The fourth round of testing officially began.
A third skeleton warrior appeared in front of Marsh.
The three skeletons rushed at the level 9 and level 13 monsters one by one. Each strike was a swift, instant kill—no suspense.
With a flash of fire in his palm, Marsh sent a flame shooting at the mage monster at the back. The fire landed on its head, instantly eliminating it as well.
From the moment the test began, it had been less than three seconds.
It was almost like the blink of an eye.
In those three seconds, the 9 Wolf Orc Warriors and 1 Wolf Orc Mage had all been slain.
"Wait a minute..."
"Why does this kid have a third summoned creature?"
"This little brat, why didn't he use it from the start? Why wait until now?"
"Stinky boy, why do you always hide your strength?"
Ning Xuanfeng's expression reflected his surprise, though he had no choice but to admit that it was impressive.
Marsh couldn't help but curl his lips at the thought. This so-called "big exam" didn't seem too challenging. It wasn't as thrilling as when he first entered the West Sea Mine dungeon. There were no surprises, and it was starting to bore him.
Without thinking, he took out a piece of sweet potato from his bag and began eating it slowly.
"Don't even bother looking at him. It doesn't make any sense," one examiner said.
"Right. It's more interesting to watch others."
As for Marsh, once his summons were out, everything was resolved in three seconds at most. It was rather boring.
It was much more entertaining to watch the others.
Jeny was constantly retreating, stepping on a fiery path beneath her feet. The wolf orcs were chasing her, stepping on the flames while being repeatedly attacked by her spells.
The Path of Fire was a skill that could only be mastered by a mage at level 10. Once activated, it caused fire damage wherever it passed, and it worked perfectly in this scenario.
Group attacks were the strength of the mage, and although Jeny's level wasn't high enough, she already had two group attack skills: Path of Fire and Freezing Rain, which slowed her enemies. With these two skills, she quickly took down the Wolf Orc Warriors.
On the other hand, Zuo Mei had a much harder time.
As a stalker, her combat style was explosive, with plenty of control abilities, making her great for one-on-one combat or assassinations. However, she wasn't suited for group battles and lacked any group attack skills.
So, Zuo Mei could only clean up the monsters one by one, which made her feel at a disadvantage compared to the others.
Wang Zihao, meanwhile, maintained his aggressive fighting style. With a massive two-handed sword, he moved with sheer power, slashing his way through monsters. His style might not be the fastest, but it was certainly effective.
But on Marsh's side, the situation remained monotonous.
None of the examiners were particularly interested in him.
It was almost like he was more of a bystander than a participant in this round. The amount of time he spent idle far outweighed the time he spent fighting.
"Don't worry, he's won first place again in the fourth round," one examiner muttered. "The real question is whether he'll participate in the fifth round."
"Although he's far ahead in points now, if he doesn't join the fifth round, someone could catch up with him."
In the fourth round, each batch of monsters consisted of 10 creatures, and they appeared every minute. The slower-moving candidates were starting to face more and more monsters.
By the third minute, some candidates had already given up.
Too many monsters had surrounded them, and they were teleported out of the trial tower one by one.
Being eliminated in the fourth round wasn't shameful—it was actually an achievement. These candidates were still considered geniuses, and it wouldn't be a problem for them to enter the top 100 universities in the empire.
Those who were eliminated looked relieved, though they were also shaken by how many monsters there were.
"It was so scary. I thought I was going to be eaten!"
"How am I supposed to kill so many monsters in time?"
"I don't know how many people will actually pass this round."
"I thought I was good enough, but I guess there are people out there who are even better."
"Speaking of which, that Marsh is too powerful. I doubt anyone can beat him this time."
Kevin, after surviving through the fifth batch of monsters, had reached his limit and reluctantly gave up.
Once outside the trial tower, he overheard people talking about Marsh. After holding back for a while, he finally couldn't resist and spoke up.
"Marsh is my boss. Of course, he's amazing."
"Brother, what's your name?" someone asked.
"It's easy to remember—my surname is Gao, and my name is Yang. I'm from Xihai No. 1 Middle School," Kevin responded proudly.
"Ah, so you're Brother Gao! Tell us, what makes Marsh so great?" one person asked eagerly.
Kevin grinned and said, "It's easy to explain, let me tell you."
...
He started talking non-stop, and when he mentioned how Marsh had completed a nightmare-level dungeon in just 10 minutes, several people reacted with disbelief.
"How could that be?"
No one believed him, thinking Kevin was exaggerating.
But Kevin didn't care whether they believed him or not. He was just sharing what he knew.
"Say what you will," he muttered. "As long as it feels good to talk about it."
As more people were eliminated, the control room atop the trial tower grew quieter. There were fewer candidates left, and in the end, only five remained: Marsh, Jeny, Zuo Mei, Wang Zihao, and Feng Xiu.
[Feng Xiu, level 15, Holy Swordsman]
Several examiners now turned their attention to Feng Xiu.
With a wave of her long sword, Feng Xiu moved through the swarm of monsters, swift and agile, much like Zuo Mei.
Though every strike might seem small, the damage quickly added up, and the Wolf Orcs began to fall one by one, barely realizing it.
"This Feng Xiu is finally starting to show her strength," one examiner noted.
"I thought so. Holy Swordsman is a rare class. Why didn't she show her true strength at the beginning? She must have been waiting for the right moment."
"She's probably from the Sword Cultivator Clan, the Feng family. They would know the rules of the big exam and understand that the last two rounds are key to scoring big points."
"That's why she's only now stepping up her game."
"The Feng family also participated in formulating the rules of the big exam, so they're naturally familiar with how it works."
"Ah, Wang Zihao is finally going berserk."
"He's not foolish. He's been timing things perfectly, and now is the best time to activate his Madness mode."
When the seventh batch of monsters appeared, Wang Zihao let out a roar and activated his Madness skill.
[Madness: Duration of 5 minutes. Strength and Constitution are increased by 500%, but Agility is decreased by 200%. After the berserk effect fades, a weak state will follow for 30 minutes.]
Once in Madness mode, Wang Zihao's attack power increased exponentially.
He'd waited until the seventh batch of monsters appeared before unleashing his full power.
Five minutes was more than enough for him.
By now, there were over 30 monsters on the field, and with the addition of the seventh batch, that number had increased to over 40.
In his berserk state, Wang Zihao began to clear the field with brutal efficiency.
Each swing of his massive sword struck down two or three monsters at a time.
The battlefield was rapidly thinning out.
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