Chapter 54: Black Mud Swamp, Dual Fire and Earth Weakness?

The Misty Wasteland, as the name suggests, was filled with grayish mist everywhere one looked.

Visibility was extremely low, and the air carried a faint mildewy dampness.

“So this is it?”

Lin Mo glanced around and couldn’t help frowning.

“What a terrible environment—drenched all over, unbearable.”

He opened his map and took a look.

The entire Misty Wasteland was enormous; the two hundred candidates had been randomly scattered across every corner, and meeting someone truly required luck.

“Forget it, I’ll just wander around for now, find some monsters to clear, and wait for Xia Qingyue to send Zhao Yu’s coordinates.”

Lin Mo stretched lazily and walked aimlessly forward.

He hadn’t taken more than a few steps.

Ssshh—sss—

A strange rustling came from the bushes ahead.

Immediately, two creatures covered in pus-filled boils—[Corrupted Corpse Hyenas]—leapt out, jaws gaping with foul, dripping saliva, lunging at Lin Mo.

[Corrupted Corpse Hyena, Lv.10]

“What an ugly sight.”

Lin Mo sneered, twisting his mouth in disgust.

The next instant.

Boom—Boom—!!

The fireball split into two, instantly obliterating them both.

[Slain Corrupted Corpse Hyena, +20 points]

[Current Points: 3020]

Having cleared the Trial Tower’s thirtieth floor, at 100 points per floor, he had entered with a massive 3000-point bonus.

This score was already a threshold most candidates couldn’t reach even if they fought until the exam ended.

“Even mosquito legs are meat.”

Lin Mo muttered under his breath and kept shambling forward.

Ten minutes later.

[“Fireball Spell” complained irritably: This damn place is too damp—I feel utterly uncomfortable.]

Just then.

[“Earth Shield Spell” jolted sharply: Master! Look behind! There’s a red thing moving!]

“A red thing?”

Lin Mo halted, turning his head.

A distinctive patch of red hair stood out sharply against the gray mist.

At that moment, the red-haired figure seemed to sense someone’s presence and spun around abruptly.

Their eyes met.

Lin Mo grinned.

Wasn’t this the red-haired lackey who’d been yelling the loudest at Zhao Yu back at the square?

His name was something… whatever, didn’t matter—he was just an easy point source.

“Oh? Isn’t this Zhao Dashao’s favorite pet?”

Lin Mo smiled and waved casually, “Small world? Lost your way?”

The red-haired boy froze at Lin Mo’s smile, his face turning instantly pale.

“W-what the—?”

“Lin Mo?!”

His scalp prickled with dread.

Without hesitation,

he screamed and turned to flee.

“Wind Dash!”

Boom—Boom—Boom—!

The flat grassland before him erupted violently.

A wall of earth shot upward.

Thud—!!

A dull thump.

The red-haired boy slammed face-first into the earth wall.

“Fucking hell, that hurt like hell…”

He howled, blood gushing from his nose, collapsing to the ground.

“Why run? Am I that scary?”

Lin Mo’s voice drifted lazily from behind him, looking down from above.

The red-haired boy mustered courage to shout:

“Lin Mo! Don’t get cocky! Our Young Master Zhao has prepared everything—he’s about to make you regret this…”

Though his mouth spat the harshest words,

his trembling legs and frantically recoiling body betrayed his terror.

Even with [Soul Protection], he wouldn’t die—but the pain was real.

“Tsk tsk tsk…”

Lin Mo shook his head. “What a loyal dog. Does your Young Master even know how devoted you are?”

[“Fireball Spell” had long grown impatient: Why waste words on trash?]

The Fireball Spell instantly coalesced and shot forward.

Boom—!

Flames exploded.

The red-haired boy was swallowed whole by fire.

Immediately, a soft white light flared, forming a thin mist-like shield that enveloped him entirely.

[Soul Protection] activated.

Though death was averted, the shield meant he was now eliminated and locked in absolute stasis—unable to move, forced to wait for the exam’s end.

[“Fireball Spell” sneered: That’s it? Pathetic. Weaker than the monsters.]

Lin Mo looked at the red-haired boy trapped in the shield. “Alright, watch closely—see how your master gets eliminated.”

[Defeated Candidate, Points Looted: +210]

“Poor bastard.”

Lin Mo glanced at his points, shook his head in disdain, and continued walking.

He hadn’t gone far when another group of poisonous frogs leapt out.

Lin Mo casually tossed a fireball.

[“Fireball Spell” grew irritated: Again with these soggy monsters? Slimy and disgusting! Can’t we get something dry?]

