Chapter 297: Support Arrives, Blazing Sword Dance!

The journey that followed remained smooth.

Just as Eve had told him, even though he was simply following his intuition, Lin Mo always seemed to pick the right path, and the monsters they encountered along the way posed almost no threat to the two of them.

As a result, their progress was very fast, and they soon reached Stage 19.

Sometime back around Stage 10 they had entered that forest-space where they first met. If the pattern held, the next set of ten stages ahead would likely be different as well.

Lin Mo chose a direction and pressed onward.

As before, just when the path had been an ordinary maze corridor, in a blink of an eye their next step brought them into an entirely new world.

A dry wind brushed their faces, a roaring heat made them instinctively shield their features, and the sound of sand grinding like stone rang in their ears.

What appeared before them was a broad desert.

Looking ahead, dunes rose and fell in varying heights. Farther off, sand piled into small mountains, their slopes resembling sheer cliffs from below.

There were almost no plants to be seen and seemingly no other life, as if the place were dead and silent.

Lin Mo frowned, quickly condensing ice elements in his hand into an ice-blue barrier that blocked the blowing sand.

That scorched feeling instantly vanished.

Because the air’s water-element content was thin, he had to expend more mana than usual, but for Lin Mo that was hardly a burden.

Magic really is convenient.

Especially at times like this... if these were adventurers of other professions, no matter how strong they were, they’d have to quietly endure the desert’s dryness and heat.

Eve stood at Lin Mo’s side, and the cooling sensation made her unconsciously move a little closer.

She noticed the reflexive motion quickly, but didn’t stop herself.

The sandstorm was fierce. Footprints left in the desert vanished quickly, and the endless yellow sand could easily make someone lose their way.

But for a mage with strong spirit attributes, finding direction was still easy, so they didn’t need to worry about getting lost.

This desert seemed even more vast than the forest at Stage 10.

After walking for about ten minutes, the scenery ahead still showed no change.

Yet neither Lin Mo nor Eve let down their guard.

They both knew clearly that this place could not possibly be free of monsters.

Moreover, in the previous stages the monsters’ levels had gradually increased. This second “boss stage” would not be as easy as the first one.

“Here they come!”

A few minutes later, Lin Mo suddenly tightened his concentration. In the next moment he spun around and slammed a punch toward the ground behind him.

Boom—

A flame-wreathed fist struck precisely into a black body that burst up from the earth.

Right behind it, Eve moved in a slow flash, several sword lights striking beneath the white carapace with the clang of metal on metal, but they could not cleave the tough inner shell, leaving only several conspicuous white scratches.

So hard!

Eve was shocked, then realized Lin Mo’s fist had already pierced the shell she could not cut, leaving a fire-red hole in the monster’s body.

...

That contrast hit hard.

Pain did not force the creature to retreat. It let out a shriek and then fully burst from the ground; its body stretched over ten meters, covered by dense limbs.

A centipede?

Lin Mo’s eyelid twitched. As someone who disliked insects, a centipede this large was genuinely creepy.

Its strength wasn’t weak either; its threat rating should be Level 10, one of the strongest at that level, close to Level 11.

Otherwise Eve’s attack wouldn’t have failed to penetrate.

Of course, she had only made a probing strike earlier.

The black giant centipede writhed its massive body and lunged at Lin Mo.

Lin Mo flashed aside, easily dodging the attack. Just as he prepared to strike, Eve had already moved first.

She held her thin sword, her figure streaking like flowing light. Powerful qi and blood surged out, leaving a crack on that hard insect shell.

“Swift Shadow Accumulated Sword Combo!”

That was only the beginning. As soon as Eve finished speaking, her body flickered continuously; sword lights cut in succession across the giant form, countless fissures appearing. Finally, the instant she landed and sheathed her blade, the cracks exploded.

The hard carapace shattered, exposing an interior already slashed into shredded flesh.

That move was impressive!

Lin Mo stroked his chin and watched the show with interest, of course not forgetting to buff Eve.

Otherwise, with Eve’s strength alone she could still defeat this beast, but it would not have produced such a spectacular visual effect.

Lin Mo could also raise his proficiency in Attribute Increase as a side benefit.

After landing, Eve adjusted her breath. She could clearly feel her power surge in that moment; in fact she had experienced this growth earlier during their adventures together.

“Thanks.”

Lin Mo waved his hand to show it was nothing, then stepped forward to inspect the monster’s corpse.

He took out the Monster Encyclopedia for insect creatures and carefully compared entries, finally confirming this species was the Black-Carapace Centipede.

An adult of this species can easily reach Mid-Level Lord-Level; some stronger individuals can even exceed Level 15.

So the one Eve had just slain was still an “underage” specimen.

Worth mentioning was an entry in the encyclopedia stating that this creature’s flesh was an exceptional delicacy, a very rare high-grade ingredient. The energy contained in it stood out among monsters of the same level, and it tasted excellent.

Especially the meat near the heart; its value was extremely high and could sell for thousands of gold coins!

That approached the value of primary materials from some Level 10 monsters.

Lin Mo drew his sword and easily sliced through the carcass, removing the heart and surrounding flesh.

That heart was also a core Black-Carapace material and would fetch a good price.

As for the other meat... it could be eaten directly to replenish energy.

They still had to face even stronger monsters ahead; eating something good to restore strength would help them deal with the coming battles.

“Let’s go. No telling how long it’ll take to find the exit...”

This desert space wouldn’t be so simple; that centipede had been only an appetizer.

Sure enough, after some travel another monster appeared before them. This time the attack launched from atop a dune.

A shadow loomed overhead and thundered down.

