Xu Yuan and Afei's Combo Move!

The monster let out an enraged roar that rang through the area.

—Xu Yuan's taunt had set it ablaze with fury!

"Uncle, hurry up and get me out of here! We'll die if we stay!"

The little boy's face went pale as he shouted in panic.

"Stop calling me uncle. Do I look that old?" Xu Yuan glared at him.

When you struck a snake, you had to kill it.

If this monster survived and kept following the group, that would be the real nightmare.

—About ten minutes had already passed.

Twenty minutes remained!

They couldn't let it chase them from behind forever!

If they couldn't shake it, they'd kill it!

In that case—

"Go see if any of those cars still run!"

As Xu Yuan shouted, he took his Anti-Materiel Sniper Rifle from the car, loaded it, and aimed at the monster.

But the others stood still.

"Let's fight together," Jiang Xueyao said.

"Exactly. How long are we supposed to keep running? We're not afraid of it!" Yang Xiaobing said.

"That's right!" Zhao Afei added.

Xu Yuan gave the three of them a surprised glance, then went back to aiming.

The three secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

—How were they supposed to tell whether a car worked when they'd never driven one?

We don't want to deal with that!

Better to fight!

The monster swayed a few times, then reached a bridge support and scrambled up it on all fours.

Xu Yuan pulled the trigger.

Duang!

A dull report rang out.

The hit made the monster shudder from head to toe.

It nearly lost its grip on the support!

But that wasn't the end.

Its chest suddenly burst open, and countless human skins screamed in unison.

Thud.

The monster finally fell and slammed into the ground.

Xu Yuan quickly reloaded.

—Officer Liu had really come through!

The anti-materiel rounds he'd given Xu Yuan were multifunctional armor-piercing high-explosive rounds!

No ordinary sniper rifle could compare with that kind of power!

"Still feel like dancing, cutie?"

Xu Yuan murmured as he took aim again.

But after lying on the ground for a few breaths, the Human-Skin Monster got back up.

—It stopped climbing the elevated bridge's supports and instead charged on all fours, running flat out like a brown bear.

"Where do you think you're going?"

Xu Yuan pulled the trigger.

Duang!

Another dull report.

The monster's shoulder blew apart.

It staggered but didn't fall. Instead, it kept sprinting in one direction.

Fresh human skins rose from the ground one after another, filling its wounds and rapidly restoring it.

"Its aura is still rising..."

Yang Xiaobing frowned.

She took out five Talismans, linked them together, and folded them into shape with swift movements of both hands.

"I hate those guys who break through in the middle of a fight."

Xu Yuan spoke as the monster reached another bridge support, raised both arms, and hammered at it furiously.

—It wanted to bring the entire elevated bridge down!

That way, it wouldn't have to climb at all to wipe out the enemies above!

"So this monster has a brain."

Xu Yuan muttered.

"What do we do?" Zhao Afei asked frantically.

"Get in the car. We run before the bridge collapses," Xu Yuan said.

The police car roared in place but refused to move.

Its front bumper had been knocked off, its hood was dented all over, and both front airbags had deployed.

—The car was done for!

"Let's use this," Yang Xiaobing said.

She threw the five linked, folded Talismans. They flashed in midair and became a huge creature crouching on the ground.

"Holy turtle," Xu Yuan said in astonishment.

—It was a giant turtle.

"Xiao Bing, your Talisman skills are already this good?" Jiang Xueyao said.

"That's incredible," Zhao Afei marveled. "I heard giving form to Five-Link Talismans is university-level coursework."

"It's incomplete. We can only give it a try." Yang Xiaobing pointed at the giant turtle's rear.

—The turtle had no tail.

But what did that matter?

"Is it fast?" Xu Yuan asked.

"That depends on how fast you want to go... and we'll have to put in some effort ourselves..." Yang Xiaobing said.

"We have to put in effort too?" Xu Yuan asked, surprised.

Yang Xiaobing explained sheepishly:

"I can barely hold its form together. If we want to speed up and escape, we'll have to put in effort too."

"Then let's do it," Xu Yuan said.

Everyone nodded.

Just then.

The Human-Skin Monster had already torn down two or three bridge supports.

It suddenly stopped and looked toward the other end of the bridge.

"Aaaaaah—"

Panicked screams came from the far side of the bridge.

It was those people from earlier!

The Human-Skin Monster immediately abandoned the supports and sprinted toward the end of the elevated bridge.

It was fast beyond belief, leaping forward now and then to cover several hundred meters at a bound.

At that moment.

Everyone watching the exam involuntarily looked away.

"It's over."

One examiner spoke.

"Yes," another examiner said. "This monster can keep growing stronger until it reaches the Ninth Layer of Qi Refining. High school seniors can't fight something like that."

"Let me see—four students like these should be killed in less than ten seconds," another examiner said.

"They're about to come out. Get ready to score them."

"Okay."

"Remember to use the Mind-Cleansing Spirit-Calming Spell on them."

"Of course. These are promising kids. We can't let them develop psychological problems."

The examiners made their preparations in orderly fashion.

Meanwhile, in the projected scene—

The giant turtle stood upright like a wheel and rolled madly down the road.

Xu Yuan and the others stood on its shell, constantly stepping backward to keep from falling off.

