Xu Xing had been captured and taken to the cave for a full day. She had not given up on finding an opportunity to escape. In her mind, as long as she could regain her strength, break free from the vines binding her, and consume the seeds of the hundred-year-old orchid, she would have enough power. At that point, not only could she escape, but she could even lead others to escape with her.
However, Xu Xing found that no matter how hard she tried, she remained weak. It was difficult to even move her arms, let alone break free from the vines. The only thing she could do was chat with the group of people around her. They had been captured for a long time and had gradually lost hope, as they had received no support. If they were to be rescued, they likely would have been rescued by now.
During the day she was bound, Xu Xing discovered something: whenever she felt hungry, a vine covered in fruit would extend from the tree. The fruits were very sweet, and eating five or six of them was enough to stave off hunger for half a day. This was the first time Xu Xing had encountered such a situation.
However, Xu Xing suddenly realized why she had been in a state of weakness. It must be that the fruits contained some special substance that restricted her from using her abilities. To regain her strength, she could not continue eating these fruits.
Xu Xing quickly shared her discovery with the others. Upon hearing this, they shook their heads helplessly. "We already knew this, but it's useless. Even if you don't eat them, wooden thorns will eventually inject substances into your body, and you'll still find it difficult to move."
Xu Xing refused to believe them. She was determined to try. To escape through her own abilities, she had to regain her powers. Moreover, even if she regained her powers, it might not be enough to break through the encirclement of the tree people.
Xu Xing looked towards the distant waterfall. Above the waterfall were several exposed caves, which were tunnels dug by marmots. As long as she could get into a cave, there was still a chance to escape.
"As long as I break free from the vines, I can escape quickly. Then, I'll just burrow into a marmot hole, and no one will find me," Xu Xing thought to herself.
However, her plan was good, but Xu Xing made a mistake at the very first step. She was completely unable to regain her abilities. When the mutated plants discovered that Xu Xing had not eaten the fruit delivered that night, a slit opened on the trunk, and a long wooden thorn grew out, piercing directly into Xu Xing's abdomen and injecting an unknown liquid into her body.
Xu Xing immediately felt a strong sense of drowsiness. She wanted to open her eyes, but her eyelids felt heavy, and she soon fell asleep, lowering her head and unable to utter a word.
When Chai Kefu saw this, he shook his head helplessly and said, "If you don't listen to the elders, you'll suffer. We already warned her, but she didn't believe us. Now that she's been hypnotized, she deserves it."
The people who had been captured earlier had already guessed that the fruits from the tree were problematic. They had also tried not to eat them, but the result was the same as what Xu Xing was experiencing now. Regain abilities and strength? Don't even think about it. The mutated plants would never give them that chance.
As the tree people began to go out to hunt, everyone knew that it was now night. This was usually the time when Xiao Sheng and the other two would come to rescue them. Counting the time, it should be starting soon.
"Do you think Xiao Sheng and the others can shake off the tree people this time?" Lu Yizhen asked directly.
Chai Kefu heard the question and replied directly, "I don't think so. They two are not suited for fighting in this terrain. The surroundings are all water, which restricts Xiao Sheng's abilities. Jin Ziju's lightning will also be blocked by the insulating properties of the trees, preventing him from charging forward. As for Zhang Zi, she hasn't appeared for several days, so we can't rely on her."
Just as the two were discussing whether their teammates could come, a black shadow suddenly emerged from a distant cave and rushed directly towards the center of the water pool. Its speed was incredibly fast, so fast that even the ability users present could hardly see it clearly. Lu Yizhen, who had enhanced vision abilities, could still see better than others even though he couldn't use his abilities. At this moment, Lu Yizhen directly saw Shen Feng's face as he was rushing over at extreme speed.
Seeing this, Lu Yizhen blurted out, "Shen Feng? He's really here? So fast?"
When Lu Yizhen saw Shen Feng appearing in the underground space, he was almost stunned. He never expected Shen Feng to appear at such a critical moment, and upon appearing, he had already broken through the tree people's defenses, with no tree person able to stop him.
If Shen Feng came to rescue them, perhaps they could really be saved. Instantly, everyone present became excited, their gazes fixed on Shen Feng, all hoping that Shen Feng could rush over and free them from the trees.
Shen Feng's feet landed on the water surface, and his speed slowed down considerably. After all, Shen Feng could walk on water by relying on the surrounding strong winds to support his body. The force on the water surface was clearly not as good as on the ground, so a slowdown was natural.
However, even though his speed had slowed down considerably, no one could stop Shen Feng's advance. The more than twenty tree people were already being held back by Jin Ziju and Xiao Sheng. The two were fighting fiercely, with Jin Ziju continuously unleashing lightning strikes. While the lightning strikes didn't directly kill the tree people, they caused paralysis. The paralyzed tree people could no longer catch up to Shen Feng.
Xiao Sheng was not to be outdone. The fire dragons in his hands coiled around everywhere. As soon as they entangled a tree person, they released intense heat. The water-soaked tree people immediately emitted "hissing" white smoke. Under these circumstances, the tree people had to deal with the two annoying ability users in front of them, leaving them no time to stop Shen Feng.
