67: Chapter 67 A Strange Spectacle in the Exam Hall! A Test-taker Turned the Final Question into an Easy One!

Under everyone's watchful eyes.

In the middle of the screen, within the footage featuring Zhang Jian.

Something unprecedented seemed to be happening.

In fact.

From the very start of the hidden stage, Zhang Jian had taken the initiative to engage in battle.

Relying on a surprise attack, after his [Sword Qi Slash] was unleashed.

The BOSS's attack finally arrived, albeit late.

-500!

Zhang Jian only had a base health of 780 points, and it instantly dropped by more than half.

In the next moment, Sword Qi swirled, and a shield was born.

+14040!

Zhang Jian felt a wave of relief.

Whether in dungeons or out in the wild before.

It wasn't as if his health hadn't taken damage or dropped to even lower levels.

But in those cases, he always had the Support from Wang Fei's Support skills or could use medicine to recover immediately.

He had never truly experienced the physical reactions brought about by having health below 30% for an extended period.

And right now, in the special environment of the Professional Unified Examination Dungeon, corresponding healing items could not be used.

If he were injured too severely, the negative physical effects alone would be enough to give him a hard time!

With the shield, his mind settled.

When the BOSS attacked for the second time.

-300!

The original attack was absorbed by the shield, and the damage effect was further reduced by 200 points.

Zhang Jian's confidence soared.

At this rate, he could withstand at least 40 more of the opponent's attacks.

With just a little bit of positioning, he had a complete chance of surviving for 60 seconds and claiming the full point reward!

Zhang Jian thought happily to himself.

But just as he subconsciously swung his sword again.

-3049! (Resisted)

-9138!

-9138!

-9138!

-24672! (Critical)

-24672! (Critical)

...

The damage displays from several Sword Qi Slashes caused ripples of realization in Zhang Jian's heart.

Something was wrong!

Although his base damage was high, he still couldn't break through the defense when facing a True Shield; it was directly resisted.

Moreover, the additional Sword Qi damage was also absorbed and offset by half due to the BOSS's skill effects.

However, the current [Sword Qi Slash] possessed the priority of a True Damage type, so it could ultimately injure the BOSS and cause its health bar to drop.

A question Zhang Jian hadn't considered before welled up in his mind.

For this kind of stage originally designed for examinees to get maximum points just by surviving for 60 seconds...

Was there a possibility of killing it directly within 60 seconds?

He thought about it.

Looking at ordinary damage alone, it seemed very far off.

But with the Support of the Mythic-grade affix [King of Solo], his current critical hit rate was as high as 49.5%.

Almost every [Sword Qi Slash] he swung could have three or four additional Sword Qi waves that triggered critical damage.

Calculating it this way, on average, every single sword swing could deal nearly 120,000 points of damage to the BOSS.

And corresponding to the BOSS's total health of 5 million points...

He only needed to unleash about 40 [Sword Qi Slashes] to kill the BOSS?

Zhang Jian's heart skipped a beat.

Good heavens!

If he traded blow for blow, there was a chance!

His heart suddenly grew fervent.

Surviving for 60 seconds gave a 60% point bonus.

What if he killed the BOSS?

Zhang Jian's heart could no longer remain calm.

Bang!

The BOSS smashed down with its hammer.

Swish!

Zhang Jian swung a Sword Qi Slash.

Both of them lost a small chunk of health.

Zhang Jian's expression remained unchanged as he silently calculated while watching the countdown timer.

The BOSS's roar already shook the entire space.

It was designed with the internal drive to desperately pursue and kill any target that appeared.

Yet this human actually didn't dodge or evade, instead constantly damaging it with sword swing after sword swing.

This made it extremely furious.

But as a special type of BOSS, it had no other means of attack to restrict Zhang Jian.

It could only desperately swing its massive hammer, smashing down blow after blow.

Zhang Jian was happy to oblige, responding with the same frequency.

It wasn't that he didn't want to speed up his sword swings.

But he discovered...

Although the attacks of [Sword Qi Slash] were very stable, there was also a fatal problem.

After each swing, he had to wait for all the additional Sword Qi to be completely discharged before he could swing the next one.

