almighty Life Death Stage Kings and make them vie for it!

The palm-sized, nine-inch-tall Nameless Pagoda was made entirely of Genesium!

Even without knowing its origins, its material alone would draw a ludicrous amount of attention and greed.

The Nameless Pagoda suddenly looked completely different in Lin Xun’s eyes, now covered in an aura of indescribable mystery.

The octagonal pagoda had an ancient design. Its body looked like plain jade glass, but it gave off a gorgeous and magnificent golden luster.

This was evidently the color of the legendary Genesium: a mix between glass and jade that gave off a grand and gorgeous air!

It was only the size of a palm, but the pagoda was split into eight sections. Every section appeared to be a world of its own, containing the sun, moon, mountains, rivers, sky, earth, stars, and the rest of the cosmos.

It was as if the universe itself had been split into eight sections and imprinted onto the pagoda, giving it a timeless charm.

All of a sudden, Lin Xun seemed to see a scene from ancient times―

Countless eons ago, a pagoda stood amidst the starry sky and boundless earth, overseeing the eight poles as its light illuminated the nine continents!

I thought the Broken Blade was already mysterious enough and now I find that the Nameless Tower also has such unfathomable origins…I can’t even imagine…

Lin Xun let out a deep sigh in his heart.

He looked at the incomplete word at the top of the pagoda. Every stroke seemed to contain the dao of the heavens. Although it was incomplete, it still gave off a pressure that would shake anyone’s heart.

On the first floor of the pagoda, Jin Duyi returned to his handsome and charming human form of a youngster with golden eyes wearing green robes.

Jin Duyi took a deep breath and asked, “This king has answered all your questions. Shouldn’t you let this king leave now?”

“Leave? Since when did I say I would let you go?”

Lin Xun had a puzzled look. There was no way he would let the toad go after finding out that it was a three-legged golden toad.

This wasn’t something to joke about!

The three-legged golden toad was a legendary ancient variant species that possessed inconceivable and mysterious powers. It could ward off misfortune, draw good luck, exorcize evil, and chase away disaster. Moreover, it possessed encyclopedic knowledge that allowed it to identify all kinds of treasures.

Such a treasure had to be kept right next to him at all times!