Don't mess with that necromancer; his summoned creatures level up on their own!

Deep in the black mud swamp.

Su Youran stood at the front of the crowd, her gaze fixed on the depths of the gray-black mist.

Behind her were fifty or sixty examinees, chatting quietly in small groups.

Some people were wiping their knives, some were resting with their eyes closed, and some were glancing in Su Youran's direction from time to time.

The henchman grew impatient and lowered his voice.

"Miss Su, do you think... he'll really come? Or maybe he's chickened out?"

Su Youran did not turn around.

"You don't understand Lu Zhixing at all. I've been competing with him since we were kids. We were compared to each other even when we were still in open-crotch pants."

"Over the years, although he may appear lazy and casual on the surface, he is more arrogant than anyone else at heart."

"Moreover, he just won first place in the Trial Tower and broke the record. He's in high spirits right now."

Even if he knows I've organized people to wait for him here, he'll still come.

She paused.

"The kind of person he is would rather lose in a head-on confrontation than hide in a deserted corner and lie low."

The henchmen suddenly realized what was happening, and their initial anxiety vanished instantly.

One of the henchmen waved his fist and grinned maliciously.

"As expected of Miss Su! She understands that kid's mind perfectly! Hehe, if he dares to come, we'll teach him a lesson!"

Su Youran turned to face the fifty or sixty elite candidates behind her, her voice loud and clear.

"Listen up, everyone! If we can get Lu Zhixing out of here today, I, Su Youran, will triple all the previous rewards!"

The crowd erupted in cheers.

Some raised their weapons, some whistled, and some shouted, the shouts of fifty or sixty people coming together.

"Miss, you're so magnanimous!" "Down with Lu Zhixing!" "Down with Lu Zhixing!!"

A candidate wearing leather armor gripped a warhammer tightly in his hand.

"Trillion it! I'll be set for life! Let's get them!"

"Three times! I've been wanting to get rid of that kid for a while! I'll subdue him first, then you guys go for it!"

From the depths of the swamp, a figure emerged, pushing through the mist.

Lu Zhixing's figure came into everyone's sight.

He walked at a leisurely pace, his hands in his pockets, while the figures ahead, poised for battle, frowned slightly.

"I could hear you wailing and howling from a great distance. Anyone who didn't know better would have thought it was a funeral procession."

The entire room fell silent.

Su Youran strode out from the crowd.

"You actually dared to come? Knowing it was a trap, knowing this was a black mud swamp, you still came alone."

She shook her head and sighed.

"Should I say you're overconfident... or just incredibly stupid?"

"Just because you got first place in the first stage and broke a record, you really think you're invincible?"

In the distance, a baby, enveloped in a ball of white light, was leaning against a rock; she had long since been eliminated.

Although unable to move, he was conscious and could see everything clearly.

She looked at Lu Zhixing, who was standing alone opposite fifty or sixty people, and felt extremely anxious.

Brother... this is the Black Mud Swamp, a terrain where wind and blood are both suppressed, and the other side has dozens of elite examinees... can we really win?

Lu Zhixing seemed not to have heard Su Youran's words and looked around.

"Su Youran, you know what, you really picked a good spot. It's a hopeless case, perfect for burying people."

Su Youran's smile froze.

A sense of unease welled up inside her.

Why is this guy still so calm even after things have come to this?

The terrain clearly counters him!

They clearly outnumbered him!

The advantages are clearly all on my side!

How dare he make that face!

An unnamed rage surged straight to the top of his head.

"Fine! I'll see if you're still so composed later! Make your move!"

Dozens of skills lit up simultaneously.

The warrior charged forward with his shield raised, the mage's elemental power was gathering, and the assassin's figure had already disappeared into the mist.

Then they couldn't move.

The muddy ground beneath their feet seemed to come alive, transforming into countless dark red vortexes that pinned them firmly to the spot.

"What's going on?!"

"I...I can't move!"

"I can't even use my movement skills!"

Dozens of voices rang out simultaneously, their confidence turning into confusion, and their confusion into terror.

The suction force also came from beneath Su Youran's feet, interrupting her wind-based acceleration skill.

She looked up abruptly, meeting Lu Zhixing's cold eyes.

Lu Zhixing stood there, slowly raising his right hand, his index finger extended, pointing directly in her direction.

The ground cracked.

Those dark red vortexes transformed into columns of wind, rising into the sky from beneath the feet of the frozen examinees.

Some people were swept into the air by the wind pillars, while others were sent away by the little zombies' fists before they even hit the ground.

A bluish-gray figure weaved between the pillars of wind.

One after another, white beams of light rose up.

Song Xiaohe stared in disbelief at the rising white light. She didn't count how many there were, and couldn't tell, but she estimated there were close to forty.

Two-thirds of the people were gone in seconds.

The screams and explosions of skills that people had used before being eliminated still lingered in her ears.

The aftershocks of the wind column slowly dissipated, leaving smoke and dust billowing in the air.

Only a handful of people remained on the field.

Either they were lucky enough to escape being hit by the wind pillar, or they were tanky characters who only suffered minor scratches, but their eyes were filled with fear.

One of the test takers looked down at the swirling vortex at his feet that hadn't completely dissipated.

His voice carried a sense of dazed relief, as if he had just survived a catastrophe.

"It...it didn't hit me..."

He looked up at the boy standing in the firelight.

The figure was stretched very long, casting a shadow that covered most of the swamp.

An invisible sense of oppression washed over me, as if a mountain was slowly pressing down on me.

His hand holding the weapon began to tremble.

"He's used all his skills! Now's the time!"

A roar came from the side.

The triplets emerged from the edge of the swamp.

They were lucky; they were on the edge of the wind column's coverage area and only suffered minor scratches.

All three were still standing, but they were all injured.

The eldest brother charged ahead, holding the tower shield, followed closely by the second and third brothers.

"Let's go for it! As long as we get him out of there, millions are ours!"

The eldest brother charged towards Lu Zhixing, holding up the tower shield.

The second and third brothers didn't respond, but they moved together.

One flanked from the left, another from the right; the three worked together seamlessly and skillfully.

"Go to hell!!"