23: Chapter 23 Abyssal Skeleton Rhinoceros!

Five hundred!

Three hundred!

Two hundred!

One hundred!

When that name, bearing the glaring label of "F-grade Wasteland", forced its way into the dazzling top hundred of Tianwu City, the entire Star-Observing Platform and even the plaza outside fell into a brief, dead silence.

Immediately after, a collective gasp like a tsunami erupted!

"The top hundred? A commoner with a wasteland start actually fought his way into the top hundred?!"

"This is crazy! This is absolutely the biggest upset since the founding of Tianwu First High School!"

"Look at how steadily his points are ticking up! Everyone else bursts in waves, but he's like an assembly line, never stopping for even a single second!"

Meanwhile, inside the Abyss Examination Hall.

The slaughter continued.

Lin Yunfei sat upright on the chariot in the center of the army, his eyes sharp as torches, calmly observing his surroundings.

The Xuanwu Heavy Armor Killing Array was indeed perfect, but in a real Abyss battlefield like the [Skeleton Wasteland], there was no such thing as an easy, permanent steamroll.

As time ticked away, the army pushed deeper and deeper.

Gradually, Lin Yunfei noticed that the resistance to the array's advance was beginning to increase.

The monsters swarming from all directions were no longer just those low-level Abyss Bone Wolves. Deep within the mist, three-meter-tall [Skeleton Violent Apes] covered in thick bony armor began to appear!

The strength of these violent apes was already infinitely close to the peak of Tier 1!

"Roar—!"

The largest Skeleton Violent Ape leaped high into the air like a black meteorite, swinging its thick arms and slamming down hard toward the left flank of the phalanx.

"Defend!"

The centurion of the left flank roared as dozens of shield-bearers exerted their strength simultaneously, their true qi surging.

Boom!

A deafening, muffled crash resounded.

The violent ape's terrifying, monstrous strength poured down. This time, although the Dark Gold Tower Shields did not shatter, the immense recoil force traveled through the shields and slammed brutally into the armored soldiers behind them.

"Pfft!"

A young armored soldier at the very front turned pale and spat out a large mouthful of blood.

His arms emitted a clear sound of cracking bones. Even with white true qi protecting his body, he could not completely dissipate the violent impact of a peak Tier 1 monster.

The soldier's legs buckled, and he dropped to one knee, causing the Dark Gold Tower Shield in his hands to tilt.

The Xuanwu Grand Array, which had been completely seamless and airtight, finally showed a tiny flaw at this moment!

How sharp was the sense of smell of Abyss monsters when it came to blood?

The moment that flaw appeared, dozens of surrounding Abyss Bone Wolves and two Skeleton Violent Apes pounced madly toward the gap like sharks smelling blood!

"Tear them apart!"

"Awoo!"

Sharp claws scratched frantically at the edges of the tower shields, and they were on the verge of rushing through the gap into the interior of the formation.

Once these wild monsters breached the center of the formation, the spearmen who had lost the protection of the heavy shields would face utter destruction, and the entire array would collapse in an instant!

"Not good!"

On the Star-Observing Platform, Instructor Chen Zheng suddenly gripped the armrests of his chair, growing tense for Lin Yunfei!

"The armored soldiers' stamina has reached its limit! Once a gap appears in the array, not even the gods can save them!"

The heads of the wealthy clans, who had previously been suppressed by Lin Yunfei, also let out a sigh of relief, a hint of vindication flashing in their eyes.

"In the end, they are just commoner troops; their resilience is far too poor."

"Indeed, being able to hold out until now is already a miracle. Next will be a one-sided massacre."

However, inside the examination hall, there was still no trace of panic on Lin Yunfei's face!

He merely watched the thin figure on the high platform in silence.

The High Priest, Xi.

Facing the fatal crisis of the formation being torn apart, Xi began to rapidly adjust the array to remedy the situation!

"Transform the static array into a dynamic one!"

"Left flank Kun Position, take half a step back! Zhen Position spearmen, discard your spears and hold the shields!"

Xi's voice was hoarse yet highly penetrating. The array flags in his hands traced a profound arc in midair as he waved the red and yellow flags alternately.

This was the contingency plan for changing the formation that he had prepared long ago during drills!

The moment they received the order, the companions of the armored soldier with broken arms pulled him back forcefully without hesitation.

At the same time, the two spearmen behind him who were originally responsible for striking dropped their spears and used their shoulders to firmly prop up the tilting Dark Gold Tower Shield.

"Change!"

The entire left flank phalanx, like a massive, precisely interlocking gear, suddenly rotated inward by an angle!

