Vmm!

A deafening sonic boom split the air.

One moment Lu Tianrong was still on the ground, the next he was already in front of the masked man.

“Die!”

Lu Tianrong drew his great cleaver, flooded it with a vast surge of vitality and hacked hard at the masked man.

The masked man flickered backward and nimbly slipped past the strike.

At the same time, he swept both hands and drove a mass of vines surging toward Lu Tianrong.

Swish!

Lu Tianrong neither dodged nor retreated. He hacked his way through the incoming vines and relentlessly pursued the masked man.

He wasn’t sure he could kill the masked man.

So the top priority was to unleash the fiercest offense and force the masked man out of the tree cage.

Once away from the tree cage, the masked man would lose control over the vines inside.

Without the vines interfering, the special trainees’ chances of escape would soar.

They would only need to join forces to take down the remaining masked woman, the branch leader from the mission and they could get out alive.

“That’s all you’ve got?”

The masked man sneered, his eyes full of contempt, “Attacks this slow don’t stop me from multitasking—controlling the vines to strike the trainees below while effortlessly dodging your cleaver.”

Hearing this, Lu Tianrong grew anxious.

He erupted with even more vitality and sped up his slashes.

Even so, he still couldn’t hit the masked man.

The away‑game disadvantage was too great.

Vines kept surging in front, badly hindering him, so he couldn’t get at the masked man sheltering behind them.

“Screw it!”

Gritting his teeth, Lu Tianrong risked potential mutation and further activated the beast genes in his body.

In the next instant, bloodshot veins filled his eyes, his body hair grew thicker, his muscles swelled even more powerful and the aura around him turned brutally feral.

“Die!”

With a wild, bestial roar, the power and speed of his blade spiked instantly as he chopped for the masked man’s neck.

Sensing how terrifying this strike was, the masked man didn’t dare to meet it with vines. He chose to avoid its edge and retreated rapidly.

Missing once, Lu Tianrong kept swinging.

Each strike was stronger than the last.

The masked man, who had been so at ease, now couldn’t even change dodging angles and could only fall back in a headlong retreat.

In just a few seconds, he looked about to be driven out of the tree cage.

* * *

Below.

Lin Zichen and the others were under vine attack.

Luo Yongjian, who had activated beast genes and taken the form of a birdman, had both wings snapped by vines.

Zhang Kai, whose body was like steel, had one of his powerful mechanical legs torn clean off by the vines.

Vmm!

A harsh air‑rending sound tore by.

In the next moment, a thick vine lashed toward Shen Qinghan.

Shen Qinghan tried to dodge, but it was too fast for her.

Fortunately Lin Zichen was beside her. He punched the vine in time and shattered it into fragments, its strength comparable to B‑grade alloy.

“Brother Chen, help me!”

A vine coiled Luo Yongjian and shot him straight up into the air and he cried to Lin Zichen in panic.

Lin Zichen sprang up on the spot, flashed above him at extreme speed and chopped through the vine with a hand blade.

Luo Yongjian fell from several meters up and slammed into the ground, his butt almost swollen, howling with pain.

“Lin Zichen, h‑help me…”

A weak call came from behind.

Lin Zichen looked back. Ma Xiwei was tangled in vines.

Bound like a risqué “knot,” her curvy figure was displayed to the extreme, her face flushed red, tongue slipping out against her will.

“Don’t panic, I’m coming!”

Li Moyu rushed over first, hefted his thick spiked club and pounded the vine above her head.

But the vine was far stronger than he expected.

He couldn’t break it at all.

In the end, Lin Zichen flickered forward and with a single hand blade, split the vine above her head in two with ease.

“Thanks.”

Ma Xiwei looked at Lin Zichen, clutching the neck the vine had squeezed, panting lightly as she spoke.

Lin Zichen just grunted and flashed away to rescue others.

Standing there, Li Moyu watched Lin Zichen slice vines with his bare hands, then thought of how his own club hadn’t worked no matter how he swung. A wave of powerlessness washed over him.

He considered himself a top genius.

But in front of Lin Zichen he felt like an elementary schooler, the gap in combat power yawning wide.

Seeing that the others also couldn’t cut the vines and were just as useless as he felt, his heart eased a little.

“Zichen, help me!”

