Chapter Sixty-Nine: The Baby Girl in the Stomach of the Frog Prince Who Failed His Tribulation

The speck of dust blown down by the wind was the most complete one. With the infusion of spiritual energy, the dust gradually grew larger, revealing an outer shell of diamond hardened by sevenfold compression. When the diamond shell reached the size of a normal youth, it began to turn transparent, and finally was absorbed, merging into the body of the sunshine boy who once again bathed in the moonlight.

“So this is the world of immortal cultivation—cultivators who kill mortals as easily as ants, yet in the end are themselves abandoned and scattered to dust.” After gaining this new understanding of the cultivation world, Qi began to recall the cellular groups he had split off.

Although they had no spiritual energy and could not grow, in a realm where anything was possible, nothing was truly strange. After sensing and recalling each one, he began to roam around the branch of the Qiqi Sect.

After such chaos, even if the Demon Sect had already ransacked the place, there would surely be some leftovers. Unfortunately, his wishful thinking came to nothing; not having reached the fourth layer of Qi Refining, he naturally had no understanding of the subtleties of spiritual sense.

Still, while there was nothing of value, plenty of scraps remained—fragments of magical tools and treasures, collapsed buildings, broken formations. As long as they had no conscious control and still contained spiritual energy, the Qi Canon accepted them all without discrimination.

After sweeping up a pile of rubbish with a wry smile, his collection of “soft girl coins” increased by five hundred points, which offered him a little comfort.

Feeling a bit dirty after cleaning up, he realized it was only his clothes that needed washing. On Qiqi Mountain, there was only one rather deep stream. Thinking of the stream, Qi sighed.

Unconsciously, he wandered to the stream he had visited before—the traces of a campfire still remained, after all, only five or six days had passed. Staring at the embers in a daze, he suddenly felt a craving for roast meat. But after the great battle between cultivators and the bombardment by tribulation lightning, the animals here had long since fled.

But this was not a problem for him; he still had some raw meat in his storage pouch. Yet before he could take it out, he saw something floating down from upstream.

Bathed in moonlight, it came clearly into view—a frog, or rather, ‘should be’ a frog. Why “should be”? Because the frog-like creature was nearly as big as Qi himself, belly up, looking very much as if it had been struck by lightning.

Did it fail its tribulation?

Qi couldn’t help but laugh. The stream’s source was right where the last bolt of tribulation lightning had struck; it seemed this unlucky frog demon had been caught up in it. Just as he was thinking of roasting some meat—was this fate’s arrangement?

With a half-smile, he hauled the giant frog ashore. Its body had a certain princely aura among frogs—quite handsome, actually. At first, seeing its belly, he thought it would be a plump one. Extending his forefinger, a sharp diamond edge appeared at the tip, ready to open up the frog. But then he paused, sensing something amiss.

Why was there a heartbeat? Yet the handsome frog prince was definitely dead—Qi could clearly feel that its blood had ceased to flow. The heartbeat seemed to come from the middle of its belly. Could it be female? A glance told him, no, it definitely wasn’t.

He remembered a story from another world: an old couple washing clothes by the river, when a... meatball, or perhaps an egg, or a peach, floated down from upstream. From inside would emerge a chubby baby boy, whose life would become the stuff of legend.

Heh, Qi thought calmly, this was the world of immortal cultivation. Most likely, the frog had just swallowed some small animal, was then struck dead by lightning, and the creature inside survived—that must be the truth. With a decisive flick of the diamond blade, he sliced open the prince’s belly. He was determined to see what was inside. As long as it wasn’t the Demon King Piccolo or some electric-shooting little gremlin, he could handle it.

But after he opened the belly, Qi was no longer calm.

...

Half an hour earlier, at the source of the stream deep within Qiqi Mountain, there was a beautiful, shimmering lake. The surface, once trembling, had quieted. There, a celestial water frog kept by the sect emerged from its cave, croaking.

If nothing urgent happened, it would usually be sleeping. But today, it was too frightened to venture out—the overwhelming spiritual pressure from the sect’s main branch had nearly scared it to death. Yet as the sect also posed a threat, it dared not flee. It cowered in its cave until, after the tribulation lightning had swept through and the oppressive auras faded, it finally dared to emerge.

But as soon as it did, its vision blurred and a tiny creature landed on its head, patting it repeatedly. Petrified, it stayed still until, sensing no danger, it curled its tongue and brought the little thing down.

On its tongue was a naked infant, with tea-brown hair and eyes, and a cherubic face. The baby stared dumbfounded into the frog’s pupils, or rather, at its own reflection, utterly astonished.

The celestial water frog cared nothing for the baby’s adorable expression; it was merely annoyed that an infant dared to ride on its head. In a fit of beastly impulse, it opened its mouth and swallowed the mysterious infant whole.

The next moment, a bolt of heaven’s tribulation thunder descended. Blinding lightning flashed across the trembling lake, which was quickly shattered by a shockwave.

...

There was no Demon King Piccolo or electric-shooting gremlin inside, but Qi was still anything but calm.

Because, from the prince’s belly, he pulled out a wailing baby. His expression could not have been more exasperated—how could a frog prince be pregnant with a human infant? What kind of deranged being would do such a thing? Whether you’re a man or a woman, if you show yourself, I swear I won’t rest until I beat you senseless.

The infant, grabbed by one foot and dangling upside down, screamed in outrage, expressing its displeasure.

Qi rolled his eyes and set the baby upright for a closer look. Though only an infant, her chestnut hair already reached her shoulders, and her chestnut eyes sparkled with indignation. She was covered in some kind of mucus, and there was a lingering scent of stomach acid. This overturned his previous, mad theory and allowed him to breathe a little easier.

Then he realized another issue—the infant was completely unclothed. Instinctively, he glanced down again. Uh... a girl. Well, she was only a baby, surely she wouldn’t mind.

The little girl, noticing his continued scrutiny, completely ignored her own babbling protests, and looked down at herself.

“Ahhhhh—!” Qi’s whole body seemed to smoke, his long, elegant hair standing on end, as he opened his mouth and exhaled a puff of black smoke.

(With a thunderous boom, the Moe King makes her dazzling debut. If you can’t guess her true identity, go rewatch the series in solitude.)