The next morning, the group had set off early. Knowing that they were in the uncommon grade territory, it could take anywhere from an hour to a week or two to find the Cold Dew Bamboo. Compared to a regular bamboo plant, the Cold Dew Bamboo was extremely cold upon touching it. The most noticeable difference however, was that it was blue compared to the regular green color.

The group had slowed down as they moved along. Besides the injured soldier, Qian Yu had to pay more attention to the surroundings in order to make sure they didn’t accidentally miss the Cold Dew Bamboo.

*Swish* Qian Yu had just cut some trees down before he saw that they had entered a marsh-like area once again.

“Well… this looks familiar,” Qian Yu stabbed his spear into the ground in front of him.

“What is it this time? More crocodiles?” Realizing it went a foot into the ground, Qian Yu knew there was likely some type of spiritual beast lurking in the waters.

“Qian Yu look!” Zhao Xieren’s shout had interrupted Qian Yu from observing the swampy water.

Turning his head to where Zhao Xieren was pointing at, there was a stalk of bamboo on the other side of the marsh. Even though it was very far away, Qian Yu could easily tell, it was blue.

*Pshh!* Yet before anything, something came shooting out from the depths of the swamp.

“Wooaah!” Everyone backed off as the spiritual beast fell down.

*Bam!* The spiritual beast had fallen down, creating a large splash. What appeared was a gigantic frog, at least 15 feet tall. Its giant yellow eyes stared at the cultivators as it licked its mouth with its slimy tongue. 

“That’s not an uncommon grade spiritual beast! It’s a Frost Belly King Frog, a rare grade spiritual beast,” A soldier shouted out, not the least bit intimidated by it however.

Similarly, Qian Yu wasn’t either. There weren’t any other spiritual beasts in the vicinity as it seemed like this frog had taken up the whole area by itself. Though he had never really participated in a direct attack against a rare grade spiritual beast, he had seen it happening many times in the Soba Empire.

Zhao Xieren had once again instantly started ordering the soldiers, “Ice Sect and Fire Sword soldiers, attack from afar!”

*Swoosh!* A barrage of ice spears were sent flying at the frog.

*Snap!* Yet as they hit the frog, they didn’t penetrate the skin as the ice just shattered.

*Fwah!* Similarly, a slash of fire had been shot out too.

*Puut!* Landing on the frog, it vanished, leaving the frog intact.

“Ribbit,” the frog sneered, acting like nothing had happened.

However, it quickly opened its mouth and its tongue shot out quickly at one of the soldiers.

*Bam!* The soldier had managed to roll to the side dodging the attack. As the frog retracted its tongue, a large crater a few feet deep was there.

However, they weren’t scared by it and continued to wait for Zhao Xieren to make up her mind.

“Thoughts Qian Yu?” Zhao Xieren asked, wondering if they should retreat or fight it.

“Clearly, the ice and fire techniques aren’t strong enough to damage it. We should see if the internal fist techniques of the Mountain Crushing Sect or mine can harm it first,” Qian Yu didn’t want to give it too easily.

“Alright, Ice Arts soldiers, if the frog opens its mouth again to attack with its tongue, throw spears of ice into its mouth. Everyone else will focus on engaging it in close combat,” Zhao Xieren yelled out.

“Yes, Young Miss!” The soldiers immediately started running at the frog.

Seeing the humans run at it, the frog held up its arm as it swung it.

*Swoosh!* It was fast, but very telegraphic, allowing the soldiers to duck and dodge the swipe. More importantly though, the swipe had only stopped a few of the soldiers. Surrounding the frog from different angles, everyone else started closing in.

“Hiyah!” The soldiers yelled out as they started attacking the frog with their weapons.

*Whish!* As expected though, their weapons weren’t able to penetrate past the slimy skin. Not only was the skin hard and flexible, it was also slippery, making it hard for physical weapons to do anything.

Staring at the disgusting slimy skin, Qian Yu pulled his arm back before he punched forward and activated Lightning Spasm.

*Bam!* Qian Yu was sent flying back since the frog was so big. Looking at the area where he punched though, Qian Yu noticed that the skin had a few small rips with a few drops of blood leaking from it.

“Kwarrhhh,” the frog roared as it turned to look at where it had gotten hit. Noticing Qian Yu, it opened its mouth.

Transcending Lightning Step! With how close they were, Qian Yu preemptively use it the moment its mouth opened.

*Pop!* As he repositioned himself some 30 feet away, a small crater had been created from where he just was.

*Swoosh swoosh!* Of course, the moment the frog had opened its mouth, a barrage of ice spears were sent flying into its mouth.

“WARRRHHHH” The frog let out a terrifying roar spitting out blood. Shards of ice flew out of its move. Its eyes turned red as it angrily looked at the Ice Arts soldiers. Ignoring Qian Yu, it leaped up into the sky once more.

“Run run! Get out of the way!” The soldiers yelled. Having a giant frog like this land on top of you would no doubt get you killed.

*Crash* the earth trembled as the frog descended.

*Smack!* Swinging its hand, it sent a few of the soldiers flying across the swamp. Falling down or hitting a tree, they immediately lost consciousness.

