Hidden genius: Black belly snake

Tang Yue leaped on top of the frog and plunged her sword directly into one of the horrendous looking burn injuries on its body.

It twisted and turned in agony. 

She then stabbed it, again and again, using her soul sword like a dagger, and targeted all the open injuries.

As she continually attacked it, it was also simultaneously suffering from the marsh fire enveloping its body, leaving it extremely vulnerable.

So it was easy for Tang Yue to find holes in its thick defensive barrier and she kept attacking one after the other in succession.

And in a matter of seconds, the frog finally gave up, letting out a loud croak, the last of its life slipping out of its body.

Tang Yue did not waste another moment and quickly chased after the other frogs that were running away from her as fast as they could.

Two of them had successfully gotten away, but she could still see the silhouettes of the remaining two.

She chased after them, setting fire to the entire marsh as she went. Little Plum as well tagged closely and followed her blazing trail.

"Little Plum. Keep this one busy." She shouted and attacked the one who was farthest from her.

Thanks to the smoke and heat everywhere, she was able to catch up to the frog's high agility and directly attacked it as she cornered the beast.

The frog tried to attack her again with its tongue without any other options left in front of it.

But Tang Yue quickly dodged it and closed the distance between them, making the beast unable to use its tongue any longer.

She raised her sword and slashed down at the beast when suddenly another sturdy rod hit her from behind.

Little Plum couldn't hold back the other frog any longer and from the looks of it, it had decided to team up with its buddy rather than flee away from the scene.

Tang Yue smirked. Her body shuddered from the hit which landed on her, but thanks to her silver skin enhancement, she was able to withstand it.

She wiped the blood that leaked from the corner of her lips and quickly moved, dodging the next couple of attacks from the second frog.

She didn't understand why it decided to fight her instead of running away but when she noticed that they were already a the edge of the marshy terrain and back on the hilly terrain, she instantly understood its intentions.

However, Tang Yue was still not worried because the beast had clearly misjudged the situation. 

Both the frogs were already heavily injured and their combined strength was no longer enough to overwhelm her, let alone protect them from her.

She leaped amidst the smoke and fire, intermittently casting the invisibility spell to confuse the two frogs and kept slashing at their open wounds, hacking at their health bit by bit.

After that, it was only a matter of seconds before she dominated the two beasts and brought them both down.

THUD. THUD.

As the two frogs fell, Tang Yue flopped onto the burning marsh in utter exhaustion, finally sighing in relief that the fight was over.

"Aha Ha Ha Ha Ha." She threw her head back up, laughing in a state of exhilaration.

This was the first battle that she had truly gone all out and she felt alive. Her mind and her heart were clear and all the confusions had disappeared.

Tang Yue chuckled and she cocked her head to the side to look at the ball of fire elemental buzzing near her.

"Let's go, Little Plum." She stood up, her figure firm, and resolute. 

The two of them then quickly collected the dead frogs and dashed back to their original starting point, where Tang Yue had killed the first frog.

But as soon as they neared that spot, Tang Yue could already see a huge silhouette lying on the burning marshlands.

"Fuck. Fuck. Fuck" She hissed in disappointment and dashed forward at full speed, but it was already too late.

The golden titan ape's dead and lifeless body was slowly getting burned and charred from the fires.

She could see that its skin was as thick and sturdy as ever, the fire only managing to sizzle the outer layer.

"Ah… So you died from the poison." Tang Yue clicked her tongue.

This was a rather huge loss for her. 

She had lost her brainless muscle power, but there wasn't anything that she could do at this point.

So she simply sighed and collected that corpse as well.

"Alright. Only the last frog is remaining now." She walked over to the frog that she had killed previously, which would make the total number of frogs in her possession four, including the one which the ape had smashed into a meat paste.

Tang Yue did not think twice and quickly flipped the last corpse into her spatial ring when suddenly a faint silver glow caught her eyes.

Huh? She blinked, trying to see what the glow was, but she couldn't see too well amidst all the chaotic fire.

Before she could figure out anything further, the old man's voice chimed in, ringing loudly inside her head.

[Little snake, quick quick. Get that beetle.]

"What beetle?" Tang Yue asked.

[I can sense a Silver Soul Beetle here, little snake. Go grab it.]

"It's just a beetle. What is so special about it? I don't want to. I am too tired from the last battle."

[Do you want to argue with me right now or capture the beetle before it disappears? So dumb!]

"Couldn't you have just explained things to me by now instead of spouting all this nonsense?" Tang Yue slapped her forehead.

Though she was mouthing off at him, her eyes were already glued on to the faint silver glow as they trailed its flight pattern with an unwavering concentration.

At the same time, she also took out a few potions and dunked them in one by one, recuperating her strength and stamina as much as she could.