When Gavin Wei heard Evan Chu say that, he immediately dropped Evan and charged into the woods, completely forgetting that Evan was so weak he could barely stand.
After sprinting dozens of meters, he heard Evan Chu's furious roar behind him: "Gavin, you pig! I'll beat you to death!"
Turning around, he saw Evan Chu sprawled on the ground looking utterly miserable, eyes blazing with rage as he glared at him.
"Bro, how could you be so careless!" Gavin hurried back to Evan's side, his expression oddly torn between wanting to laugh and not daring to.
"Are you looking for trouble? I can walk just fine without your help," Evan grumbled.
Gavin glanced at Evan, then simply hoisted him onto his shoulders and dashed into the woods, the whole scene looking downright comical.
Being carried like this was pure torture for Evan, but he couldn't do a thing about it. Silently, he vowed, "One day, I'll make you taste this humiliation yourself."
Once inside the woods, they quickly reached Lynn. Gavin set Evan down and asked, "Lynn, what's going on? What happened?"
Lynn pointed ahead. Not far away, a basin-sized toad squatted, staring at the group with bulging, intimidating eyes—completely unafraid.
"Holy crap! Why is that toad so huge? Is it a magical beast?" Evan blurted out in shock. He'd seen plenty of magical beasts before, but finding one here was definitely strange.
Lynn said, "This isn't just any toad. We need to leave, now. I never expected to see its shadow here."
Lynn's cryptic warning made Evan and Gavin both confused. Gavin said, "It's just a big toad, what's the big deal? Let me kill it—women are always making a fuss."
Evan thought Gavin had a point. Ordinary women are afraid of snakes and bugs, not real magical beasts. Especially someone like Lynn, who kills without blinking, being scared silent by a toad?
"No, absolutely not!" Lynn blurted, her pale face turning even whiter.
"Why?" Evan and Gavin asked at the same time.
"This isn't a normal toad. It's ignoring us because there's a gigantic spider facing off with it nearby. Otherwise, none of us would make it out alive," Lynn explained.
The more Evan and Gavin listened, the stranger it sounded. Even if the toad is strong, what's up with this spider? And where is it, anyway?
Just then, Luna's voice echoed in Evan's mind: "Evan, you really are both lucky and unlucky. Do you know what that toad is? And the spider?"
"I don't see any spider, just the web. What exactly is it? Why is Lynn so scared?" Evan asked, bewildered.
"The toad's real name isn't just 'toad.' It's the Mystic Ice Toad. Don't underestimate it. Judging by its size, this one's at least a thousand-year-old specimen, with fully matured Mystic Ice qi inside.
That spider is extraordinary, too. You can't see it because its body is either transparent or invisible right now. Too bad you can't use Chaos Qi—otherwise, if you focused your spirit, you'd sense obvious energy fluctuations on the web," Luna explained.
The more Evan listened, the stranger it all seemed. Just as he was about to ask, Lynn said, "Gavin, take Evan out of here first. I can't explain everything right now, but both these creatures are ancient ferocious beasts. Either one could instantly kill a Heaven Martial Realm expert."
Gavin saw Lynn wasn't lying and was shaken—thank goodness he hadn't tried to kill that toad, or he'd already be a frozen corpse.
"Gavin, take Lynn and go! Her injuries are serious—forget about me," Evan urged, realizing how dire things were.
"Gavin, take Evan out! Please, I'm supposed to protect him. If the Mystic Ice Toad exhales its Mystic Ice qi, we'll all die here," Lynn pleaded.
"Gavin, if you don't listen to me, then stop following me! I'm a man—you should understand that. Don't forget, you're a man too!" Evan barked urgently.
Gavin was torn. After glancing at Evan and Lynn, he finally said, "Sorry, bro! Men are supposed to protect women, and if she's your woman, I should protect her even more!" With that, he scooped Lynn up and dashed out of the woods.
Evan almost coughed blood at Gavin's last line. What do you mean, 'my woman'? We're totally innocent—nothing happened except that one mouth-to-mouth medicine feed. Does that even count?
Just as Gavin carried Lynn out of the woods, the Mystic Ice Toad ahead moved. Evan saw its body flash with white light.
Then it spat a dense white mist toward the spider web in midair. Instantly, Evan felt the forest temperature drop as if he were sitting inside solid ice. Trees froze and started to crack.
At the same time the Mystic Ice Toad spat out its white mist, a burst of flame erupted from the center of the spider web. The scorching heat instantly melted the frozen trees, even setting them ablaze.
Evan, thanks to his tough body and being farther away, wasn't hit too hard. Still, the feeling of being trapped between ice and fire was miserable.
"Lynn, what now? Those two are fighting," Evan muttered, speechless. He couldn't move at all—only his mouth worked. Even lifting his arms was impossible.
"Don't panic. With your Third-Layer Starforge Body, you should be able to withstand the cold and heat. They won't really hurt you. If it gets dangerous, I'll use soul power to shield you," Luna said.
"Why won't you let me leave? Is there some benefit for me here?" Evan asked.
"A huge benefit. You're heaven's lucky child for stumbling into this. The only pity is you can't circulate Chaos Qi right now—otherwise, you could break straight into the Heaven Martial Realm," Luna answered.
"Heaven Martial Realm?" Evan blurted, shocked.
Just then Gavin charged in, ready to carry Evan out. But after barely five meters, he had to stop—the freezing cold and blazing heat ahead and behind nearly immobilized him.
"Gavin, go back! I'll be fine, trust me!" Evan shouted, afraid Gavin would get himself killed by the two raging energies.
"Bro, I..." Gavin gritted his teeth, hesitating.
"Trust me—just like when you saw me survive that heart-piercing strike. I have my ways!" Evan insisted, using the unbelievable truth Gavin had witnessed to convince him.
"Be careful, bro!" Gavin called out, then retreated. Once he left the woods, he staggered and collapsed—the ice-fire clash knocked him out cold...
[Author's note: Sorry for the late update, caught a cold and headache. Some readers complain about excuses, but I've updated over 260,000 words in 25 days since going premium—averaging 10,000 words a day! Other authors do two or three chapters; unless something big comes up, I do four or five. Sometimes it's really disheartening to keep going and still be misunderstood. Sigh...]