I can see experience bars after being transported to another world.

The finger of '9' traced the edge of the altar with an air of elegance, and the entire space came alive in the next moment.

At the same moment, the gray-green roots on the wall swelled up, and thick vines burst forth from the dome stone wall and from all the cracks that Lu Yuan had not noticed, spreading towards the entrance of the hall at a visible speed with a howling tearing sound.

When Lu Yuan turned around, the stone steps he had come from were half blocked.

The vines wrapped around the hinges of the iron gate, tightening them. The metal groaned dully as the vines pulled the gate shut, the last gap narrowing and disappearing from Lu Yuan's sight.

bang.

The iron gate was completely shut.

At this moment, all escape routes within this underground space have completely disappeared.

Beren reacted even faster than Lu Yuan had expected. The old man's cane landed almost at the same moment the vines surged, the sound was not loud, but his speech was extremely fast.

"I left inscriptions on the path I walked before, but burning these vines will take some time, so I'll hurry."

Before he finished speaking, the lights behind him had already come on.

The stone steps we had taken to get here extended from the inside of the iron gate all the way to the hidden door. Along the way, the walls were illuminated by faint golden inscriptions. The light emitted by the inscriptions was not strong, but it covered a very wide area.

Lu Yuan understood the moment he saw those inscriptions.

Buren made preparations on his way in.

Along the way, the old man tapped his cane, walking half a step slower than Lu Yuan, keeping a backup plan in mind the whole time.

The pale gold inscriptions touched the surface of the vines blocking the retreat route, and burning began immediately. The outer skin of the vines emitted a clearly audible hissing sound, and the surface began to char and curl, revealing the grayish-white fibrous tissue underneath.

However, the burning speed is not fast enough; it will take at least some time, and during this time, one can only face the Gray Pact in front of them.

Lu Yuan didn't look behind him again.

He turned back, facing the depths of the hall.

Rick has already made his move.

The indistinct face beneath the short brown hair shattered in an instant, and the gray worm beneath the skin ceased all pretense. An eerie aura emanated from every inch of his skin, so intense it almost solidified.

But Lu Yuan noticed something.

The vines that blocked their way out turned the entire underground hall into a sealed space.

As Rex's aura rushed out, it was bounced back by the vine wall, swirling and echoing inside the hall, but not a single trace leaked out.

Rex also noticed that this place was completely isolated from the outside world!

His figure lingered beside Lu Yuan for a final moment.

"Take care of yourself as much as possible."

After he finished speaking, the gray worms burst forth from his body, transforming into a vast stream of insects.

Tens of thousands of insects spread out in all directions at an extremely fast speed, taking over nearly half of the underground hall in an instant.

The swarm of insects clung to the dome, covered the stone walls, and blanketed the floor, turning the front half of the hall into a gray, living ocean.

"9" stood beside the altar, watching the swarm of insects stop a dozen meters in front of him.

He did not back down.

Instead, they clapped their hands.

"I've finally met a worthy opponent."

He burst into laughter, his voice echoing through the sealed hall.

When she laughed, her entire face contorted in expression, and beneath her grayish-white skin, something that didn't belong to the crystal water was flowing rapidly.

The laughter paused for a moment.

His gaze passed over the swarm of insects led by Rex and landed precisely on Burren behind him.

"And there's even a Tier 3 Inscription Master among them."

The curve of his lips changed. His eyes narrowed.

"This time we've really hit the jackpot!"

His two third-rank subordinates did not wait for orders.

The three figures flashed simultaneously and then disappeared from the spot.

All that remained was the sound of the vines on the wall beginning to throb violently.

In all areas not covered by the insect swarm, countless branches suddenly grew, falling and intertwining towards the edge of the swarm.

Branches and maggots tore at each other at the boundary, making a teeth-grinding cracking sound.

The "fertilizer" on the wall moved.

Those bodies that were just whimpering were now being manipulated from within by the branches, all their heads simultaneously turning towards Lu Yuan's direction. The twisting was far more pronounced than before, the entire body being forcibly driven to change direction.

Their mouths were pushed to their limit from the inside by the branches.

The roots of the piercing branches inside the mouth swelled up, revealing a dense array of holes.

Lu Yuan smelled it.

A sweet-sour smell wafted in from all directions at the same time.

Grayish-green spores were ejected simultaneously from dozens of mouths, creating a visible cloud of dust that refracted a faint light in the dim light of the hall.

The dust covered an irregular area; some particles shot out three or four meters, while others only spread out in a small puff around the mouth. The air quality in the entire hall deteriorated rapidly within seconds.

The inscriptions on the Buren were activated almost simultaneously.

Pale golden runes emerged from the tip of his cane, clinging directly to the surface of his and Lu Yuan's clothing. The runes felt slightly warm when they touched the skin.

The unpleasant smell dissipated considerably in an instant.

Beren didn't inscribe any runes on Rek because Rek didn't need them at all.

At the same time, Beren accelerated the burning speed of the runes behind him. As a third-tier runemaster, he couldn't get involved in the battle between two fourth-tier players. All he could do was burn open the escape route as quickly as possible.