"Aaaaaah! Why is it getting faster and faster?"

Zhao Afei shouted.

"Obviously! We're running for our lives. How can we afford to go slow?" Yang Xiaobing shouted back, holding the little boy.

The giant turtle rolled down the road, occasionally leaping to avoid cars strewn every which way.

To be fair—

Its speed was already impressive.

But.

The monster was faster!

Thud.

With a dull impact, the Human-Skin Monster leaped past them and landed several hundred meters ahead, blocking the road.

"No! We can't get away!"

The little boy cried out in despair.

"It's gotten strong too quickly. It's probably at the Ninth Layer of Qi Refining now—we can't outrun it," Jiang Xueyao said.

"Jump off the turtle," Xu Yuan said calmly. "Looks like we'll have to fight a big one."

They all jumped down.

While Yang Xiaobing was still in midair, she suddenly formed a hand seal.

The giant turtle accelerated sharply and charged straight into the Human-Skin Monster.

"That's all?"

The Human-Skin Monster shook its head disdainfully and extended a hand toward the giant turtle.

A violent crash rang out.

It stopped the giant turtle's charge with one hand!

The corner of Yang Xiaobing's mouth lifted. She changed her hand seal and whispered:

"Explode."

Boom—

Flames surged into the sky.

Dense, overlapping screams erupted all over the Human-Skin Monster.

—Human skin couldn't withstand fire!

The monster stood there, tearing off layer after layer of burning skin while drawing fresh skins from the ground to replace them.

"That turtle's incredible."

Xu Yuan praised it, raised his sniper rifle, and fired a round.

Duang!

The hit sent the monster stumbling.

"You're dead—"

The scorching flames and the armor-piercing explosive round seemed to ignite its rage.

It charged at them, heedless of everything.

"I can't hold it back anymore."

Yang Xiaobing sighed.

"Neither can I—even all of us together can't." Jiang Xueyao gripped her longsword.

—The gap between their spiritual energy reserves was too vast. They couldn't fight it at all.

"It's time," Xu Yuan said instead.

The two women looked at him in confusion.

But he nodded at Zhao Afei.

Zhao Afei had been trembling all over, but when Xu Yuan shot him a look, something suddenly came back to him.

"...Will it really work?" Zhao Afei asked uncertainly.

"Buddy, this is the moment a hero makes his entrance," Xu Yuan said earnestly.

A hero.

Under the two women's gazes, Zhao Afei felt a shiver run through his whole body.

Yeah. I've just been standing on the sidelines this whole time.

Even if I stayed with the team, I could tag along and get a high score—

But I, Zhao Afei, couldn't just be a lackey mooching off everyone else!

Thud, thud, thud—

The monster charged faster, drawing closer and closer.

"Afei! Now!" Xu Yuan suddenly shouted.

Zhao Afei hesitated no longer. He raised both hands and formed a spell gesture.

In an instant,

the nearly five-meter-tall Eight Trigrams Furnace landed before them with a clang.

"Open!"

Zhao Afei changed his hand gesture.

Hum—

The lid of the Eight Trigrams Furnace sprang open.

Xu Yuan fired another shot at the monster, then scooped up the little boy, leaped onto the furnace in a few quick bounds, and stuffed him inside.

"Quick, both of you, get in."

He waved the two women over.

They froze.

"I said get in, so hurry up. This is our team's brand-new battle tactic." Xu Yuan beckoned urgently.

The two women had no choice but to climb onto the furnace and jump in after the boy.

There was plenty of room inside.

Zhao Afei had already used the Dust-Clearing Art and the Cleansing Spell. He had even lit a stick of Spirit Incense.

Then he jumped in too.

The furnace lid slammed shut with a clang, fitting so tightly that not a seam remained.

"Hey, what are we doing in here?"

Yang Xiaobing sounded baffled.

The furnace had nine holes. Spells could normally open and close them to vent heat or water, but now they served as a way to communicate with the outside world.

"This is our combined battle tactic," Zhao Afei said with a solemn face.

Both women rolled their eyes.

"What exactly are we supposed to do?" Jiang Xueyao asked with a frown.

Zhao Afei dropped the act and explained, "This furnace is completely safe and dependable. In a moment, we'll attack through the holes while Xu Yuan keeps it occupied."

As he spoke,

the Human-Skin Monster reached Xu Yuan.

Xu Yuan was now the only one left standing outside the furnace.

"I told you I'd eat you," the Human-Skin Monster snarled.

And yet—

Xu Yuan, standing beside the furnace, showed no fear at all.

His eyes were practically shining with excitement.

As he loaded the Anti-Materiel Sniper Rifle, he cried out in a voice that rose and fell for dramatic effect:

"The tower stands as long as I do!"

Before he finished speaking,

a glowing, round lamp appeared above his head with a clang.

Tiny words of light swiftly emerged:

"You have earned one lamp."

"An elderly examiner has expressed approval of your fighting spirit."

"His evaluation is as follows:"

"Although you're bound to lose against a monster at the Ninth Layer of Qi Refining, your refusal to give up deserves the highest praise."

"—Now that's the spirit!"

"Congratulations."

"Thanks to this lamp, you may begin accumulating lamps again for a chance at a greater upgrade."