The red-haired youth was hovering about half a meter off the ground on the edge of the swamp, a few hundred meters away from the Stone-Armored Crocodile.

A few minutes pa.s.sed in tense silence.

The Stone-Armored Crocodile was tense but also slowly getting bored. After another twenty minutes without movement it's guard relaxed by a tiny amount. The little human was entertaining bad thoughts but didn't have the guts to do anything. It was possibly waiting for friends to join them, but the Stone-Armored Crocodile's partner would soon be back from hunting for prey.

At that moment, ten powerful auras dropped out of the sky. From their auras alone it could be told that 5 of them were in the 7th rank and 5 of them in the 8th rank. They shot menacingly towards the swamp, following a red-haired blur that was das.h.i.+ng towards the nest of eggs.

The crocodilian demon beast's protective instincts instantly roared to life. It lunged violently towards the largest of the 8th ranked golems and clenched its incredibly powerful jaw over a stone leg. With a powerful death roll, the stone leg was ripped off the 8th rank golem, which fell to the swamp with a large splas.h.!.+

ROARR!

The 9th rank Stone-Armored Crocodile attacked the golems aggressively.

Van saw its powerful jaws and sharp teeth slice into the golem's as if they were made of b.u.t.ter and gulped.

It was lucky that crocodilian-type beasts had small brains relative to their large and fierce size. If it figured out that the golem-type monsters were actually aiming for Van, and not their eggs…

Shuah!

Van sped through the air, a tiny speck compared to the giant sizes of the golems and the crocodilian demon beast fighting above him. With his incredible speed he was able to evade the relatively slower golems and keep leading them in circles around the enraged Stone-Armored Crocodile that was getting increasingly incensed. It rapidly killed off four of the 7th ranked golems but was getting injured by the combined attacks of the remaining four 8th ranked golems.

Van landed lightly on the edge of the nest and looked down at the three emerald green eggs. His eyes gleamed and he rubbed his hands. The stone golems kept trying to run forwards to where Van was and kill him but they were blocked by the incredibly aggressive Stone-Armored Crocodile who slammed its giant snout across the legs of any golem that tried to move towards the center of the swamp. Due to being attacked, the golem's reflexively fought back, dealing significant damage to the crocodilian monster.

The three green eggs rapidly disappeared into Van's waist pouch.

ROARRR!

At that moment, a powerful aura crashed into the area. The hairs on the back of Van's neck raised. Without hesitation he revolved [Scattering Smoke Steps]. In combination with the Palladium Wind Nymph Sandals, Van seemed to instantly teleport several hundred meters away.

A second, larger Stone-Armored Crocodile also in the 9th rank, charged through the bushland surrounding the swamp. It's black eyes pinned Van with a furious and blood-thirsty gaze.

At that moment, due to Van changing his position, the golems that were chasing after him stopped trying to move to the center of the swamp and ran off to the side. The bloodied and injured Stone-Armored Crocodile breathed heavily but did not chase after them. However, a split second later it saw its partner charging in and realized that the eggs in the center of the swamp were gone!

Van picked his ear – it was time to high tail out of here!

Shuah! Shuah!

The wind below his feet picked up and whisked him rapidly away. However, the larger crocodile that had just appeared was full of energy and rage after it stumbled onto the scene. It immediately began to chase after Van, its bulky body crashed through the landscape. Being a predominantly aquatic creature it's speed on land was slow and ungainly but its immense size made up for it.

Van whistled as he travelled over the landscape. He ran in a straight line, prioritizing speed over evasion.  While he was running, he slipped his hand into his waist pouch and withdrew a familiar jade tablet.

The larger Stone-Armored Crocodile did not notice Van's sneaky actions. The red-haired youth shot a look over his shoulder and saw that the Stone-Armored Crocodile was falling behind somewhat and deliberately slowed his speed to make sure it kept chasing him.

Suddenly, an ear-piercing and mournful shriek was heard.

The giant Stone-Armored Crocodile behind Van trembled in response. It stopped chasing Van and actually turned its heavy body around to go back to the swamp.

Van landed lightly on top of a large boulder.

The red-haired youth watched the giant crocodile waddle furiously away and smirked.

"Tsk tsk, a man's first priority should always be to protect his lady."

Van pulled out the jade tablet and pressed his palm into it. The two 9th ranked Ghost Guard Captains were the only Ghost Guards that he was able to take out of the Ancient Abandoned Manor. With the Ghost Guard Captains, he could control all the subordinate guards in the manor but only these two could be removed from the manor due to the arrays that had been set up. After dripping his blood onto the jade tablet, the Ghost Guard Captains could be stored inside the jade tablet and only released when needed.

Earlier, Van had summoned the two Ghost Guard Captains and sent them to kill the Stone-Armored Crocodile that was already severely injured due to its fight with the ten golems. Not only did he get 50 points for defeating a 9th ranked demon beast, he was also able to get the second crocodilian beast off his tail.

Two 9th ranked Ghost Guard Captains may not be able to easily defeat two 9th ranked Stone-Armored Crocodiles. But two Ghost Guard Captains would be able to easily defeat a Stone-Armored Crocodile on its own!

Van opened his waist pouch and looked at the emerald eggs. A satisfied smile spread over his lips.

"Don't worry, I will give you a good life," he declared, "Just without your parents."

Ah, it seemed cruel but it was only the way of the cultivation world.

______

The 11th night caused a significant culling in the remaining partic.i.p.ants due to the five 8th ranked golems that appeared. The majority of the remaining disciples were in the peak of the 7th rank, with only a few in the 8th rank. Each of these disciples could now be acknowledged as geniuses for lasting this long, but if they did not increase their cultivation, gain a powerful treasure or new skill then they would never reach the legendary 15th wave. The 8th ranked disciples had a good chance of making it to the 13th round based on cultivation but after that survival was based on a combination of luck, insight and ability.

In the depth of a twisted forest, as silver-haired youth emerged with a cold expression on his aristocratic face. Interestingly, there was a new addition to his usual look – a plain black eyepatch now covered his left eye.