“Yeah, super powerful... I remember Kuang He Bing Lie (a character from Pili Puppet Show) used this move and then got a boxed lunch…” Feng Bujue replied with narrowed eyes.

“Stop the chatter!” Atobe said unhappily, “This is a one-time consumable skill that requires Fighting B plus Spirit Art C to use. Normally, it’s at least an A-grade skill.”

“Alright, alright... After we meet the Silk Mother, we’ll focus our attacks around your move.” Feng Bujue said.

“Yeah, we’ll handle the support.” Honghu nodded in agreement, “We’ll create attacking opportunities and space for you as much as possible.”

“Actually, you don’t need to do anything special. The Silk Mother’s size is what it is, hitting her shouldn’t be a problem; and consumable skills can’t fail anyway…” Atobe continued, “As long as I confirm that there’s no web between me and her, I can…”

As he spoke, he just happened to clear away a silk web in front of him. Unexpectedly, a shadow suddenly darted out from behind that web.

“Careful!” Tianma Xingkong shouted to warn them, raising his hand to strike at the same time. This strike wasn’t Meteor Fist, but a regular punch, but Little Ma was still relying on his overbearing strength to unleash an invisible burst of energy.

The shadow that suddenly pounced was slightly stalled by the force of the punch. Taking advantage of this gap, Atobe also took half a step back and flicked his fan, successfully forcing the opponent back.

At this moment, everyone finally saw what was attacking them.

It was a mushroom…

To be precise, a “Mushroom Person.”

If you’re picturing that little mushroom minion from the Mario games, you’d be dead wrong... The thing in front of the players looked more like the Haiku God (a mysterious creature that Matsuo Basho saw after eating a poisonous mushroom in *Aggretsuko*)…

It was about one meter sixty in height, basically humanoid. It had a huge, yellowish-brown mushroom cap on its head, and its body was light yellow with four limbs. But it had no details at all, no muscle contours, fingers, toes, skin, or hair... nothing. In fact, it didn’t even have a neck. Its head, torso, and hips were all one connected piece.

In short... the appearance of this "illusion beast" gave the impression of a graffiti character with an incredibly simple style. The lines on its face were also very casual... A few simple strokes formed a lewd, dull face.

"Hai... Haiku God!" Feng Bujue widened his eyes and immediately retorted as he looked at the Mushroom Person.

"Erase!" The Mushroom Person opened its mouth and... made this sound. At the same time, it used its barrel-like body to make a fighting stance, constantly yelling, "Erase—erase—"

"Compared to this guy... the howling mountain goat from before seems so ordinary..." Honghu said as he retreated behind his teammates with the infrared light in his hand. Obviously, he wasn’t planning on participating in the fight.

Anyone on the team could solo this kind of small monster. Honghu naturally prioritized maintaining the infrared light, so that no one would accidentally bump into the silk web.

"Hahaha..." Feng Bujue quickly and unsolicitedly walked to the front of the team, smiling, "Excellent! I was just looking for something vegetarian!"

"Hey, hey... you just want to eat everything you see?" Atobe felt disgusted when he looked at the lewd Mushroom Man, so he dissuaded him, "We already have rations, why bother with a balanced diet!" As he said this, his eyes suddenly changed as if he had thought of something, and he turned his head to look at Jue-ge, "Hmm... there seems to be a problem with your motivation for eating... You're just eating because you want to eat, right? It has nothing to do with survival or clearing the level!"

"Erase—erase—" The Mushroom Person didn’t care what they were saying. It shouted twice more, then dashed forward, aiming a side kick at Jue-ge’s face.

"Hmph... these tricks won't work on me!" Feng Bujue crossed his arms in front of him, facing the opponent’s attack head-on.

With a "poof" sound, their arms and feet touched, and both retreated about ten feet.

"Erase!" This time, Feng Bujue shouted that phrase.

He wasn’t surprised by how strong the attack was, but by the fact that... he had been poisoned.

