040: Combo Skill - Attached Flames

"I acted so well just now; if any teachers were really watching me from outside, they should have seen that I'm just a student who appears strong on the surface but is actually very fragile inside, right?"

Tang Jian sat on the ground, acting for a while, a slightly wicked thought crossing his mind.

At this moment, Tang Jian's ranking on the scoreboard rose again, climbing from the brink of falling to the very bottom all the way back into the top ten.

Three points represented three kills.

This was quite remarkable, especially at the beginning of the assessment.

Liu Kun had just killed someone himself and picked up the spoils. He instinctively looked at the scoreboard, wanting to see if he was listed.

Before he could even find his own name, he saw Tang Jian suddenly jump into the top ten. His eyelid twitched, and his expression turned somewhat sour.

MMP!

Who was supposed to be the top student in Class 3-12?

It was clearly him, Liu Kun.

But now, Tang Jian was hogging all the limelight.

Liu Kun scanned the scoreboard; the few students ranked lower all had 1 point, yet he, Liu Kun, wasn't among them. His expression grew even uglier.

"Who is this Tang Jian? Which class is he from? I don't remember him at all, but he's climbing so fast?"

Hu Lingli had now met up with Gu Du, the young man in red. She looked at Tang Jian, who had suddenly appeared on the scoreboard, with a somewhat strange expression.

The two of them had just teamed up and only managed to kill three people. Hu Lingli got one point, and Gu Du got two.

Even well-known top students like Wu Chun, Wang Ba, and Liu Fei only had three points. Yet this unknown person, Tang Jian, could already rival the top students.

"Maybe it's just a fluke, he'll probably drop down later." Gu Du waved his hand dismissively. "Let's go, there are two more targets ahead!"

Hu Lingli shrugged and quickly followed.

Her Card Energy was currently 74, and her Life Force was 7.6. While not weak, Gu Du's Card Energy was already 105, and his Life Force was 11.

By following Gu Du, she had hope of staying within the top thirty by the end of this assessment.

Tang Jian finished collecting the spoils and noticed two students appearing from the northeast and northwest directions, approaching him with extreme caution yet eagerness.

"More easy points."

He grinned. With a newly acquired defensive card and a long-range offensive card, Tang Jian felt confident.

Now he had the Energy Bullet Card for long-range attacks, and the Stone Skin Card and Water Wave Shield Card for close-range defense. His only concern was that his Energy Cards might not be enough to sustain such intense consumption.

Especially the Energy Bullet Card and Water Wave Shield Card.

Each shot from the Energy Bullet Card consumed 10 points of energy.

Each shield created by the Water Wave Shield Card consumed 30 points of energy.

Tang Jian currently had four Energy Cards. The one he got from the girl only had 10 points of energy left, just enough for one Energy Bullet Card shot.

The one from the boy had only 40 points of energy remaining.

Of the two cards he originally owned, one had 70 points of energy, and the other was full and had no consumption.

However, if he included his own Card Energy, he actually had enough energy for now.

I wonder if the energy in the Energy Cards within this virtual energy world can be absorbed by the Red Card cheat device?

As Tang Jian thought this, he subtly shifted his feet, simultaneously executing a sideways roll, and activated the recently equipped Energy Bullet Card.

Pfft!

Where Tang Jian had just been standing, a patch of dirt suddenly trembled violently, directly hit and sending sand and stones scattering, with flames erupting.

A fist-sized crater appeared on the ground, emitting smoke as the flames quickly died down.

Fireball Card! Tang Jian's heart slightly tightened.

Whoosh—

A faint green energy bullet swiftly shot out from his Gauge's card slot, hitting a student nearby who was attacking him.

The student let out a scream. A bloody hole appeared in his right chest where the energy bullet hit, and he screamed as he collapsed, startling the other student not far to the east.

"That accurate?"

Sun Yiying, who had been secretly observing Tang Jian, and a few other teachers who occasionally glanced over, were all surprised.

However, Sun Yiying quickly understood.

Tang Jian could achieve extremely precise hits even with difficult-to-operate cards like the Mechanical Sleeve Arrow Card, so high accuracy with the Energy Bullet Card was not surprising.

