Deities: Rulers of Nature

At Crimson's suggestion, Azure led the temple guards back to an area where the middle and lower reaches of the long river meet.

The river narrows abruptly here, limiting the number of giant venomous toads that can pass through at a time, which effectively restricts the opponent's numerical advantage.

Some of the snake-men came ashore, their snake tails coiling around tree trunks or rocks to secure themselves, their bows and arrows already prepared. The rest of the snake-men dived into the river, each finding their own position, waiting for the arrival of the venomous giant toad.

"The Venomous Giant Toad has very poor eyesight; it can barely see stationary objects and can only detect moving targets." While waiting, Crimson added information about the Venomous Giant Toad's habits.

Upon hearing Crimson's words, the snake people calmed down, and gradually, the abnormal fluctuations in the river disappeared, and the entire river channel fell into a tranquil atmosphere.

Before long, a muffled croaking of frogs and the splashing sound of water being stirred came from afar, and a yellowish-green color quickly approached.

The first batch of giant venomous toads squeezed into the narrowed river channel, making the previously loose toad swarm more crowded.

Their eyes scanned the surroundings, but they found nothing.

The snake people watched silently as this group of venomous giant toads passed by. They were all just mortal-level toads, and the snake people's target from the beginning was only those three bronze-level giant toads. If possible, they would also take care of a few black iron-level ones.

One wave after another of giant toads passed by, but the snake people remained unmoved, even though there were a few Black Iron level ones among them.

When the three enormous bronze-tier giant toads entered the riverbed, several dark green vines with sharp thorns emerged from the mud and instantly bound the conspicuous giant toads—it was Qinglu's Entangling Technique.

This was a signal. The snake-men on the shore launched the first attack. The sound of bowstrings vibrating frequently rang out, and volleys of poisoned arrows were shot out, raining down on the giant toad.

The bronze and iron-tier giant toads weren't seriously injured, though the paralyzing venom from the arrows caused them some trouble. The mortal-tier giant toads fared worse; their skin wasn't tough enough and their resistance to venom wasn't high enough, so patches of white belly turned up on the water's surface.

The cacophony of frogs echoed through the river, enraging the giant toads. Their vocal sacs throbbed rapidly, and with a series of whooshing sounds, thick, slimy, purplish-red tongues shot out of the water, carrying a foul odor as they hurtled toward the snake-men on the bank.

However, the snake-men on the shore had already retreated after firing several volleys of arrows, and the giant toad's venomous tongue attack missed its mark.

This was the moment the underwater snake people had been waiting for. With a rapid swing of their tails, a group of snake people launched a swift attack.

"Pfft!"

The sound of flesh being slashed rang out one after another, and the tongues of many giant frogs were cut off.

Just as a mortal-level cherry blossom spirit can release three powders, a mortal-level giant toad can also use its venomous tongue to attack its target, so cutting off its tongue is very necessary.

The three bronze-tiered giant toads were completely enraged. They suddenly raised their heads, opened their huge mouths, and their chest cavities contracted violently like blowers. The surrounding water began to surge, and in the blink of an eye, three huge underwater whirlpools formed, which were the giant mouth whirlpools.

The whirlpool's suction was far greater than that of a fish swallowing a giant. Even though the snake-men clung to rocks, inserted their weapons into the riverbed or rock crevices, it was all in vain. Their bodies still slid little by little toward the giant mouth.

However, before the snake-man entered the giant maw, there were countless mortal-level giant toads surrounding it.

This is where the terrain comes in handy; because the giant toads are so densely packed, they actually become obstacles to each other.

Although giant frogs don't mind eating a few of their companions to replenish their energy, the timing is clearly not right now, and their abdominal space is limited, so they can't continue.

The giant mouth closed, and the giant frog that had been inhaled was completely swallowed.

The three vortexes began to dissipate, the terrifying suction force rapidly weakened, and the snake people quickly regained their footing.

But the giant frogs weren't so lucky. Their bodies were too large and clumsy. Their short, thick limbs flailing wildly in the water, and they would be knocked over by their rolling companions if they weren't careful, making the scene extremely chaotic.

The snake-men were clearly not going to let such a good opportunity slip by. Accompanied by the sound of rushing water, snake-men figures quickly launched an attack on the giant toads.

After Qinglu activated his burst ability, he unleashed his Blood Claw. During this time, he had already inscribed these two skills into his class tree, allowing him to unleash them with even greater freedom.

Blood-red blades tore through the river, slicing open the bodies of the mortal-level giant frogs, and then, with their remaining power, slashed towards the bronze-level giant frogs.

Blood and organs murky the river, but they couldn't impede the Golden-ringed Snake People's senses. They pointed out the giant frog's location to their companions, and the attack continued.

The Bloodblade Claw tore open the skin of the Bronze-tier Giant Toad, leaving deep wounds that exposed bone, but what flowed out was not only blood, but also a white, turbid liquid.

"Everyone be careful not to get the white venom on your bodies. That's a bone-corroding poison that our scales can hardly withstand," the crimson eyes narrowed as he shouted a warning.

But it wasn't just the snake-men who couldn't resist the bone-corroding white poison; it was equally fatal for the mortal giant toads.

As the venom spread in the water, a piercing sizzling sound rang out.

The giant toads tainted with the bone-corroding white poison emitted sharp, explosive cries, and their skin melted away rapidly like snow under the scorching sun, revealing their muscles in the blink of an eye.

However, as the snake-men quickly moved away from the battlefield, Bai Qian took the opportunity to activate her Illusionary Eyes and swiftly gained control of an injured Black Iron-tier giant toad.

Under his control, the giant toad completely ignored the suppression of the bronze-level giant toad. It suddenly kicked off with its hind legs, and its huge body, carrying water, crashed into one of the bronze-level giant toads.

Bai Qian paid no attention to the outcome. She activated her Illusionary Eyes again, this time targeting another wounded Black Iron-tier giant toad.

Colorful light shone in the pupils of the black iron-tier giant toad, and then it charged toward another bronze-tier giant toad.

Afterwards, Bai Qian successively controlled the three black iron-tier giant toads to launch attacks until his mental power was insufficient to use the Illusionary Eye, at which point he retreated to the riverbank.

The three bronze-tier giant toads didn't know what had gotten into their lower-ranking kin, daring to attack them. This enraged the giant toads even more than the attacks from the snake people.

Their already dull minds were completely consumed by rage. Three purplish-red afterimages shot out from their mouths, carrying terrifying penetrating power, and pierced through the black iron-tier giant toad with a "plop".

Bai Qian's seemingly haphazard tactics provided Qinglu and Chihong with an excellent opportunity to attack.

"Now."

Green and Crimson exchanged a glance, and then, with perfect understanding, each chose a bronze-tier giant toad. With a flick of their snake tails, the two of them shot towards their enemy like two arrows released from a bow.

The emerald green blood-red claws and the crimson snake venom struck simultaneously the soft flesh exposed by the giant toad as its tongue was ejected.

The two bronze-tier giant toads didn't even have time to let out a scream before they struggled a few times and died.

The last bronze-tier giant toad quickly retracted its tongue upon seeing this, attempting to turn and flee the battlefield, but how could Qinglu let it go?

"Stay here. A family should stay together." In the blink of an eye, the crimson figure had arrived on the giant toad's head, its sharp claws snapping out and blinding one of the giant toad's eyes.

At the same time, the venom of the putrid snake was released. Although its toxicity was not as strong as that of the bone-corroding white poison, it was still enough to kill the giant toad.

The last bronze-tier Venomous Giant Toad merely stirred up a small ripple before departing to join its family.