"9" ignored Burren's actions.

His presence vanished completely in an instant.

The next moment, it appeared more than ten meters in front of Lu Yuan.

Rex's insect swarm reacted extremely quickly. At the same moment the "9" aura disappeared, the insects surged towards the landing point like a tide.

Hundreds of gray, fleshy worms converged from the dome floor and the two side walls, swarming towards the location where the "9" appeared.

A half-body phantom of Rek appeared at the top of the insect swarm.

In half a second, the gray insect formed an arm and a hand blade, the tip of which pierced straight into the chest of "9".

Rex was incredibly fast and, under the cover of the swarm of insects, successfully made his move. However, the expected flesh-and-blood sensation did not occur; instead, a metallic clanging sound rang out.

The skin of "9" hardened abruptly upon contact, its grayish-white surface transforming into a carapace-like texture. Simultaneously, countless branches surged up from behind him, entangled the sides of the hand blade, and limited the depth of the piercing.

The first strike failed.

"Truly intriguing and bizarrely extraordinary."

"9" peeked out from the gaps in the branches, its lips slightly pursed.

"But it's a pity you're carrying two burdens."

Before he finished speaking, his speed suddenly increased to a new level.

He crashed right through the body that Rek had built at the top of the insect swarm.

The swarming insects turned to dust upon impact, scattering juices and debris everywhere. The shattered insect corpses traced an arc in the air, leaving a long trail of gray liquid.

Lu Yuan's hand was already on the "flame" at his waist.

The moment when "9" and Lake's swarm of insects intertwined. Both sides were moving, branches were intertwining, and the swarms of insects were reorganizing.

Lu Yuan activated the time synchronization.

The world has slowed down.

The spores were almost motionless in the air, each one clearly visible. The growth of the stems turned into a slow, creeping movement. The silhouette of the "9" was finally stretched into a traceable trajectory, fast, but at least visible.

[Sanity: -1...107/140]

The continuous consumption has begun.

Lu Yuan's gaze did not follow the "9".

He was looking at the two third-order individuals.

In the accelerated world, the positions of "9's" two henchmen are clearly visible. One is crouching against the wall to the right of the altar, his hands pressed against the stone wall, his gray-white skin connected to the roots on the wall, manipulating vines.

Another one, behind the altar, was in a similar posture, also maintaining something.

To protect himself and Beren, Rex has no choice but to divert his power and forcefully seize the underground space from the vines.

If Rek is to unleash his full potential, the root cause must at least be addressed.

Two third-order units are driving the entire root network in the hall in some unknown way.

Lu Yuan noticed that "9" was entangled with Lei Ke the whole time and never once looked at the vines.

Only if these two are eliminated, or their superpowers are removed, will the vines potentially go out of control, giving Rick a real chance to face "9" one-on-one.

Otherwise, in this limited space, with the speed of "9" combined with the help of the branches all over the place, Rex simply couldn't hold on.

In the accelerated world, Lu Yuan met the gaze of "9".

The speed of "9" was reduced to the level of "normal walking" under the interference of time synchronization and acceleration. It was still not slow, but at least it could be tracked.

His mouth was crooked, and his grayish-white skin kept changing color, appearing and disappearing against the chaotic background of branches and spores.

Lu Yuan did not draw his gun.

He reached into his coat and his fingertips touched a cold copper surface.

It is a sealing disk.

Of the three dark red crystals, only the last one is still lit; the other two had long since turned to deathly gray during the battles in the pipeline.

This is the last time.

[Sanity: -2...105/140]

The continuous consumption of time synchronization is constantly fluctuating.

Lu Yuan pressed his thumb against the last crystal, his reason seeping into his fingertip, gradually being swallowed up by the inscriptions on the bronze surface.

[Sanity: -5...100/140]

The sealed plate in my palm heats up rapidly.

Lu Yuan strode through the accelerating world, branches slowly wriggling around him, spores suspended motionless in the air. He passed through these almost still obstacles and took a few steps toward his two third-tier subordinates.

"Close enough."

Lu Yuan thought for a moment and then threw the sealing disc out.

The copper disc tumbled in the air, and the light from the dark red crystal drew an arc as it spun.

The moment the bronze plate slipped from Lu Yuan's grasp, he reversed his steps and decisively retreated.

The sealing disc traced a perfect arc in the world of timekeeping, finally landing near the Gray Pact members.

The last crystal dimmed and turned a deathly gray.

The suppressive force spread instantly, and all the extraordinary auras within a ten-meter radius of the copper plate were crushed.

The effect takes effect instantly.

All supernatural abilities cease within this range.

The two third-tier subordinates who were maintaining control over the vines were instantly disconnected from the roots on the wall, their grayish-white skin returned to human color, and their extraordinary aura disappeared.

The vines that stretched across the sky froze.

The branches and the wriggling gray-green plant tissues all stopped.

The silence lasted only a moment.

Then the vines moved.

But not in the original way.

Without the control of a manipulator, the root network reverted to its primal instincts, devouring everything indiscriminately, friend or foe.

As Lu Yuan retreated, he had already drawn "Flame".