How do you write cool?

At this moment, Hou Qing was completely unaware of the outside world. He only felt the overwhelming pressure surrounding him, with darkness and chaos closing in.

Fortunately, although this demon toad was toxic all over, its body contained no poison. It only had a poison gland in its mouth, capable of spewing toxic smoke. Where Hou Qing was positioned happened to be at the throat of the demon toad, beyond the reach of the poison gland. Furthermore, the demon toad had just sprayed out all its poison smoke in its frenzy to use its supernatural ability to suck prey into its stomach, leaving very little remaining.

Therefore, at this moment, the demon toad could only instinctively writhe its esophagus, trying to swallow Hou Qing into its belly.

Feeling the pressure intensifying around him, Hou Qing grew annoyed. His right hand remained firmly gripping the short dagger inserted into the demon toad's throat; he couldn't let go. Enduring the excruciating pain, he reached behind with his left hand, grasping the Heaven-Domed Ring used to tie his hair.

"Nine-Serpent Golden Flame Sword, come out for me!"

With a painful roar, the Nine-Serpent Golden Flame Sword was summoned, instantly casting a dazzling golden light and wreaking havoc inside the demon toad's belly.

Meanwhile, outside, as the demon toad went mad and fought desperately, Hou Qing appeared to be in a pitiful state, bearing visible wounds.

Taking advantage of the demon toad's frenzy, he forcefully replenished his own spiritual energy and engaged in combat. He wanted to seize this rare opportunity to bring down the creature. Using every tactic at his disposal, his flying sword darted around, his movements agile and swift. To the demon toad, he seemed like a venomous wasp, incessantly thrusting his sharp stinger into its vulnerable spots.

In its frenzied state, the demon toad seemed to have lost its rationality, blindly thrashing about, paying no heed to some of his attacks. The entire forest shook as trees were shattered and boulders flew around from its collisions.

However, in this madness, the frenzied demon toad still inflicted considerable damage on Hou Qing. His shoulder was pierced by the toad's tongue, his left leg splattered with venom, and his chest was heavily struck by the toad, fracturing three ribs.

More importantly, his spiritual power was nearly depleted.

Of course, the results were also remarkable. One of the demon toad's eyes was blinded by him, and its abdomen, devoid of python scales, was nearly split open by his flying sword, with its innards spilling out, half of which dragged on the ground.

If not for the demon toad going berserk, Hou Qing would never have had the chance to inflict such significant damage.

At this moment, exhausted as he was, Hou Qing suddenly saw the demon toad leaping frantically, its limbs stiffening, and a dazzling golden light emanating from its mouth, which startled him.

"This demon toad has been so severely injured, yet it still has some supernatural power left?"

Shocked, he forcefully gathered his spiritual energy, dragging his almost useless left leg, and attempted to flee.

But just as he took a few steps, he saw the frenzied demon toad leaping into the air and crashing heavily onto the ground, mouth agape, body twitching slightly for a moment, then falling still.

"Is it dead?"

Hou Qing was greatly shocked yet strangely excited.

"I actually managed to slay a fourth-rank demon beast, the Python Desiccated Toad, with my own abilities?"

Even though he was usually composed, this astonishing achievement left him exhilarated.

To engage in battle beyond one's rank and slay a fourth-rank ferocious beast, this was a feat that would astonish the entire Daoist community!

While there were certainly individuals within the Daoist community who could slay such demons with a single stroke of their sword, achieving it at the level of Spirit Awakening Second Tier was exceedingly rare.

"Truly, the heavens have favored me. Upon entering the inner sect, I must offer sacrifices to the heavens!"

Hou Qing paused, catching his breath, offering a prayer, then prepared to dissect the demon toad.

But just then, the lifeless body of the demon toad suddenly twitched, its mouth gaping wider, and a putrid stench emanated as its entrails, flesh, and blood spilled out, along with some undigested prey. What caught Hou Qing's attention the most was a child lying inside, none other than Fang Xing, motionless, seemingly lifeless for quite some time.

Seeing this, Hou Qing couldn't help but sneer, thinking, "Even if you're as slippery as a snake, you've still become the demon toad's meal?"

Dragging his broken leg, he was about to examine the situation further when he suddenly remembered something.

"This brat was swallowed by the demon toad, and then the demon toad went berserk. Could it be that he did something?"

Hou Qing pondered silently. Although he was reluctant to attribute the credit for killing the demon to anyone else, he remained rational and carefully analyzed the situation. "Although he appears to be dead now, it's best to be cautious in dealing with him..."

With that in mind, he mustered what little spiritual energy he had left, forcibly summoned his flying sword, and prepared to strike Fang Xing lying on the ground.

Just as the flying sword was about to strike Fang Xing, Hou Qing, instinctively prepared to make a second strike, suddenly froze...

At that moment, Fang Xing, who appeared to be dead, suddenly sat up, laughing heartily. "You're quite clever; couldn't even fool you?"

