The battle was savage and the both of them were close in terms of powers. Ame was one stage lower than her opponent but thanks to her superior abilities and her superior weapon, she was able to bridge that gap.

It had become a battle of attrition.

However, Bo Min was relaxed about it. While he gave all that he had to this battle, he did not mind fighting it till exhaustion. It was best for him if more time could go by. After all, from the very beginning, he expected his comrades to take care of the others and come help him. It was fine for his one-on-one to remain at a stalemate for a while.

On the other hand, Ame was under a lot of pressure. Bo Min forcefully moved their battles away from the rest. She was in a situation in which she could no longer protect her squad members at all. She could not even know of their states. It was too far. And her attention was solely on Bo Min, else he might take advantage of an opportunity.

He was strong.

She had to give it her all.

Her mental state was not completely here though. She could not help but worry about her squad as the battle went on. To her, a stalemate was bad. She would rather that they fought it out decisively. For one thing, she believed she could defeat him if they were to face each other in close quarters. She had yet to activate the second ability of her sword and turns her flames white... She kept this trump card for a decisive moment. But it never came. Bo Min remained careful and kept a safe distance from her.

She was clear on his goal. He wanted to get her to waste more time. Her colleagues would die and reinforcements would then help him. And she knew that she would not be able to take care of three cultivators of similar levels as her own. This one was already proving tough to deal with.

Jin focused. Under his control, the 'smoke' of Fear crept over Bo Min and was absorbed within him. He remained unaware of it. Obviously, it would take some time and more of that element to seep in before effects would be shown. But it would happen.

It was inevitable.

Because he was not defending against it.

...

Meanwhile, at the other end of the battlefield, someone was suffering a horrible fate at the hands of a monster. Tian Shun tried as hard as he could but it was from enough. The monster had simply been playing with him. From the beginning, they were far from equals.

After killing the leftovers from the royal envoys, Ma Jiao rushed to help him. However, she stopped in her tracks as soon as he appeared within her sight.

He was still alive considering the terror in his moving eyes. However... This was just...She was unable to process what was happening.

He had been entangled by vines. The vines had pierced through his entire body. His body was kept straightened while his arms were apart. Basically, his body was made to look like a cross. She recognized the position as the one the monster had been stuck in. She was no fool and clearly understood that he was messing around with Tian Shun.

What truly scared her was that she saw that the vines were growing from Tian Shun's body and fruits were ripening. At the same time, she was able to witness how he was aging...She could visually see his body aging...

And the more he aged, the more fruits grew and matured.

...They were pumpkins.

Before she could even make up her mind on whether to go help him or flee for her life, she felt a hand on her shoulder. It scared her silly and as she turned around, she was even more frightened.

It was here.

Grinning savagely at her.

Reflexively, she revolved her spiritual energy and tried to escape. However, the grip strengthened on her shoulder and she found herself unable to escape.

The monster laughed as he told her playfully: "Leaving already, dear?"

She exploded her elemental power at point blank range. She was so scared that she peed her pants and acted on impulse. However, that explosion was enough for the grip to loosen. Even though it burnt half her body alongside it... It was worth it as she tried to escape.

Just as she took a step, an orange hand broke through the smoke straight towards her. The arm itself was elongating itself.

She screamed as it grabbed her.

And then, the unscathed figure of the monster appeared within her sight as the smoke dissipated. She was trembling. It laughed.

After that, vines began to sprout from under her as he reached close enough for her to feel his breath. He moved his mouth next to her ear as she began to scream from the pain of the vines piercing through her body.

He whispered: "You will make a beautiful plant, don't worry"

Tears ran down her face as she screamed and pleaded but he heard none of it as the vines continued to grow in her. He manipulated them to force her into the same position as her friend. And then he witnessed the growth of the fruits from her body, using her life as fuel.

He was not laughing.

He was not smiling.

He was silent.

He was contemplating.

He watched the landscape around himself and frowned as he blew to his right. There had been a dark cloud of sorts there. He observed it. And he recognized it.

But this was not something that should have ever appeared in this place.

He looked at the half-corpse of the woman strung up mid-air by the vines. He asked her: "Are you guys the source of this Fear?"

Vines already emerged through her mouth and other orifices, there was obviously no way that she could answer him. Clearly, he was her fear…

He sighed.

Speaking to no one in particular, he stated: "I will just wait for it to show itself then~ I can't wait~"