51: 'King' level life form!

"Go, go, go!"

The Professional squad advanced rapidly.

Large drones had already begun firing, but they were unable to truly hold back the beast tide.

Furthermore, the forest was extremely dense, which significantly reduced the effectiveness of their firepower.

"Arriving at the Willow Tree King in one minute!"

"Ye Su and I will go retrieve the willow branches. Everyone else, stay on alert. Especially you two Support Class Practitioners, pay attention!"

Cui Hu commanded.

As an official operative, Cui Hu had been on more than one mission.

The mission model for this Professional squad was quite peculiar, but perhaps at this stage, it was the most effective.

That is, the strongest would charge into the fray.

The others would surround and protect the support classes, while the support classes focused on buffing the strongest member.

Essentially, it could be seen as:

Strongest + Health Potions + Health Potion Shell.

This was the reason why, regardless of the mission, Cui Hu would always bring support classes along.

The reason for this was likely that Professionals currently had too few methods available to them.

Things might change in the future, but for now, this was the most suitable approach.

They leaped over a cluster of shrubs.

A towering willow tree appeared before everyone.

'The Willow Tree King? A "King" rank existence as currently defined by the authorities?'

Ye Su was astonished.

The canopy of this willow tree spanned over a hundred meters.

Countless willow branches hung down, blotting out the sun.

Within those drooping branches, a faint green light even shimmered.

Every single willow leaf looked like a piece of precious jade.

Materialization!

At first glance, it felt as if the willow leaves had materialized into something solid, like jade.

The mutations brought about by the global profession system were truly wondrous.

"Watch out, these willow branches will attack people!"

"Everyone, rear guard, halt!"

Cui Hu shouted.

The squad immediately split into two groups.

Ye Su and Cui Hu charged straight ahead.

Those left behind protected Rong Xi and Mo Xiaoyu in the center, while the two Support Class Practitioners stared intently at the two men charging forward.

Swish—Sure enough, just as Cui Hu had said, the willow branches attacked, and with extreme speed.

Cui Hu and Ye Su's blood and Qi surged instantly, entering a full-scale eruption.

The willow branches were fast, but they couldn't land a single hit against Cui Hu's combat instinct.

Ye Su took a quick glance.

'Heh, combat instinct is a bit confused, isn't it?'

Indeed.

Combat instinct would dodge attacks.

But the mission was to obtain the willow branches.

The one truly proving effective...

...was Ye Su's Bullet Time!

The willow branches slowed down. While dodging, he could find a way to cut them off.

"Ye Su, the mission still depends on you!"

Cui Hu said helplessly.

It could only be said...

...that the higher-ups had built big data models for both Ye Su and Cui Hu.

No wonder they insisted on Ye Su's participation.

Presumably, while the two were sparring, the big data models were already calculating the feasibility.

Ye Su nodded.

He'd deal with that later.

First, he'd use Cui Hu as a shield!

Ye Su darted behind Cui Hu and tried to cut a willow branch with his saber.

The result was the sound of metal clashing against stone.

"This hard?"

Ye Su was stunned.

"Full power! Give it everything you've got!"

"Alright."

His long saber swept out in a horizontal slash.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh...

A sound like crashing waves echoed.

The willow branches were blasted back.

Looking closely, nicks began to appear on them.

"The Willow Tree King should be conscious. It's... it's erupting!"

Cui Hu's expression changed.

Indeed, the Willow Tree King had a consciousness, though it was a primitive, newborn one.

Upon sensing Ye Su and Cui Hu's approach...

...its first reaction was an instinctual desire to absorb their flesh and blood.

Then, Ye Su's strike had injured it.

In the absence of a threat from high-powered weapons, the Willow Tree King decided to counterattack.

A massive number of willow branches began to coil toward them.

Cui Hu felt his scalp go numb.

A soft murmur sounded from behind; this was Rong Xi exerting effort.

