Chapter 176: Realization: Condensing Water into Ice!

Ying Country.

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

A table over ten meters long was laden with an array of premium dishes and fine wines.

Those seated here were precisely the most elite prodigies of this year in Ying Country—the Ghost Gods.

"My lords!"

Yuuki Kenji stood up, holding a full cup of wine.

"To the Empire!"

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

Around the long table, members of the Ghost Gods eagerly rose to their feet.

"Cheers!"

"Long live the Great Ying Empire!"

All drained their cups.

At the main seat.

Shinonome Kyō's lips curled slightly.

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

"Hahaha, we were able to slap Long Country's face so hard thanks entirely to our captain and vice-captain!"

One Ghost Gods member loudly praised.

"Exactly right!"

Someone beside him immediately chimed in:

"Lord Shinonome's martial prowess is unmatched under heaven; Lord Tiancao's mind never misses a single calculation!"

"One scholar, one warrior—two supreme talents united, what is mere Long Country?"

"Exactly! In the upcoming World Arena, we won't just claim every exclusive weapon—we'll annihilate that so-called 'Long Xu Ban' until not a single piece of armor remains!"

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

Hearing their praise, Shinonome Kyō's smile deepened.

He relished this feeling.

Shinonome Kyō turned to Tiancao Zongyilang beside him and asked softly:

"Has Teacher Inoue not arrived yet?"

Tiancao Zongyilang glanced at the time, his tone calm:

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

Upon hearing this,

Shinonome Kyō slightly furrowed his brow, a flicker of unease in his eyes.

"A phone call takes this long?"

At that moment,

Boom!

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

The loud crash cut through the laughter and chatter in the hall.

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 his head slightly in greeting.

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

"Eat, eat, eat—do you still have the appetite to eat here? To celebrate?"

He roared.

This sudden outburst of thunderous rage plunged the entire hall into instant silence.

The Ghost Gods members exchanged uneasy glances.

Yuuki Kenji scratched his head and ventured cautiously:

"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,

Every person in the hall felt a sudden, heavy sinking in their chests.

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

They had just logged onto the school forum.

Floods of posts surged toward them like a tidal wave.

【Shocking! Long Country's Long Xu Ban forcefully reclaims the record!】

【1 minute 50 seconds! Where exactly is the limit of humanity?】

【Utter crushing! The Onmyoji Assembly has become the biggest joke!】

Kanonozuki Kyosuke's fingers trembled violently as he clicked on one of the posts.

Inside was an image of the Team Fuben record, along with that highly insulting comment.

"Damn it!!!"

Kanonozuki Kyosuke's eyes turned blood-red.

Humiliation!

Unprecedented humiliation!

Just a few hours ago, he had mocked the Dragon Kingdom's record as being so fragile it was tedious.

A few hours later, the other side had struck back with an incomprehensible record, using the exact same tone.

"Impossible..."

Tiancao Zongyilang stared fixedly at the screen, his voice trembling.

"This is absolutely impossible!"

"1 minute 50 seconds?!"

"How did the Dragon Kingdom people do it?!"

Inoue Takeshi let out a cold snort:

"How did they do it? I also want to know how they did it!"

"Do you not know that Foreign Minister Watanabe, my lord, is still on the Adams family's island?"

"Once this result came out, how much humiliation did my lord Watanabe endure!"

Inoue Takeshi swept his sharp gaze over the entire hall:

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

"For the upcoming Battle of Ten Thousand Nations, I do not want to see any accidents!"

"If you cannot slaughter this batch of Dragon Long Xu Ban on the battlefield, you will all commit seppuku to atone!"

In the suppressed atmosphere.

Yagyu Kenichi swallowed hard:

"Teacher Inoue... even if this record was broken, do we not still hold the records for the other two Team Fubens?"

Inoue Takeshi cut him off mercilessly, letting out a cold snort:

"Two records? That is only because a Team Fuben can be entered only once a day."

