Chapter 50

In the monitoring room.

Everyone's gaze froze on the youth clad in Magma Battle Armor.

Just moments ago, they had witnessed a textbook-level single kill.

"This..."

Xu Wenchang's voice trembled slightly.

His eyes were full of awe as he murmured:

"Facing the Shadow-Winged Demon Lord with high agility and high evasion, he didn't rush to attack; instead, he first feinted with a Fireball, feigning weakness to lure the Shadow-Winged Demon Lord into close range."

"Once close, he used the high defense and melee amplification of the 【Magma Battle Armor】 to pin down the Shadow-Winged Demon Lord, nullifying the opponent's greatest advantage in speed!"

"At point-blank range, he unleashed the un-dodgeable 【Inferno Spiral Dragon Bullet】, immediately followed by erecting an Earth Wall to block the retreat, using the impact stun to chain into the 【Flame Fire Pillar】..."

"Using the airborne mechanism of the 【Flame Fire Pillar】, he chained into the aerial pursuit of the 【Multiple Exploding Fireballs】..."

"This entire combo was interlocked, flowing like clouds and water, without a single redundant movement!"

At this, Xu Wenchang suddenly turned to look at Lin Tianhao, his eyes burning:

"Old Lin, Lin Mo is not only supreme in skill control; in tactics, he is even terrifyingly calm. This is top-tier combat素养!"

"Such talent appearing in a student who just changed classes three days ago... is simply monstrous!"

Lin Tianhao's heart swelled with joy.

He nodded, forcing down his excitement:

"Old Xu, my son Mo may be lazy, but his mind is sharp. What do you think? Is this performance qualified to enter your Long Xu Ban?"

Xu Wenchang took a deep breath without any hesitation:

"Qualified! More than qualified!"

"Just based on this tactical thinking and skill micro-management, even if he were a blank-slate Mage, I would claim him!"

At this, Xu Wenchang shifted his tone:

"However, the major exam still has a second phase: real PVP confrontation."

"The complexity of human hearts far exceeds that of monsters."

"I want to see if he can maintain this composure when facing a situation of humans killing each other."

Lin Tianhao smiled confidently:

"Then keep watching; I believe this kid won't disappoint you."

Meanwhile,

Zhao Lei in the corner had a face that had turned as ugly as it could possibly be.

His gaze was fixed intently on Lin Mo on the screen.

As the commander of the Jianghai City Defense Army and a high-tier Fire-element practitioner, he knew too well what the scene just now meant.

The perfect fusion of Fire and Earth elements, integrating offense and defense, a qualitative sublimation.

That was a combination technique that could only be comprehended through an extremely high understanding of the two elements and countless attempts!

How could this be?

He himself, up to now, for thirty years, hadn't comprehended a single combination technique.

And Lin Mo, in just three days, had comprehended a combination technique?

Did he skip thirty years of detours?

"How is this possible..."

Zhao Lei felt his worldview collapsing.

Seeing Zhao Lei's face full of shock, Lin Tianhao also felt a wave of satisfaction in his heart.

He personally removed a display screen, casually snapped off a corner of a solid wood table, and slowly walked over.

"Old Zhao."

"In the army, there are no empty words..."

"Mo has cleared the level; you cannot escape this display screen."

"And... I've brought the table corner for you too. Eat it while it's hot; don't be polite."

"..."

Zhao Lei's face was uglier than if he had eaten shit.

"Hmph!"

He snorted coldly, casually incinerating the display screen and the table corner into ash.

Crunch-crunch—

The sound of chewing echoed in the room.

A big shot is indeed a big shot; even eating a screen, he chewed with the ferocity of crushing enemy bones.

Lin Tianhao watched with a smile and thoughtfully handed him a cup of water:

"Eat slowly, don't choke; no one is fighting you for it."

In the plaza outside the Trial Tower.

As Lin Mo cleared the thirtieth floor, the entire plaza erupted completely.

"Cleared... cleared?"

"24 seconds?! The thirtieth floor took only 24 seconds?!"

"I used three minutes just for the first floor, and he used only 24 seconds for the thirtieth floor? Is he even human?"

In the crowd,

Zhao Yu stared at the name hanging high atop the leaderboard, his gaze turning blank.

"Impossible… impossible… how did he do this?"

"The all-time highest record was only 27 floors—how did he speedrun through 30?"

"On what basis?"

Just then,

a startled cry rang out from the crowd:

"Holy crap! I've got an uncle working as a technician at the monitoring center, he just secretly sent me a message!"

"The boss on the thirtieth floor is the Shadow Wing Demon Lord, known as the 'Mage Slayer'!"

The moment those words fell, the crowd instantly exploded.

"Huh? Shadow Wing Demon Lord? I remember the textbook saying that when a mage runs into this thing, the recommendation is to give up resistance and die with a little dignity…"

"Ridiculous… how did that squishy mage chicken do it?"

"Lin Shao must be cheating, right?"

Listening to the tide of exclamations around him,

Zhao Yu felt a kind of suffocation.

His body trembled uncontrollably, and those eyes that had once brimmed with arrogance were now shot through with red veins.

An unprecedented sense of defeat swept over him.

"24 seconds… impossible…"

Zhao Yu clenched his teeth.

The S-rank talent he had taken such pride in, at this moment, seemed to have become the greatest joke of all.

Just then, a lackey carefully sidled up and soothed him in a low voice:

"Zhao… Zhao Shao, don't lose heart, this is only the first phase."

"That Lin Mo is only good at fighting monsters. Once it gets to the second phase, PVP, it'll still come down to our Zhao Shao…"

"Shut up!"

Zhao Yu whipped his head around, his eyes blazing red:

"Are you really that stupid or just pretending to be?!"

"Someone who can solo-kill the Shadow Wing Demon Lord in 24 seconds—you think I can beat him in PVP?!"

The lackey craned his neck back at the shout, not daring to make another peep.

Zhao Yu drew in a deep breath, his chest heaving violently.

He knew he could no longer win.

His strength was inferior, his talent inferior, even his luck was inferior.

But…

He was unwilling to accept it!

On what basis could Lin Mo, a second-generation rich kid who lay flat all day long, trample a self who had worked so hard underfoot?

On what basis did he himself have to act like a clown, watching Lin Mo walk off gloriously with the glory that belonged to him?

"Since I can't have it, don't you even think about taking it easy either!"

Hatred spread through Zhao Yu's heart.

With a single glance, he signaled several trusted lackeys to come closer:

"Go, contact everyone who's ever taken money from my Zhao family."

"And all those people who want to curry favor with my father—notify every single one of them."

"Tell them, second phase, wait for my signal. Everyone gather first, and then… surround and kill Lin Mo!"

The few lackeys listened with some hesitation:

"Zhao Shao, this… isn't it a bit too extreme? After all, he's Commander Lin's son…"

"What is there to fear?"

Zhao Yu let out a cold laugh. "The second phase is a PVP confrontation segment by nature. A spontaneous siege on the person with the highest score—that's perfectly reasonable."

Zhao Yu was very clear.

With Lin Mo's current performance, getting into the Long Xu Ban was already a done deal—there was nothing he could change about that.

But.

He just wanted to disgust Lin Mo a little.

Zhao Yu said, word by word:

"I will absolutely not let Lin Mo walk through the great exam that comfortably. I want him to leave the examination hall in disgrace!"

"Go! Go contact them now! Tell them—as long as they can eliminate Lin Mo, the previous reward is doubled! No—tripled!"

"Yes! Zhao Shao!"

The lackeys immediately turned and vanished into the crowd.