"Don't just stand there, fight!" Qin Feng roared.
He began reconstructing the spatial shield while summoning his spatial blades.
The others snapped back to reality, unleashing their abilities to counter the billions of spores.
Simultaneously,
They shielded Xiao Ruoruo in the center.
She was the core of this battle!
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh...
The sound of piercing air filled the air.
Each spore wasn't strong individually, but their sheer numbers were overwhelming,
Blanketing the sky,
Dense and countless.
More concentrated than Gatling gun fire.
Billions unleashed in an instant!
The spores were spherical, the size of marbles. Due to the spatial energy they contained, their power far surpassed that of bullets.
A single spore,
Or even ten, a hundred, posed little threat to a squad of these elites.
But what about a million, ten million,
Or even a hundred million?
Clang!
Clang!
Clang!
Qin Feng's spatial blades danced in his hands, creating a dense curtain of light.
He alone,
Blocked one direction.
This was the strength of the physique-focused path.
Other abilities required mental energy accumulation, with intervals between releases.
Close combat in the physique-focused path consumed no mental energy.
With Qin Feng's strength and speed,
He could wield his spatial blades into a seamless, unbroken barrier.
Impenetrable!
In comparison,
The others combined struggled to block the remaining three directions.
"Damn it!"
Zhou Haiyang cried out in panic, "This is impossible... too many! We can't hold on!"
He manipulated metal to form shields.
However,
As soon as the metal shields were raised, they shattered under the relentless barrage of spores in mere moments.
Old Bird's wind shields.
He Dong's earth walls.
Tang Xiaoying's telekinetic barriers.
All forms of defense were deployed.
At the same time, everyone used their offensive abilities to destroy countless spores head-on.
It could be said,
This was the first time all of them, including Qin Feng, had fought together against a single enemy.
Time Stop!
Just as they were about to be overwhelmed,
The surrounding space instantly froze.
All spores, from their dynamic state, were suddenly held static, suspended motionless.
Puff!
Without order,
Han Ling spat out a mouthful of blood,
Nearly collapsing!
"Han Ling, you can't use that!" Qin Feng shouted.
Every ability had its limits.
Though the Honeycomb Fungus was only Level 8, its sheer volume was astounding, releasing an astronomical amount of attack power per unit of time.
For Han Ling, freezing billions of spores...
Was akin to a moth flying into a flame!
That single attempt,
Instantly exceeded her limits.
"Sis!" Han Xiao cried in alarm.
"I'm fine..." Han Ling's face was pale.
"Alternate defense!"
Qin Feng released a large number of spatial shields, interlocking them to form spatial barriers.
Everyone immediately understood.
Only the captain could protect everyone by himself.
However,
Against the attack of billions of spores, even the spatial barriers would eventually be destroyed.
But they could use the intervals between the barrier's protection to organize a new round of offense and defense.
When they could no longer hold on,
Qin Feng would replace them with spatial barriers.
Buying them time to organize another offensive and defensive cycle.
Alternating like this,
It was the only way to endure.
Facing such extreme density of spores, one person couldn't possibly block them all.
And even if they could, it would be useless!
Their objective wasn't just self-preservation.
To survive, they could simply flee.
The key was to protect Xiao Ruoruo.
"Captain! What should I do next?!"
Xiao Ruoruo finally understood why Qin Feng had given her crystals to replenish her mental energy.
At this moment,
Countless mycelia were rushing to reinforce the area within a twenty-kilometer radius.
When the mycelial coverage was vast, the number of mycelia within a few hundred meters was actually limited, and she could control them easily.
But as the mycelia retreated,
The quantitative change led to a qualitative shift.
She was struggling more and more, her mental energy draining rapidly.
"If you can't win the struggle, retreat. Keep stretching the distance," Qin Feng shouted.
"Huh?!"
"Even if you can only control a little bit, it's fine!"
The mycelia were too numerous.
