Anger flooded Haylock as he knew these four were stronger and had some history with Nini. The smug look on the young man’s face reminded him of an asshole he knew from another department at the university.

The man with the braid stood there, looking like he was barely concerned as Nini charged, another two daggers flying toward him. The one that had been deflected was already rising from the ground, preparing to join the other two.

Fufu! Help her!

Haylock roared, and the entire open space of the property vibrated slightly as his mouth opened. He could see the looks on the two disciples faces, and both of them had gone from confident to pissing their pants in an instant. The short-haired man who had cautioned the other moved a few steps back, getting closer to the tree line.

“Kode!”

The earth cultivator frowned, and his fingers and wrists began to move, causing rocks to rise from the earth and start forming armor around him. Another kind of stone that Haylock didn’t recognize came from a necklace hanging outside of the young man’s outfit, quickly turning him into what looked like a rock golem.

Nini stopped her charge, pulling back quickly as the blades tried to find a way to penetrate the grey and brown-colored covering that protected the one called Kode. Each of them bounced off harmlessly.

“I told you, you stupid bitch that you can’t win!”

The young man’s rock-covered hand shot forward, and half a dozen stones, like daggers, flew through the air faster than Haylock could almost keep track of them.

Nini wasn’t able to move fast enough as the rocks came at her.

Even the roots that Haylock willed to rise from the surface and try to protect his young friend were too slow.

A massive hulking pink shape appeared between Nini and the incoming stone daggers, swatting away two of them while the other four penetrated his pink skin slightly.

“What in the heavens?!” the young man by the woods shouted. “Kode! We need to run!”

Fufu was growling—or it would have been if it hadn’t been a high-pitched whine instead. The rabbit grabbed the stone projectiles with his clawed hands and yanked them out, crushing them in his fists. That muscular pink chest and shoulders heaved with the breath of a creature about to unleash holy hell upon someone it had pissed off.

Only Kode’s eyes were visible through the stone armor, and Haylock could see that the man's confidence had been replaced with concern.

Two larger stones flew toward Fufu, and Haylock’s roots rose up in time, shattering the feeble attacks the two disciples had sent. Either they were stupid, trying to impress Kode, or suffered a terrible sense of self-preservation.

Surely, those idiots can see they are no match… oh well… it’s time to eat.

A laughing noise came from Haylock’s mouth as his roots sprang forward, coming out at each of the disciples from four different directions.

They tried to summon stone barriers like Kode had against Nini’s first attack, but Haylock’s new roots were stronger, and the chi inside them broke through those feeble barriers with ease. Neither was able to dodge the roots, having hoped the four stone walls they formed around them would prevent their demise.

Instead, they found themselves rooted to the ground. Tiny holes in his roots began to immediately start draining the blood from the two as they stood standing, screaming from the pain he was inflicting.

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Fufu had charged, using that time and distraction, reaching Kode in a moment.

Those long claws moved with a speed that looked like pink death. Kode was skilled, and the young man weaved and bobbed, using his protective casing to parry and block Fufu’s attacks. Tiny rock fragments chipped off and immediately rejoined the armor.

Long stone blades formed over Kode’s hands, and soon, the area around Fufu and the young man was filled with black blood, pink fur, and stone fragments.

Anyone foolish enough to enter that space risked being hit by the barrage of attacks the rabbit and stone man launched at each other.

Nini had snapped from her daze, seeing Fufu going toe to toe with a man well beyond her current stage of cultivation. When she heard the screams and saw what Haylock had done to the two disciples, the young girl moved quickly, keeping her daggers circling her in the air, and walked toward the other man still near the treeline.

“Racha! Come fight me, you bastard!”

The young man shook his head and frowned, holding his hands up toward Nini.

“Wait!” he shouted, an anxious look on his face. “I didn’t want to come here! My father made me! I’m just here to–”

“Racha, you coward!” Kode yelled out somehow without losing his focus during his fight, interrupting his brother. “I’ll kill you if you don’t help!”

