Chapter 176: Realization: Condense Water into Ice!

Ying Country.

Inside a lavishly decorated banquet hall of the East Ying Academy.

A table over ten meters long was piled high with premium dishes and fine wines.

Those seated here were the most elite prodigies of this year in Ying Country—the Oni Corps.

"Gentlemen!"

Yuuki Kenji stood, holding a full cup of wine.

"To the Empire!"

"To our shattering of Long Country's record—cheers!"

Around the long table, members of the Oni Corps rose excitedly.

"Cheers!"

"Long live the Great Ying Empire!"

All drained their cups.

At the main seat.

Shinonome Kyō's lips curled slightly.

Beside him, Amanogawa Sōichirō silently adjusted his glasses, expression cold, as if the surrounding noise meant nothing to him.

"Hahahaha! We've made the Long Country people's faces swell so badly—all thanks to our captain and vice-captain!"

One Oni Corps member loudly praised.

"Exactly!"

Someone beside him immediately chimed in:

"Lord Shinonome's martial prowess is unmatched, and Lord Amanogawa's mind never misses a single calculation!"

"One literary, one martial—two supreme talents united, what are the Long Country people?"

"Exactly! In the upcoming World Arena, we won't just take all the exclusive weapons—we'll wipe out the so-called 'Dragon Order Class' completely!"

"Right! Let the Long Country prodigies tremble beneath our feet!"

Listening to the flattery, Shinonome Kyō's smile deepened.

He relished this feeling.

Shinonome Kyō turned to Amanogawa Sōichirō beside him and asked softly:

"Has Teacher Inoue not arrived yet?"

Amanogawa Sōichirō glanced at the time, voice calm:

"Teacher Inoue sent a message half an hour ago—he took a phone call and will arrive on time."

Upon hearing this,

Shinonome Kyō frowned slightly, a flicker of suspicion in his eyes.

"A phone call takes this long?"

At that moment,

Bang!

The wooden door of the banquet hall was violently shoved open from outside.

The loud crash cut through the laughter and chatter.

Everyone turned their heads in unison.

A middle-aged man strode in.

His face was dark, clearly suppressing fury.

Everyone rose from their seats.

"Teacher Inoue."

Shinonome Kyō also set down his cup and bowed slightly.

Inoue Yuu marched to the head of the table, stared at the lavish spread, and his eyelid twitched.

"Eat? Eat? You still have the appetite to eat? Celebrate?"

He roared.

The sudden outburst of rage plunged the entire hall into deathly silence.

Members of the Oni Corps exchanged uneasy glances.

Yuuki Kenji scratched his head, tentatively asking:

"Teacher Inoue… what's wrong?"

"Didn't we just break Long Country's top record and bring glory to the Empire…?"

"Glory?"

Inoue Yuu laughed bitterly with rage:

"Break a record?"

"Go check who holds the record now!"

At these words,

Everyone's hearts sank.

Shinonome Kyō's face changed instantly; he pulled out his phone.

They had just logged onto the school forum.

Floods of posts surged toward them.

【Shocking! Long Country's Dragon Order Class Reclaims the Record!】

【1 minute 50 seconds! Where is the limit of human capability?】

【Total domination—Oni Corps becomes the biggest joke!】

Shinonome Kyō's fingers trembled as he clicked open one of the posts.

It displayed a screenshot of the new record, along with a brutally insulting comment.

"Bastard!!!"

Shinonome Kyō's eyes turned bloodshot.

Humiliation!

Unprecedented humiliation!

Just hours ago, he had mocked Long Country's record as pathetically weak.

Hours later, they struck back with an impossible record, using the same tone.

"Impossible…"

Amanogawa Sōichirō stared at the screen, his voice trembling.

"This is impossible!"

"One minute fifty seconds?!"

"How did the Long Country people do it?!"

Inoue Yuu snorted:

"How did they do it? I'd like to know too!"

"Do you know that Minister Watanabe is still on the Adams family's island right now?"

"With this result, how much humiliation has Minister Watanabe endured?!"

Inoue Yuu's piercing gaze swept the room:

"Still eating? Get out! Go train! Go level up!"