“Brother Chen, me too!”

“Ah! Help me!”

Lin Zichen fought to save them, while everyone else cried out for help.

Too many were under attack; saving them all by himself was exhausting.

Just as he began to feel overwhelmed—the vines around them suddenly drooped one after another like limp worms and stopped attacking.

Looking up, he saw that Lu Tianrong had forced the masked man controlling the vines out of the tree cage.

Maybe the distance was too great and the masked man had lost control over the vines.

“Everyone move!”

Lin Zichen didn’t dwell on the reason. He shouted to the group.

He immediately dashed to Shen Qinghan, hoisted her over his shoulder and sprinted toward a gap ahead.

First priority: get out of the tree cage.

The others didn’t freeze up; they moved quickly to follow.

“My leg’s off—someone carry me!” Zhang Kai shouted anxiously.

Hearing this, Zhu Shishi who had been running in front, turned back at once to carry him.

“X‑Xiao Chen, I can run on my own…”

Bouncing uncomfortably on Lin Zichen’s shoulder, Shen Qinghan spoke in a small voice.

“No, you’re too slow,” Lin Zichen refused flatly.

Shen Qinghan pressed her lips together and chose to lie still and keep quiet, doing her best not to distract him.

As Lin Zichen sprinted, a floral scent drifted to his nose.

It was fragrant, refreshing.

It felt like warm, soft hands were stroking his head, his fatigue vanishing, his body tingling with comfort.

[You are under invasion by a floral toxin that can induce a biological coma. Poison Resistance +1 +1 +1 +1 +1…]

The moment the prompt appeared—Lin Zichen felt a sudden flatness, snapping him out of the tingling trance.

Once clear‑headed, he immediately checked on Shen Qinghan.

She hadn’t passed out, but her awareness was hazy, like just waking up in the morning.

Behind them, many had collapsed.

Most were unconscious. A few were on their knees, holding themselves up with difficulty and would likely pass out soon.

All of them of poisoned.

This couldn’t be a coincidence.

‘Someone’s hidden nearby, spreading poison…’

Realizing this, Lin Zichen threw all five senses wide and probed every corner around them.

Soon, in the direction of the fragrance, he sensed a powerful biological pressure.

Ordinary Rank Nine Peak.

‘That Biological Level… the Divine Plant Cult branch leader!’

“Oh? Not only did you avoid collapsing, you even noticed me?”

With a voice full of surprise—a graceful figure stepped out from where Lin Zichen was looking.

It was the masked woman who had appeared on the tree with the masked man earlier.

Her mask bore a conspicuous one‑leaf clover.

“Not even twenty, yet with such astonishing power—no wonder the adults at the main cult risked this operation to take control of you.”

Her voice was light and easy, clearly not putting Lin Zichen in her eyes.

Likewise, Lin Zichen didn’t put her in his eyes. He calmly asked, “You’re the Divine Plant Cult branch leader?”

“I am.”

She smiled faintly.

Lin Zichen nodded, gently set Shen Qinghan down—then stepped forward like an arrow, his figure blurring into an afterimage as he charged at a speed far beyond ordinary beings.

‘So fast!’

The masked woman turned pale. She had never imagined Lin Zichen could explode with such terrifying speed.

She reacted quickly to flee.

But it was too late. Before her leg even lifted, Lin Zichen was in front of her, his fist, packed with vitality, smashing straight for her face.

Bang!

With that sound—her head burst like a watermelon dropped from the third floor, red and white splattering everywhere.

The headless body, ravaged by residual vitality at the neck, split open in a blink. All organs were destroyed, losing any chance to self‑repair.

Lin Zichen made efficient use of waste, touched the corpse and willed: Devour!

[You have devoured a large amount of the Life Origin of the “Shadow Nightcat”]

[Shadow Nightcat Compendium: 62%]

[You have devoured a large amount of the Life Origin of the “Ghost Shark”]

[Ghost Shark Compendium: 23%]

* * *

Elsewhere, a few who were still conscious on their knees had witnessed him sprint over and blast the masked woman’s head with one punch.

Their eyes went wide, hearts surging like stormy seas.

‘Just one punch! He blew apart a branch leader at Ordinary Rank Nine Peak! He’s so strong! Outrageously strong! He’s inhuman!’