Pretending to be a genius starts with the civilization advancement assessment.

Chapter 166 Endless Mode
Lin Yi's rules course ended with the students pondering the lessons with lingering interest.

Without any hesitation, he turned and left the classroom as soon as he finished speaking, leaving the students immersed in the mysteries of the rules.

After a brief silence, the classroom erupted in a lively discussion.

Most people remained where they were, either gesturing excitedly or frowning in deep thought, trying to digest the principal's explanation of the "forms of the rules" and their "inner resonance."

However, Chen Yu suddenly slapped his thigh, grabbed Zhou Yuxuan next to him, and walked out.

"Stop thinking about it! Thinking about it won't help, we have to practice!" Chen Yu said excitedly as he pushed through the crowd. "Rules are so exciting! I think I'm just like Yi Ge at heart, the kind of aggressive type who charges straight in! Metal, or fire? Anyway, definitely an offensive type! Yu Xuan, you're the kind who, well, you're so quiet you won't even fart after three blows, you're probably the water type, right? The one who goes for the cold control route?"

Zhou Yuxuan let him pull him along, his face remaining calm. He wasn't angry at Chen Yu's "silent" comment, and simply replied, "Rules are not a matter of words. The principal suggested we try the Endless Mode to adapt to Stardust-level power, so it's best to put it into practice first."

"Yes, yes, yes! Endless mode, a tower defense game! I know this one like the back of my hand!"

Chen Yu's eyes lit up; his gaming experience filled him with a sense of familiarity and a desire to conquer this mode.

The two walked quickly across the campus and arrived at the virtual teaching room.

What was originally just one classroom with a sign that read "Virtual Teaching Room" has now become four.

The two entered one of the training rooms together.

The room was softly lit, with dozens of seats neatly arranged. Some students who were a step ahead of them had already put on their helmets and were immersed in the virtual world, with only faint breathing sounds remaining.

They found two adjacent empty seats, quickly sat down, picked up the cold metal helmets, skillfully put them on, and pressed the start button.

A familiar, soft hum resounded deep within my consciousness, and the scene before my eyes instantly shifted, with a pure white space and a guiding sprite radiating a soft light reappearing.

"Welcome back, user Chen Yu."

"Activate Endless Mode," Chen Yu commanded without hesitation.

"Command confirmed. Endless mode loading. Scene built. Good luck."

The pure white background receded like the tide, and the new environment quickly solidified.

Chen Yu found himself standing on a section of slightly dilapidated cement wall riddled with bullet holes.

The afterglow of the setting sun bathed everything in a dark gold hue, and the air was filled with a faint smell of gunpowder and dust.

"It looks like a small forward outpost."

A thought flashed through Chen Yu's mind, and he quickly surveyed his surroundings.

Behind the wall, about a hundred soldiers in military uniforms with sharp features were busy checking weapons, moving ammunition boxes, and setting up heavy machine gun positions. Their movements were swift but silent, with only the crisp sound of metal clashing.

Although they exuded a fierce aura, Chen Yu was certain that they were just ordinary people who had undergone rigorous training.

Closer still, there were thirty soldiers dressed in Yuanwu Army combat uniforms, their eyes sharp and their bodies radiating obvious Yuan energy fluctuations.

What truly chilled Chen Yu was a middle-aged military officer standing in the command position.

His military uniform was impeccably pressed, his face resolute, and his eyes calm as an ancient well. Just by standing there, he naturally exuded an aura that commanded respect, making even Chen Yu, who had just entered the Stardust level, feel a faint threat.

Just then, the objective of the level appeared in front of Chen Yu.

[Mission: Hold Out "Outpost No. 7"]

[Friendly Forces: Armed Forces (200), Source Warriors (30, 200 points), Stardust-level Commander (1, 2500 points)]

[Mode: Endless Defense. The Abyss is approaching, with wave strength and quantity increasing over time. Hold out until the very last moment!]

[Countdown: 3… 2… 1… Start!]

The instant the countdown reached zero, a writhing black tide suddenly appeared on the desolate horizon in the distance. Accompanied by chilling roars, the first wave, nearly a thousand of the lowest-ranking abyssal beasts, pounced.

"Here they come! Just like the start of a tower defense game, the first wave is all cannon fodder."

As the thought flashed through Chen Yu's mind, the power he gained from his newly advanced Stardust level filled him with a surge of pride. He didn't even bother to communicate with the commander who looked very experienced. With a swift movement, he channeled his source energy into his legs and leaped over the nearly three-meter-high wall, charging headlong into the black tide.

"Chee! Chuck!"

He pointed his fingers like knives, and the condensed source energy extended from his fingertips into a light blade nearly half a meter long, incomparably sharp.

He moved like a tiger among sheep, and with a wave of his light blade, more than a dozen low-level abyss beasts were instantly shredded, turning into black smoke and dissipating, clearing out a small area in an instant.

Clean and neat!

Suppressed gasps rose from behind the wall, followed by a rapid and precise burst of gunfire under the steady command of the Stardust-level commander. This, combined with the somewhat crude source energy bullets and source energy shocks unleashed by the thirty source warriors, effectively blocked the abyss beasts from other directions.

As Chen Yu got into the swing of things, he felt his inner energy surging. This exhilarating feeling of mowing down enemies made him feel like he was back in the days when he was dominating the game.

He constantly teetered and charged at the edge of the beast tide, his source energy blades wielding wildly, rushing towards wherever the abyssal beasts were most concentrated.

The second wave consisted of low-level abyssal beasts, but in slightly larger numbers.

Chen Yu continued to charge ahead, with extremely high efficiency.

However, starting from the third wave, the situation began to quietly change.

A small number of elite individuals that are larger or faster have begun to appear among the Abyss Beasts.

Chen Yu clearly felt that dealing with them would require more energy.

However, as a Stardust-level being, he naturally wouldn't back down when facing these elites with a mere 200 points of Source Energy.

Chen Yu directly chose the Source Energy Blade to increase output, and it was still an instant kill.

In the fourth wave, the proportion of elite abyssal beasts increased further, and even a few special individuals appeared that could remotely spew corrosive liquid.

Chen Yu began to feel the pressure; his breathing became slightly rapid, and the frequency of his attacks involuntarily slowed down.

The fifth wave saw a leader-level abyssal beast, exceptionally large and ferocious in appearance, escorted by seven or eight elite guards, thrust straight into a weak point in the stronghold's wall like an arrow.

"not good!"

Chen Yu's pupils contracted; he was some distance away from that side.

He gritted his teeth and forcefully activated a large amount of source energy, unleashing a source energy shockwave from a distance.

"boom!"

The shockwave struck the leader-level abyss beast precisely, blasting it away, shattering its shell, and severely injuring it, thus slowing its attack.

But Chen Yu himself also felt a sense of emptiness in his body. He was sweating on his forehead, and his energy reserves had dropped to rock bottom.

Just then, the figure of the Stardust-class commander who had been sitting calmly on the sidelines moved.

He appeared like a ghost at the gap in the wall, his standard-issue battle sword drawn, its blade shimmering with condensed cyan energy.

He didn't use any fancy moves, just a few simple and efficient precise slashes. In the blink of an eye, he instantly killed several elite abyss beasts that tried to rush in, stabilizing the defense that was about to be breached.

"Conserve energy! Rotate in stages! Defend using fortifications!" The commander's voice clearly reached the ears of everyone on the battlefield.

(End of this chapter)