Racha frowned, and his eyes narrowed at his half-brother, who was currently holding off some over-muscular demon rabbit.

“I warned you! This is your fight, not mine!”

Nini slowed her approach and studied the man she despised only slightly less than Kode.

Their father was a power-hungry cultivator. He had been one of the men who had helped kill her father and captured her mother, turning her into a vessel for chi. She hated everyone involved, but Xkarn, along with the two other masters, was beyond her power. Even in another thirty years, Nini wasn’t sure she could get strong enough to challenge one of them.

“Will you run home and tell your father what happened?” Nini asked, glaring at Racha.

He smirked and shook his head.

“If you win… no. Kill my brother, and I’ll tell you my plan. Just know, I cannot help, or my father will know.”

The sounds of fighting were behind her, and Nini wanted to help Fufu. She had seen the blood and damage it had suffered for her, now saving her twice.

Another dagger appeared in her hand, and she pointed it at Racha. Nini started to open her mouth, but a cry from her pink defender made her look away.

A massive gash was along Fufu’s left arm, and he was retreating backward. Kode wasn’t giving him any space, attacking the rabbit with a combination of slashes and thrusts.

She started to move to help Fufu when a pair of roots erupted before her, cutting her off and holding her back. Glancing up at Haylock, she saw that his mouth was curved in a smile, and those yellow eyes were staring at Kode intently.

Nini’s eyes widened as she realized what had happened, and she nodded, holding her position.

Just a little more! You can do it! I promise in a moment, you can rip him apart!

Fufu continued to retreat one step at a time, enduring the pain of the cuts and holes that appeared all over.

Kode was lost in the pleasure of battle, seeing the creature who had looked so intimidating shrinking and retreating from him. A smile decorated his lips even though the stone armor he wore hid it. No longer were his eyes concerned, but instead, they burned with an intensity that always overtook him. A lust for blood and carnage. Something his father and he shared.

His mastery went crazy, shouting warnings. He had just taken two more steps toward the demonic rabbit, sensing the power inside and the potential for growth if he could defeat it and harvest it.

Inside his area of detection, the connection he had with the ground, he could feel dozens of projectiles coming through the earth toward him.

Turning his face upward slightly, he saw that the sunflower he had seen early was only about fifteen yards away. Two massive glowing yellow eyes watched him, and his heart missed a beat as Kode sensed a bloodlust coming from this plant.

The open mouth, surrounded by teeth that looked able to easily penetrate his armor, glistened with some liquid as a dark red tongue slid across the backside of them.

Roots were coming from inside the ground at him, and two massive vines were whipping toward him with a speed he hadn’t expected.

Kode quickly shifted his stance and moved with a speed that reflected his fifth stage of progression. Walls of stone sprang up all around him, reinforcing him as more stone tumbled briefly from inside the necklace he wore.

Haylock’s roots slammed into the stone barrier, unable to penetrate it. His massive vines cracked against the protective rock formation, creating a few cracks that quickly mended themselves.

The barrage of strikes didn’t relent, and Haylock grew frustrated at the fact that he couldn’t seem to do any real damage that would allow him access to the tender flesh inside.

Fufu was hurt, moving carefully from Haylock toward Nini, who had approached her injured rabbit. Massive gashes bled, and Nini started pulling things from the ring she had claimed as a spoil of battle, finally finding the blanket she was searching for. Her daggers went to work, slicing the blanket in long strips as she bandaged the wounds on the rabbit.

Haylock allowed his gaze to shift slightly, noticing the young man was still standing near the tree line. Racha hadn’t moved a bit, his eyes watching Haylock as the plant attacked with a speed and ferocity that seemed to impress the young man.

Willing his chi to travel from his core to the roots and tips of his vine, Haylock tried to make his attacks stronger, trying to find a way to end this fight. The roots were becoming tender, pained from the constant attacks he hit the rocks with.

Think… how can I break through?

An aura of pressure started to come from Kode inside his cocoon of stone, far greater than the ice cultivator Haylock had fought yesterday.

Something is about to happen!