The sky glowed crimson from the firelight, and the air was thick with the acrid smell of sulfur.
Screams pierced the chaos as people fled in panic.
Su Fu certainly had no intention of fighting them one by one—burying them all at once was far more efficient.
The once confident Sheng Kun and others finally sensed the danger and scrambled to escape in terror.
But to their horror, they found their bodies frozen, unable to move even an inch!
At some point, golden light and talismans descended from above, binding them tightly in place.
This was the Heavenly Technique Buddha’s Radiance, Mastery, combined with Zhong Kui’s Exorcism Talisman.
“Of course, this is a Ling Mountain Instance!” Su Fu sighed.
“Look at this heavenly skill our master gave us—turning single-target control into group control, maxed out. Truly mastery level.”
Sheng Kun and the others watched helplessly as the burning lava and roaring flames surged toward them.
They panicked, their faces twisted in terror, wailing: “I was wrong! I really know I was wrong!!”
“We were just joking! We never meant to hurt you!”
“Please, as fellow examinees, spare us!”
“Don’t kill me! My old mother’s waiting for me at home!”
Su Fu: “Old mother? Now you’re using that?”
Seeing Su Fu unmoved, and with lava creeping ever closer, Sheng Kun finally lost it and started cursing wildly:
“You third-ring trash! Even if you kill us, others won’t let you off!”
“Wait and see! We second-ring examinees stick together. When they find out, they’ll make you wish you were dead!”
Su Fu laughed, intrigued, and looked at Sheng Kun, “You mean, they won’t let me off?”
Sheng Kun confidently replied, “Yes!”
Su Fu spread her hands and teased, “Wrong.”
She smiled contentedly, “On the contrary, It should be me who won’t let you off.”
“Look—”
Only then did everyone realize that not just they, but the surrounding examinees who had been watching with glee were now frantically fleeing in panic.
Behind them, the flames chased relentlessly, the rivers of lava rolling in pursuit.
No one escaped.
They saw those who had mocked Su Fu’s misfortune moments ago get hit in the calves by suddenly erupted molten lava.
Flames instantly engulfed them.
They struggled and screamed in the fire, their faces once full of scorn now filled with terror.
Not just them—everyone who had insulted Su Fu as “arrogant trash” or “just a third-ring nobody”…
All were burned by the flames without exception.
Who could save them now?
Who could avenge them?
No one.
The lava was almost upon Sheng Kun, scorching his skin as his wails filled the air.
In the firelight, he finally saw Su Fu’s true form.
Flames soared to the sky, lava roiled, dust and sparks flew through the air.
The golden-red firelight cast her silhouette, her black hair billowing in the fierce wind, her gaze cold and calm.
She looked down on him like an ant.
Sheng Kun suddenly woke up from his nightmare-like realization, “You did this on purpose!”
He finally understood—this had been Su Fu’s plan from the start.
She had feigned weakness, deliberately displayed the Sweet Dew, and flaunted her ability to pass through Flame Mountain unharmed to bait their greed.
Their avarice trapped them all here.
Then the mountain collapsed, wiping everyone out—no one could escape!
“From the beginning… she was luring us…”
Setting one trap after another, waiting for the prey to bite.
Sheng Kun muttered, his eyes full of terror beyond the fear of death, “She… she knows everything that happened on the forum.”
The third-ring newbie scorned by all, looked down on and mocked as a worthless Top Scorer…
She wasn’t a weak third-ring examinee at all, but a wolf hidden in the shadows, striking with lethal precision!
But realizing this was already too late.
The next moment, scorching flames swallowed his last shred of sanity, and his screams were drowned in the roaring fire.
Flame Mountain continued to blaze, its range rapidly expanding.
If the previous Flame Mountain was eight hundred li wide, now the molten lava rivers wove into a vast net, increasing the difficulty to the max.
The clouds above were scattered by heat waves, and the entire world seemed dyed a deep crimson.