"What about tomorrow? What about the day after?"

"Do you dare guarantee that you can defend the remaining two records?"

Yagyu Kenichi fell silent instantly, not daring to say another word.

Just then.

Tiancao Zongyilang took a deep breath and spoke slowly:

"Teacher Inoue, according to normal logic, no matter who it is, it is absolutely impossible to achieve a time of 1 minute 50 seconds at this level."

"So I guess the Dragon Kingdom people must have found a loophole."

He adjusted his glasses, his tone certain:

"This is not without precedent; a hundred years ago, when the Land of India conquered the 【Dark Corridor】, they accidentally discovered a loophole and pushed the completion record into under three minutes."

"So this time, the Dragon Kingdom people must have also discovered a loophole; it is purely good luck."

"Otherwise, it is simply impossible to explain."

"Unless the Dragon Kingdom's geniuses, at this level stage, have mastered high-tier skills or even super-tier skills, perhaps only then would there be a chance to forcibly break the mechanism."

"Which one are you willing to believe?"

Hearing Tiancao Zongyilang's analysis.

The eyes of the Onmyoji Assembly members instantly lit up.

"Yes! My lord Zongyilang makes perfect sense!"

"At this level, how is it possible to master high-tier skills that deliver dimensional strikes? It must be a loophole!"

"Hmph, despicable Dragon Kingdom people!"

Upon hearing this, Inoue Takeshi's expression also softened slightly.

"I hope so."

"But regardless of whether it is a loophole, the humiliation is already stamped on the Empire's face!"

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

The Onmyoji Assembly members looked at each other in silence.

Kanonozuki Kyosuke took a deep breath and slowly stood up.

"Teacher Inoue is right."

"We were careless; we should not have let our guard down because of a small victory."

"I apologize to you."

Afterwards, Kanonozuki Kyosuke turned his head and looked at everyone:

"All units, stand up immediately and head to the wilderness!"

"Yes! Captain!"

Everyone answered in unison.

Seeing this, Inoue Takeshi nodded with satisfaction and turned to leave the hall.

Just as everyone was preparing to set out.

Tiancao Zongyilang looked at Kanna no Tsuki Kyō, "Captain, you all go ahead. I'll stay behind and study these Team Fuben a bit more."

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

Kanna no Tsuki Kyō gave him a deep look.

"Alright, I'll leave it to you."

……

The next morning, early.

Dragon Nation, Kyoto University villa district.

A wisp of warm sunlight spilled across the soft, large bed.

Lin Mo groggily turned over and slowly woke up.

"So comfortable…"

The first thing upon getting up.

Lin Mo habitually opened the system panel and tapped into the battle log.

Lines of information scrolled quickly before his eyes.

Mm, as expected, Hearing Xiao Huo and Xiao Lei had started another monster-killing speed contest.

"These two grinders, they really never get tired."

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

The next second.

His eyes suddenly lit up.

【Level: Lv. 30 (3%)】

"Level 30!"

Lin Mo did a sudden kip-up and sprang to his feet.

He could finally learn a new elemental skill!

Teacher Han Xue had said that to learn the ice element, one must first master the water element and successfully comprehend 'Freeze Water into Ice'.

This technique was extremely difficult.

The vast majority of water mages could never master 'Freeze Water into Ice' in their entire lives.

Lin Mo didn't hesitate in the slightest.

He directly pulled out the water-element basic skill book he had long prepared.

A thought stirred in his mind.

【Prompt: You have successfully used the skill book and learned the water-element basic skill, 'Water Arrow Art' (Lv. 1)!】

【As a pure spirit body born of the water element between heaven and earth, 'Water Arrow Art', by virtue of the absolute talent of a spirit of the elements, has self-comprehended 'Freeze Water into Ice' without a teacher!】

【Prompt: Your 'Water Arrow Art' has automatically metamorphosed and evolved into the ice-element basic skill 'Ice Cone Art' (Lv. 1)!】