Embryo...

Li Ang, who had anticipated this, was not overly surprised. He glanced at the towering mud pillar arms, stabbed the ground with his Triangular Bone Tipped Spear, and hurled chunks of bluestone tile fragments toward the mud pillar arms.

The fragments hit the mud pillar. Even though they contained a small amount of Ripple Energy, they only slightly dissolved a minor part of the mud pillar, raising a puff of blue smoke as they vanished without a trace. They did not cause much damage.

From a distance, Stonemason, who had already reloaded, aimed at the mud pillar's upper wrist and pulled the trigger.

The rocket exploded upon hitting the target, swallowing a large chunk of mud. However, the mud pillar arm undulated, drawing material from the swamp below like a pump, and instantly restored itself. It even had enough momentum left to continue launching vine crossbow arrows at the players scurrying about like gophers.

"I'll take it!" Dong Fengpo retrieved a rather peculiar device from his inventory and strapped it on.

The device's main body consisted of two rectangular metal boxes. A small high-pressure gas cylinder was fitted on top, and several metal ropes with arrowhead grappling hooks were placed in recessed grooves at the bottom. Each metal box was connected to a straight Long Knife, with buttons installed on the handles. The metal boxes were connected by straps that wrapped around the torso, similar to a posture corrector.

When necessary, the user could press a button to activate the high-pressure gas cylinder, firing out the arrowhead grappling hooks. These would embed into a solid surface, and the user could then pull another trigger to retract the ropes, propelling themselves forward like Spider-Man.

This rare piece of equipment, named the "Modified Three-dimensional Maneuver Gear," was extremely difficult to use. When swinging through buildings, one could easily crash into walls and get injured.

Dong Fengpo could only manage it due to his vastly superior Agility Attribute.

He pressed the button on the Long Knife's handle, shot a grappling hook toward the ceiling, and retracted the rope. He launched himself out like an arrow loosed from a bowstring, quickly approaching the mud pillar arm.

It looked quite cool, but unfortunately, the towering arm seemed to sense something. Its slowly flowing surface rippled, solidifying into several Stone Spears that jutted out diagonally like a dense thicket, all aimed at Dong Fengpo as he flew mid-air.

Dong Fengpo's pupils contracted. He immediately pulled the trigger, causing the grappling hook to swing him to the side.

CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG—

After a brief delay, volleys of Stone Spears shot out, forming a curtain of stone rain across the sky, relentlessly pursuing Dong Fengpo.

Aided by the Modified Three-dimensional Maneuver Gear, Dong Fengpo dodged wildly in mid-air like a fly. A dense barrage of Stone Spears closely pursued him, pounding into the walls and creating large craters.

Just as Dong Fengpo drew the embryo's attention, the swamp on the ground began to change.

Countless low-lying plants and vines twined together. This time, they did not form vine crossbow arrows but instead wove together more than a dozen huge, humanoid skeletons.

The surrounding mud churned and poured over these skeletons, quickly hardening and creating eighteen giant stone Golems on the spot.

"The Eighteen Arhats?" Li Ang exclaimed.

Forest Cat, dodging the rain of vine arrows in the distance, shouted, "The Reindeer's divine portfolio is swamp, plants, life, and creation! Especially after gaining the bloodline powers of the Lesley family, it can manipulate earth and stone. A mere strand of Divinity is not enough to sustain it in prolonged, high-intensity battles. The swamp is its power source! We must clear this swamp completely to interrupt the resurrection Ritual track!"

"Understood!" Ur Wunnian roared. His fists, ablaze with the Gryphon Emblem, swung fiercely forward.

A crimson Gryphon phantom rose from behind him, wreathed in roaring flames as it charged its target.

Three stone Golems, with an agility completely belying their bulky frames, sprinted to block the swamp's edge. Raising their arms, they braced for the fiery Gryphon's impact.

BOOM—

The Golems were penetrated by the Gryphon phantom. Their stone arms, heated red-hot by the intense temperature, cracked and burst with tiny sparks.

However, with each Golem the phantom passed through, the Gryphon projection grew fainter. By the time it reached the airspace above the swamp, it no longer possessed the strength to burn the vegetation to ashes and regrettably dissipated, vanishing.

THUMP, THUMP, THUMP, THUMP.

Without giving the players a moment to breathe, twelve petrified Golems charged over the stone slabs.

Li Ang, adopting a wait-and-see attitude, pulled the trigger of his sniper rifle. However, the heavy bullets hitting the petrified Golem's head only dislodged a few insignificant clumps of dirt, the warheads firmly embedding themselves in the hardened mud.

Three petrified Golems charged toward Li Ang. Ur Wunnian, Stonemason, and Forest Cat were also entangled by Golems.

These stone Giants moved with great force and had extremely sturdy bodies, impervious to fire and water, rendering physical attacks nearly ineffective. Neither Ripple Energy, the Drown in Misfortune Assassination Method, nor the Bloodworm Crowbar had any effect on them.

Fortunately, his other teammates had special techniques to deal with the stone Giants:

A Golem swung its fist heavily at Stonemason, who easily dodged. Striking back with his chisel, he effortlessly carved off the Golem's entire arm.

The chisel in Stonemason's hands was an Excellent quality tool named "Carving Artist." Its Special Effect was to melt rock and soil, allowing him to shape stone into any desired form.

Ordinarily, "Carving Artist" could only be used for excavating rock layers, constructing basements, or building structures in the wilderness.

But now, facing these stone Golems, the tool found its true calling, effortlessly reducing one Golem after another to basic slurry.

Meanwhile, Forest Cat pressed his hands to the ground, softening the stone floor into a liquid mud trap that ensnared the Golems. No matter how the stone Giants struggled, they could not escape the fate of being swallowed by the mire.

With Stonemason working alongside Ur Wunnian and Forest Cat, they were fully capable of eliminating all the stone Giants.

"It's all on you guys now!" Li Ang called out to his teammates. He put on his earphones and played the song "I Believe," using its BGM skill to greatly enhance his jumping ability and slightly increase his hang time.

After a short sprint, Li Ang planted his long spear on the ground and vaulted into the air, rushing toward the mud pillar arm.

Dong Fengpo, still hovering in mid-air, saw Li Ang soar into the sky. Li Ang's long spear spun like an electric fan, precisely deflecting all incoming Stone Spears as he unleashed the "Drown in Misfortune Assassination Method" toward the non-human embryo.

This ability had a casting range of two hundred meters, but required the caster to have direct line of sight to the enemy.

As the skill took effect, the embryo's body trembled violently. Its gaping maw continuously vomited clear water, and its entwined arms began to shake intensely.

The rain of Stone Spears suddenly ceased. Dong Fengpo, still floating in mid-air, quickly closed the distance. He raised a flask, took a swig of alcohol, and spat a pillar of fire toward the embryo.

The pillar of fire struck the embryo's body squarely, turning its once pale, smooth skin black and chapped.

Dong Fengpo was about to take another drink when the charred, non-human embryo in the palm of the mud arm shrieked at him, "Damned insects!"

The mud pillar arm suddenly tilted, then crashed down toward him like a colossal white jade pillar.

Stonemason, still entangled with the Golems below, felt a jolt. This voice... I've heard it before—it's William from the hallucination!