It was like receiving a shot of adrenaline.

Ye Su felt his spirit jolt; his blood and Qi flowed more smoothly, and his body felt lighter.

Rong Xi's support class was truly a 'support' in the literal sense!

An all-around status boost?

Impressive!

Cui Hu, acting as Ye Su's shield, fended off the swarm of willow branches.

Meanwhile, Ye Su took the opportunity to strike with his second blade.

Overlapping Wave Slash!

This second strike was like the crest of a wave, layered and compounding.

And...

...as soon as the second strike passed...

...the third strike had already begun.

Swish—The blade light flared, a fleeting glimpse of brilliance.

The wave surged forward.

It slammed into the green sea of willow branches like a heavy hammer.

Instantly.

Willow leaves flew everywhere.

Many of the materialized willow leaves were blasted off.

Ye Su lunged forward.

He locked onto the most severely damaged willow branch and hacked it off.

Then he turned back and grabbed Cui Hu.

"Got it, let's go!"

Cui Hu gave Ye Su a deep look.

He had to admit it.

Combat power had to be demonstrated in actual battle.

Ye Su's move showed almost inhuman combat awareness.

He hadn't used his ultimate explosive power.

Instead, he used this layered sea of blades.

The purpose was to create a window of time for the two of them to retreat after obtaining the branch.

Otherwise...

...if they had obtained the branch after an all-out burst, one of them would surely have been trapped!

The two retreated rapidly.

Guan Li opened his backpack.

Ye Su stuffed the willow branch inside, and the group took off running.

Don't even think about cutting down the Willow Tree King.

It was impossible.

Its life level seemed to have already transcended.

Fine mountains, fine waters, and a fine season.

A king nurtured by such unique natural advantages was definitely not simple.

Suddenly.

Boom—a loud sound rang out.

Ye Su looked back.

He saw that the sun-blotting Willow Tree King had actually disappeared!

"Underground! Underground!"

Cui Hu shouted.

"Run! Run faster!"

The Willow Tree King had burrowed into the ground!

God knows what kind of Divine Ability or technique this was.

But judging by Cui Hu's expression, it was very serious!

The ground trembled slightly.

Bang!

Soil splattered everywhere.

A section of tree root abruptly burst out.

Its tip was like a thorn, whistling as it stabbed forward!

Its target was precisely Mo Xiaoyu.

Mo Xiaoyu's face paled slightly.

Then, almost instinctively, she twisted her body and narrowly avoided it.

Following an overachiever like Ye Su...

...her Martial Arts had almost become instinctive.

Falling Flower Palm itself emphasized elegant movement; under instinct, Mo Xiaoyu dodged it directly.

Seeing this, Ye Su breathed a sigh of relief.

Mo Xiaoyu was also growing silently.

But that breath was quickly sucked back in.

The willow branches had a limited range.

But the willow roots seemed to have an incredibly vast reach.

The ground continued to explode.

One root after another swept across.

In an instant, the squad was in a life-or-death situation.

Ye Su had tried his saber.

These roots were truly ridiculously hard.

Unless he used the Impact Vigor Skill, directly consuming a large amount of stamina for an explosion, he couldn't cut through them at all.

"Hold on just a bit longer!"

Sweat beaded on Cui Hu's forehead.

"The bunker busters are on their way!"

Fire support!

The Combined Arms Brigade of the Safe Zone was not to be trifled with.

The bunker busters had already been launched.

Now it was just a matter of whether they could intimidate the Willow Tree King!

As for that tactical bunker-buster mushroom, they didn't dare launch it without orders from above.

Besides, if they did launch it and the shockwave killed Cui Hu's group, that would be a disaster!

Swoosh—The bunker busters, traveling at Mach 10+, sliced through the air.

Like long swords, they descended from the heavens!

Puff—The ground was pierced like tofu.

The bunker busters drilled directly over ten meters deep!

The next second!

BOOM!!