It was a huge scorpion, its entire body red as if boiled, burning with fierce flames. When it charged toward the two of them, it felt like a blazing furnace rolling forward.

Yet its steps abruptly halted.

A sudden gale of wind and snow burst into this desert, freezing it solid in an instant.

...

At the edge of the Silent Forest, the academy representatives including Elvish finally noticed the abnormality.

Or rather, they finally began to take seriously what they should have noticed earlier.

Many of the top contestants’ point gains were behaving abnormally.

At first when it was just Eve and Lin Mo, they had mocked Doria Kingdom’s representatives for struggling, secretly pleased as their own contestants’ points gradually caught up.

But gradually things turned wrong.

More and more contestants’ point gains began to slow; some stopped completely.

Such a large-scale anomaly clearly wasn’t normal.

“Are the black clouds over the Silent Forest increasing?”

“Is that really just ordinary dark clouds?”

The academy representative from Lisad Kingdom frowned and looked at the City Lord of Fargard.

“City Lord, are you sure nothing has been reported from inside?”

The Fargard City Lord now also frowned, wearing a worried expression as he shook his head. “No. Should I have someone... never mind, I’ll go check it out myself.”

“No, you cannot go.”

Just as he prepared to leave in panic, Elvish suddenly stopped him.

“Are you sure you didn’t receive any prior communications about abnormalities?”

“Dean Elvish, are you accusing me?” the City Lord asked with displeasure. “The Hunting Competition is of paramount importance. The contestants inside are the kingdom’s future. If something happens, I cannot shirk responsibility!”

He inhaled deeply and slightly calmed himself. “I understand your concern for those students. I’m worried too, which is why I want to go see for myself.”

“No need!”

A gasping voice suddenly sounded from the forest edge.

Benerod was leaning against a tree, his qi and blood nearly exhausted.

To make it in time to deliver the message, he had not dared rest and had pressed onward at full speed. Even with a warrior’s constitution, he had pushed past his limits.

The instant the Fargard City Lord saw him, his pupils constricted, then his face showed puzzlement.

Benerod’s eyes were bloodshot and his vitality nearly gone. He shouted, “You already knew, didn’t you? The situation in the Silent Forest... the messages coming back were intercepted and blocked by you!”

“What nonsense are you babbling?”

The City Lord rushed, unwilling to let him speak more, and suddenly struck out. A fearsome sword energy shot toward Benerod.

But Benerod did not panic.

In the next moment, several magical barriers materialized in front of him, and the sword energy failed to pierce any of them.

Immediately, the representative from Lonia Kingdom snorted, raised his staff, and spread powerful ice elements that instantly froze the Fargard City Lord, who had attempted to flee.

A Transcendent-Level expert like him offered little resistance.

Elvish’s expression turned grim as he hurriedly asked, “What exactly happened inside the forest?”

“Necromancers!” Benerod said in a low voice. “Undead creatures have appeared in the forest, hunting the contestants!”

“What?”

Benerod’s words made everyone gasp.

“Those necromancers had already set up formations and barriers inside. Many contestants are trapped... and the number of magical formation barriers keeps increasing. If we don’t act—”

No sooner had he spoken than the representative from Donis Kingdom slammed his staff into the ground. A powerful gust of wind lifted them all into the air.

“Lead the way!”

Benerod pointed a direction, and the wind carried them at high speed into the forest’s depths.

Onlookers were left staring at the ice-encased Fargard City Lord in bewilderment.

What on earth was happening?

.......

“We finally made it.”

Lin Mo looked ahead and could barely make out a blue gate in the distance. That was the exit for this desert zone.

The twists and turns along the way had been more than he expected. This desert had been wider than he thought, taking a full day and a half to find the exit.

“Be careful... there should be powerful monsters guarding the exit.”

As if to prove Eve’s words, a giant proboscis worm burst up from beneath the ground and charged them.

Lin Mo glanced at it and in the next moment a fire-red sword energy sliced it into two.

After so much fuss, he had little patience to waste time with these monsters anymore.

Boom———

Suddenly the dunes on both sides exploded open. Several of the monsters they had encountered earlier attacked together.

The largest among them was already at Mid-Level Lord-Level.

Facing such a situation, Eve tensed instinctively.

But she soon smiled wryly.

Huh—

Lin Mo exhaled slowly.

In the next moment, scorching elements radiated from his body.

In a hot place like this desert, fire-element magic was easier to wield.

Although Lin Mo didn’t currently possess large-area fire-element spells, that didn’t matter...

He held the Frost Dragon Scale Sword, heat element enveloping the blade.

In the next instant a flame-wreathed sword energy slashed out, followed by a second, a third...

Blazing Sword Dance!

Developing skills during combat advances fastest.

Because you can immediately test ideas in real combat to validate them.

This Phantom Sword Dance plus Blazing Sky Fire Spear combination was what Lin Mo had worked out while in the desert.

Each burning sword energy carried the keen edge of the Fire Spear, turning the originally steady output into sudden ferocity.

In sharp contrast, Lin Mo remained calm as he swung.

He released every sword energy with precision. Under his strong spirit attribute he calculated the monsters’ approach speed and the sword energies’ travel distances and timings with millimeter accuracy.

Every sword energy could precisely slice through a monster’s vital points.

Within seconds, the rushing pack of monsters had been reduced to smoldering corpses strewn across the ground.

Lin Mo fixed his gaze on the last, exceptionally massive Red-Armor Rock Scorpion. He swung his sword and with a single-handed strike a gigantic sword energy cleaved the sand before it as if cutting an abyss-like trench.

The Red-Armor Rock Scorpion in front of him was thus sliced cleanly in two.