A sinister voice sent goosebumps crawling all over the two young beauties. The voice sounded three parts human and seven parts ghost, the kind that would make the faint-hearted afraid to walk alone at night for a week.
"Master! Where is this person? I don't see any sign of him!" Zhan Tai Ruo Mei looked around and around, but couldn't see anyone. She quickly asked.
"Pay him no mind! Just a beast that can't even make it to the stage. We're eating barbecue," Lu Fan said indifferently, tearing off a chicken leg for Zhan Tai Ruo Mei.
"Kid! You dare to insult me? Hmph! You really want to die!" Suddenly, the voice came again, followed by a great whirlwind that swept towards the three of them.
"You dare to disturb our meal? You're the one who doesn't want to live!" Lu Fan suddenly punched out.
*Bang...* The menacing whirlwind was instantly blown away. *Pfft...* The whirlwind disappeared, and a toad as big as a basin appeared on the ground!
"Oh my god! Master!" Zhan Tai Ruo Mei was so scared that she shrunk to Lu Fan's side. This thing was too disgusting!
"You could have turned into anything, but you had to turn into a toad. You scared my little disciple, do you believe I'll skin you and roast you?" Lu Fan glanced at the toad and said.
"Kid! Don't think you've won just yet! I haven't used my ultimate move yet! Hmph!" The big toad said, then suddenly jumped on the ground, leaping more than ten feet high. *Splat...* It spat a mouthful of phlegm towards Lu Fan.
"Damn it... so disgusting!" Lu Fan reached out, grabbed Zhan Tai Ruo Mei and Li Jing Jing, and instantly vanished from their spot.
*Plop...* The toad's phlegm landed on the roasted chicken on the barbecue grill.
*Whoosh...* The roasted chicken instantly melted.
"Venom? You bastard, you made this venom so disgusting that I don't want to eat barbecue for the rest of my life. Today, I will skin you!" Lu Fan, without even putting down the two young beauties, moved instantly and appeared before the toad, kicking it.
*Bang...* The big toad was kicked flying like a ball, shot a hundred meters away, *bang...* crashing to the ground and kicking up a cloud of dust.
*Croak... croak...* The toad cried out twice after the fall, then suddenly opened its mouth and took a deep breath. *Hoo...* The toad's belly instantly began to swell. *Hoo hoo hoo...* In no time, it was like a large drum.
*Hoo...* The big toad suddenly lunged at Lu Fan. Just as it was about to pounce on Lu Fan, *snap...* it opened its mouth, and a large tongue shot out towards Lu Fan.
"You bastard! I'll make you disgusted!" Lu Fan quickly let go of the two young beauties, reached out, and *snap...* grabbed the toad's tongue.
*Hoo hoo hoo...* Lu Fan swung the toad around.
*Croak... croak... croak croak...* The toad, dizzy from being swung, cried out a few times and then fell silent.
*Swish...* Just then, a sharp sound cutting through the air flew towards Lu Fan. The sound was very faint, so faint that even Zhan Tai Ruo Mei and Li Jing Jing didn't hear it. However, Lu Fan did.
*Ding... clang...* Lu Fan raised his hand, and the flying object was flicked by his fingers and fell to the ground. It turned out to be a flying needle.
*Whoosh...* Lu Fan let go, and the toad in his hand flew out. *Bang...* It happened to hit a hedgehog not far away.
*Pfft...* The toad's belly deflated like a leaky balloon.
*Whoosh...* The toad and the hedgehog rolled on the ground and transformed into two people who appeared before Lu Fan and the others.
One was short and fat, with a large face full of flesh. He was clearly the one who had transformed into the toad. The other was sharp-featured and sallow, wearing a spiky armor, clearly the one who had transformed into the hedgehog.
"Escape..." Before the two could even get up from the ground, they exchanged a glance, then rammed their heads together on the ground. *Swish...* They burrowed into the earth and disappeared without a trace.
"Earth Demon! Earth Fiend! They're actually two of the Seventy-two Earthly Fiends! Hmph! Is this all they've got? They're only good for scaring people!" Lu Fan immediately sneered.
When the two revealed their true forms, information appeared in Lu Fan's mind. The Seventy-two Earthly Fiends, each with their unique abilities, were legendary divine generals of the Earth Realm. It seemed that this Tai Huang Zeng Heavenly Emperor was quite capable to have invited two Earth Realm divine generals. However, with just this much ability, did they think they could deal with him? Hmph!
"Master! Why did you let them go? Why didn't you kill such disgusting creatures?" Zhan Tai Ruo Mei suddenly asked, tilting her small face up.
"These creatures are left in the Earth Realm to deter demons and monsters. They really cannot be killed casually. Otherwise, the Earth Realm would also be in turmoil," Lu Fan said, shaking his head.
"Are we still going to Qingming He Heavenly Kingdom?" Li Jing Jing asked.
"Of course, we are! Since we've come here, why shouldn't we explore around? Let's treat it as a trip. Perhaps we'll find a way back somewhere!" Lu Fan said with a smile.
However, in his Sea of Consciousness, he saw that around the Thirty-six Heavenly Diagrams, the names of the Seventy-two Earthly Fiends had appeared. Furthermore, the names Tai Ming Yu Heavenly Kingdom, Tai Huang Zeng Heavenly Kingdom, Earth Fiend, and Earth Demon were clearly brighter than the others. He didn't know why. Even using his Heavenly Mystery Words, he couldn't figure it out.
However, since they had appeared in his Sea of Consciousness, they might be useful. Since he couldn't go back anyway, he might as well visit them all.
...
Perhaps it was due to hearing about the previous two Heavenly Kingdoms, but the city of Qingming He Heavenly Kingdom was a scene of prosperity, with bustling traffic and a clamor of voices.
Lu Fan and the two girls wandered around the city for a few laps, and nothing happened. Lu Fan secretly observed his Sea of Consciousness, and the icon for Qingming He Heavenly Kingdom also lit up. Heh heh! Could it be that every Heavenly Kingdom he visited would light up an icon? Would lighting up all thirty-six Heavenly Kingdom icons lead him to find the way home?
A hint of joy appeared on Lu Fan's face.
Over the next three days, the three of them visited nine cities, and indeed, the icons for these nine Heavenly Kingdoms in Lu Fan's Sea of Consciousness all lit up.
One day, the three of them were resting at the foot of a nameless mountain. Zhan Tai Ruo Mei pouted her small lips and said, "Master! In the past three days, we haven't seen any Heavenly Emperors or any Earthly Fiends. Isn't this too peaceful? Wandering around aimlessly like this every day is quite boring!"
"Don't worry! It's very likely that you'll have a chance to show off your skills soon," Lu Fan said faintly, his eyes looking at a rock not far away.