"What the hell... getting kicked through my sleeves gave me a poison effect?" Feng Bujue thought to himself.

Jue-ge originally wanted to let the opponent hit him a few times on purpose, using the effect of [Hate Furnace] to trick them out of some stamina. But... it backfired.

"You really can't be careless." Feng Bujue spat and immediately prepared to use Lanjiao (Storm Leg) to finish off this grotesque creature.

But just as he was about to kick, he suddenly had an idea and changed his mind…

In the next second, he faked a move, using his speed to flash to the monster’s side; then, he took something out of his pocket and threw it out.

You’ve probably guessed it… That's right, he threw out the [Never-Been-Used Old Poké Ball].

The Mushroom Person was caught off guard by Jue-ge’s actions, and the space here was so cramped that it couldn’t get out of the range of the Poké Ball. So... it was hit.

When the Poké Ball approached its target, it automatically opened and suddenly burst out a beam of white light. After being hit, the Mushroom Person’s entire body was first turned into light, then rapidly contracted, finally pouring into the ball.

Thud—

Two seconds later, the Poké Ball fell onto the crystal crust, and then… began to sway back and forth.

For some reason... during these few seconds, all four people present were tense and stood motionless…

Once, twice… three times…

Driven by some inexplicable instinct, everyone stared intently at the Poké Ball, holding their breath. Only after it swayed three times and stopped did they all breathe a sigh of relief.

【Ding ding ding deng deng deng deng~】 At this moment, the system even gave a nonsensical sound effect that felt strangely familiar.

Feng Bujue stepped forward, picked up the Poké Ball, and grinned, "Ha! I caught the Haiku God!"

"What's with this inexplicable sense of disharmony..." Tianma Xingkong muttered.

"It feels like we suddenly traveled to some other game..." Honghu said.

Atobe’s retort was also quite sharp, "Will there be a quest next to have you collect badges from gyms all over Zhumo Island or something..."

"Stop the nonsense, does anyone have an antidote? Give me a bottle." Feng Bujue quickly brought up the important matter. Although the effect of the poison he was inflicted with was relatively weak, it couldn’t be ignored; in just those few seconds, the damage converted into stamina was already considerable.

…………

Five minutes later, on top of a Terror Leaf.

"Hmm? They actually came?" The Silk Mother, who was dozing on a leaf vein, suddenly arched her body and said, "Heh... it seems they found a way to detect the silk webs..."

The Silk Mother didn’t have true "vision." Her senses were a different ability from the five senses of humans. So, she didn’t know about infrared lights or anything like that, but she could sense the players approaching through the subtle vibrations on the nearby silk webs.

"Interesting... it wasn’t for naught that I set this up for so long." The Silk Mother laughed.

Just as she was talking to herself, a circle of red light slowly came from the crystal path in the distance and had already reached the edge of the Terror Leaf.

Suddenly, there were two whooshing sounds, and a gust of wind rose.

A large fan split open a silk web spread out in mid-air, and four figures jumped out from the opening one after another.

In the blink of an eye, the four players had stepped onto the Terror Leaf, spread out, and were waiting in formation.

"You came to save your companions?" The cute voice in the Silk Mother’s belly said in a teasing tone, "I'm so touched."

Feng Bujue ignored the other party’s words and observed the environment on the Terror Leaf on his own. After confirming the terrain and the Boss’s position, he exchanged glances with his teammates, then opened his mouth and said, "Alright... according to plan, let's go."

Honghu, Atobe, and Tianma Xingkong responded in unison and rushed out in all directions with Jue-ge.

"Ha... what are you doing? Are you planning to fight me?" The Silk Mother’s contempt was obvious, "I thought you guys would be a little smarter..."

Before she could finish, the sides of the Silk Mother’s body were hit by successive strikes of light arrows and fist beams. Atobe’s giant fan also continuously danced, attacking her tail.

But the Silk Mother still said nonchalantly, "For example... you could split into two groups, one group responsible for holding me back, and the other group responsible for saving your partner, and then escape separately..."

