A Slap in the Face

The entire depression remains imprisoned, locked firmly in mid-air.

Invisible Mycelium crisscrossed, taking root in the soil and binding the body. The entire five-person team stood frozen in place, their limbs stiff and their bodies heavy, none of them able to move even half a step on their own.

No one possesses any special resistances, nor are there any class exemptions.

Luo Qi was also tightly entangled and killed on the spot by Mycelium mycelium.

His joints were locked, preventing him from raising his arms or taking a step; all his points of leverage were restrained. But there was no panic in his eyes, only the cold indignation of someone caught off guard and imprisoned. In the brief moment of stalemate, he managed to squeeze out an extremely tiny gap in movement by the slightest twitching of his muscles.

Using this tiny gap, his fingers precisely reached towards his waist.

He steadily drew out a short-handled knife that was concealed close to his body.

A flash of cold light, sharp and swift.

Luo Qi's wrist trembled slightly, and the blade precisely touched the skin, quickly cutting along the trajectory of the Mycelium.

There was no brute-force struggle, no burst of energy.

It's simply a pure, precise, and decisive cut.

The invisible Mycelium broke, disintegrated, and dissolved in response.

Within moments, all the restraints binding him were removed. Luo Qi regained his freedom, and without pausing, he stepped to the side and quickly approached his four teammates who were still tightly bound.

The short sword moves with lightning speed, striking a target with each strike.

Sever the Mycelium on the shield warrior, mage, clawed raider, and bare-metal light armor soldier in sequence.

The four barriers crumbled one after another, and the four team members regained their ability to move.

Throughout the entire process, Lu Heng stood quietly in the open space, coldly observing the whole thing. He did not intervene or continue to stimulate the Mycelium for replenishment and control, his expression remaining calm and unwavering.

There was absolutely no surprise in my heart.

It's at least Silver Tier weapon.

It would be absurd and laughable if it couldn't even break free from the simplest entanglement of Mycelium.

He could have tightened all his meridians and delivered a fatal blow before the opponent could break free.

But looking at this well-equipped and well-coordinated five-person team, Lu Heng had a different thought.

There's no need to rush to end this tedious liquidation.

This is a good opportunity to test the knife.

Meanwhile, on the back side of the depression.

The two survivors who had managed to survive were still huddled in the back corner, one holding Black Iron longsword and the other Black Iron battle axe. Their bodies were covered in open wounds, their clothes stained with blood, and they were already on the verge of collapse.

They lacked high-level combat skills and close-quarters combat abilities to break the deadlock; their bodies were severely injured, and they could barely maintain a stable stance.

In the brief respite of everyone's escape, the two could only stand frozen and trembling in place.

Lu Heng glanced over indifferently.

A thought subtly stirred within me.

The remaining Mycelium instantly tightened.

Without warning, without a sound.

In an instant, fine veins wrapped around their entire bodies, tightly binding their limbs, torsos, and necks. The Mycelium seeped into their flesh, silently plundering the last remaining blood and vitality from their bodies.

Their pupils widened suddenly, and broken gasps escaped their throats before they could even scream.

The body quickly shrank, and the color faded rapidly.

In less than two seconds.

The two survivors, who had just been holding knives and axes and clinging to a sliver of hope, instantly lost all life, collapsing limply to the ground, utterly lifeless.

He was just rescued by his teammates a second ago.

They were silently and completely wiped out in the next second.

Luo Qi, who had just escaped and regained his footing, happened to catch this scene out of the corner of his eye.

The gloom that had just been suppressed on his face instantly froze completely.

It was like a silent slap across his face.

He just now forcefully stepped forward, claimed to protect people, and stubbornly maintained his arrogance, even going so far as to confront them as Silver Tier player.

In the blink of an eye, he had just escaped his predicament and freed his teammates from their restraints when he watched helplessly as the people he had protected were instantly wiped out and completely eliminated right before his eyes.

There was no room for resistance, no chance to delay, and even the struggle itself was incredibly rushed.

Luo Qi's face was ashen, his eyes brimming with intense anger and apprehension.

The four squad members beside him also focused their gazes on the two shriveled corpses behind them.

Everyone's face darkened, and a chill ran through them.

At that moment, no one mentioned the misunderstanding anymore, no one talked about the big picture, and no one dared to show the slightest contempt.

The person in front of me has no regard for rules or sentiment; his actions are swift and decisive, cold-blooded to the extreme.

The shield warrior immediately stepped forward, holding his heavy tower shield horizontally in front of him, firmly positioned at the front of the group, his legs planted firmly on the ground to maintain his weight-bearing posture.

The Goblin Staff was raised high by the middle-row team members, its shaft faintly glowing as magic began to rapidly gather and condense.

The assault team members, with metal claws attached to their arms, lowered their stance, shifted their weight, and moved lightly to the side, ready to close in and launch a fatal attack at any moment.

The bare-bones, lightly equipped team members moved swiftly, retreating to occupy open positions on the flanks, ready to cover and support the entire team at any time.

Luo Qi a half step back, instantly drew his longbow to its full length, nocked an arrow, tightened the bowstring, and locked onto Lu Heng in front of him.

The five players instantly formed a standard tactical formation.

Tank-style defense, magic-based charged attacks, melee flanking maneuvers, lightly armored roaming, and ranged suppression.