[“Earth Shield Spell” soothed: Brother, just endure it—the environment’s like this. We’ve got to overcome hardship.]

Lin Mo looked around, then stopped.

“Strange…”

“It’s been twenty minutes—Zhao Yu should’ve already started gathering people by now.”

“Why hasn’t Xia Qingyue sent any signal?”

“Could this girl have spawned and immediately died?”

Thinking of this, Lin Mo quickly composed a message and sent it.

…

Meanwhile,

the Monitoring Command Center.

“Old Lin, look at Zhao Yu’s feed!”

Su Wan tugged at Lin Tianhao’s sleeve.

Lin Tianhao turned toward Zhao Yu’s split-screen.

On screen, Zhao Yu stood in a low-lying swamp.

Around him, over a dozen candidates had already gathered.

And from the monitoring map, more glowing dots were rapidly converging toward that location.

“Gathering forces?”

Su Wan frowned.

Lin Tianhao narrowed his eyes; as a veteran monitor officer, he was familiar with this scenario.

Although the exam permitted PVP, all candidates were rivals—normally, they kept their guard up.

For so many to drop their defenses and immediately form a group…

Aside from the enormous profit incentive, there is no other reason.

Lin Tianhao glanced at Zhao Lei and said with implication: “It seems our Commander Zhao has really gone all-in for this major exam.”

Xu Wenchang now also stroked his chin, deep in thought:

“Targeted assassinations against the top scorer have occurred in past exams, but a strike of this scale is indeed rare.”

Lin Tianhao had absolute faith in his son:

“Good—it saves Mo’er from having to hunt them down. These fools came to us on their own; it saves us a lot of trouble.”

At that moment,

Zhao Lei suddenly spoke in a cold, sinister tone:

“Old Lin, aren’t you celebrating a bit too soon?”

“Didn’t you notice where you are?”

Lin Tianhao and Xu Wenchang froze, staring closely.

“Black Mud Swamp?”

Lin Tianhao frowned.

Zhao Lei had, upon the end of the first phase of the exam, already sent details of Lin Mo’s situation to his own son.

“The Black Mud Swamp is the most hostile region in this area, perpetually shrouded in mist, with extremely high air humidity.”

“Under these conditions, fire element activity is suppressed—any fire-based technique loses at least 30% of its power!”

“Moreover… earth element is also negated by the swamp terrain—earth mages here cannot summon earth walls or earth spikes at all.”

“Do you understand what this means, Commander Lin?”

Zhao Lei wore a smug grin.

Even if Lin Tianhao realized it now, it was useless.

Once the exam officially began, examiners were strictly forbidden from sending any messages to candidates, to prevent cheating via map-based guidance.

Hearing this analysis, Xu Wenchang suddenly understood:

“So that’s how it is…”

He glanced at Zhao Lei, a flicker of surprise in his eyes:

“Old Zhao, your son clearly came prepared—he set this trap specifically for Lin Mo’s dual fire-earth affinity!”

After hearing this, Lin Tianhao’s expression shifted slightly.

But he quickly steadied himself and retorted:

“Zhao Lei, how can you be so certain Mo’er will go to the Black Mud Swamp?”

“The Misty Wasteland is vast—if Mo’er doesn’t go there, your so-called trap is just a joke.”

“Hahaha!”

Zhao Lei laughed wildly:

“Old Lin, you’re too naive. If it’s a trap, there must be bait.”

“As for how it was done… you don’t need to know.”

Su Wan nervously tugged at Lin Tianhao’s sleeve. “Old Lin, what do we do? If Mo’er really goes there, he’ll be a fish in a barrel…”

Lin Tianhao snorted and fired back.

“Zhao Lei, stop trying to scare us. Before absolute power, brains mean nothing.”

“Terrain advantages? Don’t dream it—even if his power is halved, even if he can’t use Earth Flow Wall, my Mo’er will still wipe out your whole team!”

Though his words remained defiant, Lin Tianhao’s heart was in his throat.

The fire element’s reduction didn’t matter much.

Lin Mo’s output was already off the charts—severely overpowered.

The real problem was the earth element being neutralized…

In a one-vs-many scenario, Earth Flow Wall—with its five-second cooldown—was an excellent battlefield-separating skill.

Now he couldn’t use it at all…

He stared fixedly at the screen, where Lin Mo was idly strolling, his palms slick with sweat.

“You brat… don’t you dare mess up…”

“If we lose this round, I’ll never be able to show my face again…”