"How do you know... that we’re not planning to do that?" At this time, Feng Bujue’s voice suddenly came from the air.

In just those few seconds, Jue-ge had already stepped on Moon Steps and approached the top of those giant crystal pillars.

"Hmph... not bad." The Silk Mother snorted coldly, and then the Silk Mother’s body shook.

In an instant, all the silk threads reappeared, and the bright green Terror Leaf became a pink and white ocean.

At the same time, those large cocoons hanging high in the air all moved suddenly... except for the human-shaped cocoon that imprisoned Uncle Waste Wood, the remaining six strangely shaped cocoons all burst open from the inside at that moment.

Six huge, strangely faced creatures pounced down from the sky, blocking Feng Bujue’s path.

"Looks like you were prepared..." Jue-ge said as he looked at the huge monsters that were closing in, "But... so am I..."

His calm eyes flashed with a trace of狂热(kuangre - intense) killing intent.

The light of the explosion brought out a purple-gold battle shadow.

Feng Bujue looked up and activated [Summoning Technique - Ma Sun], and the tall martial general’s battle soul suddenly bloomed behind him.

"Ma Sun!" Jue-ge shouted.

"Here!" Ma Sun responded.

Feng Bujue took out a military shovel from his knapsack, holding it horizontally in front of his chest like a broadsword, and danced a move towards the sky: "Zhonghua (China) Slaying Dance!"

Ma Sun understood and gathered spiritual light in his hand, and a real guandao (general’s pole weapon) was formed.

For a time, golden light burst out, and the shadows of the sword were heavy.

The six monster shadows falling from the sky were caught off guard and were all cut up, scattered, and even torn apart...

"Oh? You have such combat power..." The Silk Mother pondered, but the second half of her sentence turned into a mad roar, "Very good... you can't wait to taste the 'panic after your mental breakdown'!"

Before the roar ended, the Silk Mother let out another sharp scream.

"Zha—"

This was the first time she had unleashed a direct, real attack on the players. The "chirps" she made the last time they met were just a greeting. This was the real thing.

"Holy shit!" Atobe was shocked when he was hit and couldn’t help but curse in a low voice. He was relatively far away from the Silk Mother’s body, but he still staggered and almost fell.

The other Tianma Xingkong wasn't so lucky... Little Ma was standing closest to the Boss and was hit hard. As soon as the shriek sounded, he instinctively took a few steps back and sat down on the ground. A cold feeling quickly covered his nose and lips. When he reached out to touch it, his nose was bleeding like a burst dam.

"Tch... did it affect the brain?" Honghu, who wasn’t far away, also squatted down quickly. Although he could barely stand, he squatted down for safety. He was mainly worried that... if he staggered and moved, then fell from the Terror Leaf and into the silk web, it would be even more troublesome.

"Plan B!" Suddenly, Jue-ge in mid-air shouted loudly and flipped down.

"Oh? You have two plans?" The Silk Mother sneered, "Let me guess... Plan B is to give up splitting up to save people and instead focus all your strength on attacking me?"

"Annoying, highly intelligent bug..." Feng Bujue conveniently took out two more grenades from his arms, bit open the pins, and threw them down, "Tch... wait until I take care of you... stir-fried, deep-fried, stir-fried with bean sauce... it’s up to you!"

A second later, with two loud "bang" sounds, two grenades quickly exploded on the Silk Mother’s back, while Jue-ge used [Void Step] to stop in mid-air, out of the explosion range.

"What are those? Toys made of gunpowder and metal?" In the gradually dissipating smoke, the Silk Mother’s intact giant body was revealed, "Hehe... speaking of toys... did you forget something?"

In an instant, Feng Bujue’s pupils shrank sharply, and he realized a very serious problem.

Shua shua shua—

A fierce light flashed, and blood mist splashed.

Jue-ge was hit repeatedly in the back, and even Ma Sun, who was made of spirit particles, was scattered by this attack.

