"It’s fleeing," Xu Wuyi said suddenly.

"What?" Li Feng was taken aback.

"The main body is fleeing." Xu Wuyi looked ahead and to the left. "The root network is contracting, and its energy is massing in that direction."

No sooner had he spoken than—

"ROAR—!!!"

A low, furious roar, like the grinding of countless pieces of wood, echoed from deep within the forest!

The entire Rotting Swamp Forest seemed to come alive.

The ground began to tremble as innumerable vines burst from the soil, thrashing wildly.

The surrounding trees began to twist and tilt, their bark cracking open to reveal dark red, flesh-like tissue within.

The miasma thickened rapidly, the grayish-white fog becoming almost tangible.

"It’s enraged!" Li Feng’s expression changed. "Get ready to fight!"

Han Qingqing immediately raised her Compound Crossbow, aiming in the direction of the roar.

Xu Wuyi, however, remained calm.

He recalled the lingering flame from his palm and tightened his grip on his spear.

"Here it comes."

Ahead, a hundred meters away.

The ground violently bulged and split apart!

A giant tree, several times larger than the offshoot from before, "stood up" from underground!

The trunk was over five meters in diameter and exceeded twenty meters in height. Its entire body was a dark red. It had no bark; instead, its surface was covered in a layer of twisted tissue resembling muscle fiber.

At its crown were no branches or leaves, only dozens of vines as thick as water buckets, their tips as sharp as spears, thrashing wildly through the air.

A massive, eye-like knot in the center of its trunk slowly opened.

Inside was no pupil, only a profound, dark green, eerie glow.

The Rotting Wood Demon. Its main body.

The tactical eyepiece displayed its feedback: Energy Level 37.1.

"Go!" Li Feng bellowed.

Han Qingqing pulled the trigger, and three Energy Crossbow Arrows shot toward the Rotting Wood Demon’s eye-like knot in a triangular formation.

The Rotting Wood Demon didn’t even try to dodge.

A few vines lashed down like lightning, precisely striking the Crossbow Arrows and blasting them out of the air.

Meanwhile, several other vines lashed out at the trio like long whips, shrieking as they tore through the air!

Li Feng drew his saber, its flash like a silver streak, and slashed at a vine.

CLANG!

The tremendous sound of clashing metal rang out.

The slash left a deep gash in the vine, spraying dark green sap, but its momentum was unbroken, knocking Li Feng back three steps.

Han Qingqing quickly rolled aside, dodging another vine’s lash. A half-meter-deep trench was carved into the spot where she had just been standing.

Xu Wuyi moved.

He didn’t dodge.

He raised his spear, aimed its tip at the whipping vine, and thrust straight forward!

Upon the spear tip, the dark gold Undying Flame suddenly flared to life!

PSHH!

The spear tip pierced the vine, and the fire instantly spread across its surface!

The Rotting Wood Demon let out a pained roar, the afflicted vine thrashing wildly, trying to shake off the spear and the flames. But once the Undying Flame took hold, it clung like a parasite, impossible to shake off.

Xu Wuyi used the momentum to vault onto another vine. He swept his spear, spreading the flames like splashed ink. 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

Wherever they passed, the vine’s surface swiftly grew dull, withered, and crumbled to ash.

"Han Qingqing, keep the upper vines busy! Li Feng, guard the flanks, watch out for sneak attacks from below!" Xu Wuyi’s voice was calm and clear.

Li Feng and Han Qingqing instinctively obeyed.

In that moment, they forgot Xu Wuyi’s age and seniority, sensing only the natural authority of a battlefield commander.

Han Qingqing fired in quick succession. While her Energy Crossbow Arrows couldn’t gravely wound the Rotting Wood Demon, they were enough to disrupt the rhythm of the vines’ attacks.

Li Feng’s saber flashed like a web, severing the smaller roots that burst from the ground at their flanks.

As for Xu Wuyi, he was already rushing along a vine toward the Rotting Wood Demon’s main trunk.

