Chapter 53: This World Ultimately Relies on Brains to Speak!

Inside the square.

Lin Mo picked his teeth, wandering around idly with nothing to do.

Foes meet on a narrow path; he happened to run straight into Zhao Yu and his group.

Their four eyes met.

"Yo, isn't this Young Zhao Shao?"

Lin Mo spoke first, "I just checked the leaderboard. Why did you come out after only the thirteenth floor? I felt the Trial Tower wasn't that hard."

Saying this, Lin Mo put on an expression of sudden realization:

"Oh~ I get it. Young Zhao Shao is controlling your score, right?"

"After all, you're an S-rank genius. If you went all out too early and left us far behind, it would seem too out of step with the crowd, wouldn't it? Tsk tsk tsk, that's called having vision. I admire it, I admire it."

Hearing these words, the veins on Zhao Yu's temple throbbed violently with rage.

Controlling the score?

Control your damn score!

He had already given his all; it was already his limit.

Zhao Yu clenched his jaw, feeling utterly humiliated.

"Lin Mo... don't get too arrogant!"

"The monsters in the Trial Tower are, after all, just a bunch of beasts! They have no tactics and don't know how to adapt."

"What is there to be proud of about beating such brainless beasts?"

Facing Zhao Yu's words, Lin Mo blinked, looking utterly confused.

"Huh?"

"Then if our Young Zhao Shao can't even beat brainless beasts, isn't that... he's even worse than beasts?"

"Pfft—"

The moment Lin Mo said this, several examinees passing by nearby couldn't hold it in and burst out laughing.

"Cough cough cough... This logic is flawless."

"Even worse than beasts... hahaha, that's so ruthless."

"You—!!!"

Hearing the suppressed laughter from around him, Zhao Yu felt a heavy pressure in his chest, almost spitting out a mouthful of old blood, shaking with rage all over.

Humiliated!

So damn humiliated!

He stammered for a long time but couldn't spit out a single word of rebuttal.

【The 'Fireball Spell' screamed wildly in the panel: Look at that bastard! He dares to glare at you? Wait and see if I don't blow him up.】

【The 'Earth Shield Spell' chimed in from the side: Exactly, exactly! Master, how about I bury him first?】

Lin Mo waved his hand uninterestedly:

"Alright, alright, stop shaking. You look like you have Parkinson's."

"See you later, Young Zhao Shao. Good luck. Don't turn into a box the moment you land, okay? Don't lose face for an S-rank genius!"

Having said that, Lin Mo didn't even bother to look at Zhao Yu again. He shoved his hands in his pockets and swaggered past Zhao Yu.

Watching Lin Mo's retreating back, the fury in Zhao Yu's eyes was almost ready to burst out.

At this moment, a red-haired henchman beside Zhao Yu stepped forward.

He looked in the direction Lin Mo had left and spat fiercely on the ground:

"Pah! What a piece of trash!"

"A petty person in power! Young Zhao Shao, calm down. Don't stoop to the level of such garbage!"

Just then,

another henchman ran over in a hurry, lowering his voice to report:

"Young Zhao Shao, your foresight is truly accurate!"

"I just saw with my own eyes Xia Qingyue sneak over to the restaurant by the edge of the square and enter Lin Mo's private room."

"And she stayed there for a full ten minutes before coming out!"

Hearing this news, the faces of the several henchmen around them all changed.

"Damn! This Xia Qingyue is too shameless. She took the money and still went to collude with the enemy? I think she's tired of living!"

"Damn it, a traitor who eats from the inside and betrays from the outside! I think she's tired of living!"

The red-haired man turned to look at Zhao Yu and said with righteous indignation:

"Young Zhao Shao, it's a good thing you guessed right! This woman is indeed untrustworthy!"

"Once we enter the exam ground, let's not tell her about anything. Let her play by herself! See how she can still eat from both sides!"

However, Zhao Yu did not fly into a rage; instead, he wore a confident expression of strategic planning.

"No."

Zhao Yu shook his head. "We still need to tell her, but... only after everyone has assembled and the encirclement is set up, tell her at the very end."

