A Successful Capture

This was a Profound-grade mid-tier life-saving and enemy-trapping formation personally gifted to her by the Sect Master: the Void-Locking Formation.

As the name implied, this formation was designed specifically to counter all forms of void shifting, instant movement techniques, and space-attribute spells.

Once activated, it could seal off the surrounding space for thousands of meters, locking down all escape routes and suppressing the movement of all living beings within the formation.

Only those whose cultivation was an entire major realm higher than the array-layer could escape its constraints.

The Miasma Demon Frog was only a late-stage Xiantian Realm demon beast. Its realm was barely different from Ye Ling's, so it was naturally suppressed by the formation.

This perfectly countered the Void Evasion bloodline talent that the Miasma Demon Frog relied on for survival.

The sect's secret records mentioned that when this demon beast broke through to the Xiantian Realm, there was a very small probability it would comprehend Void Evasion from its bloodline.

The records also briefly detailed the approximate range and principles of Void Evasion.

Although Ye Ling hadn't known for sure if this Miasma Demon Frog had comprehended Void Evasion, it hadn't stopped her from taking precautions in advance.

To her surprise, it had come in handy.

Just now, as the demon frog was about to channel its Earth Escape Art to burrow back underground, it suddenly realized that the supernatural ability it usually used as easily as flowing water had completely failed. Its body was locked tight by an invisible spatial force.

Unable to stop its forward momentum, its massive frog head slammed hard into the dirt.

The impact left a shallow depression in the ground, but no matter how hard it tried, it couldn't merge into the soil even a fraction of an inch.

A storm of shock surged in the demon frog's heart, followed by a wave of despair.

Although the Miasma Demon Frog was a Xiantian exotic species, its direct combat strength was not particularly outstanding.

The strongest weapon it relied on was the highly toxic miasma that constantly leaked from its body.

This layer of toxic miasma was extremely lethal to ordinary Xiantian martial artists. Once inhaled, it would clog their meridians and stagnate their spiritual energy, leaving them at its mercy.

The moment it had burst through the earth, it had subconsciously spread its natal miasma as far as possible.

Any ordinary Xiantian martial artist would likely be dizzy by now, with more than half of their cultivation severely impaired.

Yet Ye Ling stood in the center of the miasma with a perfectly calm expression, showing not the slightest discomfort from start to finish.

Seeing this, the demon frog instantly understood that the young girl before it possessed an incredibly powerful physical body. The miasma it relied on for survival couldn't harm her in the slightest.

Ye Ling watched as the Miasma Demon Frog slammed its head into the ground and then lay limp and motionless in the dirt.

A trace of doubt rose in her heart, and she wondered to herself.

But in the next moment, she saw the demon frog lying on its side, its cheeks wriggling continuously.

It was carefully chewing the dozen or so Quiet Heart Grass it had just swallowed, its eyes filled with sheer satisfaction.

This spiritual herb really is as delicious as I imagined, it thought.

It had craved it for five whole days, and today its wish was finally fulfilled. Even if it died today, it would die a well-fed ghost.

After finishing its chew, it simply relaxed its massive body completely and lay splayed out on the ground, looking entirely at Ye Ling's mercy.

Ye Ling did not rashly take even a step forward, her eyes still filled with caution.

Xiantian demon beasts had awakened intelligence, and their minds were barely different from those of ordinary humans.

They were merely constrained by their physical bodies and could not speak. Only by stepping into the Tongxuan Realm and condensing a complete vocal tract could they speak the human tongue.

The demon frog before her was clearly unable to do so yet, and cunning individuals were never lacking among demon beasts.

Many demon beasts were skilled at feigning weakness, pretending to have no strength to resist, only to suddenly strike and injure their opponents once they let their guard down.

For a moment, she couldn't determine whether this Miasma Demon Frog had truly given up resisting or was intentionally acting to ambush her.

The Void-Locking Formation continued to run, with layers of spatial restriction continuously pressing down.

It weakened the demonic energy within the frog's body, trapping it securely in the center of the forest clearing with no way to advance or retreat.

