Chapter 77: Bizarre Mask

Tower of Apocalypse, Twelfth Floor.

The final exotic beast turned into flying ash in the gloomy green flames.

A faint sense of boredom welled up in his heart.

"Just this?"

The intensity of the major examination was simply too low.

Of course, Zhou Huai also understood.

This wasn't because the Tower of Apocalypse was too weak, but because Gandalf was too strong.

An SS-Class Forbidden Spell Master at Level 20 with a full set of epic equipment coming to fight a freshman exam was truly a dimensionality-reducing blow.

Zhou Huai's consciousness withdrew from Gandalf's body and returned to his main body.

He glanced at the time.

Only a mere fifteen minutes had passed since the evaluation began.

He frowned.

At this speed, he feared that without even an hour, he could directly punch through these eighteen floors of the Tower of Apocalypse.

This speed was too fast, absurdly fast.

It would inevitably attract unnecessary outside attention and inquiry.

This wasn't the result he wanted.

"System, activate Gandalf's AI core and stand by in place."

Zhou Huai issued the command.

He pulled the quilt, turned over, and decided to sleep for five or six hours first.

…

Meanwhile, inside the proctoring office.

On the huge screen, the light spot representing Gandalf stopped moving at the position of the twelfth floor.

"Hmm?" The plump examiner discovered the abnormality first. "Why did he stop?"

"Not continuing upward?"

The examiner in the Zhongshan suit stroked his chin and guessed, "It should be because his Spell value consumption is too great, so he's recovering."

"After all, those Spells he used just now weren't simple."

"Mhm, that makes sense." Another examiner nodded in agreement. "Anyway, he's currently far in the lead with plenty of time to spare, so taking his time to recover isn't a rush."

Everyone felt this explanation was reasonable and logical.

However.

One hour passed.

Two hours passed.

Three hours passed.

That light spot on the screen still remained motionless, as if it had turned into a sculpture.

At this, everyone was puzzled.

"This guy… what on earth is he doing?"

"It shouldn't take this long just to recover magic power, right? Is he asleep?"

"Could something unexpected have happened?"

Just as everyone was whispering and racking their brains without finding an answer,

Chief Examiner Lao Li, who had been silent all along, suddenly chuckled softly.

He picked up his teacup, blew on the hot air, and spoke leisurely.

"This brat is actually a bit smarter than I thought."

Hearing this, everyone cast their gazes toward him.

Lao Li took a sip of tea, a trace of approval flashing in his eyes.

"He's deliberately stalling for time."

"He must know that clearing the levels too fast would cause a sensation."

"So he simply stopped, wanting to wait for the main force to catch up so he wouldn't stand out too much."

He put down the teacup, the corners of his mouth curving into an amused arc.

"It's a pity he doesn't know."

"From the moment he stepped onto the tenth floor, he was already targeted by us."

…

Tower of Apocalypse, Third Floor.

"Huu… Huu…"

Lu Qi leaned against the wall, panting heavily as sweat soaked his bangs.

He looked at the wave of exotic beasts ahead, his eyes filled with irritation and malice.

Too slow!

Simply too slow!

At this speed, there was no way he could climb to the thirteenth floor!

"It's all that damned Yasuo's fault!"

Lu Qi gritted his teeth, blaming all the faults on that man who had already "died".

If not for him, he wouldn't have wasted so much precious leveling time.

If his Rank were a bit higher, dealing with these exotic beasts would also be much easier.

No!

He couldn't just give up like this!

Fortunately, he had been prepared.

Lu Qi vigilantly looked around, then quietly groped for an item from his space ring.

That was a mask.

The mask was carved from some unknown dark wood, its surface covered with distorted patterns outlining a painful and ferocious ghost face.

Those two hollow eye sockets seemed capable of swallowing all light, exuding a heart-palpitating evil aura.

This was a treasure his trusted butler had specially hunted down for him from the black market a few days ago, costing a lot of money.

It was said to greatly enhance the wearer's strength.

A trace of struggle flashed in Lu Qi's eyes, but it was quickly replaced by a strong desire.

He gritted his teeth and slowly put that cold mask onto his face.

Hum—!

An icy, bone-chilling power instantly surged from the mask, burrowing into his limbs and bones!

"Agh—!"

Lu Qi's entire body trembled violently, as if countless ants were gnawing at his bone marrow.

