After dispatching the assassin squad, the sisters didn't linger. They switched to walking and continued their nighttime reconnaissance.
"Sis, no more flying?" Lin Xiyue asked, still yearning for more. The sensation of flight had been incredible.
"Flying consumes too much stamina," Lin Qingyue replied. "The night is still young."
Lin Xiyue immediately understood. She raised her shield, taking up the rear guard position as the two silently established a perfect tactical formation.
Walking at night amplified their senses to an almost infinite degree.
The rustle of wind through the treetops, the distant low growl of an unknown beast, even the faint scuttling of insects in the soil—every sound reached their ears with startling clarity.
Without the vast, open view from the sky, every shadow could conceal a deadly threat.
"Halt."
Lin Qingyue suddenly raised her hand in a simple tactical gesture.
Lin Xiyue froze instantly, lowering her stance and holding her shield defensively in front of her. Her gaze followed her sister's line of sight.
In a small clearing ahead, a campfire burned brightly.
Two figures sat by the fire.
One was a burly Berserker, frowning as he meticulously wiped down his massive, notched battle-ax.
The other was an Elemental Mage, his robe torn with several large holes. His face was as pale as paper, a clear sign of mana exhaustion and mental fatigue.
A decimated team.
As Lin Qingyue and her sister approached like ghosts, the two men remained completely oblivious.
"Lao Zhang... do you think we can even last until dawn?" the Mage asked weakly. "Li Ming's been eliminated, and we're almost out of potions. If a full squad finds us now, we're done for."
The Berserker sighed, his voice heavy. "There are still about ten hours left. We'll just have to hold out as long as we can. Dammit, who could've guessed this year's College Entrance Exam Dungeon would be so insane? The monsters are all on steroids, and the other candidates are like starving wolves."
They chatted listlessly, their conversation filled with uncertainty and anxiety about the future.
Lin Xiyue lowered her voice, her eyes gleaming with excitement. "Sis, should we make our move? Two weakened targets—that's free points!"
But Lin Qingyue shook her head. "No."
"Why not?" Lin Xiyue asked, confused. "They look completely defenseless!"
"Silly girl," Lin Qingyue chided gently, tapping her sister's head. "Do you really think this is just a simple points match?"
Lin Qingyue gently tapped her sister's head. "This is also an assessment of our character and strategic mindset. Eliminating those who attack us first is self-defense. Taking out that Assassin squad that was clearly setting an ambush was seizing the initiative. But attacking a team that no longer poses a threat? In the examiners' eyes, our evaluation would drop."
She gazed at the two desperate figures, her tone utterly calm.
"We are hunters, not butchers. Hunters don't waste energy on carrion."
Lin Xiyue instantly understood.
"Got it. It's not worth lowering our evaluation for such a meager gain."
"We're aiming for the top of the leaderboard, after all."
The two sisters silently withdrew, continuing their stealthy advance deeper into the Dungeon.
Over the next hour, they encountered several more teams.
Their situations were all similar to the last one.
Most squads had lost their fighting spirit and switched to a defensive, hunkered-down strategy, just trying to survive the final night.
The "night of carnage" Lin Qingyue had anticipated never materialized.
"Sis, something's not right," Lin Xiyue said, also sensing the problem. "It feels like... everyone's too exhausted to fight anymore. Did we overthink it? Maybe the final free-for-all is already over?"
"Impossible."
Lin Qingyue flatly denied it, pointing at the Points Leaderboard.
"Look. The points of the top three teams have barely moved since we took our break. What does that tell you?"
Lin Xiyue leaned closer. Sure enough, the point totals for the top three squads seemed frozen in place.
"It means the real hunters, like us, have all gone into hiding."
Lin Qingyue's voice turned cold.
"This calm is just the deep, dead silence beneath the ocean's surface before the storm hits."
Just as she finished speaking, Lin Qingyue's body suddenly stiffened.
A tightness gripped her chest, and the Power of Holy Light surging within her recoiled violently, like ice water poured into boiling oil.
As a Priest, her perception of life and death energies far surpassed that of ordinary people.
And right now, she clearly sensed an immense, frigid, and deathly still energy source somewhere in the Dungeon.
That energy was the natural enemy of Holy Light.