The Miasma Demon Frog lay quietly for a long time, deliberately maintaining its submissive posture, but Ye Ling showed no sign of stepping forward to make a move.

Its dark-green frog eyes suddenly flashed with a faint light, and it felt a surge of secret joy. It seems this human martial artist doesn't want to kill me.

With its mind made up, the Miasma Demon Frog stopped playing dead. Raising a thick frog claw, it quickly began to scratch on the damp ground.

Stroke by stroke, it neatly wrote out words: “Human martial artist, are you not going to kill me?”

Seeing it suddenly move its claw, Ye Ling's entire body tensed up as she maintained her guard.

But looking closely, she saw neat human characters on the ground. She was slightly surprised.

“You can write?”

The Miasma Demon Frog continued to write with its claw: “Yes. Back when I was still in the Houtian Realm, I secretly learned human writing.”

Ye Ling sighed inwardly. The intelligence of this exotic demon beast far surpassed that of ordinary beasts.

No wonder it could lie low for several years, avoiding the detection of countless sects, and cause trouble in an area without anyone ever finding its trail.

Her expression softened, and she spoke slowly. “I never intended to kill you.”

“However, the natal miasma you subconsciously release has ravaged the southern foothills for the past two years. Many villagers in the nearby Xiaoyan Village have fallen gravely ill, suffered severe injuries, or even lost their lives because of it. I came here on a sect mission to investigate the source of the miasma and put an end to this disaster.”

Upon hearing this, the Miasma Demon Frog froze slightly, a look of confusion appearing in its eyes.

It was simply quiet by nature and preferred to live in isolation. Two years ago, it had taken a liking to this damp, miasma-filled southern foothills forest and chosen it as its new home.

After moving into its underground cavern, it had fallen into a deep sleep to recuperate, sleeping for a very long time.

It had only woken up briefly a month ago and roamed the surrounding area once.

That was the time it happened to be spotted by Sanmei's parents, who were gathering herbs in the mountains.

From beginning to end, it had never actively harmed anyone, never launched an attack, and had rarely even appeared on the surface.

It had never imagined that its ordinary habitation and the natural miasma it subconsciously released would indirectly kill and injure so many mortals.

However, demon beasts were by nature indifferent to slaughter, living by the law of the jungle. Although it was surprised, it felt no guilt or remorse whatsoever.

It wrote again: “On a sect mission? Are you a disciple of one of the four major sects of the Qingyun Kingdom?”

As a native exotic demon beast that had lived for hundreds of years, it naturally knew of the supreme reputation of the four major sects of the Qingyun Kingdom, and it would never dare to provoke them lightly.

Ye Ling replied indifferently, “I am from the Qinglan Sword Sect.”

The Miasma Demon Frog came to a sudden realization and quickly wrote.

“So you are from the Qinglan Sword Sect! No wonder your sword qi is so sharp and domineering, truly unmatched among your peers.”

After finishing, it looked up at Ye Ling with a hint of ingratiation in its eyes, and wrote another question.

“Since you won't kill me, could you let me leave?”

It even tried its best to puff up the skin around its eyes, squeezing out a friendly and docile expression toward Ye Ling.

Unfortunately, covered in toxic spots and possessing a hideous, grotesque appearance, this friendly expression appeared anything but docile. Instead, it looked comical, bizarre, and rather ridiculous.

Ye Ling shook her head, her tone firm. “I will not let you go.”

The Miasma Demon Frog immediately slumped, its massive body sagging slightly as it wrote helplessly on the ground.

“Then what do you want with me?”

“I will take you back to the Qinglan Sword Sect and hand you over to the sect to deal with.”

Ye Ling spoke truthfully. “You are a rare Xiantian exotic Miasma Demon Frog. Your entire body is a treasure.”

“I'm sure Beast-Taming Peak and Spirit Medicine Peak within the sect will be extremely interested in you.”

“The sect will only study, domesticate, and make use of you. They will definitely not take your life.”

Hearing this, the Miasma Demon Frog's dark eyes suddenly lit up.

Keeping its life was the best possible outcome.