Pain and power intertwined crazily within his body.

A moment later, he abruptly raised his head.

"Hehehe…"

A ferocious laugh, not sounding human and resembling an evil ghost, came from deep within his throat.

He raised his hand and waved it casually toward the beast horde ahead.

A dark purple fireball whistled out!

The size of that fireball was a full circle larger than the ones he released before, and at the center of the flame, a wisp of ominous gloomy blue even burned!

Boom!

The fireball exploded among the beast horde!

The few exotic beasts that were hit didn't even have time to scream before they were swallowed by those bizarre flames, instantly turning into a puddle of pus!

"Hahahaha! Awesome! So awesome!"

Feeling the unprecedented powerful strength within his body, Lu Qi fell into a manic excitement.

"With this! This year's provincial exam first place will definitely be mine!"

He laughed wildly, completely unaware that every time he released a skill, underneath the mask, strands of imperceptible black threads, like living creatures, silently burrowed into his skin and merged with his flesh and blood.

…

In the blink of an eye, six hours passed.

While most examinees were still fighting hard inside the tower for higher floors,

Zhou Huai stretched lazily on his bed and leisurely yawned.

He reconnected his consciousness to Gandalf and issued the command to continue the challenge.

Gandalf, who had been dormant for several hours, finally stood up from the ground.

He took steps and unhurriedly stepped onto the stairs leading to the thirteenth floor.

It was still the familiar Forbidden Spell carpet-bombing.

It was still a crushing, sweeping advance.

Under the precise control of the AI core, Gandalf's tower-climbing journey began once again.

Thirteenth floor.

Fourteenth floor.

Finally, he stopped at the fifteenth floor.

Zhou Huai felt that this floor was already enough.

Enough to steadily secure the top five of the provincial exam.

Going any higher didn't have much meaning and would instead appear too ostentatious.

Just like that, several more hours passed.

Clang—!

The long and dull bell toll rang through the Tower of Apocalypse once again.

That represented the official end of the ten-hour-long evaluation.

…

Jiangning City, Central Square.

White light flickered.

All examinees were teleported back at the same time.

For a moment, the square was bustling with noise, filled with all kinds of complex emotions.

"Awesome! I rushed to the tenth floor in the last minute! Ordinary institution, here I come!" A boy waved his fists excitedly.

"Sigh, I was careless, didn't dodge, and got ambushed by a Shadow Hunting Leopard, coming out after only climbing to the seventh floor." Someone beat their chest and stamped their feet in annoyance.

"Wuwuwu… Mom, the Tower of Apocalypse is too terrifying, I want to go home…" A girl squatted directly on the ground and cried bitterly in breakdown.

At this very moment, the periphery of the square was already crowded with people from various major adventurer guilds.

They waved the flyers in their hands, shouting at the top of their lungs, and began to depict another way out for those dejected failed examinees.

"Classmate, it doesn't matter if you flunked the exam! Our Sirius Guild has generous treatments and complete benefits, making it your best choice!"

"Come to our Mad Blade Guild! As long as you are willing to work hard, you can still stand out!"

Amidst this commotion,

that cold and grand broadcast voice sounded once again, instantly suppressing all the clamor.

"This year's provincial exam has completely ended."

"Your performance inside the tower will be evaluated by the auditors of various universities."

"Examinees who meet the admission standards will receive their corresponding admission notices a week later."

"Those who do not receive them will be considered failed."

"Of course, this passage is only effective for those examinees who successfully stepped onto the tenth floor."

"As for those who couldn't even step onto the tenth floor…"

The voice in the broadcast paused for a moment, carrying a trace of unmasked indifference.

"You can consider which adventurer guild to join."

"Now, announcing the five examinees who performed the most outstandingly in this provincial exam."

As soon as the words fell, the entire square instantly quieted down.

Everyone held their breath and perked up their ears.

"First: Donghai No. 1 High School, Gandalf."

"Second: Donghai No. 1 High School, Lu Qi."

"Third: Jiangning No. 1 High School, Shen Fuhai."

"Fourth: Jiangning No. 2 High School, Yuan Kai."

"Fifth: Donghai No. 2 High School, Ye Xi."

"Please, the above five examinees, stay in place and do not leave."

"Make final preparations for the National Examination starting tomorrow."