He looked back and saw... the monsters that had been cut into non-beastly shapes by the Zhonghua Slaying Dance were still moving without exception. Although their bodies had been torn apart, they were still attacking with mechanical movements.

"You didn’t expect it, did you? As long as a part of the nerve isn’t completely dead, even if there’s only one arm or one finger left, I can pull the strings and make it move." The Silk Mother said triumphantly to Feng Bujue, "Hehe... I can see that you're the strongest of the four of you, right? Their attacks are like tickling, but yours... seems worth looking forward to." As she spoke, she controlled the corpses in mid-air to surround Jue-ge, "Come on, show me a special move or something to make me happy, otherwise..."

"Don't look down on people, you stinky bug!" Atobe’s furious roar in the distance interrupted the Silk Mother’s words and successfully attracted her attention.

"What did you call me?" The Silk Mother seemed to be very dissatisfied with the word "stinky bug." She actually gave up on finishing off Jue-ge and twisted her body around at an unbelievably high speed, facing Atobe, "Say it again if you dare... human."

"I can say it as many times as you want..." Atobe was breathing heavily, and in the face of the great pressure and fear... he struggled to stand firm and glared at the Boss in front of him, "You stinky bug is so disgusting... I feel like throwing up just looking at you!"

The more he said, the louder his voice became. The last few words were almost shouted out with all his strength.

Atobe wasn’t a top player, at least not yet; he wasn’t Feng Bujue; he wasn’t even a drug addict like Corpse Blade. Atobe was just an ordinary person... he often felt scared when facing a Boss.

This was human nature... when seeing those terrifying and bizarre demons, devils, ghosts, and monsters, anyone would be intimidated. This was the case even in front of a computer screen, let alone virtual reality.

At the moment, facing a giant man-eating silkworm that was fatter than a train, it was already good enough that Atobe wasn’t trembling with fear, because his brain was constantly reminding him that this was just a game.

However, after shouting those two sentences, he suddenly felt better...

The fear, the pressure, the worry that his companions would be killed all seemed to have been washed away by this roar.

Perhaps... when he faced the thing that made him afraid, he realized that it was nothing more than that...

"Damn scum..." The Silk Mother was now enraged and raised her huge head, slamming it down suddenly, trying to smash Atobe into a pulp.

"Tch... not very fast." Atobe stepped back and actually barely dodged the attack, even taunting the Boss in front of him.

"Ah—" The Silk Mother was completely enraged. She squirmed her body and lunged forward violently; her round mouth opened, revealing circles of sharp teeth, seemingly preparing to swallow Atobe directly.

Whoosh whoosh whoosh—

Three powerful light blade slashes suddenly came from the side and struck the Silk Mother’s back.

"Am I dead?" Jue-ge’s voice sounded again. He was naturally not dead, but he was quite badly injured. However, after he used Moon Steps to escape the encirclement, he still launched an attack on the Boss at the first opportunity.

Unfortunately, the Silk Mother completely ignored these three Storm Kicks, and her speed didn’t slow down at all.

Fortunately…

"Sigh... it's because you guys are all so reckless that plans can't keep up with changes..." Honghu raised one arm forward, holding a silver cross accessory, and suddenly made his move, "[Spiritual Sealing Array]!"

【Name: Spiritual Sealing Array】

【Skill Card Attributes: Active Skill, Permanently Mastered】

【Skill Type: Spiritual Art】

【Effect: Use powerful spiritual energy to suppress all living beings within a certain range】

【Consumption: 50% of the upper limit of spiritual power value】

【Learning Conditions: Spiritual Arts Expertise C, Level 35 or above】

【Note: Cooldown time is twenty minutes, duration is twenty seconds; ineffective against mechanical or soulless creatures, the effect on Boss-level monsters will be correspondingly weakened (depending on the Boss’s strength); cannot be cancelled midway; spiritual objects (spiritual objects can be non-physical of the same nature) must be laid out in advance at each formation eye in the figure below】