A jagged stone hurtled through the air with terrifying speed, whistling as it charged at Aiden like a bullet. Its trajectory was precise, aimed squarely for his head. The rock exuded a powerful aura which sent a tremor down Aiden's bones.

The stone enlarged in his eyes, his instincts screaming at him to dodge.

Aiden rolled away, accidentally entering another dark trees area and a barbed branch came for him from the left.

"Fuck, Mana Fire." Aiden tossed a ball of fire before the thorny branch lashed at him and scraped his skin from his flesh.

The thorny branch snagged the fiery orb and retreated, sinking back into slumber, leaving Aiden wincing as a sharp stone jabbed into a tender spot on his ass.

"Damn it, it hurts." Aiden spat the taste of dirt and rot out of his mouth and stared around to find the enemy. When he found no one, he studied the stone lying near a dark tree. It was an inanimate object, so the dark tree didn't attack it. Aiden raised his middle finger and showed it to the stone before turning away from it.

The moment he turned, the same dangerous feeling returned and he leapt to his right, missing the stone aimed at his head once more.

"Fuck! Who is it?" He cried out loud.

Aiden got up, his gaze scanning the surroundings carefully. Someone was hiding somewhere and if he didn't find him or her, then another stone might take his life.

The sense of danger returned. It was the same stone. As it launched from the shadows, he sensed it instantly.

Ducking, Aiden dodged the attack and watched the stone whistle past his head like an arrow. It was moving so fast that it left the air disturbed in its way.

Aiden spun around, yet saw nobody. Not a soul in sight. The attacker seemed to vanish into thin air, or perhaps the rock itself had a mind of its own. Neither option made any sense.

"What the fuck is going on?" Cursing, Aiden rushed away from his position, tossing Mana Fires to put the trees to sleep, however the stone continued following him, and he kept dodging it.

Aiden dodged it once again, and he charged behind the stone. The stone couldn't change its path and Aiden used the moment when it landed on the ground to pin it hard on the ground. He literally crashed on the stone and pushed it down with his arms. He wasn't fucking letting it go.

"Let me go, moron." Someone spoke.

Aiden nearly lost his grip on the rock, but at the last second he realized it was the stone itself talking. He quickly slammed it harder into the dirt.

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"Let go this precious stone."

"And let you kill me?"

"Fool you are. Checking your head's hardness is my job."

"Do I look like a fool to you?" Aiden snorted. The stone had made him suffer a lot, and it wasn't even using a skill.

Talking stone. Aiden searched through old man Li's memories, but he had little information. There was a class called as Stone Heart which could allow one to create stones, but those stones couldn't talk. This thing was something else.

"Brother, please let my familiar go." A short woman appeared from behind a dark tree, her eyes full of worry.

"So it was you who were attacking me," Aiden said, scanning the woman. She was quite beautiful, except her height was too short to be called as a real woman.

Spectral Sight.

System: The target has layer nine Refinement Realm cultivation and has an average defense in the soul and low defense in mental fortitude.

A tall young woman appeared from behind the dark tree, her left hand bleeding profusely. "Release Sister Mei's familiar," she demanded. "We're all allies from the holy realm, and yet you trouble sister Mei's familiar."

"You tried to kill me, and yet you want to let it go. Don't be hypocrite girls." Aiden shook his head in disappointment. Other than Mi Tha, he had yet to find a girl in this world who was worth talking with.

"Stupid, we are from the holy realm. Why would we try to kill you? That stone familiar is a dumb one, and it left when we were distracted in a battle. So, if you want to scold someone, then scold him. He is really an annoyance." The shorter girl said out loud.

"Brother, I don't want this to escalate into a battle. I ask for forgiveness from my familiar, so please let him go." The short women going by name Mei spoke, her tone threatening.

Aiden lifted his ass and punched the stone with all his might. The stone shuddered, and a small piece chipped away by his brute force. A wail slipped out of the stone's mouth and the short woman shuddered.

"You, how dare you, bastard!"

The stone under Aiden's hand started struggling intensely, making it difficult for him to control it.

System: Soul Enforcement detected. Do you want to deconstruct it?

Aiden selected no.

"Soul Teether." Aiden pushed his soul energy into the stone, and the short girl's face turned pale and she threw a mouthful of blood.

"Soul energy. Impossible. How can you wrestle my control?" Chuckling, Aiden tossed the stone into the air and played it like a leather ball a couple of times before grabbing it and smashing it on the tough dark tree's bark, shattering it in pieces. It had tried to kill him, and Aiden wouldn't let it go.

The short woman spat a mouthful of blood once more, her face turning paler than a white sheet.

"Bastard, I'm going to kill you - Holy Qi Summon." A sword appeared above the tall girl's head as she charged ahead.

System: Holy Qi Summon detected. Do you want to deconstruct it?

Chuckling, Aiden leaped back and tossed a Mana Fire on another tree, awakening the dark tree the two girls were standing below.

The tall girl's face twisted as she forcefully turned and attacked the barbed branch and cut it in two. The move was powerful, and it was a wise choice to run away from the duo.

There was one more reason for it. When he wrestled with the control of the stone familiar with the short girl, he sensed a dangerous tug of her soul. She was going to detonate that stone familiar, and if she wasn't distracted, he wouldn't have won. Her soul energy was much more powerful than his, so he didn't take a chance and fought her openly.

It was wiser to retreat and attack when he was confident of success.

"You've messed with the Stone Land's successor. Moron, Stone Maiden is not going to let you live," the tall woman shouted, her voice raging through the small portion of the dark forest.