The murderous intent brewed in his heart.
The Snow Toad was obstructing their collection of herbs and had to be killed.
At that time, both the Snow Toad and the Snow Lotus would be his, as he believed that the creature often consumed Snow Lotus, making it a valuable treasure itself.
Shen Wang took out a Fireball Talisman but put it away again upon seeing the Thousand-year-old Snow Lotus.
Not only would the Fireball Talisman potentially destroy the Snow Lotus, but its heat would also dispel the cold, reactivating the Snow Toad, easily resulting in a failed effort.
The best course of action was to strike the Snow Toad lethally while it was sluggish.
Glancing at the Red Flame Sword and thinking about the cold aura the opponent had expelled, he was afraid a forced attack would destroy the sword,
He thought of something, had a flicker of inspiration, and took out a black nail from his Storage Pouch.
A gleam appeared in Shen Wang’s eyes; this item belonged to the category of Secret Artifacts. It shouldn’t be used multiple times, and its attribute was not Yang but it was a poisonous Magical Artifact, well-suited for the current environment.
He injected Spiritual Power to activate it, the Black Nail emitted a cold black gas and slowly floated upward.
With one hand, he performed a hand seal to control the Black Nail, while the other activated a Fireball Talisman and flung it into the sky.
A Fireball appeared, rising continuously, and exploded after reaching over ten zhang, resembling fireworks.
The scorching flames disturbed the nearby Yin and Yang balance, causing immediate changes in the weather.
Startled, the Snow Toad immediately spewed out a large amount of cold air, frosting nearby Snow Lotus.
Shen Wang chuckled lightly and did not attack, instead activating the Black Nail Magical Artifact while observing the Snow Toad’s status.
"Brother Shen, what are you doing?"
Li Yuanning from below the cliff asked, worried that Shen Wang might act rashly, resulting in gaining nothing.
"Exhausting the Snow Toad’s strength, you don’t need to panic, I know what I’m doing."
Shen Wang replied with his head down, and threw out a second Low-Level Fireball Talisman, this time at a much lower height, sending waves of scorching air toward the Snow Toad in the wind and snow.
The latter spat out cold air, extinguishing the flames with apparent ease.
Shen Wang sneered internally, this Snow Toad, however formidable, was still a beast, unaware of Shen Wang’s intentions, reacting purely instinctively with cold aura.
This was exactly the effect he wanted; continually depleting the Snow Toad’s strength gave him the opportunity to launch a fatal strike.
The surrounding cold aura grew increasingly intense, and the explosion points of the new Fireball Talismans continually lowered, with the cold aura acting as a barrier, preventing damage to the Snow Lotus.
He unhurriedly threw out Fireball Talismans, eventually fixing the detonation point at approximately two zhang above the ground.
The extreme Yang Power brought by the Fireball disrupted the nearby cold currents, causing the wind and snowstorms, grinding clouds gathered, but fortunately, Shen Wang stood far away, protected by a Stone Talisman, unaffected.
Below the cliff, seeing Shen Wang throwing out one talisman after another, the burning Fireballs not exploding on the cliff but seeming to detonate in the air, causing a drift of ice and snow.
The few people below could not comprehend if this method could possibly kill the Demon Beast hidden within the Snow Lotus?
This situation persisted; a quarter of an hour later, a blizzard ensued above the cliff, with dense clouds gathering and dimming the lights of the surroundings.
A vast expanse of wind and snow covered the cliff, and Shen Wang at the edges noticed the reflection of the Snow Toad in the Flying Sword, observing that its spewed cold aura was gradually diminishing.
The continuous release of cold aura had taken a toll on the Snow Toad’s strength.
"Others may boil a frog in warm water, but I’m using Fireballs to consume the Snow Toad’s strength."
Shen Wang smirked entertainingly as the next Fireball Talisman suddenly descended much lower, appearing about one zhang away from the Snow Lotus.
This enraged the Snow Toad, prompting it to suddenly launch a blood-red tongue, snatching the Fireball.
As it opened its mouth, freezing cold air was unleashed, suppressing the Fireball with ease.