Tang Jian got up and rapidly approached the student ahead in a zig-zag pattern.

Two strings of fireballs whizzed past him, unable to hit his evasive movements.

He closed the distance at incredible speed, no longer wasting energy on the Energy Bullet Card. Instead, he activated the Stone Skin Card, consuming 5 points of energy, and finished off the already severely wounded student with a single punch.

To the east, another student looked terrified and quickly put distance between himself and Tang Jian. The Gauge in his hand flashed, and a large patch of viscous, pungent oily liquid was sprayed onto the ground, creating an obstacle to prevent Tang Jian from pursuing.

"It's a Sticky Oil Card!"

Tang Jian picked up the Fireball Card and Energy Card that had dropped to the ground. Seeing the liquid covering the ground ahead, his eyes suddenly lit up.

The Sticky Oil Card was actually a support-type Card; the sticky oil it produced could be used for the maintenance of vehicles like hovercars and biopods.

This sticky oil had a lubricating effect on machinery, but when spilled on the ground, its viscosity was extremely high.

Now that the opponent had splashed the sticky oil on the ground, it indeed created an extremely effective hindrance.

However, that was the extent of its effect; it was difficult for it to cause any effective damage.

But if the Sticky Oil Card was combined with a Fireball Card, it could form a very simple combo Card skill—Attached Flames.

Tang Jian didn't hesitate, quickly giving chase and attacking the students fleeing in the distance.

The Cards he currently held were far richer and more powerful than those of these people. The Fireball Card and Energy Bullet Card, both long-range Cards, were most suitable for long-range pursuit.

In less than ten seconds.

Tang Jian quickly ended the battle, gaining another point. His total points had reached 5, and he also acquired a Sticky Oil Card, which could be combined with a Fireball Card to form a highly destructive combo skill.

As the assessment progressed, dense purple poisonous gas could now be seen rapidly spreading from the wilderness's edge towards its center.

Some students near the edge no longer bothered fighting, crying out as they quickly moved toward the central area.

Whoosh—

A blazing inferno rose from the ground, directly engulfing one student. The screams ceased abruptly.

The rising flames emitted thick black smoke, much like the flame walls summoned by mages in an ancient game. It was quite impressive and eye-catching.

Points +2!

Tang Jian slowly approached the flame wall. After the flames subsided, he retrieved four undamaged Cards from the scorched ground.

Most of the students still alive at this point had already killed at least one person, and the Cards they possessed, including Energy Cards, numbered no less than four.

Tang Jian picked up the four Cards and glanced at them. They were a Star Baby pet Card, a High-Powered Mechanical Arm mechanical Card, and two Energy Cards, one of which was already depleted.

Once summoned, the Star Baby pet could heal itself at any time.

This type of pet belonged to the evolving pet category. When combined with a support-series healing Card, it could form the Son of Stars, providing its master with a full health and status recovery!

As for the High-Powered Mechanical Arm, this was a mechanical arm for a semi-humanoid device. When activated, it transformed into a powerful mechanical arm that could deliver a punch with an impact force of at least 500 kilograms!

However, faced with Tang Jian's long-range kiting flame wall, the opponent's powerful melee combination could only lament their helplessness, being completely countered.

Although the "Attached Flames" combo Card skill was simple, its duration and destructive power were considerable. No matter how frequently the Star Baby healed, it wasn't a small water dragon and couldn't save someone burning in flames.

Tang Jian casually equipped the pet Card, summoned a "meat bun"-shaped Star Baby that floated beside him, then unequipped the pet Card and switched back to the Fire Card.

Currently, among his Card combinations, only the Fire Card and Sticky Oil Card combination possessed great destructive power. It was the most damaging set of Cards he had, capable of area-of-effect damage, making it quite suitable for the upcoming battles.

This was also because the Gauge slots he currently had were too few, all being two-slot Gauges, preventing him from equipping more Cards.

However, he also kept the Energy Bullet Card and the High-Powered Mechanical Arm Card.

At critical moments, he could directly activate these two Cards with Card Energy as a surprise trump card.