"In the upcoming World Arena, I won't tolerate any surprises!"

"If you can't wipe out this year's Dragon Order Class on the battlefield, you'll all commit seppuku and apologize!"

Amid the suffocating silence,

Yuuki Kenji swallowed hard:

"Teacher Inoue… even if this record was broken, we still hold the other two team Fuben records, right?"

Inoue Yuu cut him off mercilessly, sneering:

"Two records? That's only because team Fuben can be entered once per day."

"What about tomorrow? The day after?"

"Can you guarantee you'll hold onto the remaining two records?"

Yuuki Kenji fell silent, daring not to speak another word.

At that moment,

Amanogawa Sōichirō took a deep breath and spoke slowly:

"Teacher Inoue, by normal logic, no one should be able to achieve a 1 minute 50 second time at this level."

"So I suspect the Long Country people have found a loophole."

He adjusted his glasses, voice certain:

"This isn't unprecedented—a hundred years ago, India's team accidentally discovered a loophole in the 【Dark Corridor】 and pushed the clear time under three minutes."

"So the Long Country people must have found a loophole too—pure luck."

"Otherwise, there's no explanation."

"Unless the Long Country prodigies have mastered a Gao Jie skill—or even a Super-Class skill—at this stage, there's no way they could forcibly break the system."

"Which one do you believe in?"

Upon hearing Amon Tensō's analysis.

The members of the Oni Clan instantly brightened.

"That's right! Lord Tensō speaks sense!"

"At this level, how could anyone master a high-tier skill like dimensional suppression? It's definitely a bug!"

"Hmph, treacherous Dragon Country people!"

Upon hearing this, Inoue Yu's expression softened slightly.

"I hope so."

"But whether or not it's a bug, the shame is already stamped on the Empire's face!"

"In any case, put away your ridiculous arrogance and get to training immediately!"

The members of the Oni Clan exchanged glances.

Kamitsuki Kyō took a deep breath and slowly stood up.

"Inoue-sensei is right."

"We were careless. We shouldn't have let our guard down after a minor victory."

"I apologize to you."

Then, Kamitsuki Kyō turned to face everyone:

"All of you, rise and head to the wilderness immediately!"

"Yes, Captain!"

Everyone responded in unison.

Seeing this, Inoue Yu nodded in satisfaction and turned to leave the hall.

Just as everyone prepared to move out.

Amon Tensō looked at Kamitsuki Kyō. "Captain, you go ahead. I'll stay behind to study these dungeons more carefully."

"If it's a bug, I believe I can find it too."

Kamitsuki Kyō gave him a long, deep look.

"Very well. I leave it to you."

…

The next morning.

Dragon Country, Kyoto University Villa District.

A warm ray of sunlight fell upon the soft bed.

Lin Mo stirred sleepily, slowly waking up.

"So comfortable..."

The first thing upon waking.

Lin Mo automatically opened his system panel and clicked on the battle log.

Lines of information flashed rapidly before his eyes.

Hmm, as expected, Little Fire and Little Thunder were racing to clear monsters again.

"Those two workaholics never get tired."

Lin Mo yawned, his gaze landing on his personal level.

The next second.

His eyes suddenly lit up.

【Level: Lv. 0 (3%)】

"Level 30!"

Lin Mo sprang up in a perfect fish leap.

Finally, he could learn a new elemental skill!

Teacher Han Xue had said: to master the Ice element, you must first master Water, and successfully comprehend "Condense Water into Ice."

This technique was extremely difficult.

Most Water users spent their entire lives unable to master "Condense Water into Ice."

Lin Mo did not hesitate.

He pulled out the Water-element basic skill book he had prepared long ago.

With a thought.

【Prompt: You have successfully used the skill book and learned the basic Water-element skill, "Water Arrow" (Lv. )!】

【As a pure spirit born of the elemental forces of Water, "Water Arrow" has, by virtue of your elemental spirit's innate Tianfu, spontaneously mastered "Condense Water into Ice"!】

【Prompt: Your "Water Arrow" has automatically evolved into the basic Ice-element skill "Ice Spike" (Lv. )!】