He hadn't noticed this before because no BOSS could withstand more than a few of his swings.

Right now.

He was restricted by this very reason.

He could only deal damage slowly according to a fixed rhythm.

However, if one were to say who was most miserable, it was the BOSS.

It was pinned in place by Zhang Jian, and as it watched its health drop, between its roars and cries of pain, it already felt a threat coming from the depths of its life.

It even had an instinctive flash of wanting to flee.

But a voice always present in its mind instantly obliterated that reaction.

Instead, it forced it to move in for the kill against this human youth, ensuring he could not survive.

Swinging blow after blow, the BOSS's expression became increasingly ugly.

I want to smash him to death quickly too, but I really can't do it!

On the other hand, as wave after wave of Sword Qi repeatedly pierced through it, the BOSS was driven to the point of tears.

Who can save me?

...

The battle on the screen continued, and the expressions of the people outside the screen were also constantly changing.

When Zhang Jian first started actively attacking the BOSS, everyone thought he was crazy.

Instead of quickly finding a place to hide and stall for time, you dare to run right in front of it?

When he had tanked the BOSS for 30 seconds and was still dealing damage, everyone understood even less.

You're not like Wei Donglai, who can rely on skill output to recover health. Don't tell me you can actually kill the BOSS?

By the 50th second, Sun Yu fell.

Yet Zhang Jian was still 'playing cards' with the BOSS, trading blows one by one.

The crowd below the stage was already numb.

Big brother, in the end, is it the BOSS or are you the BOSS?

In another screen, Wei Donglai was still his usual self, maintaining full health thanks to his skill recovery.

Looking at his calm and composed appearance, lasting for 60 seconds should be a foregone conclusion.

With Zhang Jian, however, things were looking a bit off.

-300!

The BOSS's heavy hammer smashed onto the Sword Qi again, and Zhang Jian's body became somewhat unsteady.

His expression was solemn.

At this point, his shield value only had 540 points left, which meant he could only withstand two more of the BOSS's hammer blows.

But the opponent's health still had over 300,000 remaining.

Based on the output of [Sword Qi Slash], it would take at least three swings.

The current time had also reached 55 seconds.

If Zhang Jian continued to trade blows with the BOSS, he would likely fall before the opponent.

But if he turned and started to run and dodge, he could definitely survive the full 60 seconds.

Zhang Jian was a bit conflicted.

After working so hard for so long, he was just one step away from success.

To make him give up now was truly something he was unwilling to do.

But he was short by exactly one swing; what could he do?

He quickly scanned various data on his panel.

Until he saw the numbers on his equipment.

There it is!

Zhang Jian's eyes lit up.

After battling through the previous 20 waves of monsters, his kill count progress had broken through 1000, allowing for the growth-based enhancement of his equipment!

He immediately performed the operation.

“Kill count has not reached twice the original consumption; forced enhancement failed!”

The System's notification sent a chill through Zhang Jian's heart.

Oh no!

He had thought 1000 kills would be enough, but he forgot that forced enhancements to make equipment levels exceed one's own level came with extra costs.

It's over!

-300!

Seeing that his shield value was insufficient, Zhang Jian grit his teeth and swung his sword again.

Forget it, even if I'm about to die, I can't give up.

I must fight until the very last moment!

58 seconds.

The BOSS smashed down another hammer blow.

Zhang Jian also swung his sword at the same time.

-300!

Zhang Jian kept his eyes wide open, glaring at the opponent.

The shield shattered, and several beams of golden light appeared out of thin air, enveloping Zhang Jian.

Invincible Golden Body?

Zhang Jian was overjoyed and subconsciously swung another Sword Qi Slash.

The light Sword Qi landed on the BOSS consecutively, and its expression turned into one of utter terror.

One wave.

Two waves.

Three waves!

As the final wave of Sword Qi swept past, the BOSS's eyes suddenly bulged.

In the next moment, its body fell apart.

Bang!

The massive circular hammer in its hand crashed heavily to the ground.

At the same time.

A series of notifications also floated before Zhang Jian's eyes.

But before he had time to look, his vision went black.

He was teleported away.