The toad was so powerful that both figures bounced off each other, retreating several meters backward.

The figures inside of it all looked pale after that exchange, their hands clenched into tight fists as they followed the viper's movement.

The shockwave generated by the collision ravaged the nearby grassy grounds, and even the ants at the very corner were affected by it, with some even breaking their legs in that short exchange.

The viper queen hissed dangerously at the group, realizing that she had indeed made a mistake in not taking them seriously in the beginning, and so she charged for another attack, eyes filled with vengeance.

This time, dozens of tentacles emerged out of the sphere, following her orders. And the long and thick horn at the top of her head began to shine with a dangerous black light.

Fu Zheng who had his eyes closed this whole time had plenty of worries of his own, the intelligent gleam in the toad's eyes wasn't accidental, but a reflection of his own awareness. Moreover, he wasn't really versed in controlling this Golden Toad Array Formation. He had only used it a couple of times when he trained, but never in a life or death situation.

Calming down his fiercely beating heart, his human hands swiftly moved, and before long, talisman appeared out of nowhere. Tearing it apart with his own Qi, A vast amount of energy appeared out of nowhere and coursed through his whole body into the toad.

The golden apparition's body finally moved, and in order to meet the incoming viper, it surrounded itself with thick golden shields and opened its mouth.

Inside was a powerful tongue with a spearhead at the end, with a swift flick, it aimed for the incoming viper.

The black tentacles hurriedly dashed through the air and successfully met the unimaginably long and powerful spear of a tongue, but they immediately broke apart upon contact.

With nothing to obstruct its path, the spear tongue continued flying with astonishing speed before it collided with the viper's horn.

Another thunderous boom reverberated through the sphere, and the creatures inside the toad winced in pain.

Uncaring for them, Fu Zheng finally moved the giant toad's body, and with it, all of those people inside including his own seemingly unconscious body and lunged at the viper with the toad's arms filled with spikes and claws.

A shattering battle soon ensued with the toad moving, and the viper queen using her mighty powerful body to resist. Black tentacles emerged from all over the place and twisted around the toad, further hurting the creatures inside of it. Her black horn would light up sending beams of dangerous black light that obliterated everything in front of it, further damaging their energy reserves.

After a few minutes with the battle still ongoing, the black sphere disappeared just as abruptly as it appeared, giving those inside the toad newfound hope, and boosting their already eroded confidence.

Blood Spear's expression was crazed. He had been ordering the ants at the corner to jump into the toad to give them more energy for a few minutes now, yet they just ignored him. However, after the world-shaking treasure that appeared before, he was able to connect the dots and realize they were no longer under him, and this only further enraged him.

That was precisely why when he saw all of the ants slowly retreating after the sphere broke, his sanity threatened to break free.

'What is happening?!' He thought before another big attack occurred making him throw up a mouthful of blood.

Being the person responsible for a whole pillar out of the three of this array formation, he was subjected to even more damage than the others. Fu Zheng, and the black hornet Galan were more or less the same as him. Their energy was swiftly depleting, and the attack they could defend themselves against could be counted on one hand.

Naturally, all of the people present were aware of that fact, and so the moment the sunlight grazed their faces and suffered the last attack, they seemed to reach the exact same decision at the same time!

All of them immediately started running in wildly different directions. Some raced into the south, others west, east, and north.

There was always a very glaring weakness in their group, and that was precisely the lack of trust and organization, and how everyone vied for their own self-interests, so witnessing that their path of escape was no longer obstructed, they didn't hesitate for a second.

The giant toad began decreasing in size with every person that left, and soon it gradually returned to its initial form. A rectangular barrier covered the group of ants on one side, Fu Zheng and his lackeys in the center, and finally Lu Peng and the rest of the vice administrators.

Witnessing this scene, the three parties' eyes widened in sheer terror. Blood Spear was the one most affected, because not only did he encounter the certainty of his demise, but the treasure he had been working hard for had already disappeared, and he could no longer sense it. And to make matters worse, all of his ants subordinates under the mid-stage had begun retreating into the east, uncaring for the rest of his group.

