Chapter Thirty-Five: Countdown Three Hours

  "A new semester has begun, and the first unified exam of September is about to start!"

  "The stage is set in an underground mausoleum."

  "Scene description: This is a dilapidated pharaoh's tomb, existing for thousands of years, divided into three layers. The legendary treasure of the pharaoh has led archaeologists and grave robbers to enter here together. Just as they were about to enter the burial chamber, an earthquake suddenly occurred. The tomb will collapse completely in three hours, and those who fail to escape back to the surface before the countdown ends will be buried forever. More dangerously, the earthquake unexpectedly triggered the decayed mechanism, activating the monsters guarding the pharaoh's tomb and magical traps at the same time. The road leading to the ground has become fraught with danger..."

  "Main quest activated, escape to the surface before the underground tomb collapses completely, countdown three hours!"

  "The rewards for mainline tasks will be settled after clearing the battlefield, related to combat evaluation!"

  "The optional tasks in this scene are: Purify Evil (Personal), Blessing Liberation (Team)."

  "Purify the Evil: Slay 5 Mummy Creatures, purify these undead souls. Completion rewards 100 Universal Points, failure has no penalty."

  "Mercy Release: Tomb Guardian (Normal LV5), a loyal subordinate of the Pharaoh in life. Cursed with immortality, it has wandered the tomb for 1,000 years guarding its master. Find and slay it to release the Tomb Guardian from its curse. Upon completion, all team members who dealt more than 5% damage will receive 200 universal points. No penalty for failure."

  "Mission Briefing 1: The team that escapes to the ground first before the countdown ends will receive a perfect evaluation and extra rewards. The second team to escape to the ground can only receive basic rewards."

  "Mission Description 2: If both teams fail to escape the tomb before it collapses, they are considered completely annihilated. At this time, the team that is closer to the ground can obtain the basic reward of the unified exam."

  "Task Description 3: Due to the excessive difficulty of the first unified exam, the battlefield temporarily adjusts the penalty conditions. All freshmen who participate in the unified exam will no longer uniformly deduct 10 years of life after being defeated, and instead will deduct 1-5 years of life based on the battle evaluation."

  A string of hints flashed before his eyes in rapid succession.

  As his feet touched the ground, the battlefield was thoroughly loaded. Hu Shiming immediately opened his eyes and found himself in a narrow and dark tunnel. The air in the tunnel was damp and rotten, with a pungent smell. On both sides of the stone wall of the tunnel, every 50 meters hung a burning torch, and the dim flame became the only light in the underground tomb.

  "Battleground Alert: You are currently at the end of the left corridor outside the main tomb chamber on the third underground floor of the mausoleum. An earthquake will occur in 30 seconds. Please return to the surface before the mausoleum collapses!"

  "The situation doesn't look good."

  Zhao Feng took a look around and found no immediate danger, so he immediately started reading the series of prompts given by the school emblem. When he noticed that the death penalty had been greatly reduced, instead of being delighted, his face turned ugly: "This broken academy shouldn't be so kind-hearted. The only possibility is that the current difficulty is too high, and it's hard for us new students to break through."

  "I think so too."

  Hu Si Ming nodded, just about to continue the conversation. But at this moment, the ground began to shake violently, accompanied by a loud rumbling sound, and the entire underground tomb started shaking left and right. The hard stone slabs, under the enormous pressure, began to show cracks. From above, fragments of stone and sand kept falling down with a rustling sound. Poor Liu Feng was hit on the head by a rock and let out a sharp cry - she thought the tomb was going to collapse directly.

  It lasted for seven or eight seconds before the strong quake finally subsided.

  Look around the walls of the tomb, which are already covered with spider web-like cracks. The occasional aftershocks make the entire mausoleum emit a creaking sound. The stone slabs underfoot have cracks that water keeps gushing out of. Under some overturned stone slabs, the skeletons of laborers buried underground during the construction of the tomb were exposed.

  "Battleground alert, countdown starts in three hours!"