The Red Flame Sword, which had been nimbly moving in the vicinity, suddenly transformed into a streak of fire, piercing toward the Snow Toad.
Having just extinguished the Fireball, the suddenly appearing Flying Sword left the Snow Toad with no time to react, scrambling in a rush, it broke free from the icy ground, clumsily leaping away.
"It’s not immobile, just inconvenient to move."
Shen Wang mused, controlling the Flying Sword with his thoughts for a follow-up attack.
Seeing it couldn’t dodge, the Snow Toad’s attention was drawn, hurriedly using its tongue again to block the Flying Sword.
It jumped itself away from the Thousand-year-old Snow Lotus, landing on the nearest protruding rock.
At this moment, the long-prepared Black Nail Magical Artifact in front of Shen Wang shot out with a whoosh.
Detecting the aura of the Black Nail, the Snow Toad let out an uneasy croak, spewing white airflow from its mouth, attempting to freeze the Black Nail approaching its side.
At this point, a Fireball appeared amidst the cold aura, releasing heat waves neutralizing some of the cold, enabling the Flying Sword and the Black Nail to press in sequentially.
The Snow Toad evaded the Red Flame Sword but got impaled by the Black Nail, pinning it onto the stone, emitting a cry of pain.
A large expanse of cold air erupted, freezing the Black Nail along with itself.
The Red Flame Sword trembled, swerved around to avoid the danger, and shakily returned to Shen Wang’s hand, covered in frost, significantly affected.
After storing the Flying Sword away, once the wind and snow diminished somewhat, Shen Wang approached the Snow Toad which was now definitively nailed down, the palm-sized body oozing some blood, and in its dying moments had unleashed Profound Ice Power, freezing the Black Nail, still exuding a bone-chilling aura.
"You shouldn’t have leapt out, otherwise I would have been wary of collateral damage and wouldn’t have used the Fireball directly on you."
Shen Wang muttered, then shook his head.
This Snow Toad knew nothing of strategy; having such a response was already impressive.
If not for his dexterous Sword Control Technique, multiple Fireball Talismans to weaken the cold aura, and then ambushing with the Black Nail Magical Artifact, it would have been impossible to get close to this creature.
"If the Snow Lotus is a thousand years old, this Snow Toad must be at least a thousand years as well, its value not lesser than the Snow Lotus."
Shen Wang pondered as he examined the Snow Toad, ensuring it wasn’t playing dead, before cautiously approaching.
Up close, Shen Wang’s Golden Light Shield rapidly accumulated frost; he rubbed his hands, clicking his tongue: "Such potent cold aura, even without much intelligence, with this cold aura alone, ordinary people wouldn’t stand a chance."
He noticed the Black Nail had cracked, not sure if it was breaking from a single use or damaged by the freeze.
Grimacing, he stored the frozen Snow Toad into a separate Storage Pouch. Upon finishing, Shen Wang was stiffened from the freeze.
He quickly circulated his Spiritual Power to regain comfort, then turned to start harvesting the Snow Lotus.
Under the cold aura, the Snow Lotus wasn’t affected; Shen Wang arrived first at the Snow Toad’s original position, where there was a ring of icy jade-like soil, containing snow-white mucus resembling oil.
Thinking this was also valuable, Shen Wang dug it out and stored it, digging a portion of the soil, he discovered what seemed to be a hole beside the Snow Toad’s location.
He carefully expanded the hole, and a jade-colored glow emerged, revealing a purely white Snow Lotus growing within, glimmering with Spiritual Light.
"Ten Thousand Year Snow Lotus?"
Shen Wang took a deep breath, but the Snow Lotus shattered and dissipated almost immediately, leaving him profoundly disheartened.
This Snow Lotus seemed to have formed from a surge of Spiritual Qi, and after breaking, left only a small section of jade-like rhizome at its original site, still radiating Spiritual Light.
"The root of the Ten Thousand Year Snow Lotus?"
Shen Wang was astonished, pouting: "Although the root isn’t as valuable as the flower, it should have its uses, right?"