“Everyone, get back!” Zhao Xieren yelled, seeing that their forces had tremendously weakened.

“Qian Yu, are you okay?” Zhao Xieren turned around making sure Qian Yu was fine.

“Yeah, I’m good,” Qian Yu nodded.

“Phew... I think we might have to retreat for now,” Zhao Xieren felt like it was a little helpless. The spears of ice did damage it but it didn’t even seem to be a fatal wound and the frog was still jumping around. As for the internal fist techniques from the Mountain Crushing Sect, it didn’t seem to have any impact. Lastly, the fire attacks didn’t move as fast as the ice spears, making it harder to land.

“I think we got this,” Qian Yu, however, had different plans, as he saw how powerful the quick Lightning Spasm had been. 

“I… very well then. What do I need to do?” Zhao Xieren believed in Qian Yu.

“Buy me some time and have a few of the Fire Sword cultivators get ready to follow up. Also get ready to catch me,” Qian Yu said.

Qian Yu didn’t dally and immediately ran off, leaving a clueless Zhao Xieren behind. Taking out the earth grade Shrouded Cloak, Qian Yu disappeared from the battlefield. Most of the trees in the swamp were skinny sticks. However, a couple hundred feet away or so, there was an area of solid land with a large tree.

Climbing the tree, Qian Yu found the largest branch. Sticking outwards, it was pointing at where everyone else was fighting right now. By now, the fighting had resumed and the frog was busily engaged with fighting the soldiers. Taking a deep breath, Qian Yu started running as fast as he could on the short arm. As he reached the end of the branch, Qian Yu activated Transcending Lightning Step.

*Phroosh!* Instantly, Qian Yu was in the air, fast approaching the giant frog while invisible.

‘Holy crap I’M FLYING!’ It was a serious situation but Qian Yu couldn’t help but be a little excited. It was a novel feeling as he felt the wind currents around him.  

However his joy could only last so long.

*Splat* Like a small bug, Qian Yu had flown right into the back of the frog. Instead of bouncing off though, he stuck to it.  It was just like he had felt earlier from his punch. The skin of the frog was very thick, allowing it to be more shock absorbent. It was like he had just jumped into one of the largest and fluffiest beds in the world and as such, he wasn’t bounced away.

Furthermore, he had learned from his previous attack that the slimy covering on the frog was powered by qi. Channeling Lightning Spasm, he had managed to dissolve some of that liquid and grab a hold of the skin. Of course, he continued channeling Lightning Spasm preparing to deliver a potent attack.

“Ribbit?” The frog made a weird noise realizing something was amiss.

A second later, it realized Qian Yu was sticking on its back.

*Swish swish* It tried to swipe Qian Yu off its back but to no avail, it failed.

‘Hahaha, stupid frog,’ It was an amusing sight as Qian Yu watched the frog. Its arms were way too short and couldn’t extend properly.

“Hwahhh,” the frog roared, realizing its actions were futile. With no other option, the frog did what it did best.

Suddenly, Qian Yu felt the frog crouch down a little and his grip on it tightened.

*FWOOSH!* The frog burst into the air flying at a speed faster than Qian Yu’s speed earlier.

“AHHHHH!” Qian Yu yelled out as they flew up. In a matter of seconds, they had reached a couple hundred feet into the air.

Of course, the speed dropped as they continued upwards and the moment Qian Yu felt that their velocity had reached 0, or when they would start falling down, an explosion happened.

*BOOM!* Black smoke erupted from the sky as Qian Yu activated Lightning Spasm.

“What the!” “What’s going on?” From the ground, the soldiers were confused as to what had happened.

Yet quickly, two objects, one large and one small, were seen falling from the sky.

“AHHHHH!!!” Qian Yu screamed at the top of his lungs.

“Qian Yu!” Zhao Xieren was still a little surprised by the explosion.

“S-Soldiers! Attack the frog when it falls down!” Zhao Xieren ordered before she ran towards Qian Yu’s direction.

*Thud* Zhao Xieren jumped a couple meters as she caught Qian Yu before the two of them fell into the dirty snow.

“THAT WAS TOO DANGEROUS!” Zhao Xieren yelled out immediately.

“What would you have done if you flew further away?” Zhao Xieren worriedly asked.

“Hahaha don’t worry,” Qian Yu felt a little lightheaded from falling down.

“I have this,” Qian Yu said as he waved his hand, which was holding a large tree branch.

“This is?” Zhao Xieren asked, wondering if it was some type of mysterious artifact.

“I broke it off earlier on the large tree. If it was needed, I could put this under my feet and use it as support for me to use Transcending Lightning Step. If I used it upwards, my descent would be slower and nothing would happen,” Qian Yu had a cheeky smile as he explained it to her.

Zhao Xieren was silent as she glanced back and forth from the branch and Qian Yu. As she looked back to her dirty clothes, a yell erupted, “THEN WHY DIDN’T YOU JUST DO THAT!”

“Well-“ Qian Yu did indeed feel a little bad.

*Splash!* But before anything, Qian Yu felt Zhao Xieren’s arm let go of him as he fell down into the muddy snow.