Evolving infinitely from ground zero

On the other side of the coastal forest.

Yuan Dongzhi's battle with the hunchbacked masked man had reached a fever pitch.

The aftermath of their clashes caused the ground to break apart and rocks to shatter, trees to snap and birds to scatter.

"Buzz... Buzz... Buzz!"

Yuan Dongzhi controlled tens of thousands of water blades, shooting them towards the hunchbacked masked man with a momentum that blocked out the sky.

With just a thought, the hunchbacked masked man commanded thick vines to form a gigantic protective barrier, blocking all the incoming water blades.

Then, he immediately directed these vines to shoot towards Yuan Dongzhi at high speed, launching a fierce counterattack.

Yuan Dongzhi was not intimidated in the least. She promptly lifted the forty-meter water blade in her hand and, with several consecutive strikes, cut all the incoming vines.

At the same time, more water blades separated from the surging water column beneath her feet, firing like machine-gun fire towards the hunchbacked masked man atop the trees, aiming directly for his head.

Alas, all were blocked by the vines, failing to harm the hunchbacked masked man in the least.

The hunchbacked masked man countered again.

His eyes focused, and in the next second, the towering trees in the forest surged towards Yuan Dongzhi, forming a massive cage of trees, as if to trap her and beat her down.

Yuan Dongzhi frowned and lifted all the water from the stream beneath her feet into the air, forming a large water membrane to fend off the continuous vine attacks.

Simultaneously, she created numerous water blades on the surface of the water membrane, sharp enough to cut through iron, slicing all the incoming vines.

However, there were just too many vines.

No sooner were the old ones cut than new ones took their place.

The offensive showed no sign of weakening.

On the contrary, Yuan Dongzhi, in a defensive stance, was seeing her defenses steadily diminish.

The vines controlled by the hunchbacked masked man had many small holes split open on them.

Each time they lashed against the water membrane, they absorbed a large amount of water.

Over time, the water available to Yuan Dongzhi was less than half of what it had been at the start.

"Principal Yuan, you rely too much on water sources," said the hunchbacked masked man.

"As soon as the water source diminishes, your strength suffers greatly.

"Your weakness is too obvious, making it easy to target."

While controlling the vines to relentlessly strike at the water membrane, the hunchbacked masked man lectured Yuan Dongzhi in a superior tone.

Yuan Dongzhi remained silent, her eyebrows furrowed as she concentrated on withstanding the vine attacks.

She knew she was at a disadvantage, pulling water from beneath the ground to the surface in order to replenish her water source and maintain her combat power.

The hunchbacked masked man continued with ease, "Principal Yuan, you are aware.

"The power behind the Divine Plant Cult is of paramount importance in the Origin Land.

"In the Southern Domain, they have vast stretches of inexhaustible spiritual plant resources, all sorts of exotic flowers and fruits at their disposal.

"With your talent, as long as you're willing to join the Divine Plant Cult, you can gain access to an unending supply of exotic flowers and fruits."

"With ample resources, evolving into an epic-level being in the future will no longer be a dream."

The hunchbacked masked man extended an olive branch to Yuan Dongzhi with genuine intent to recruit her, saying, "So, what do you say about accepting my recommendation to join the Divine Plant Cult?"

Yuan Dongzhi spoke in a cold tone, "I am human, not one of those who have lost their humanity like you. I will never join a heretical sect that persecutes humanity."

"Lost humanity?"

The hunchbacked masked man laughed, appearing unconcerned, "On the contrary, those whom you call degenerated have not only preserved their humanity but have also magnified it.

"The essence of human nature is the extreme self-interest that dictates 'every man for himself, and the Devil take the hindmost.'

"But modern human society is bound by too many rules and restrictions.

"Thou shalt not do this; thou shalt not do that—the true extinction of humanity lies there."

"Having joined the Divine Plant Cult, I may appear to wear a mask, but in reality, I have discarded the disguise.

"Behind the mask, I am free to unleash the human nature that has always been suppressed deep within, to be the most authentic human, doing whatever I desire."

"What about you? You may not have a physical mask, but you always wear an invisible one."

"Every day, you suppress the very nature of being born human, which is utterly laughable."

The hunchbacked masked man continually fed his philosophy to Yuan Dongzhi, attempting to assimilate her.

As an elder in charge of personnel within the Divine Plant Cult, he excelled at recruiting people into the cult.

With his proud, persuasive tongue, he had covertly recruited many human fighters into the cult.

Now, he wanted to recruit Yuan Dongzhi.

Unfortunately, Yuan Dongzhi was disdainful and snorted, "Ha, you spout bewitching nonsense."

Suddenly, the dragon horns on her head radiated light, drawing a massive amount of underground water to the surface and toppling all the towering trees surrounding her.

"You won't shed a tear until you see the coffin."

Seeing Yuan Dongzhi's refusal to join the cult, the hunchbacked masked man's smile faded.

Afterward, with just a thought, he controlled more vines to surge towards Yuan Dongzhi, aiming to deplete her newly acquired water sources in the same manner.

Yuan Dongzhi did not sit idly by; she gathered countless water arrows and shot them explosively towards the hunchbacked masked man.

This exchange continued for over ten minutes.

Just as the battle escalated,

all of a sudden, both rare-level fighters ceased their combat in a mutual understanding.

One stood atop a surging water column.

The other stood atop a hundred-meter towering tree.

At that moment, both unexpectedly turned their gaze in the same direction.

It was the direction of Lin Zichen.

Since their appearance in this coastal forest, both fighters had been diverting part of their attention to Lin Zichen, constantly monitoring his movement.

Just now, both rare-level fighters sensed that Lin Zichen had actually won against the fox-eared girl.

Immediately, their faces were full of shock, finding it hard to believe.

"To be able to fight and defeat a physically stronger Sixth Order fighter and a spiritually powerful Fox Demon with the body of an ordinary Ninth Rank..."