  This sound was like a harbinger of death. Seeing the seconds ticking away, Hu Si Ming immediately felt an urge to escape to the ground. Zhao Feng and Zhang Hao had the same idea, setting reminders every half hour before starting to run towards the outer corridor.

  However, Hu Siming suddenly stopped after running two steps as if he had thought of something.

  After rushing out for over ten meters, Zhao Feng heard the footsteps were a bit off and couldn't help but turn his head to take a look. Seeing that Hu Si Ming not only hadn't caught up, but was also holding back Yan Shao Ou, Zhao Feng couldn't help but get angry, stopping in his tracks: "Friend, although it's your business how you act, this is after all a team mission. Time is pressing, can you hurry up and run?"

  "Don't worry"

  Hu Si Ming comforted the anxious Zhao Feng, turned his head to take a few glances, and then took another look at the battlefield prompts. A thoughtful expression appeared on his face.

  "How can I not be anxious?"

  His consolation had no effect at all, and Zhao Feng was about to jump with rage.

  Seeing this, Hu Siming had to explain immediately: "Generally speaking, even if the mausoleum is bigger, three hours are enough to rush out. I think time is not a problem, the biggest enemy is the mechanism and magic beast on the road."

  "Of course, I also know that." Zhao Feng said in a bad tone: "But don't forget about the Nightmares University team. They chose this preset battlefield on their own initiative, and they're an accelerating skill Tomb Raider camp. If we move too slowly, they'll definitely escape first!"

  "It's not that easy!"

  Hu Si Ming directly interrupted Zhao Feng's words, saying: "You just said that the battlefield has lowered its difficulty on its own initiative. What does this mean? Whether it's our team or Ye Mei's team, there is a great possibility of hanging here directly. So, no need to be so anxious. I think there is an opportunity right in front of us."

  "What chance?"

  Zhao Feng looked at Hu Si Ming with a puzzled expression, not understanding what he was referring to.

  Hu Si Ming smiled faintly and pointed to the tightly closed stone gate behind Yun Dao, saying: "When we entered the arena, where did the battlefield prompt us to go?"

  "What does this have to do with anything?"

  Although he was skeptical, Zhao Feng still re-examined the records of the battlefield. But before he could say anything, Zhang Hao, the fat man next to him, slapped his thigh and exclaimed: "This is just behind the main tomb chamber, where Pharaoh is buried!"

  "Few words, oh, at this time also reacted, with a rapid speech said: 'According to common sense, in such a tomb, there must be some valuable things. However, after all, this is just the academy's designated battlefield, and no one can say for sure what it will be like. Maybe not only are there no treasures, but instead, there might be something deadly dangerous. What, do you want to take on this tomb?"

  "An opportunity is right in front of you, aren't you going to give it a try?"

  The more Hu Si Ming thought about it, the more he felt it was possible. He couldn't help but excitedly say: "After being scared by that intense earthquake earlier, everyone's first reaction would definitely be to run upwards. But since we're already at the entrance of the tomb, why not take a risk and break in to see what's inside?"

  "That makes sense!"

  After some thought about Hu Si Ming's words, Zhao Feng's heart was moved. He took out his own weapon, which was a pair of fist guards that had been opened from the universal decorative box, and charged forward first.

  The stone gate of the mausoleum was carved out of a whole block of black rock, with reliefs of ferocious beasts and venomous snakes on it. Its weight must have been at least a thousand kilograms. If it were an ordinary person, they would definitely not be able to break it, nor even budge it in the slightest. But after undergoing physical attribute transformation, and with the academy's provided weapons, everything was different. After Zhao Feng punched it with all his might, the black stone gate actually shook slightly.

  Through the exploratory ability provided by the school emblem, Hu Siming discovered the properties of the stone gate.

  The Gate of the Ruined Tomb

  Durability 470/1000, has Enhanced Armor +5 points.

  Obviously, after the previous intense earthquake, this stone gate has been damaged a lot, with a long crack on it, which saved Hu Shiming and others a lot of effort. Zhao Feng also noticed this point and was invigorated.

  "Everyone come, go all out!"

  With this shout, he began to pound the stone gate with one fist after another.