’How are these Li siblings still so stupid?’
’They’ve been in the base for so long, and they still don’t know to collect Crystal Cores?’
’Heh, their loss is my gain!’
Xie Ning led her brothers and sisters at the front, using her spiritual power to sweep the zombie rats that Li Dawei’s group had killed.
Behind them, Li Dawei’s group, the Bull Team, and the Wild Wolf Squad were all sprinting for their lives.
And behind them was an expanse of shimmering green light, drawing closer and closer.
"Xie Ning, what the hell is that thing!" Li Dawei shrieked in terror.
As if Xie Ning had any time to deal with Li Dawei. She was leading her brothers and sisters, using every ounce of their strength to race down the mountain.
Suddenly, Xiao Huang Mao tripped on something. As he stumbled and fell forward, Wang Zongxuan grabbed him by the scruff of his neck.
"Watch your step!" Ji Taixian exclaimed, leaping over a tripping branch. "It’s these trees!"
Before he could finish, all the trees on both sides of the path started moving as if they were having a seizure, violently lashing their branches and whipping "WHIP! WHIP!" at the crowd.
Li Dawei grabbed his sister with one hand and dragged the pale-faced Young Miss Zhong Yaying behind him with the other. His arm muscles bulged as he forcefully blocked several whipping branches.
"Brother!" Li Xiang was scared stiff. "What’s with these trees?"
"These trees have become monsters!" Xie Ning shouted, forming a Metal Shield and charging to the very front.
’They were all playing dead on the way up, but as soon as those green lights flew over to attack, every single one of them came to life to block our way down the mountain!’
Xie Ning was actually doing okay.
In her spare time, she had made herself a metal vest to wear.
Now, with a helmet on her head and a Metal Shield in her hand, she could block eighty to ninety percent of the whipping attacks.
It was just that the branches whipping her head made it ring with a "CLANG! CLANG!" sound, and she had to keep adjusting her helmet, making her look rather pathetic...
Song Shijun and Song Kexin hid behind their big sister, one frantically fanning the wind, the other furiously starting fires.
Who cared about destroying forest vegetation or ruining the ecological environment? In the face of life and death, they just had to burn every fucking thing with all their might!
This made things miserable for the group behind them, who were all choking and sputtering in the smoke, coughing nonstop.
"What the hell? What is that?"
"Those things are coming down!"
"Group up!" Xie Ning shouted.
Wang Zongxuan dragged Ji Taixian with one hand and held Xiao Huang Mao with the other, quickly rushing to Xie Ning’s side.
As Xie Ning continuously poured Gold Element Energy into it, the Golden Shield instantly expanded and grew wildly, forming a canopy over their heads.
Seeing this, Li Dawei, with a girl tucked under each arm, scrambled and tumbled under the Golden Shield, scared out of his wits.
At the same time, Zhong Shichong, Mr. Wang, Xu Bailiang, and most of the Bull Team and Wild Wolf Squad also stumbled under the protection of the Golden Shield.
In the blink of an eye, the mass of flickering green light swooped down.
When it hit the Golden Shield, it instantly lit up with a strange, blindingly green glow.
Everyone turned their heads just in time to see several members of the Wild Wolf Squad, who hadn’t made it into the safety of the Golden Shield, completely surrounded by the green lights.
In just a moment, bloodcurdling screams and cries for help erupted from within the green light.
A moment later, nothing was left on the ground but a pile of white bones.
The Bull Team members were so terrified they nearly collapsed. "Man-eating green lights, man-eating green lights!"
They muttered hoarsely, desperately trying to squeeze further under the Golden Shield.
"Stop fucking pushing!!!" Song Kexin, who had her arm around Xie Ning’s slender waist, turned and glared at the panicked Li Xiang, who was shoving her hard.
Li Xiang glared back, not to be outdone. "Am I the one pushing? The people behind me are pushing me!"
On this point, Li Xiang wasn’t just making excuses.
It was indeed a group of Bull Team members, pushing with all their might toward the center.
All the pushing and shoving made it hard for Xie Ning, Song Kexin, and Song Shijun, who were in the middle, to even breathe properly.
"What in the world are those things?" Li Xiang shouted.
"They should be a swarm of flying insects," Xu Bailiang’s voice was relatively calm. "Everyone, don’t panic. Fire Ability Users, attack with fire. Wind Ability Users, blow them away. As long as we don’t get completely surrounded by them, we should be fine."
As he spoke, a Fireball had already materialized in his hand and he swiftly threw it forward.
"Hey, Bull Team! Don’t just fucking stand there, attack!" Li Dawei, who was pushed somewhere near the middle, roared anxiously.
They watched as wave after wave of shimmering green lights swarmed toward them.
Xie Ning continuously released her Gold Ability, feeling the waves of energy as the green lights battered the shield from above.
With a "BUZZ," the green lights all flared up at once, wave after wave.
Xie Ning controlled the surface of the Golden Shield, causing rows of dense metal spikes to emerge.
No matter how many times the flying insects dove at it, it was a one-way trip to death.
Although Xie Ning blocked the vast majority of the flying insects, some still managed to dive toward the crowd.
This was bad news for the Bull Team and Wild Wolf Squad members on the outer ring.
"AHHHH!" A Bull Team member’s left arm was unfortunately touched by the green light.
Instantly, starting from that single point on his arm, a searing burn spread from bottom to top, from inside to out. Half of his arm quickly began to burn and boil.
"Oh my god." Mr. Wang decisively lifted his leg and kicked the man, sending him flying.
The other Bull Team members immediately widened their bull-like eyes and glared furiously at Mr. Wang for kicking their teammate. "Why did you do that??"
Before the Bull Team’s captain could lash out, Zhong Shichong quickly said in a cold voice, "Look for yourselves! That man couldn’t be saved!"
The Bull Team member who had been kicked away was now scorched all over. Even worse, faint green lights were glowing from beneath his skin, making everyone’s hair stand on end.
"Mommy, mommy!" Li Xiang shrieked. "The bugs don’t die after they get inside your body!"
’They can even keep multiplying under the skin...’
It wasn’t just Li Xiang who was screaming for her mommy; everyone else wanted to scream for their mommy too. It was just too fucking disgusting!
Just as everyone was stretched to their limits and struggling for their lives, a "RUMBLE RUMBLE" sound came from the mountain path on both sides.
"Oh mom, what is that thing?" Li Xiang was crying for her mom again.
This time, even Li Dawei wanted to cry for his mommy.
Everyone looked up to see two towering trees hopping down the mountain.
That’s right, they were fucking hopping!
The two trees hopped while periodically lashing their branches. As branches and leaves flew about chaotically, everyone had no choice but to brace themselves and fight.
"I’ll burn you bastards to death!" a Bull Team member yelled, pulling a gasoline barrel from his Space and frantically dousing the area.
"What the hell!" Everyone was stunned by his actions.
"Wait before you set it on fire!"
"Wait until we’ve retreated downhill to burn it!"
Meanwhile, Xie Ning had long since tuned out the chaotic cacophony of shouts from the outside world.
Her entire focus was now on...
...collecting Crystal Cores!
Snatching Crystal Cores from a distance!
Don’t be fooled by the small size of these flying insects; they were bona fide Second Order flying insects.
They descended on her Golden Shield like moths to a flame, dying in droves and showering down handfuls of Crystal Cores.
Our dear student Xie Ning was ecstatic.
Who had time to bother with the people around her...?