Not only was Shen Feng stunned by the turn of events, but even the giant treants did not expect such a situation to arise. In the minds of the mutated plants, as long as they surrounded these detestable ability users, with over fifty treants and their main body acting together, victory would be simple.
However, the mutated plants never imagined that at this moment, an ability user would possess the strength to kill a treant. If their memory served correctly, this woman who killed the treant had previously been captured by the treant, and now she could kill treants. The difference in strength before and after was too obvious.
Moreover, rocks were continuously falling inside the cave. Although treants were powerful, they had never encountered such a situation. Earthquakes were the might of heaven and earth. Even humans were often helpless when facing earthquakes, with no way to cope except for prevention. Now, with giant rocks constantly falling in the cave, even if a treant was hit by a giant rock, it would suffer serious damage. In the midst of the earthquake, the treant could only stand still.
Upon discovering the current situation, the giant treant also stopped moving and became sluggish, standing in place without any action. After thinking for a moment, it actually chose to find a patch of open ground in a corner of the cave and anchor its roots into the soil. Although the soil underground was already very scarce, consisting mostly of碎石 (suì shí - gravel), the giant treant managed to root itself in this terrain.
After anchoring its roots, the giant treant stopped moving entirely, as if it had become a tree that knew nothing. This was completely the behavior of a“缩头乌龟” (suō tóu wū guī - a shrinking-headed turtle, meaning someone who avoids confrontation).
Shen Feng originally wanted to strike while the iron was hot, but the entire ground was shaking. The earthquake triggered by Xu Xing was still ongoing, and this could not be ignored. Giant rocks were continuously falling from above. If one was accidentally hit by a rock, they could bid farewell to this world.
Shen Feng directly looked towards the marmot burrow by the waterfall. This place could temporarily shelter them from the falling rocks above, but otherwise, if the burrow collapsed, those hiding inside would be crushed to death by the giant rocks.
"No, we absolutely cannot hide in the burrow now, otherwise, it will be impossible to survive. Marmot burrows may not be able to withstand an earthquake," Shen Feng decided. He could not hide in the narrow burrow. Moreover, while the treants were currently immobile, they should also quickly find a way to escape and not wait for death.
Since the marmot burrow could not be chosen as a destination, they could only go back. Shen Feng shouted loudly, "Let's hurry back now and prepare to return the way we came."
Subsequently, the six people in the cave quickly passed through the passage and arrived at the crevice. The treants were all stunned and did not pursue the enemies. No matter how perfect the mutated plants were, these treants always had a flaw, which was their low intelligence. In terms of learning ability, mutated plants could learn Chinese by listening to people's conversations within a month, which completely surpassed most humans and could be called genius. However, the treants had always stayed underground and had never experienced an earthquake. This was the first time they had encountered such an event, and they had no coping strategies.
Shen Feng quickly returned to the edge of the crevice, only to see Xu Xing being held in Qi Yunfang's arms. Xu Xing's condition was extremely terrifying. At a glance, Xu Xing looked as if she had been boiled in hot water. Her skin had turned reddish, steam was still rising from her body, and she had already lost consciousness. She could no longer hear what anyone was saying.
"What happened to Xu Xing? Why is her belly so big after not seeing her for such a short time? And she looks so hot, what happened?" Shen Feng quickly asked, wanting to know what had happened to Xu Xing.
Xu Xing's current condition was truly abnormal. Her belly was bulging high, as if she were a woman seven months pregnant. However, Shen Feng knew that Xu Xing was a young maiden. At her age, she should be in high school and could not be pregnant at this time. Even if she were pregnant, it would not be this fast. In almost the blink of an eye, Xu Xing's belly had become larger. This speed was incredibly fast for humans. Nezha would feel ashamed if he saw this scene.
Qi Yunfang did not hide anything and recounted Xu Xing's combat experience. When Shen Feng heard that Xu Xing had killed a treant with a single punch, he could hardly believe his ears. Treants were impervious to blades and spears, and even he was not confident of winning. Yet, in Xu Xing's hands, they seemed so vulnerable, being blown apart with one punch. This seemed too unusual, even after consuming the seeds of the Century Plant.
"Could it be that the treants' weakness is actually internal? Can Xu Xing's attack kill the treants from the inside?" Shen Feng pondered in his mind.
Qi Yunfang continued to narrate the events. After that came the attack from the thorny vines. These attacks were nothing to Xu Xing, as she had strong recovery abilities for half an hour. Then, Xu Xing was ambushed by a wooden spike, and some liquid was injected into her, after which she became like this.
Before losing consciousness, Xu Xing unleashed her final ability, punching the ground, which then triggered the earthquake.
After hearing this account, Shen Feng was both shocked and delighted. He was shocked that Xu Xing had been severely injured and he did not know if she could survive. He was delighted that Xu Xing could now trigger earthquakes and would surely grow stronger in the future.
Shen Feng found the wooden spike that Xu Xing had broken off with her backhand. He found a red, gel-like residue on it, scraped off a piece, and tasted it. He realized it was evolution base and immediately felt relieved, saying, "It seems she has entered an evolutionary state."
