第27章 阎王布局,考验心性的关卡

"He's rushed into the Endless Trial!"

All eyes followed Ling Zhan.

Inside the screen, Ling Zhan's figure flashed, and when he reappeared, he had already arrived at a series of long, narrow corridors.

The corridors were densely packed with Sewage Poison Crabs.

Half of these Sewage Poison Crabs were quasi-elite monsters, and the other half were common monsters.

The audience knew this was likely just an "appetizer."

Given Ling Zhan's strength, he wouldn't need to exert any effort at all.

He had slain a boss in thirty seconds, so what were these appetizers to him?

The audience was right.

On the screen, Ling Zhan raised his staff once more.

"Prairie Fire!"

A dazzling red light bloomed from the tip of his staff.

The dark, monster-filled corridor was illuminated as if it were broad daylight.

The Sewage Poison Crabs, accustomed to living in dark, damp environments, were suddenly struck by the intense glare.

"Roar..."

They let out violent hisses, but were forced to cover their eyes with their pincers!

Their fragile eyes, used to the darkness, could not withstand the stimulation of the brilliant flames.

Then.

"Go!"

In an instant, less than three seconds passed.

Boom, boom, boom...

More than a dozen fireballs carrying scorching heat smashed into the monster horde!

Dozens of Sewage Poison Crabs were turned into charcoal under the terrifying heat, their lives extinguished instantly.

"Holy crap!"

"What did I just see? How did Senior Ling Zhan's spell intensity suddenly increase so much!?"

"My goodness!"

Every spectator at this moment stared at the screen with faces full of shock.

Even the principals and directors on the podium were no exception; they frowned, looking as if they couldn't accept what they were seeing.

"Ling Zhan has used Prairie Fire before, but at most, he could only release one fireball."

"But now, he's actually managed to hurl over a dozen fireballs in three seconds! This..."

"Isn't that a high-level mage skill? Why can a Jobless Freelancer do it?"

What kind of monster had City No. 1 High School produced?

This thought surfaced in everyone's mind.

The teachers specifically responsible for teaching mages looked as if they had seen a ghost.

"The elite monster stage provides experience rewards. While I managed to merge the rewards for the second and third stages, I didn't cancel the immediate distribution of partial experience rewards after killing the boss."

At this moment, King Yama Zhou spoke these words indifferently.

Everyone was suddenly enlightened.

"That's right! He slaughtered thousands of elite monsters in the Ghost Pool, and then finished off the final boss!"

"With all that experience added up, what level is Senior Ling Zhan now?"

"Damn, as a mage, I am officially jealous of Senior Ling Zhan's explosive output!"

"He's a Jobless Freelancer; he has all the basic skills of every class!"

"After leveling up, he must have gained the corresponding four-dimensional stats and skill points..."

"It's just not as many stats as a first- or second-transfer class would get upon leveling up."

But regardless, using these common monsters to stop Ling Zhan in the third stage was pure wishful thinking.

"Want to know why the death rate for the third stage is as high as 99%?"

"Just keep watching."

Suddenly, King Yama Zhou spoke coldly.

His words nearly incited public outrage.

Inside the Endless Trial, Ling Zhan rushed to the end of the corridor.

"A barrier?"

Ling Zhan hesitated for a moment before breaking through.

Whoosh!

A wave of heat hit him, and the air reeked of highly corrosive sulfur, nearly choking him.

Hot!

Endlessly hot!

The world was like a giant furnace, with a blood-red crescent moon hanging in the sky.

This was a small world with extremely dense fire-attribute energy.

The trees were red, their crowns burning with flames.

The stones were black, also wreathed in hellfire.

Volcanoes of all sizes were everywhere.

One.

Three.

Seven.

Ling Zhan was surrounded by seven volcanoes, magma erupting from their craters from time to time. The largest volcano was devoid of life; not a blade of grass grew there.

It spewed the most magma, billowing with thick smoke, as if it were the Eight-Trigrams Furnace of Taishang Laojun.

Crack!

The next moment, the Water-Avoiding Bead that Ling Zhan had been clutching in his hand suddenly shattered.

During the first stage, Ling Zhan had used Prairie Fire and Freeze to kill ten thousand common Sewage Poison Crabs. Now, that same method of slaughter had been turned against him.

The third stage of Sewage City was cold and damp.

Here, at the end of the Water City, was another world—an ocean of fire.

The Endless Trial!

"Hiss~"

Outside, people gasped.

"Is that a real volcano?"

"Look, Senior Ling Zhan's hair is smoking."

"God, it must be dozens of degrees hot. If Senior Ling Zhan weren't wearing protective gear, wouldn't he have been roasted the moment he stepped in?"

"That's insane."

Fortunately, although it was hot, looking at Ling Zhan, the temperature wasn't causing him any substantial harm yet.

"99% death rate."

"Is that it?"

"Is King Yama Zhou being too whimsical, trying to burn people to death with a volcano?"

These thoughts could only be kept to themselves.

After all, King Yama Zhou's reputation for cruelty was well-known; he was truly... not someone to be trifled with.

"Hey, did my eyes deceive me, or did that largest volcano just move?"

"Strange, I think I saw it too."

On the podium, King Yama Zhou slowly stood up from his seat, his face full of majesty.

"Awaken."

"Flame Demon."

ROAR—

An angry roar echoed through the small world, like a divine thunderbolt descending from the heavens.

The sound was grand, shaking the entire world.

That massive volcano had truly come to life.

The mountain trembled, and countless rolling rocks and magma cascaded down its massive frame, as if the apocalypse had arrived.

An indescribable, terrifying pressure gradually awakened.

The pressure spread outward.

The world shivered in fear.

The volcano grew even more massive, revealing itself to be a humanoid giant, a thousand feet tall.

The erupting magma served as its hair.

Two giant caverns were its nostrils.

When it stood up, its thousand-foot stature made Ling Zhan, standing a thousand meters away, look as small as an ant on the ground.

[Monster: Flame Demon Overlord]

[Level: 50]

[Skills: Pressure, Destructive Flame, Flame Breath]

[HP: ???]

[Defense: ???]

[Status: Bloodthirsty, Berserk]

[Potential: Red]

[Monster Note: The ruler of this small world, supreme and absolute. When enraged, it will destroy all living things. Extremely dangerous! If you encounter the terrifying Flame Demon Overlord, death is your only outcome.]

BOOM!

Outside, the students, reporters, and teachers collectively lost their voices.

The next second, this deathly silence erupted like a volcanic eruption.

"A level 50 Red Name!"

"This is too strange! I remember Red Name monsters being weaker than Gold Name monsters, right?"

"That's under normal circumstances. Don't forget, in the same secret realm, Red Name bosses and Gold Name bosses compete for dominance!"

"That means Red Name monsters are sometimes no weaker than Gold Name bosses, and can even be stronger!"

"But this is ridiculously strong! A level 50 Red Name boss in a level ten-something trial realm? Who the hell would believe that?"

"It seems King Yama Zhou designated this Flame Demon as the boss for this trial realm!"

"King Yama Zhou is crazy; he must be insane."

"This is cold-blooded murder!"

"God, I was hoping Senior Ling Zhan would work hard in the third stage and maybe take the provincial title."

"Despair."

"The monster's stats are even hidden; it's too terrifying! It looks like a one-on-one fight is a guaranteed failure!"

"Will Senior Ling Zhan die in there?"

The difficulty of this monster had far exceeded all previous Job Transfer Trial Entrance Examinations!

It was too insane!