The seamless coordination between offense and defense, both at long and short ranges, and the perfect teamwork, is the result of countless battles fought in the forest.

No further words were spoken.

The entire group advanced simultaneously, closing in on Lu Heng.

The footsteps were orderly and heavy, their killing intent palpable.

Looking at the tightly coordinated attack of the small team, a hint of interest finally flashed across Lu Heng's eyes.

Compared to those mindless monster-hunting creatures and low-level survivors who only betray each other, this team is definitely worth a try.

He raised his hand, a thought forming in his mind.

The shimmering purple light coalesced into a shape, and the Star Blade landed steadily in the palm of the hand.

The blade shimmered with a faint purple starlight, its texture heavy and chilling.

Lu Heng gripped his sword at his side, standing firmly in place, not charging forward, but quietly waiting for the enemy to encircle and attack.

He planned to have some fun.

Make good use of this fully-equipped squad and give it a try.

The first to advance were the front-line shield warriors.

The heavy tower shield suddenly thrust forward, charging in with immense inertia, attempting to forcefully restrict Lu Heng's movement, lock down his space, and create an opportunity for his teammates to deal damage.

Lu Heng shifted his feet slightly, sidestepping to avoid the frontal shield charge.

The longsword slashed diagonally, the blade precisely grazing the edge of the shield, the metal colliding with a short, cold thud.

The force was controlled very steadily; there was no brute force, only the cutting point of the blade was used to deflect the force.

The shield warrior felt a sharp, cold force travel along the shield, which shifted his center of gravity, causing his solid charge to miss its mark.

Just as they shifted positions, a dark shadow flashed from the side.

Using the shield charge as cover, the Arm Claw team members instantly charged in close, their arms flashing with cold claws, the claw blades dense and cunning, aiming straight for the vital points of the waist and abdomen, each move aimed at breaking through defenses and causing serious injury.

Extremely fast speed, with a rapid pace of close-range attacks.

Lu Heng slightly flipped his wrist, and his Star Blade blocked the attack.

Several clanging sounds rang out in succession.

The dense claw strikes were all parried and deflected by the blade, each collision precisely timed to the moment of impact, sealing off all of the opponent's attack angles.

The Arm Claw team members launched several attacks, all of which missed their target, and they couldn't even force the opponent to move even half a step.

My heart sank suddenly.

At the same time, magical energy surged from the back row.

The Goblin staff glowed brightly, and a dark beam of magical energy condensed and shot precisely at Lu Heng's position, sealing off any space for escape.

The ranged spell suppression landed instantly.

Lu Heng shifted his feet, his body suddenly retreating half an inch, barely avoiding the direct impact of the beam of light.

The magic energy grazed the hem of his clothes and slammed into the ground, blasting away decaying leaves and dust, creating a series of tiny craters.

The moment the beam missed its target, a whooshing sound rang out overhead.

Luo Qi seized the fleeting window of opportunity, instantly released the drawn bowstring, and the arrow pierced the air, aiming straight for the throat with a tricky angle and extremely fast speed.

A long-range kill, followed by magic-based suppression, perfectly filling the gap.

The squad's entire offensive was executed flawlessly.

Shield charge, flanking attack, magic bombardment, arrow kill, roaming and flanking.

Progressing step by step, locking down at every turn.

Any survivor of the same level would have been completely crushed by this perfectly coordinated encirclement.

But Lu Heng, facing this offensive head-on, remained calm and composed throughout.

The Star Blade rose and fell in an orderly fashion, and the body moved with measured steps.

Melee claw attacks, heavy armor shield pressure, magical bombardment, and arrow assaults—he calmly deflected all the successive attacks with a single strike.

There was no panic, no dishevelment.

It wasn't even a real, all-out battle.

He simply parried steadily, dodged precisely, deflected the force at the cutting point, and calmly dealt with the situation.

It's as if they're using this dense and continuous offensive to familiarize themselves with the feel of the blade, refine their rhythm, and hone their power delivery.

The situation on the field seemed perilous, but in reality, it was completely under Lu Heng's control.

The more the five members of the team fought, the colder they felt inside.

Their most prized asset—their seamless teamwork, their encirclement from both near and far, and their layered suppression—seemed utterly harmless to the enemy.

Every advance was anticipated.

Every lockdown was easily circumvented.

Every attack was precisely blocked.

As the fight progressed, everyone clearly realized the most terrifying truth—

Lu Heng wasn't fighting a death battle with them at all.

He was using them to practice his knife skills.

Throughout the entire process, I was completely at ease, always had energy reserves, and maintained a relaxed mindset.

The expressions on everyone's faces changed from solemn to surprised and suspicious, and finally to extremely ugly.

Anger, humiliation, and fear piled up, pushing the team's morale to the brink of collapse.

Luo Qi's grip on the bow tightened, and a chilling glint appeared in his eyes.

He finally realized that the true combat strength of the person in front of him had already surpassed theirs by a whole level.

So-called teamwork, perfect configuration, and tactical synergy are child's play in the face of an absolute disparity in strength.

There has been enough time to test the knife.

Lu Heng gripped the Star Blade, the last trace of amusement slowly fading from his eyes.

There's no need to waste any more time.

He raised his gaze and looked straight ahead at the five-man squad, their formation tense and their faces pale.

Next, it's time to resolve this completely.