The red-haired man's eyes lit up. "Young Zhao Shao is going to use the tactic of catching a turtle in a jar? Brilliant! Truly worthy of Young Zhao Shao!"

"Hmph."

Zhao Yu adjusted his collar. "Dozens of people, with all kinds of professions fully matched. I don't believe we can't beat one Lin Mo!"

"Brilliant! Truly brilliant!"

"Young Zhao Shao is wise!"

"Hahaha, compared to Young Zhao Shao in terms of brains, Lin Mo is just a little brother!"

Listening to his subordinates' flattery, the gloom in Zhao Yu's heart vanished in an instant.

Lin Mo, so what if you're strong?

In this world, it's ultimately brains that do the talking!

……

"Time's up! All candidates who advanced, assemble immediately!"

The two-hour rest period flew by in the blink of an eye.

The two hundred candidates originally scattered across various spots quickly gathered toward the center of the plaza.

On the high platform, Zhang Tiejun still stood ramrod straight, and beside him, at some unknown point, an old man in a cyan mage's robe had appeared.

"That's…"

Among the crowd, a candidate exclaimed in a low voice:

"That's the Vice President of the Horizon Guild! 'Wind King' Gu Changfeng!"

"Holy shit! It's really Gu Changfeng? He's my idol!"

"I heard he's the only top-tier mage in our Jianghai City who's mastered the wind-type forbidden spell 'World-Ending Storm'!"

"Damn… this is a real big shot. They say back in the day he cast one forbidden spell and wiped out a beast tide of several hundred thousand, shaving that mountain clean flat…"

Listening to the discussion below, Lin Mo couldn't help but glance at that old man a couple more times.

A wind-type forbidden spell, huh?

Sounds pretty strong.

But Lin Mo wasn't really envious—after all, no matter what type of forbidden spell, he'd eventually have one too.

【【Fireball】 commented: He's just relying on being a higher level. Once this seat reaches his level, one fire-type forbidden spell and those measly several hundred thousand beasts will all be burned to ashes!】

Lin Mo's mouth twitched slightly.

This little fireball sure talks big.

"Alright, quiet down!"

Zhang Tiejun raised his hand in a gesture, and the entire venue fell instantly silent.

He pointed at the old man beside him and said in a deep voice:

"Let me introduce you—this is Master 'Wind King' Gu Changfeng."

"The storm ring on the outer perimeter of the second stage's examination ground, 'Mist Wasteland,' will be personally maintained by Master Gu's spellcasting."

Gu Changfeng nodded slightly.

Zhang Tiejun continued loudly:

"I've already explained the rules, but I'll emphasize them one last time!"

"The storm ring will continuously shrink toward the center as time passes! That's true high-tier wind magic—touch it and you're eliminated!"

"Although Soul Shelter can keep you from dying, that near-death pain is real!"

Zhang Tiejun's gaze was sharp as a blade, sweeping across every young face present:

"You two hundred are the top seedlings of Jianghai City's this generation."

"But greenhouses can't grow towering trees. In the second stage, combat between candidates is allowed, and any means are allowed!"

"If you want that one and only Champion's slot, if you want that 'Heart of the Lava Beast,' then show your fighting spirit! Fight for it! Seize it!"

These words made quite a few candidates' blood boil, kindling fighting spirit in their eyes.

Especially Zhao Yu, who stared fixedly at Lin Mo's back.

No matter how strong you are, Lin Mo, you can't stand against our teamwork!

Just wait to die, Lin Mo!

"Now!"

Zhang Tiejun waved his hand grandly:

"All candidates! Enter the formation!"

Rumble rumble—!

The super-large teleportation formation at the center of the plaza activated abruptly.

Blinding white light instantly shot skyward, illuminating the entire plaza like broad daylight.

Violent spatial energy began surging, making everyone's clothes flap loudly in the wind.

"I wish you… good luck!"

With Zhang Tiejun's final words falling.

Whoosh!

The white light devoured everything.

The figures of the two hundred candidates vanished from the plaza in an instant.