Shen Feng himself had encountered such an attack method before. At that time, Shen Feng was full of confidence, believing his speed was unparalleled and no one was faster than him. However, in the next second, he was hit by a wooden spike controlled by a mutated plant. His chest was filled with evolution base, and he subsequently evolved into a fourth-tier ability user, breaking through the evolutionary barrier, becoming the first fourth-tier ability user in the world.
"However, Xu Xing has been injected with too much evolution base this time. Can she survive it?" Shen Feng was deeply worried. He remembered that he had only reached the evolutionary stage after being injected with a few liters of evolution base, but Xu Xing had been injected with far too much evolution base. It was uncertain whether she could withstand such an impact.
While Shen Feng was worrying about Xu Xing's condition, Xiao Sheng was anxious because their retreat had also been cut off. The original twenty-meter-wide crevice was already an insurmountable obstacle. Previously, they could only rely on a single iron cable to connect the two sides. Now, the crevice had directly widened to fifty meters, and the iron cable had snapped. This situation was the worst for everyone, leaving them in a dilemma with no place to hide.
"Shen Feng, can you use your ability to reach the other side?" Xiao Sheng found Shen Feng and began to ask.
Shen Feng looked at the fifty-meter distance. This distance was not far and not near. If he used his ability, he could glide a distance in the air and barely reach the other side.
"Yes, I can, but what do you want to do?" Shen Feng immediately began to inquire. On the cliff on the other side, there were still a group of treants. If they jumped over in this situation and attracted the围攻 (wéi gōng - encirclement and attack) of the treants, wouldn't that be the end?
When Shen Feng said he could do it, Xiao Sheng's eyes lit up, and he quickly said to Shen Feng, "Then grab the rope and fly over, tie the rope to both ends of the crevice, and then we can cross."
After learning of Xiao Sheng's plan, Shen Feng immediately shook his head. This plan was too reckless.
Qi Lingshan pointed to the moonlight above and said, "City Lord, look quickly, you can see the moon up there."
Shen Feng immediately looked up and saw that the sliver of sky that was originally above had become a canyon. The sky above was now a starry night. Moonlight fell from above. Looking up from below, the moonlight was as bright and clear as water, with twinkling starlight around. At a glance, it was a peaceful scene.
The earthquake caused the underground crevice to expand, and the underground part of the crevice changed. The surface crevice also expanded. The cave was about two hundred meters above the ground, and the depth of the crevice was unknown. The parts of the crevice below could not be reached by moonlight and starlight.
When Shen Feng saw that the crevice above had expanded, he immediately understood Qi Lingshan's meaning. It was too dangerous to return the way they came, and there were many treants on the cliff on the other side. Now there was no other choice but to leave from above.
"Lu Xian, Qi Lingshan, quickly assemble the paraglider and prepare to go up," Shen Feng said decisively.
Lu Xian and Qi Lingshan quickly opened their backpacks, took out the aluminum alloy frame and canopy, and began to assemble them on the spot. Shen Feng also put down his backpack, and in the backpacks behind the three were disassembled gliders.
When Xiao Sheng and the others saw this, they were greatly surprised because they did not expect that Shen Feng and the other two had been carrying dozens of pounds of items on their backs. Even though the paraglider frame was made of aluminum alloy and was much lighter than ordinary materials, it was still metal. Was it not heavy to carry on their backs?
Seeing the equipment carried by the three, Xiao Sheng did not know what to say and finally managed to blurt out, "Are you guys that afraid of dying?"
Shen Feng and the other two said without looking up, "Life is only once, and ability users can also die. Isn't it normal for us to be afraid of dying?"
In fact, when they went underground, Shen Feng wanted to leave the paraglider parts outside. After all, a paraglider was almost useless underground. It was impossible to take off in a cave. Carrying it with them would only add unnecessary weight, so it was better to hide it.
However, Shen Feng's idea was then rejected by Lu Xian. Lu Xian believed that since they were already ability users, carrying dozens of pounds was not a problem. A paraglider was a life-saving item and must not be abandoned. It might not be useful underground, but if an unexpected situation arose and they needed to use the paraglider but did not have it with them, it would be over.
Therefore, Shen Feng agreed to carry the paraglider with them for emergencies, and unexpectedly, it was just the right time to use the paraglider.
The earthquake came quickly and left quickly. The animals in the nearby forest had already moved away at night, so it was difficult to see animals in the forest. As a result, the moment the earthquake occurred, mice and marmots in the nearby forest all burrowed out of the ground. These animals lived underground, and the treants did not catch mice in their burrows. The moment the earthquake occurred, huge noises echoed continuously in the forest, and the forest was shaking. This drastic change directly caused mice to swarm out of their burrows and run wildly in the forest.
A crevice appeared out of nowhere on the ground, and soil and trees slid into the crevice. It was like a wound on the earth, and the crevice extended for five to six kilometers.
The animals in the forest were terrified and stunned by the natural disaster.