Chapter 269

Most people seriously underestimate "mushrooms."

To many, mushrooms and even mushroom people are merely short plants, a low-tier link in the ecological chain—a slightly dangerous but deliciously tasty delicacy.

"Keep going; time is on our side. As long as we hold it off, we win."

Li En's roar was incomprehensible to most present.

Any transcendent with even a shred of "common sense" knows how troublesome Life and Hellline systems are.

Especially beings of the Life Natural System are practically symbols of immortality.

On the battlefield, if someone keeps reviving, reanimating, or transforming, who knows if they're a Life-system cockroach?

But after this man shouted, those struggling along the frontline visibly stabilized.

Perhaps warriors only need to be told that victory is within reach.

In the darkness before dawn, all that's needed is someone to step forward at the critical moment.

"Grow quickly, our children."

Another small mirror spirit projected the battlefield's outer scenes onto the grand stage beyond.

Outside, in the forests and woodlands, mushroom people—seen by ordinary folk as demons and monsters—appeared on the battlefield.

But this time, they stood on the side of "humanity."

By ordinary standards, these mushroom people looked like twisted masses of flesh, truly terrifying in appearance.

Yet in this desperate moment, perhaps it was also their best chance to be accepted by the city.

"Grow quickly into great mushrooms, seize the life of this forest."

Mushrooms—or expanded fungi—are fundamentally two entirely different concepts from ordinary "natural plants."

They are not producers; most lack photosynthetic ability. They are symbionts, parasites, and scavengers of nature. As fungi, they should be ranked alongside animals and plants as a major category.

Vast patches of mushrooms grew rapidly across the region; the largest among them had already surpassed a person's height.

And they weren't just draining the "vitality" of the Urda Ox Demon—they were seizing its "growth environment," and the latter was far more lethal.

"Moo!"

The Urda Ox Demon roared in fury, and this time, everyone could feel its fear and rage.

Divinity granted it reason and the potential for communication, but its infernal bestiality gave it the fear and unease typical of ordinary life.

"Boom!"

It struggled to crawl, trying to halt the encroaching invaders.

But how could the warriors allow it?

"Again!"

Claire, her red hair like blood, blocked the beast once more; the Radiant Guards lined up in a row, forming the most solid bulwark.

No wonder they were the strongest combat force of Huicheng City—through repeated clashes, they had indeed slowed the monster's movement. Yes, only slowed; for this thing to be slowed at all was already absurd.

The tide of battle had begun to turn the moment the mushroom people entered.

"Thankfully, we had intelligence support."

At this point, even the most optimistic had to reassess their earlier predictions.

This corrupted world-tree sapling was far stronger than expected.

And the power it had shown so far was likely less than one-tenth of its full strength.

"Hold on. As long as we hold, we win."

The World Tree is indeed energy-intensive; Nature-system beings are famously hard to kill—but once their root is damaged and their growth environment "polluted," they die faster than anyone else.

After all, plants are strange creatures, both powerful and fragile. Their immortality depends on their roots still being intact, still connected to the earth.

"In the end, it's just a tree!"

Li En unleashed Dragon Flame, trying to disrupt the wooden giant, draping it in another layer of fire.

Though the effect was mediocre, it was still better than ordinary magical flames.

Intelligence has always been the first priority in battle. Li En's lucky discovery of the Urda Ox Demon's true identity made such a swift decisive battle possible.

As Li En said, in the end, it's still just a "tree."

The real focus isn't even the giant beast before us—it's merely the "trunk." Even if cut down, it regenerates quickly; that's its greatest resilience. But if its roots have already sunk into the earth's "nutrient-absorbing zone" and are destroyed, it becomes extremely vulnerable.

Ever since the Urda Ox Demon unleashed its domain and "rooted" itself into this land, it exposed its weakness.

If the roots rot, whether tree or human, there's no saving it.

"Drain. Plunder."

Vast quantities of spores and mushrooms appeared across the outer woodlands, parasitizing bizarre plants and grasses, or burrowing directly into the earth, competing with all surrounding plants for life.

The World Tree can transform into a forest—but if the forest's "nutrients" and "environment" are plundered, the forest will inevitably die.

Normal fungi never go this far. As parasites and symbionts, they maintain nature's delicate balance; otherwise, they'd kill their symbionts and thus commit suicide. But now, since the mushroom person Gu Gu activated its "species," causing spores to grow nearly without limit, the entire forest rapidly faced death.

"Crack!"