33: Chapter 33 The Forge Chariot
Just when everyone thought that Lin Mo and the other two could hold out for a while longer.
Niu Dachun suddenly turned pale, breathing heavily as he said, "Brother Mo, my Soul Power... is almost gone!"
Lin Mo and Lu Mengmeng, who were fighting with gusto, suddenly realized.
Given that Niu Dachun only had level 7 Soul Power, using Soul Skills so intensively meant his Soul Power was likely bottoming out.
Lin Mo opened the scoring panel; his points had just passed four hundred, still two hundred short of the first-tier university cutoff.
He estimated that Lu Mengmeng and Da Chun were around the same.
He looked outside the city wall; dense hordes of exotic beasts were still recklessly charging up the wall.
Looking at the NPC city defense soldiers beside them, they had long since been wiped out.
"Reinforcements won't arrive for another ten minutes; it's too much of a pity to give up now."
Lin Mo knew clearly that once the city wall fell, the ordinary civilians inside the city would face a hellish slaughter.
Even if it was just a simulation scenario, he didn't want to watch all of this happen helplessly.
He turned to look at Lu Mengmeng and Da Chun: "Da Chun, you and Mengmeng go down first."
Both of them were stunned and hurriedly asked, "Then what about you?"
"I still have one Soul Skill; perhaps I can drag it out a little longer," Lin Mo said in a calm tone.
"Don't do that, Boss!" Lu Mengmeng said anxiously, "What if you get surrounded and can't escape later?"
According to the rules, if a candidate "died" in the illusion, they would be forcibly teleported out, and their points would be locked in.
Lin Mo's current score was just enough for the third-tier university cutoff; he couldn't even touch the second-tier, so being eliminated now would be a huge loss.
Lin Mo waved his hand: "Don't worry, I still have a Soul Skill that can tank and run; it's very safe."
"Then... then we'll wait for you below!"
Lu Mengmeng gritted her teeth: "Da Chun and I will go escort the civilians and recover some Soul Power while we're at it. You come find us as soon as you're done!"
"Mm, go ahead."
The two didn't hesitate any longer and jumped off the city wall cleanly and decisively.
Without the three of them providing firepower, the pressure on the city wall suddenly spiked.
The other candidates were already struggling to fight, and seeing this, they immediately panicked.
"Damn, those three ran off? We should retreat quickly too!"
"Wait, there's still one who hasn't left... How about we hold on a bit longer?"
"Hold on my ass! Don't you see the exotic beasts are about to cover the wall? If you want to get surrounded, stay here, but I'm not sticking around!"
The candidates' strength was generally around level 10, and even dealing with one second-order exotic beast was a struggle.
Without the suppression from Lin Mo and the other two's fusion skill,
They scrambled to retreat from the city wall one after another.
Even the top students like Qin Ran, who possessed S-rank Martial Souls,
After noticing the pressure spiking, they also turned and ran without hesitation, showing no reluctance at all.
"Brother Lei, are we running?"
The tall and thin Wang Hao looked at the Vice Squad Leader beside him, his eyes darting toward Lin Mo, who was still fighting alone.
"I see that Lin Mo hasn't left yet; maybe he's brewing some kind of move."
When the Vice Squad Leader saw Lin Mo alone, a look of joy flashed in his eyes: "No need to rush to run."
He curled his lips into a wicked smile.
"Why don't we send him some 'treasures' before we leave?"
Lv Dagen, Wang Hao, and Song Wennuan's eyes lit up upon hearing this.
"Hehe, Brother Lei is still the most sinister; to think of such a dirty trick!"
"Haha, this is good. We absolutely cannot let that bastard Lin Mo reach the first-tier university cutoff!"
The group let out a series of strange, sinister laughs.
They then deliberately drew the aggro of the exotic beasts.
And then led dozens of exotic beasts toward the direction where Lin Mo was located.
Lin Mo had just smashed away a few exotic beasts attempting to climb up and was preparing to unleash his third Soul Skill.
Suddenly, an arrogant roar came from behind: "Lin Mo! Your luck has run out!"
He turned around abruptly and saw the Vice Squad Leader and the other three rushing toward him.
And behind them, a dark, dense swarm of exotic beasts was in hot pursuit, at least several dozen of them.
"Damn it, you guys are truly animals!"
