Chapter 53: This World Ultimately Speaks Through Brains!

In the square.

Lin Mo picked his teeth, idly wandering around.

Fate brought them face to face—right into Zhao Yu’s group.

Their eyes met.

“Oh? Isn’t this Young Master Zhao?”

Lin Mo spoke first, “Just now I checked the leaderboard—how come you only made it to the thirteenth floor before exiting? I thought this Trial Tower wasn’t that hard.”

At this, Lin Mo suddenly looked as if he’d just understood something:

“Oh~ I get it—you’re holding back your score, right?”

After all, you're an S-rank genius—if you pushed too hard too early and left us all in the dust, you'd seem antisocial, wouldn't you? Tsk tsk tsk, that's called vision. Impressive, truly impressive.

Hearing this, Zhao Yu’s temple twitched with a throbbing vein.

Holding back his score?

Hold back your damn score!

He had given everything—he had reached his absolute limit.

Zhao Yu clenched his jaw, suffocating with suppressed rage.

“Lin Mo… don’t get too cocky!”

“The demons inside the Trial Tower? They’re nothing but beasts! No tactics, no adaptability!”

“What’s so impressive about beating mindless beasts?”

Facing Zhao Yu’s words, Lin Mo blinked, utterly baffled.

“Huh?”

“So if Young Master Zhao can’t even beat mindless beasts… does that mean you’re… worse than a beast?”

“Puh—”

At Lin Mo’s words, several passing examinees couldn’t hold back—they burst out laughing.

“Cough cough… that logic? Makes perfect sense.”

“Worse than a beast… hahaha, that’s brutal.”

“You—!!!”

Hearing the stifled laughter around him, Zhao Yu felt his chest tighten, nearly spitting blood—he trembled with fury.

Frustrating!

Fucking frustrating!

He stammered for a long time but couldn’t muster a single retort.

【『Fireball Spell』 screamed wildly on his panel: Look at that bastard! He dares glare at you? Wait till I blow him to smithereens!】

【『Earth Shield Spell』 chimed in: Exactly! Master, should I bury him first?】

Lin Mo waved his hand dismissively:

“Enough, enough. Stop shaking—you look like you’ve got Parkinson’s.”

“See you later, Young Master Zhao. Good luck. Don’t get knocked out on the ground this time—don’t embarrass your S-rank genius title!”

With that, Lin Mo didn’t even spare Zhao Yu another glance. He shoved his hands in his pockets and strolled past, casual and arrogant.

Watching Lin Mo’s retreating back, Zhao Yu’s eyes burned with rage.

At that moment, one of Zhao Yu’s red-haired henchmen sidled up.

He spat fiercely toward the ground, staring at where Lin Mo had vanished:

“Pah! What a piece of trash!”

“A nobody riding high! Young Master, calm down—don’t waste your anger on trash like him!”

Just then,

another henchman rushed over, lowering his voice to report:

“Young Master, you’re truly prophetic!”

“I just saw Xia Qingyue sneak off to the tavern by the square—she went into Lin Mo’s private room.”

“And she stayed there for a full ten minutes before leaving!”

Hearing this, several nearby henchmen paled.

“Damn! Xia Qingyue’s shameless—took our money and still defects? She’s asking for death!”

“Fucking traitor! She’s begging for death!”

The red-haired henchman turned to Zhao Yu, indignant:

“Young Master, you were right! This woman’s utterly untrustworthy!”

“Once we enter the arena, don’t warn her—let her wander alone! See how she plays both sides!”

But Zhao Yu didn’t fly into a rage—he smiled with calm, calculated confidence.

“No.”

Zhao Yu shook his head. “We still warn her—but only after everyone’s gathered, after we’ve sealed the circle… then we tell her.”

The red-haired henchman’s eyes lit up. “Young Master’s planning to trap the turtle in the jar? Brilliant! No wonder you’re Young Master!”

“Hmph.”

Zhao Yu straightened his collar. “Dozens of us, full team composition—do you really think we can’t beat Lin Mo?”

“Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant!”

“Young Master, you’re wise!”

“Hahaha! Compared to Young Master, Lin Mo’s just a kid!”

Listening to his men’s praise, Zhao Yu’s bitterness vanished.

Lin Mo, you’re strong—so what?

This world ultimately speaks through brains!

…

“Time’s up! All qualified examinees, assemble immediately!”

The two-hour break vanished in an instant.

The two hundred examinees scattered across the grounds swiftly converged toward the center of the square.

On the podium, Zhang Tiejun stood rigid as ever; beside him, a gray-robed elder had appeared without notice.

“That’s…”

Someone in the crowd whispered in shock:

“That’s the Vice Chairman of the Skyward Guild! ‘Wind King’ Gu Changfeng!”

“Holy shit! Is that really Gu Changfeng? My idol!”

“They say he’s the only top-tier mage in Jianghai City who’s mastered the wind-tier forbidden spell ‘World-Ending Storm’!”

“Damn… that’s a true legend—they say he once wiped out hundreds of thousands of beast hordes with a single forbidden spell, leveling entire mountains…”

Hearing the murmurs below, Lin Mo glanced at the old man a little longer.

Wind-tier forbidden spell?

Sounds pretty strong.

But Lin Mo wasn’t envious—he knew every spell tier would come to him eventually.

【『Fireball Spell』 commented: He’s just got a higher level. Wait till I reach his rank—I’ll burn those hundreds of thousands of beasts to ash with one fire-tier forbidden spell!】

Lin Mo’s lip twitched.

This little fireball had some serious nerve.

“Alright, quiet down!”

Zhang Tiejun raised his hand—the entire square fell silent.

He pointed to the elder beside him and said gravely:

“Let me introduce you—this is Master Gu Changfeng, the ‘Wind King’.”

“The outer storm ring of the second-stage testing ground, ‘Mist Wasteland,’ will be maintained by Master Gu himself.”

Gu Changfeng gave a slight nod.

Zhang Tiejun continued loudly:

“I’ve already explained the rules—I’ll repeat them one final time!”

“The storm ring will continuously contract toward the center over time! That’s a true high-tier wind spell—touch it and you’re eliminated!”

“Soul Protection will keep you alive, but the agony of near-death is real!”

Zhang Tiejun’s gaze, sharp as a blade, swept over every young face present:

“You two hundred are the absolute top talents of this year’s Jianghai City cohort.”

“But greenhouse-grown trees never reach the sky. In the second stage, killing is permitted—any tactic is allowed!”

“If you want that single Top Graduate title, if you want the ‘Heart of the Lava Behemoth,’ show your bloodlust! Fight! Seize it!”

These words stirred many examinees—fire ignited in their eyes.

Especially Zhao Yu—he locked his gaze on Lin Mo’s back.

No matter how strong you are, Lin Mo, you can’t beat our teamwork!

Die, Lin Mo!

“Now!”

Zhang Tiejun waved his large hand:

“Everyone! Enter the formation!”

Boom—!

The super-large teleportation array at the center of the square suddenly activated.

Blinding white light surged skyward, illuminating the entire square as bright as day.

Violent spatial energy began to surge, making everyone’s clothes flap violently.

“Good luck to you all!”

As Zhang Tiejun’s final voice faded.

Swish!

The white light swallowed everything.

The two hundred candidates vanished instantly from the square.