With these words, he extended his hand, and suddenly, a golden sword flew out from behind him. The sword seemed to be ablaze with golden flames, with nine small snakes coiling around it, presenting a bizarre sight. As the sword clashed with Hou Qing's, it effortlessly deflected the attack. Fang Xing took advantage of the moment to get up and escape. However, as soon as he had fled a few steps, he exclaimed, turning abruptly.

Hou Qing, who had failed to strike Fang Xing, instinctively prepared to strike again but was suddenly stunned...

At that moment, Fang Xing turned around, his face filled with excitement as he looked at Hou Qing.

Hou Qing also looked at Fang Xing, and suddenly a question popped into his mind.

"Swoosh..."

Hou Qing said nothing, suddenly turning and running away.

Fang Xing laughed and chased after him, shouting, "You've run out of spiritual energy! It serves you right to fall into my hands..."

As it turned out, during this confrontation, both Hou Qing and Fang Xing suddenly realized something.

After the fierce battle with the demon toad, Hou Qing's spiritual power was nearly depleted.

Fang Xing was delighted. Turning around, he chased after Hou Qing, while Hou Qing's face changed drastically, paying no heed to anything else as he fled.

As they chased and fled, Feng Xing quickly caught up. After all, he was injured in his left arm, while Hou Qing was injured in his left leg. Feng Xing faced many dangers, but in reality, he had never engaged in direct combat, so his spiritual power consumption was minimal. On the other hand, while Feng Xing wreaked havoc inside the monster's belly, Hou Qing had been in direct battle with the monster, resulting in severe spiritual power depletion and numerous injuries.

For cultivators, spiritual power was their strength; without it, they were no different from ordinary people.

"Swish..."

Feng Xing chased for a few steps and managed to catch up to Hou Qing, who was running frantically. Despite his sole thought being to escape, Hou Qing was frozen by Feng Xing's words. Upon hearing Feng Xing's revelation, disbelief flashed across his face. With a sudden realization, he remembered where he had seen Feng Xing's peculiar Nine-Serpent Golden Flame Sword before.

"It's you!"

An invisible rage engulfed Hou Qing's reason. He abruptly stopped and turned around.

"So... you're the one who tricked me into losing my Monster Spirit Pill?"

Hou Qing's eyes were blazing with fury, his expression twisted in anger, and his hair almost stood on end.

"That's right, it's me. That Monster Spirit Pill's effects were truly remarkable. It helped me break through to the peak of the Second Stage of Spirit Movement!"

Feng Xing stopped, sneering at Hou Qing. He reached behind his head and took out the Mask of Wanluo, putting it on and transforming into the appearance of another man, revealing the face Hou Qing had yearned to obliterate during their time in the Daoist sect.

"I never expected it to be you... You... You're the one who caused me to lose the Monster Spirit Pill... It was under duress that I took on that damned mission... And yet again, it's you... You ruined my mission... Killed my comrades... Ruined my chances of completing the mission..."

Hou Qing ground his teeth, almost spitting out his anger, with a look of wanting to devour someone.

"That's right, it's me. And now, I want something else from you... I want your life!"

Feng Xing chuckled, his expression suddenly turning cold. The Nine-Serpent Golden Flame Sword around him surged with golden light, about to strike out with a single sword.

Hou Qing was shocked, but his mind cleared. The most urgent thing was to escape. Feng Xing had only called out to him to prevent his escape. However, by the time Hou Qing realized this, it was already too late. As he stood his ground, it would be difficult to escape Feng Xing's pursuit. In a desperate move, he shouted, "Feng Xing, you're going to kill me?"

Feng Xing's sword hesitated slightly, a hint of doubt in his voice, "Are you suggesting we still need to have a chat?"

Hou Qing sneered, "That's right. Didn't you say you wanted to teach me how to write the word 'thrill'?"

As he spoke, he quietly took out a pill, holding it between his fingers.

This pill was called the Incinerating Qi Pill. When swallowed, it would burn down Hou Qing's cultivation, reducing it to the Second Stage of Spirit Movement. But in exchange, he would gain a brief burst of fully restored spiritual power. Hou Qing decided to seize this opportunity to kill the detestable brat in front of him.

Just like Feng Xing had once delayed time under his sword, Hou Qing wanted to delay time under Feng Xing's sword.

Feng Xing chuckled as he listened. "Makes sense. It wouldn't be very thrilling to just kill you outright!"

He said, slowly approaching, a sly expression on his face.

Hou Qing smirked slightly, preparing to strike when Feng Xing got closer, forcing him to defend himself, and then swallowing the pill.

With his spiritual energy faint and only enough to empower his flying sword when Feng Xing got close, it was his plan to make Feng Xing defend himself. Then, he would swallow the pill.

However, he hadn't anticipated that while Feng Xing seemed to be approaching, as soon as he took half a step forward, he suddenly smiled sinisterly and formed a sword seal.

In an instant, the Nine-Serpent Golden Flame Sword blazed with golden light, slashing directly toward Hou Qing.