The Abyss monsters that had just squeezed their heads into the gap didn't even have time to bite before they realized their prey had suddenly vanished.

In its place, as the formation rotated, dozens of poisoned spears thrust out from cross-dead angles on both sides!

Pfft! Pfft!

Blood sprayed wildly!

The two Skeleton Violent Apes and over a dozen bone wolves that had rushed into the gap were instantly turned into honeycombs before they could even let out a shriek.

The gap was perfectly filled by new shield-bearers, and the injured soldier was quickly transferred to the safest center of the grand array for emergency bandaging.

Under Xi's stroke-of-genius temporary tactical shift, the crumbling defensive line not only stabilized instantly but also utilized the gap to execute a beautiful counter-kill!

"Excellent!!!"

At the highest point of the Star-Observing Platform.

Major General Lu Shuang of the Interstellar Expeditionary Army could no longer suppress the shock in his heart and slammed his palm heavily onto the crystal table in front of him.

Cracks spread across the crystal table, but he was completely oblivious, his eyes fixed intently on Xi on the screen, a blazing fire burning in his gaze.

"This array master is an invaluable treasure!"

Lu Shuang's breathing grew heavy.

In the planar wars of the vast sea of stars, there were many who could deploy troops, but those who could calmly spot flaws amidst the chaotic slaughter of thousands and command an army to execute dynamic formation changes as easily as moving their own arms were as rare as phoenix feathers.

This not only required the array master to possess monstrous deduction abilities, but it also required the entire army to have absolute trust and obedience toward him!

"Just how did this kid named Lin Yunfei nurture such a monster?"

Lu Shuang took a deep breath, a trace of frantic light flashing in his eyes.

He turned his head to look at the Exam Supervisor beside him, his tone leaving no room for doubt.

"Supervisor, I need to raise the difficulty of the assessment in the Seventh Sub-district of Examination Hall D-09."

As soon as these words were spoken, all the high-ranking officials around him were stunned.

"Major General Lu, what is the meaning of this?" the mayor asked with a frown. "Lin Yunfei's current performance is already stunning enough. At his current rate, he is guaranteed to enter the top fifty. If you rashly raise the difficulty, what if it leads to his entire army being wiped out?!"

"A standard assessment cannot test his true potential!"

"Execute it immediately! Deploy a Tier 2 early-stage Abyss Heavily Armored Behemoth in front of Lin Yunfei! If anything goes wrong, I will take full responsibility!"

Not daring to disobey the command of a powerful major general, the supervisor could only grit his teeth and press several crimson rune buttons on the control console.

Abyss Examination Hall, Skeleton Wasteland.

Lin Yunfei sat on the chariot, having just settled the casualties on the left flank.

Suddenly, his sharp perception, which had been nourished by the source of his Divine Kingdom, sensed that something was amiss.

The ground began to tremble violently.

This trembling was not the chaotic vibration of tens of thousands of Tier 1 monsters running, but a heavy, highly oppressive, and terrifying rhythm, as if every step would crush the earth.

"Thud!"

"Thud!"

"Thud!"

Deep within the mist, a terrifying black shadow as massive as a small hill slowly emerged.

It was a behemoth over ten meters long, its entire body covered in thick, black bone plates. A sharp, spiral horn grew on its head, and with every breath it exhaled, a thick, corrosive acid mist sprayed into the air.

[Abyss Skeleton Giant Rhinoceros]!

[Rank: Early Tier 2!]

[Traits: Astonishing defense, unrivaled impact force—a veritable heavy siege chariot among Abyss Corrupted Beasts!]

The moment this monster fully emerged from the mist, a massive pressure that surpassed Tier 1 lifeforms swept across the entire battlefield like something tangible.

Under the behemoth's pressure, the Tier 1 Abyss Bone Wolves that had been attacking frantically actually whimpered and retreated to both sides, actively clearing a wide path.

Looking at the Tier 2 giant rhinoceros roaring toward the sky and constantly scraping the ground with its hooves, Lin Yunfei felt no fear; instead, he was eager to try.

"Leader Yan Er!" Lin Yunfei suddenly stood up, his voice echoing through the grand array like thunder.

"Here!" Within the Array Core ahead, Leader Yan Er, who was at the late stage of Tier 1, gripped his spear tightly with both hands, his blood energy surging like a dragon.

"Xi!"

"Your subordinate is here!"

Lin Yunfei drew the longsword from his waist and pointed it straight at the poised Tier 2 giant rhinoceros ahead.

"Hear my command, entire army, change formation!"

"Today, we shall use the blood of this Tier 2 behemoth to consecrate our human race's Xuanwu Killing Array!"