Chapter Twenty-Eight: Marana

In the gloomy, damp underground space, an ominous crimson light permeated the air. Massive, twisted plants covered the surroundings like living masses of flesh. A scarlet "sun" hung from the ceiling of the cavern, writhing slowly in the dimness.

Lin Feng had barely set foot into the cave when three massive energy arrows shot toward him. The air surrounding the shafts hissed with foul-smelling white smoke, a testament to the corrosive energy they carried. Sensing this overwhelming malice, Lin Feng felt his hair stand on end. Before he could even take in the full extent of the cavern, he hurriedly erected layers of wooden walls before him.

Emerald energy barriers were woven between solid, massive timbers, forming a dual defense of both energy and matter. No sooner had Lin Feng’s barricades been set than the crimson arrows struck the brown-and-green defense. Like a searing hot iron, they easily melted the solid outer layer of wood before being completely dissipated by the substantial green energy within.

"About one-third destroyed. Acceptable." Assessing the strength of the Withering Zone before him, Lin Feng felt a sense of certainty.

While maintaining his defense, he observed the cavern through the gaps in his barrier. Lin Feng soon spotted the final opponent he needed to defeat: a massive, coalesced entity of the Withering, dwelling at the heart of the mushroom forest, on the verge of birthing its own consciousness and physical form. Feeling the pervasive power of erosion in the air, Lin Feng understood that whether it was the rapidly expanding Withering in the Avidya Forest or the fading vitality of the Lokapala Jungle, the culprit was this scarlet "sun" suspended above.

"Aranara, Arangar, Aranaga!" Lin Feng called out to the three Aranara he had shielded behind him.

"I will maintain the defense to protect you. Please unseal the Withering branches as quickly as possible!" Lin Feng commanded.

After condensing independent Dendro shields for the trio, Lin Feng lowered his defense to attempt a counterattack against the Withering. Relying on his mastery of the elements, he called upon the vast amount of Dendro energy from the surface to sink into the cave, gathering it around him. The overwhelming concentration of Dendro power repelled all other elements, forming a green domain around him.

Facing three more giant arrows fired from the core, Lin Feng leaped forward, shielding Arana, who was busy breaking the seal. He gathered the surrounding Dendro energy and condensed it into an arrow no thicker than two fingers, firing it directly at the incoming bolts of Withering energy. The small green arrow seemed almost invisible before the Withering’s onslaught, yet like a solid steel nail piercing a wooden board, it punched through and obliterated all three giant arrows.

Seeing the arrow, its momentum undiminished, about to pierce the scarlet Withering core, the massive sphere seemed to sense the threat. It channeled power it had hoarded within the ley lines over centuries, condensing a bright red shield around its core to deflect the strike.

As the arrow shattered, the dissipated Dendro energy returned to the domain around Lin Feng as if possessing a consciousness of its own. Behind him, Arana, who had been somewhat fearful, felt reassured by Lin Feng’s reliable protection and urgently completed the breaking of the first seal.

"Well done!" Sensing the manifestation of the Withering branches, Lin Feng praised Arana’s efficiency.

Gathering the nearly solidified Dendro energy around him, Lin Feng casually obliterated the Withering branches and the Fungi projections, which were at least level 60. His god-level elemental mastery, even if incomplete, was an irresistible death sentence to these ordinary monsters.

"Arangar, the bad mushrooms are going to kill me! Friend, help!" Arangar, having succeeded in the task, was trembling at the sight of the Withering guards that suddenly emerged, but soon realized these Fungi were completely unable to break through the green shield on its body.

Ignoring the little green cabbage that had suddenly become puffed up with pride upon realizing it was safe, Lin Feng casually wiped out the emerging Fungi and took the two Aranara who had finished their tasks toward the final seal.

The Withering core discovered its branches were being destroyed one after another. Even with only instinct to guide it, it seemed to sense unease. Massive red spheres, each the size of a house, were condensed and fired repeatedly at Lin Feng and the three Aranara.

With the aid of the exceptionally dense Dendro energy in the Lokapala Jungle region, Lin Feng was stronger than ever before. The three little ones behind him even momentarily believed that the creator from their memories had appeared.

Condensing a massive green elemental shield to block the Withering’s attack, Lin Feng destroyed the last Withering branch and turned his gaze toward the Withering core, which was preparing for a final death struggle.

The massive scarlet sphere felt that all its branches had been destroyed. Intending to fight to the bitter end, it summoned three ancient Fungi that had been infected since their birth. After receiving the desperate infusion of power from the scarlet core, the three Fungi charging at Lin Feng revealed a terrifying aura never seen before as the ultimate weapon of the Withering.

[Individual Information: Fungi - Sturdy Geo-Shroom]
Level: 67+15 (An ancient Fungi infected at the dawn of the Withering's birth. Over the long years, by constantly devouring the power of the Withering, it has become a formidable foe that no ordinary life could ever hope to defeat.)
Attribute: Geo/@#$%
Entries: Forbidden Power, Withering Core (Incomplete), Ancient One, Sturdy Body 7, Earth Tremor 6, Destructive Charge 6...
Emotions: @￥#%
Favorability: @#￥%

Seeing the three Fungi, which were generally level 80 under the amplification of the Withering, Lin Feng felt none of the helplessness he had experienced when first facing the Ruin Drake.

Using his elemental power, he sent the three Aranara to the cave entrance, then returned to the center of the cavern to engage the three Fungi head-on.

Perhaps feeling insulted by Lin Feng’s nonchalance, the three Fungi, led by the Sturdy Geo-Shroom, were wreathed in ominous red light as they accelerated to charge at Lin Feng, who had returned to the center of the arena.

The level 82 Sturdy Geo-Shroom’s enraged charge even kicked up intense wind pressure, resembling a high-speed train, conveying an unstoppable sense of power. Facing the charging Sturdy Geo-Shroom, which resembled a brown mushroom, and the airborne Winged Dendro-Shroom, Lin Feng rapidly used Dendro energy to construct vines, hoisting himself high into the air to dodge the lethal strike.

Unwilling to entangle with them, Lin Feng, moving flexibly through the air using the vines, began to compress the elements around him with unprecedented intensity.

Droplets of materialized liquid element appeared. Using these as a foundation, Lin Feng attempted for the first time, like an Archon, to launch an attack using his incomplete "authority."

As Lin Feng’s will was conveyed, countless giant trees and vines emerged throughout the underground space. Flourishing flowers bloomed within the scarlet Withering, and the power of "Life," like an endless tide, bound, assimilated, and absorbed the three Fungi.

Relying on their own immense strength, the Fungi and the Withering resisted the power of life around them, but no matter how high their level, the Withering, having never birthed a true will, was ultimately nothing more than a mortal thing.

Within the domain of plants and trees constructed by Lin Feng through his incomplete "authority," the power of the Withering was gradually worn away, and the bodies of the three ancient Fungi were completely absorbed by the writhing plants.

The once terrifying Withering, under the transformation of this power, regained its vitality in the blink of an eye.