The viper queen who was watching everything unfold from a distance grinned in a very human manner before she began to laugh hysterically. something that the three parties weren't able to endure as every cackle felt like a drum that threatened to shatter their whole sense of self. Her laugh sounded strange, high-pitched, and grating, like a bag of nails on a chalkboard.

"So it has come to this," She mocked as she gently slithered in the three's direction, and their previous barrier had also all but crumbled away under their hopeless states.

That was exactly when an uninvited guest made an appearance. The mid-stage Core Formation Golden Monkey!

"Oy, Oy!" He yelled as he fell from one of the tallest trees between the viper and the other group, blocking her approach.

Seeing who it was, the viper's movement paused, her slits narrowing down as she looked at him.

Chuckling, The golden monkey said, "Don't be so surprised, we're neighbors after all."

Quickly composing herself, the viper queen glanced behind him to the prey she had been cooking all this while, and then back at him once again, "What do you want?"

"I don't like your tone." The golden monkey commented with a shrug as he shook his head in disagreement.

The viper angrily hissed at that, and she knew that she had to be careful around him. After all, he could still easily kill her, and so she continued softening her tone, "Don't get between me and them. They were coming to kill me and they killed all of my subordinates."

"I can do that, but..." The golden monkey replied. "The arrangement between us should change."

The viper's eyes widened, understanding his point. Previously she was obligated to give him a certain amount of resources in every full moon. Now that she had lost her subordinate and become stronger, he was aiming for more.

"What is it?" She finally said with gritted teeth.

However, before he could say anything else, Fu Zheng interjected with a shout, "Senior, please help. I promise that I will give you whatever it is that you want."

"Hoh?" Murmured the golden monkey with interest as he turned around to look, "Like what?"

"Whatever," Fu Zheng replied with bright eyes, seeing that he had captured his attention, "I am the Elder's disciple in the Heavenly Cloud Sect. If you save me, I'll do my best to give you whatever it is that you want. Cultivation manuals, techniques, spirit stones, weapons... Please."

Hearing the list, the viper queen's gently slithering body that moved around froze. And for the first time today, she truly felt what all of those people inside of her black sphere were feeling, terror. She knew how greedy the monkey was, and it wasn't that improbable that she would indeed be the one to die today.

The golden monkey smiled faintly when he heard, he turned toward the viper once again and asked, "Did you hear that? So what can you offer?"

However, straining her mind as she could, she wasn't able to come up with anything that would trump the cultivator. Not only was she out of fruits, but even her subordinates were dead, and not even promising more benefits was possible, and even the altar she used to break through had already broken apart.

Knowing that there was only one thing in her possession, she said after much difficulty, "I can be your subordinate..."

Shaking his head, the golden monkey replied, "Too cheap. I want you, whole!"

"What?!" Reflexively mumbled the viper queen both due to confusion and shock, and a bad feeling gripped her heart.

"I need a slave," He so nonchalantly said as if discussing something mundane, "Things have been hectic in the swamp lately, and I need someone trustworthy."

"Slave?" She yelled back, voice dripping with both anger and fear.

"It's your decision," The golden monkey said with a grin, "It's either you or them. I won't force you."

The viper queen's whole body began vibrating in sheer anger, and her tail would furiously swat at the ground in an attempt to vent her agitation.

Just when she thought she had won, and everything was in the center of her grasp. It was once again ruthlessly taken from her. The intensity of her rage at that moment was immeasurable.

As she slithered from one side of the forest to the next with death in her eyes, she finally stopped after a while and said, "Alright."

More shockingly was the fact that the golden monkey stressed the necessity of a heavenly oath, whereas she assumed he just wanted that confirmation to humiliate her.

Gritting her teeth, she signed the contract, and the golden money left with a, "I'll come find you later. Now, enjoy..." He gave the creatures behind him one more smirk before he disappeared into the trees.

With that out of the way, the viper queen approached the three groups that were still frozen in fear, and using her very long body she began circling around them.

The three parties were herded into the middle, becoming a single group that formed a circle. The humans gripped tightly into their weapons, afraid that the snake might charge at them. The ants were more or less in the same situation as they were uncomfortable and squirmed around, their backs against the humans.

From time to time she would menacingly hiss at them, and when she noticed that they were terrified enough, she began her attack.