The surviving examinees fled far away, not daring to approach even a step closer.
Some, sensing Su Fu’s gaze turning toward them, immediately spun around and fled in panic, terrified of becoming the next target.
“This is terrifying… This woman is a living Asura!”
“In moments, she wiped out ninety percent of the examinees!”
“She’s a demon in human skin!”
“Let’s just keep our distance and avoid provoking this lunatic…”
Scattered whispers floated on the wind but soon fell silent.
Su Fu thought, much better this way.
She turned and smiled at George, Theresa, and Yi Congling.
“So, now we have enough time and space to make the aircraft.”
The three trembled—not fake trembling, real trembling.
Yi Congling even swallowed hard.
George felt a chill down his spine.
In a place like Flame Mountain, why did he feel so cold?
“Heavens… What kind of monster is this?”
One moment they feared being besieged, the next this supreme powerhouse singlehandedly challenged the whole crowd, fighting off a dozen and killing ninety percent of the examinees!
To be honest, those lucky few who escaped would all be dead now if Su Fu had cared to chase them.
He blinked mechanically, ‘Damn, this master is unbelievably strong!’
Yi Congling’s mind raced, ‘Help! Am I going to be her next target?’
‘Why hasn’t she attacked me? Is it because that Sweet Dew hasn’t been ‘cashed in’ yet?’
‘Wait, the master still sells water for a living? So she needs money?’
‘Could it be that she spared me because of my money? If I had none, maybe she’d…’
No no no, stop thinking.
She’s got money!
Lots of it!
And what the heck is that Golden Cudgel?
An apocalyptic artifact?
What does “one strike to collapse a mountain” even mean?
‘Have I been too narrow-minded about strength?’
‘By the way, she’s a third-ring examinee? Like me? What a joke!’
‘How can I compare to a master?’ Theresa was even more shocked than the two of them.
As a chosen follower of the Principal God Gaia and the Mother Goddess of Earth, her connection to the land was far beyond ordinary people.
In that moment, she not only felt the surface landslides but also sensed the power hidden beneath the earth collapsing.
‘No, this power that can move mountains and overturn seas—this is my classmate?’
Theresa’s mind shattered.
Their abilities simply couldn’t be compared.
She could at best summon rock spikes, but Su Fu literally tore the entire mountain apart.
For the first time, she realized what it truly meant to be a Top Scorer.
What is a Top Scorer?
It is the strongest among the masses, the celestial prodigy who leaves all others behind, the unparalleled genius who can dominate all rivals.
And such a person stood before her, casually dusting off the dust on her shoulder.
Suddenly recalling something, she said seriously, “Oh right, the aircraft.”
“I want the kind that’s swift as the wind.”
Swift as the wind—Great Luck, or rather, the aircraft!
“Just one thing: max speed.”
George and Yi Congling nodded wildly.
“Good good good!”
Don’t just say swift as the wind, whether it’s lightning-fast, like a shadow, chasing the wind, or riding the lightning…
‘We have to make it for you!’
Their eyes shone brightly, instantly becoming fanatical followers of Su Fu.
Only one thought filled their minds: ‘Too strong! How could such a powerful examinee exist?’
From now on, they were hers!
The boss!
The one and only boss!
Su Fu was satisfied.
She looked up at Flame Mountain.
Although the mountain had collapsed, the flames still raged fiercely.
Her pupils reflected the golden-red firelight, giving the illusion that even her eyes were ablaze.
She wasn’t just eliminating those pesky flies—she was also here to extract the most precious minerals buried beneath the surface.
The landslide had brought the deep mineral veins, once inaccessible to ordinary people, to the surface, now waiting to be gathered.
Fire Spirit Core, Jinyan Crystal, Burning Heaven Jade, Solar Gold… and that was just an appetizer.
The true treasures lay even deeper.
But now, she was here.
***
Somewhere on the Ling Mountain map, Achilles, Freya, and the others stared in shock at the scene before them.