Qin Feng knew Xiao Ruoruo couldn't win the direct contest.
This was already a result of her reaching Level 8.
Qin Feng's strategy was simple.
Have Xiao Ruoruo feign control over the mycelia.
This touched the Honeycomb Fungus's bottom line; any degree of mycelial control was intolerable to it.
It would inevitably retaliate!
Underground,
It would vie for control of the mycelia with Xiao Ruoruo.
On the surface,
It would manipulate a large number of mushrooms to launch a fierce assault on these people.
But if...
Underground, Xiao Ruoruo consistently maintained
A degree of control?
And if the mushroom attacks on the surface were continuously blocked?
It would inevitably escalate its assault!
The only way to escalate the assault was to...
Have more and denser mycelia.
As expected!
The giant mushroom retracted underground once more.
The ground churned more violently.
Previously,
The giant mushroom was more than three hundred meters away.
The encircling formation had a diameter of nearly 700 meters.
To maintain the encirclement,
And to increase mycelial density.
What to do?
Shrink the encirclement!
"Holy crap!"
Everyone's eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets.
The encirclement shrank to 300 meters.
The mycelia became denser.
Mushrooms, one after another, re-emerged from the ground.
Previously,
The mushrooms were about ten meters tall.
This time, they were nearly thirty meters tall!
With two to three hundred of them forming the encirclement, they began releasing stronger spores.
There were fewer mushrooms.
Naturally, the number of spores decreased.
But!
The power of the spores skyrocketed!
"Hold them back!"
Qin Feng continued to use spatial shields to form large spatial barriers, cooperating with the others in turns.
But everyone felt that even though the strategy hadn't changed,
It had become much more taxing.
Qin Feng had few options.
Assimilation was only for self-preservation, and the current defensive area was too vast.
Moreover,
Assimilation consumed an enormous amount of energy!
Spatial compression was also a high-consumption ability.
With his current strength, he could use it a few times.
But this was a continuous battle.
What use were a few uses?
Once his mental energy was depleted, it was over!
"Vice-captain! I can't hold on!" Tang Xiaoying gritted her teeth and shouted.
"Hold on a little longer!"
As a last resort,
Qin Feng unleashed spatial compression twice in two directions.
Clearing a patch of spores in those areas.
To alleviate the pressure.
This left his mental energy with less than thirty percent remaining.
He couldn't use spatial compression anymore!
After all,
Spatial shields also required mental energy.
"Vice-captain!"
An Ling shouted, "Let me bless you!"
At the start of the exchange, she had already used the Divine Radiance of Light.
One was Xiao Ruoruo, who controlled the mycelia.
The other was Qin Feng, the core of the battle.
Twice.
Her mental energy was depleted.
Stripped of combat effectiveness, she, like Xiao Ruoruo, was protected in the center.
By now,
After replenishing her energy by absorbing crystals, she could cast the Divine Radiance of Light one more time, but only one.
"No!"
Qin Feng stopped her, "Bless Liu Pi!"
Liu Pi?
An Ling was puzzled.
Why bless Liu Pi?
Of course, she wouldn't dare disobey. She immediately began blessing Liu Pi.
"Can't hold on anymore..."
Suddenly!
Just as He Dong declared he couldn't hold on,
The giant mushroom once again retracted underground.
The ground churned again.
Clearly,
Discovering that even with further intensified attacks, they couldn't subdue these people, the Honeycomb Fungus further concentrated its assault.
Which meant...
Shrinking the encirclement!
Qin Feng's eyes lit up.
An opportunity had arrived!
"He Dong, get ready to turn over all the earth around us—use your mental energy to its absolute limit!"
"Yes!"
He Dong immediately understood.
The range of his control over earth and stone was limited.
As the encirclement continuously shrank, the mycelia would be concentrated in a small area, allowing him to "dig" them out completely.
Indeed!
After the underground churning stopped,
Even larger mushrooms burst forth from the ground.