Shen Feng looked at the lake island that was already within reach, a smile appearing on his face. He then shouted loudly, "Brothers, I'm coming! Everyone get ready. After I cut the vines, run as soon as you land. I can only take two people."
At this moment, there were no more tree people in front of Shen Feng. Upon discovering this situation, Shen Feng was confident that he could complete his mission.
Lu Yizhen quickly shouted, "Shen Feng, we are all weak all over. Even if we fall, we won't be able to walk!"
Shen Feng ignored them and waved his hand, releasing a large area of wind blades, targeting many branches above. The sharp wind blades would directly cut through the branches as soon as they hit them. The cages that were originally hanging from the branches fell directly, and pale green digestive fluid flowed all over the ground. In this situation, the vines binding more than a dozen people were also cut, and they fell straight to the ground.
In Shen Feng's mind, as long as these people landed, they would be able to escape on their own. However, when the branches were cut, more than a dozen ability users fell to the ground, disoriented. They found it difficult to even move, let alone escape. Fortunately, they had strong physiques, otherwise, falling from a height of more than ten meters would have been fatal.
"Get up, Mengmeng, get up!" Shen Feng couldn't help but call out when he saw several people lying on the ground. These were all Chinese people who couldn't stand up, lacking any spirit.
"Mengmeng your sister! We told you we were weak and couldn't move, but you didn't believe us, did you? You bastard are solely responsible for us falling like this." Lu Yizhen, after falling to the ground and smelling the sour and pungent digestive fluid around him, became furious. If they had strength, wouldn't they escape on their own?
Shen Feng shrugged and said, "It seems I can only take two people randomly. Whoever is lucky, I'll take them. By the way, have you seen Xu Xing?"
Shen Feng was not a selfless person. At this moment, he naturally wanted to take Xu Xing with him. Besides her, he could take one fated person. As for the rest, he could only wait for a future opportunity. Anyway, he was very fast and rescuing people was simple.
However, at this moment, the lake island began to shake. Shen Feng, standing on the shore, also felt unsteady. The fluorescent fruits overhead kept falling, and the water surface was constantly vibrating, as if something underground was about to break through the earth.
"Damn it, what is this? Lu Yizhen, are there any formidable things here?" Shen Feng was stunned by the sudden change. Wasn't the last defensive force in the underground space the tree people? Now that the tree people were entangled, were there monsters hidden here?
"I don't know either. I've never known if there was anything else here since I was captured. There was no abnormality before. I don't know!" Lu Yizhen quickly replied. He also didn't understand what was happening. Could there be something special underwater?
Just then, the fifty-meter-tall ancient tree on the lake island suddenly rose from the ground, its height increasing by ten meters. Looking at the roots of the tree, more than thirty thick roots had emerged from the ground and were walking on the lake island.
Immediately after, two thick branches hung down from the tree, like arms. A giant tree person, sixty meters tall, appeared on the lake island.
"Holy crap, such a big tree person, how can we fight this?" Shen Feng couldn't help but curse when he saw the scene. He could hardly believe what he was seeing. He originally thought the tree on the lake island was just a large tree, but now it turned out that this tree could grow.
Xiao Sheng and Jin Ziju in the distance were also stunned by the changes in the lake. A tree person of ten meters was already very tall, a giant to humans. Now, a sixty-meter-tall giant tree person appeared in the lake, how could they fight this? This was the largest tree person in the world.
"Swish," the giant tree person swung its thick branches and struck down. Before it even reached Shen Feng, the strong wind pressure made Shen Feng feel pressured.
Finally, as the branches pressed down, Shen Feng directly moved to the side, dodging the giant tree person's attack. Shen Feng dared not withstand such a heavy attack, because what he feared most was that after unleashing the "Wind King Barrier," the barrier would be broken in an instant.
Subsequently, the giant tree person continuously swung its arms to attack Shen Feng, but its speed was too slow, and Shen Feng's speed was the fastest in the world. All the fierce attacks were dodged, and the tree person's attacks were ineffective.
Facing the immensely large tree person, Shen Feng felt insignificant. This feeling was the same as facing a sea beast in the deep sea. When a huge body appeared, the ability users' attacks were no longer very effective.
Moreover, many ability users were still hanging from the vines on the tree. As the giant tree person moved, they also swayed, almost vomiting. If this continued, Shen Feng might not be killed, but they would be the first to be unable to bear it.
At this moment, a woman shouted loudly at Shen Feng, "Shen Feng, come back in three days. At that time, I will lead them to cooperate from the inside and outside. You go quickly now."
Shen Feng looked in the direction of the voice and saw a disheveled woman speaking. He didn't recognize her, but Shen Feng had no better options at the moment and could only retreat for now.
"Then it's settled, three days later, cooperate from the inside and outside!" Shen Feng then decisively retreated. A sixty-meter-tall giant tree person was not something he could deal with.