"What's wrong, Sis?" Lin Xiyue noticed her strange reaction. Though a Paladin herself, she specialized in defense rather than Holy Light, making her perception significantly weaker.
"There's a strong fluctuation of Necrotic Energy." Lin Qingyue stared grimly into the depths of the darkness. "In that direction."
"Necrotic Energy? Why would there be Necrotic Energy here?"
"I don't know, but it's massive." Lin Qingyue felt the nauseating energy waves. "Let's go check it out."
"Now? Just the two of us?" Lin Xiyue hesitated.
"We'll scout first," Lin Qingyue decided. "If things look bad, we'll retreat. But an anomalous energy source this large is very likely the final trial."
The two immediately changed direction, moving cautiously toward the source of the ominous aura.
The closer they got, the stranger the environment became.
The vibrant jungle vanished, replaced by bare, black scorched earth.
A faint, putrid stench began to permeate the air.
The temperature plummeted, a bone-chilling cold that seeped into their very marrow.
The chirping of insects and birds fell completely silent.
The world was dead quiet.
"Sis, it's so cold here." Lin Xiyue couldn't help but hug her arms. She could feel the Power of Holy Light within her being slightly suppressed.
"The corrosive effect of Necrotic Energy," Lin Qingyue explained in a low voice. "Be careful. We're very close to the source now."
Suddenly...
Klak... klak... klak...
A rhythmic, uniform sound of scraping metal echoed faintly from ahead.
The sound wasn't loud, yet it struck like a heavy hammer, perfectly synchronized with their heartbeats, causing their breath to catch in their throats.
Lin Qingyue's pupils contracted sharply. She grabbed Lin Xiyue and ducked behind a massive boulder.
She gestured for her sister to be silent, then cautiously peeked out from a crack in the rock.
The next moment, she witnessed a sight she would never forget.
On the distant horizon, an endless army was slowly advancing toward them.
At its head rode a knight on a colossal skeletal warhorse.
He was clad head to toe in menacing black armor, his greatsword glowing with eerie blue runes. Beneath the T-shaped visor of his helmet, two ghastly white soulfires flickered.
A Death Knight!
And behind him, an infinite horde of undead soldiers!
There were Skeleton Soldiers wielding rusted iron swords, slow-moving but immensely powerful Stitched Zombies, and Specters floating mid-air, emitting piercing, mournful shrieks.
This undead army numbered far more than just a few hundred!
They marched in neat formations, their steps mechanical and silent.
The countless ghastly soulfires merged into a cold, despairing sea of death.
Lin Xiyue, peering through another crack, saw the same scene. A chill shot straight up her spine, and she clamped a hand over her mouth to stifle a gasp.
"Heavens..."
Lin Xiyue's eyes widened, her voice trembling with utter shock. "This is a College Entrance Exam Dungeon? This scale... it's a small-scale battle!"
"Yes, and no."
Lin Qingyue's expression was more solemn than ever before. "This is an Undead Scourge."
Theoretically, undead were the favorite enemies for Holy Light classes to deal with.
A Paladin's [Judgment] or a Priest's [Exorcism] had a devastatingly suppressive effect on them.
But that depended on the numbers.
One undead was an experience pack.
Ten undead were a minor nuisance.
A hundred undead were a life-or-death struggle.
And this undead army, led by a Death Knight and numbering over five hundred...
For a College Entrance Exam team of at most four people, with the highest level being under 25, this wasn't a battle.
It was a cataclysm!
Even a level 30 or 40 Grand Knight would turn and flee at the sight of this formation.
If the sisters charged in now, it would be like a mantis trying to stop a chariot—they would be instantly overwhelmed by that white sea of bones.
"Shouldn't we... run, Sis?"
A hint of terror crept into Lin Xiyue's voice. The scene before her had completely shattered her understanding of what an "exam" should be.
"No."
Lin Qingyue shook her head.
Her eyes held no fear; instead, they burned with an almost manic light.
"Don't move. Stay hidden."
Her voice was strained with suppressed excitement.
"Let's see where they're headed."
Her heart pounded wildly.
But not from fear—from excitement!
This was what she wanted!
This was the final revelry!
A boss event of this scale... if they successfully cleared it, the points and rewards would be astronomical!
The top scorer's throne was right before her eyes!
Of course, that was all contingent on one thing...
Surviving