Chapter 68
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Chapter 68: Passing the Fourth Level, Claiming First Place
Monsters were always indifferent. When subordinates perished, the Night Demon felt no sorrow—only contempt for their incompetence.
When encountering the unfortunate or lonely, the Night Demon never considered helping. Instead, it sought to crush them completely.
Such behavior embodied pure cold-heartedness.
The first match struck by the little girl who sells matches used this very coldness as fuel.
The effect proved devastating.
The swirling snow seemed to transport them to that fateful New Year’s Eve when the little girl died.
With the snow came bone-piercing cold.
"Crack crack…"
Sheltered by the Black Water Mystic Serpent, Mu Lin sensed this wasn’t ordinary cold. It chilled flesh and froze souls alike.
The icy aftermath stiffened both Mu Lin’s body and spirit. Even the Night Demon’s lightning-fast movements visibly slowed, frost crystallizing across its limbs.
"Roar!"
Growing rigidity triggered the Night Demon’s survival instincts. It unleashed a howl as thick demonic energy erupted from its body—a desperate defense against the cold.
This proved futile.
The heart lamp burned like fire against ice, allowing Mu Lin to melt the frost. But demonic energy acted like water against the little girl’s power—utterly ineffective.
The Night Demon’s troubles multiplied.
While the Black Water Mystic Serpent guarded him and the match girl harried the enemy, Mu Lin crafted a paper figure of the Night Demon. Materializing a coffin nail, he drove another into the effigy’s right hand—the one gripping the Steel Fork.
"Thunk!"
The Night Demon shrieked as searing pain shot through its weapon arm, nearly dislodging the Steel Fork.
Yet the creature fought on. Knowing only one could survive, it launched frenzied attacks—swift as storm winds, relentless as tidal waves.
"Kill!"
However, the Night Demon was formidable, but the Black Water Mystic Serpent summoned by Mu Lin held its own.
“Hiss!”
“Bang!”
Steel Fork clashed against fangs as the serpent struck.
Centered around Mu Lin, the Flying Night Demon and Black Water Mystic Serpent battled fiercely.
Their elemental control stirred raging winds and churning waters during the confrontation.
Wind blades and torrents tore up the surrounding earth.
The savage combat made Mu Lin understand why Spring Fountain Realm practitioners earned the title A-level cultivator – their power surpassed mortal limits, rendering even thousand-strong armies helpless.
Mu Lin frowned as he noticed the paper serpent losing ground against the Night Demon. Being an imitation rather than the true Black Water Mystic Serpent, its inferiority became apparent.
This wasn’t single combat but a chaotic melee. While the two titans clashed, the little girl who sells matches struck her second and third matches.
“Sssss…”
Drawing upon the Night Demon’s own greed and arrogance, the girl summoned a massive hound and coiling python. These fiery apparitions lunged at the Flying Night Demon.
“Woof!”
“Hssss…”
As the summoned creatures attacked, Mu Lin relentlessly hammered coffin nails into the paper figure demon’s body – skull, heart, spine, limbs…
“Thunk!” “Thunk!” “Thunk…”
Each nail strike crippled part of the demon’s form. When all vital points were pierced, the Night Demon’s power waned visibly.
A coffin nail through the skull made the creature falter. Seizing this instant, Mu Lin’s serpent coiled lightning-fast around the stunned demon.
“Now you die.”
Constriction – the serpent’s deadliest technique. Trapped in its grip, assailed by the ravenous hound and prideful python, even the flight-bloodline Night Demon fell to Mu Lin’s onslaught.
Victory left Mu Lin drained. His magic reserves ran dry. Manifesting Spring Fountain Realm demons had depleted his vital blood. Continuous curses reduced his soul power to feeble flickers.
“Huh… So, my current strength was only enough to handle a demon from the Spring Fountain Realm?”
…
The death of the Flying Night Demon marked the war’s conclusion. Having eliminated most enemies, Mu Lin and his team’s mission was considered complete.
“Buzz…”
A pulse of white light flashed as Mu Lin and Chu Lingluo’s figures began vanishing from the Tower of Illusions.
Before fully disappearing, Mu Lin heard galloping hooves. Turning his head, he gaped at human soldiers charging toward the battlefield atop Dragon Blood Warhorses.
These were clearly human reinforcements. Their arrival clarified why this brutal skirmish served as the Tower of Illusions’ fourth trial.
“So the test wasn’t about wiping out enemies? We just needed to survive until help arrived?”
This made far more sense. Expecting them to reverse the battle and destroy all foes would’ve been unreasonable.
“Doesn’t matter. We passed anyway.”
…
“Buzz…”
White light flashed again as Mu Lin and Chu Lingluo reappeared outside the tower.
Surprisingly, Ji Xue, Yan Yunyu, and their teams emerged simultaneously despite entering the fourth level at different times. Even more shocking—all three groups had cleared the trial.
“They all succeeded?”
“Ji Xue’s powerful and Yan Yunyu has numbers, but how did Mu Lin pass?”
Mu Lin’s success drew disappointed sighs from the crowd.
Zhou Liang from Yan Yunyu’s team snorted. “Didn’t think you’d make it…”
The fact that Mu Lin—with his Level 3 Spiritual Roots—achieved the same result as him irritated Zhou Liang. He opened his mouth to say more.
Before he could speak, the Tower of Illusions trembled unexpectedly. What happened next left everyone speechless.
Unlike the first three trials, the fourth level now displayed performance ratings alongside pass/fail results—Excellent, Good, Average, or Poor.
Excellent meant flawless execution. Good indicated solid performance. Average was bare minimum passage. Poor meant scraping through.
Yan Yunyu, Ji Xue, and Mu Lin’s ratings spanned all three tiers. But the crowd’s jaws dropped when they saw:
Yan Yunyu’s large team earned Average.
Solo challenger Ji Xue received Good.
And the least-favored Mu Lin—against all expectations—was rated Excellent.