Seeing that it was these four, Lin Mo instantly understood their sinister intentions and couldn't help but curse.
"Lin Mo, let's see how you die this time!"
As the four passed by him, they didn't forget to glance back and sneer before disappearing around the corner of the wall in the blink of an eye.
In the blink of an eye, dozens of exotic beasts lunged forward, the foul, fishy stench rushing toward him.
Lin Mo took a deep breath, his eyes turning cold.
Want him dead? Not that easy!
"Third Soul Skill: Furnace Chariot!"
A red, phantasmal image of an Pill Furnace with a diameter of four or five meters instantly enveloped Lin Mo.
Then the phantasmal image of the Pill Furnace solidified, turned on its side, and rolled toward the swarm of exotic beasts like a wheel of fire.
"Gravity Imbuement!"
The Pill Furnace, which already weighed two tons, had its gravity instantly increased by more than two times under the enhancement of Lin Mo's innate Soul Skill, "Gravity Imbuement."
"Rumble—!"
The Furnace Chariot crushed over the city wall bricks, emitting a harsh, grinding sound, and the crimson furnace body smashed into the swarm of exotic beasts with immense force.
The hard shells of the second-order Golden-Armored Crocodiles were crushed to powder, and the sharp claws of the Single-Horned Wind Wolves struck sparks against the furnace wall but couldn't even leave a scratch.
Lin Mo controlled the direction from inside the furnace, veins bulging on his forehead.
The gravity enhancement doubled the power of the chariot, but it was also furiously consuming his limited Soul Power.
But the continuous notification sounds from the scoring device ignited his fighting spirit.
Meanwhile, in the outside world.
On the observation deck and the spectator stands, everyone was staring intently at the illusion projection in the center of the arena.
They saw the scene on the city wall clearly.
They saw that on that stretch of the wall which had almost fallen.
A large metal furnace was rampaging like a giant wheel, rolling back and forth between the bricks and stones.
Every roll brought with it shattered claws and scales, smashing the exotic beasts that had just climbed onto the wall until their bones were broken and their flesh was mangled.
"Is... is this really an F-rank Medicine Cauldron Martial Spirit?"
On the observation deck, a university instructor rubbed his eyes, his face full of disbelief.
"Yeah, why does it look more wrong the more I watch? This explosive power, this sense of oppression—how does this look like something an F-rank support Martial Spirit should have?"
"Who cares what it looks like? Just this Soul Skill alone makes my scalp tingle! That hit just now must have crushed at least seven or eight exotic beasts, right?"
"Who said before that an F-rank Martial Spirit has no future? Come out and walk a few steps! This performance is fiercer than quite a few S-rank Martial Souls!"
"I'm completely bewildered... Is this a support Soul Master or an assault-type Soul Master?"
Even Bai Yuntian, who had been watching coldly from the sidelines, was now frowning tightly, staring fixedly at the spinning furnace in the projection.
He really couldn't understand how an F-rank Medicine Cauldron Martial Spirit could evolve such a domineering offensive Soul Skill.
Could the information he found earlier be wrong?
Is this actually a mutated Medicine Cauldron Martial Spirit?
Or could it be that this Lin Mo's Medicine Cauldron Martial Spirit is actually an SS-rank Medicine King Cauldron?
He tapped his fingers unconsciously on the armrest, his eyes filled with a bit more gloom.
If this kid can really hold out until the reinforcements arrive with this move, then the points...
The discussions in the outside world continued.
But Lin Mo, in the illusion, was already past caring about these things.
He controlled the furnace and crushed/flew another Single-Horned Wind Wolf.
Fine sweat beaded on his forehead, and his Soul Power was draining at a speed visible to the naked eye.
"Four more minutes! Hold on a little longer..."
Lin Mo forced himself to stay focused, continuing to face the exotic beasts constantly charging up the wall with the power of one furnace.
Two minutes...
Lin Mo felt his Soul Power was bottoming out.
One minute...
The speed of the Furnace Chariot slowed down significantly, and the crimson furnace body gradually dimmed, like charcoal that had burned out its fuel.
A second-order Iron-Armored Beast spotted the opportunity.
It lunged and hooked the edge of the furnace with its sharp claws.
"Creeak!"
The sharp claws pierced into the gap, actually forcing the chariot to stop in its tracks.