This was an exceptionally prosperous city, with elegant pavilions and towers, graceful flying eaves and dougong brackets.
Clear streams meandered through, reflecting the exotic flowers and rare grasses blooming along the banks.
Willows hung low, swaying gently in the breeze.
In the distance, lakes shimmered with ripples, dotted with painted boats from which melodious zither music drifted.
Women in flowing silk dresses strolled, picked flowers, or washed silk by the riverbank, the atmosphere peaceful and serene.
The entire city was exquisitely built, streets tidy—undeniably wealthy and tranquil.
A gentle breeze carried floral scents, lulling one into a relaxed state, tempting them to blend into the calm.
Yet none of them relaxed, sensing the caution in each other’s eyes.
“This place is too peaceful,” Achilles said quietly.
He’d rather face a dangerous starting scenario or be chased by anomalies than have a completely normal-looking map like this.
They had been through too many maps and witnessed countless abnormalities.
The calmer and more peaceful the start, the crazier the subsequent traps tended to be.
This kind of peace meant the anomaly had been replicated quite perfectly, forming a self-contained system with consistent logic.
In other words, it could simulate reality flawlessly, making it almost impossible to find its weaknesses.
Furthermore, these anomalies wouldn’t reveal themselves easily—in fact, they might actively hide their presence.
This was tricky—a big problem.
“Such normalcy means this test paper must have a Great Ghost,” the silver-haired elven archer said as she gripped her bow.
“So, what exactly is this place?” Freya looked around.
A young girl carrying a flower basket skipped lightly over a small bridge; a court lady held a scroll in the high pavilion; girls washed clothes by the river, splashing water.
The more they looked, the more their scalps tingled.
Just then, Merlin suddenly said, “Wait, why aren’t there any men here?”
Everyone paused, then looked carefully.
On the streets, riverbanks, and in the pavilions… every figure was female, from young girls to elderly women—every age group was present, but not a single man.
Not only that—the guards at the palace gates, the merchants, farmers, soldiers… all were women!
“This isn’t right,” Bodhi Yue whispered.
“Any normal human settlement would have both men and women. This place…”
Before she could finish, everything suddenly changed.
The people around seemed to notice their presence, and the previously peaceful atmosphere shifted abruptly.
All the women turned and looked at them in unison, countless eager gazes fixed on them—especially Merlin, Achilles, and Saffiros, the three males.
Those looks were full of curiosity, amazement, and even… something else?
The three felt a chill shoot down their spines, instinctively took half a step back, then turned and fled frantically!
But it was already too late.
Soldiers surrounded them completely, and the leading woman smiled and said, “Welcome to the Daughter Kingdom.”
***
Meanwhile, at the Jianxia Mountain Range plaza.
All the test maps had refreshed, and holographic projections displayed real-time conditions of different exam sites—Flame Mountain, Daughter Kingdom, Huaguo Mountain, Pansi Cave… various maps on display.
Murray relaxed slightly as he scanned the screens, “Thankfully, this time there’s no terrifying presence in the Ling Mountain maps.”
Then he looked at everyone and asked, “Do you know what happened to the Amaterasu High Priest after she failed the Ling Mountain mainline challenge?”
“Has she recovered?”
This rumor had spread far and wide.
Anyone who took the Ling Mountain map exam would almost certainly ask about it.
After all, it was shocking—an Amaterasu High Priest wielding the power of Amaterasu being instantly killed by a bull-shaped anomaly?
Absurd!
Fujiwara Chiyo, as the High Priest of the Amaterasu Grand Shrine, could handle even the most dangerous test papers with ease.
Yet she failed miserably in the Ling Mountain map mainline.
If not for an emergency withdrawal, she might have lost her life.
The Seven Great Clans clearly had the most up-to-date information.
Lina knew some details and said, “From what I know, she has mostly recovered. And that anomaly’s identity has been confirmed.”
Everyone looked on curiously. “So, what is it called?!”
“The Bull Demon King.”