hit it with thunder
"Although I'm afraid of dying, I just can't leave a seriously injured woman behind," Clark declared with determination on his face, outright rejecting the toad monster's proposal.
What Clark didn't know was that his image in Sherry's heart was undergoing a transformation—from a lascivious rogue to someone somewhat responsible, from ordinary to somewhat capable. This wasn't to say that Sherry had started to like Clark, just that she now found him less repulsive.
"You've got guts, kid. Even if you kneel down and beg me now, I won't let you go!" the toad monster coldly stated.
"I have a secret treasure inside me that can momentarily elevate your power by three minor levels," Sherry's ethereal voice suddenly resonated in Clark's mind.
"Even with an elevation of three minor levels, I would only reach the strength of the tenth Qi refining level. With this toad monster's early Foundation Building stage, defeating it is nearly impossible," Clark said gravely.
"Can't you just be a real man for once and show some backbone?" Sherry's cheeks flushed as she spoke.
"I'm not a real man? Weren't you the one being bullied to tears before?" Clark couldn't hold back after Sherry accused him of lacking backbone.
"Die, toad monster!" Clark shouted, having thought it through. If he kept running, he might be intercepted by the creature; a bold fight might be better than continuous fleeing.
Seeing Clark's fighting spirit stirred, Sherry's lips curled slightly, her arched eyebrows and radiant smile blossoming like a peony, dreamily beautiful.
The toad monster, dumbfounded by the stunning woman before it, drooled continuously from its gaping mouth.
In Sherry's palm, a talisman glowed. This talisman, already burned several times, was now just a small fragment left. It was a rare spirit charm found in an ancient ruin, usable three times, and it had already been used twice when she found it.
This ancient charm could temporarily elevate someone's strength by three minor levels but was only effective on cultivators below the Foundation Building stage and came with a time limit. Sherry, already at the initial Foundation Building stage when she found the charm, couldn't use it herself.
Though ineffective for her, the ancient talisman could fetch a staggering price at auction due to its rarity and the fact that only ancient cultivators could produce such items, which were no longer manufacturable.
After Sherry deployed the talisman, it quickly burned to ash, and a mysterious force flowed from it into Clark's body. Clark's grip on his black sword tightened, feeling a surge of power far greater than before. The sword, wrapped in red mist, solidified further as if about to break free from the gates of hell, becoming a bloodthirsty demon sword.
"Little beauty, once I've killed him, I'll join you in the mystical clouds," the toad monster cackled hideously.
From its mouth, the toad monster spit out a blood blade, its own magical weapon imbued with a potent malevolent energy, striking fiercely at Clark with dazzling brilliance. In its eyes, Clark, still just a Qi refining cultivator, could not bridge the gap to a Foundation Building cultivator, even if just newly advanced.
Against expectations, however, when the blood blade touched the black sword, a shattering noise ensued, and the black sword fragmented into countless pieces, dissipating as spiritual energy in the air.
"See the difference, boy?" the toad monster laughed uproariously, relishing the thrill of overpowering those weaker than itself.
How could this fight continue? It was utterly one-sided. Clark retreated continuously, the toad monster pressing forward step by step, its blood-colored greatsword slashing relentlessly. "Crack," the ten protective swords rotating in front of him touched the blood-colored greatsword and shattered like straw huts, utterly unable to withstand a single blow.
Clark's face paled; he hadn't expected that at the tenth level of Qi refining, he would be unable to withstand even a single strike from the toad monster. The gap was too large—how could he continue to fight? Clark dashed around, his terrifying speed leaving trails of afterimages on the ground. Now at the tenth level of Qi refining, he was executing the Thousand Mile Sprint at speeds several times faster than before.
Before he could get far, a massive, tens of meters long blood sword phantom heavily cleaved down in front of him, smashing rocks and leaving a several meters deep trench in the ground. If this blood-colored sword shadow had struck him, it would likely have cleaved him in two.
"You are truly weak, barely worth a strike!" the toad monster mocked as it saw Clark continuously dodging.
"Golden Toad's Jade Poison Palm."
At the same time, the toad monster's arm suddenly elongated, striking out with a palm that swiftly reached him. Its palm turned completely transparent, clearly showing the veins and blood vessels inside, and even the black poison mist swirling within could be seen.
The palm strike broke through the air, causing a violent explosion of air currents. The surrounding vegetation was uprooted, and rocks rolled thunderously, threatening to crush Clark completely. Being one of the five poisonous creatures, many parts of the toad's body contained toxins. If this palm had hit him, not only would the immense force be devastating, but the poison mist inside would likely be fatal.
The palm strike was too fast; despite his best efforts, Clark was unable to dodge it, and the poisonous palm was about to strike his chest. Suddenly, a bolt of lightning, bursting with radiant light, met the palm strike. The toad monster let out a wretched scream, quickly retracting its struck hand. It trembled all over, continuously spitting out sparks from its mouth, and its once transparent palm turned pitch black from the lightning strike.
"This guy, he's afraid of lightning, hit it with thunder!" Sherry urgently said; the lightning was her powerfully charged attack. She was already injured, and continuously channeling spiritual energy into Clark had drained her. Now, this terrifying strike had completely depleted her spiritual energy.
"I've never learned lightning magic!" Clark said with a wry smile, shaking his head. He too had noticed the toad monster's fear of lightning magic, but the problem was he didn't know any.
"You haven't learned even that? What do you usually study?" Sherry was somewhat surprised.
"Do lightning orbs count?" Clark thought to himself, frustrated. Not everyone had access to a sect's array of spells like she did. Ordinary disciples like him couldn't even glimpse the doors where the sect stored its spells, let alone study them.
Clark's fingertips glowed, and five fist-sized lightning orbs appeared, each flickering with weak lightning energy. He threw the lightning orbs at the toad monster, which only shivered slightly, showing no significant reaction. These lightning orbs were basic lightning spells, similar to fireballs; they were basic spells beginners needed to master, explained in the last few pages of the basic manual *Heavenly Dragon Technique* widely available in the Heavenly Sword Sect.
Clark resumed his battle with the toad monster, his continuous casting of lightning orbs doing no damage, merely delaying its attacks momentarily. The toad monster was far too strong compared to him, and Clark narrowly avoided being killed several times. If he continued this way, defeat was almost certain.
At this critical moment of life and death, Clark attempted to use the lightning magic he had secretly studied.
"Nine Heavens Thunder Path."
This spell, Clark had seen Sherry cast only once before, and he had secretly practiced it a few times himself. Leveraging his exceptional talent and intuitive understanding of magic, he decided to try casting it.
Now with no better option available, he made a bold move. Clark formed complex and profound hand seals, his movements slow but missing no crucial steps.
"Nine Heavens Thunder Path?" Sherry exclaimed in shock as she recognized the familiar hand seals. It was the first time she had shown such a reaction, her beautiful eyes filled with disbelief.