The Rotting Wood Demon clearly recognized the threat.

It ignored Li Feng and Han Qingqing. All its vines whipped around, stabbing at Xu Wuyi from every direction like dozens of giant spears!

The tip of each vine was as sharp as a spear, tearing through the air and creating sonic booms.

Xu Wuyi’s gaze hardened.

Within his sea of consciousness, the vortex where the True Intentions of "Mountain" and "Cremation" merged suddenly began to spin faster!

The essence of a sun cresting a mountain peak erupted forth!

Within a three-meter radius around him, the air seemed to solidify.

The instant the thrusting vines entered this radius, they slowed perceptibly, as if sinking into an invisible quagmire.

But Xu Wuyi’s spear grew even faster.

The long spear transformed into a streak of crimson-gold light, weaving through the dense vines.

Every thrust and every sweep carried the tenacity of the Undying Flame and the crushing weight of a sun cresting a mountain peak.

Vine after vine was set ablaze, only to disintegrate.

The Rotting Wood Demon’s roars grew more and more piercing. It began to retreat, trying to burrow back underground.

’Trying to escape?’

Xu Wuyi landed, gripped his spear with both hands, pointed the tip downward, and viciously stabbed it into the ground!

BOOM—!

The Undying Flame surged down the shaft of the spear and poured into the earth!

Centered on the spear tip, the dark golden flames spread outward in ripples. Wherever they passed, soil, rock, and roots were all ignited!

The flames latched onto the Rotting Wood Demon’s roots, which were only halfway underground!

It was forced to halt its retreat. It furiously swung its vines, smashing them down on Xu Wuyi.

Xu Wuyi wrenched his spear free and met the attack.

This time, he didn’t waste time on the vines.

His figure moved like a phantom, weaving through the gaps between the vines. In just a few bounds, he had closed in on the Rotting Wood Demon’s main trunk.

The dark green, eerie glow in the Rotting Wood Demon’s eye-like knot flickered wildly as an invisible wave of spiritual energy radiated outward!

Mental interference!

Li Feng and Han Qingqing simultaneously felt a wave of dizziness, and the scene before them began to warp and overlap.

But Xu Wuyi only frowned slightly.

Within his sea of consciousness, the spiritual barrier forged by his Heart Fire Refining Spirit technique stood firm as a boulder, completely blocking the wave.

His speed didn’t falter; if anything, he moved even faster!

He made one final leap, soaring three meters into the air. Gripping the spear with both hands, he aimed its tip at the eye-like knot in the center of the trunk.

At that moment, the essence of a sun cresting a mountain peak was condensed to its absolute limit.

The crimson-gold light on the spear tip erupted, as if it truly bore a miniature sun.

"Burn!"

With a low shout, Xu Wuyi thrust his spear!

PSHHH—!!!

The spear tip plunged into the eye-like knot without any resistance, piercing clean through and emerging from the back of the trunk!

Dark green sap gushed out like a fountain.

The Rotting Wood Demon’s roar came to an abrupt halt.

All its vines instantly went rigid, then hung down limply.

The dark red tissue covering the trunk’s surface swiftly grew dull, then began to wither and crack.

Xu Wuyi withdrew his spear and vaulted to the ground.

Behind him, the Rotting Wood Demon’s massive body began to collapse. Starting from the pierced core, dark golden flames spread from the inside out, enveloping the entire giant tree.

This time, the flames burned quietly.

There was only the faint CRACKLE of the fire and the soft HISS of the trunk gradually turning to ash.

Li Feng and Han Qingqing stood where they were, dumbfounded.

From Xu Wuyi making his move to the Rotting Wood Demon’s defeat, the whole process... had taken less than five minutes.

A Level 37 Plant-type Star Beast, on its home turf, had been taken down in a head-on fight, single-handedly, by a young Martial Artist.

Moreover, he had practically crushed it.

Han Qingqing opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but found that she couldn’t make a sound.