Chapter 188: As Long as You Understand, It

Under the tree.

Lin Mo stopped paying attention to the arguments among the skills.

He stood up and casually brushed off the grass clippings from his buttocks.

Seeing Lin Mo rise.

The group nearby immediately perked up and hurried forward.

"Lin Mo!"

Han Xue walked at the front, her tone carrying a hint of anticipation.

"How was it?"

"What did you just… realize?"

Han Xue's hands clenched unconsciously.

She had a faint premonition.

Her prized intermediate self-created skill might already have been terrifyingly improved by this boy before her.

Lin Mo looked at the expectant faces of the group.

"Hmm… not bad."

"I just followed the logic of Master Han's skill and did a bit of deduction."

"Seems like… I accidentally realized a high-grade skill: 【Frigid Winter · Ten Thousand Blade Ice Burial Array】."

At these words.

Everyone exchanged bewildered glances.

"H… high-grade skill?!"

Fang Lei and Li Xueren exchanged a look.

"【Frigid Winter · Ten Thousand Blade Ice Burial Array】?"

"I don't recall any high-grade skill by that name?"

Gu He and Xu Wenchang were also stunned.

Though well-traveled, they had never heard of this skill before.

All eyes turned simultaneously to Han Xue, the one who had studied ice the deepest.

At this moment, Han Xue stared fixedly at Lin Mo:

"【Frigid Winter · Ten Thousand Blade Ice Burial Array】…"

"Lin Mo, is this… your self-created skill?"

Lin Mo rubbed his chin.

"Uh… I guess so?"

"Is this move not in any existing skill book?"

Hearing Lin Mo's question, Han Xue shook her head:

"No."

"As far as I know, no such skill exists among all high-grade ice techniques in the world."

Upon Han Xue's confirmation.

At that moment, every face showed shock.

Fang Lei's mouth hung open:

"My god…"

"He just glanced at Master Han's intermediate self-created skill, perfectly replicated it, and then improved it into a brand-new high-grade self-created skill?!"

Li Xueren clutched her head, feeling her worldview collapse.

"This is insane!"

"He's only a freshman!!!"

Xu Wenchang also exchanged glances with Zhang Daoyuan.

Though they both assumed it wouldn't be surprising if Lin Mo produced a high-grade ice skill today,

they never imagined…

He could actually create a high-grade skill from scratch!

Han Xue stood frozen, her face filled with horror.

Frigid Winter · Ten Thousand Blade Ice Burial Array.

The skill's name indeed sounded connected to her own intermediate self-created skill.

Could he, merely through imagination, forcibly elevate her self-created skill to the high-grade level?

If the person standing before Han Xue weren't Lin Mo,

she would never believe such an absurd thing could happen—even if killed for it!

"Good… very good…"

Han Xue struggled to calm her emotions.

"Lin Mo, try it out."

"Let me see just how powerful your self-created high-grade skill really is!"

Hearing Han Xue's words,

Lin Mo nodded.

"Alright, Master Han."

With that,

he turned and walked away, facing the countless specially made wooden stakes in the center of the plain.

All eyes fixed on Lin Mo's back.

Lin Mo halted.

He raised his right hand and silently issued an order in his mind.

"Xiao Bing, your turn."

【"Ice Spike Technique" let out an excited squeal: "Hehe, watch me!"】

Hum—!!!

Almost instantly,

an utterly terrifying, soul-freezing coldness descended!

This was no ordinary chill.

It was a deathly cold capable of draining the very breath of life!

Behind him,

Zhang Daoyuan's face changed drastically.

"No good!"

Without hesitation, he swung his hand backward.

A massive tower shield instantly materialized.

Boom!

The tower shield slammed into the ground.

A protective barrier erupted outward,

firmly shielding everyone within.

"Don't move!"

Zhang Daoyuan shouted at the four senior students.

The instant he spoke,

the freezing storm surged like a tidal wave, spreading wildly in all directions.

Crack crack crack crack crack—!!!

Centered on Lin Mo,

the earth of the plain before him instantly turned into a dead-white glacier!

The countless wooden stakes were instantly encased in thick, solid ice.

The storm swept forward.

Boom!

The extreme cold slammed violently into Zhang Daoyuan's shield.

Though Zhang Daoyuan, a high-level expert, easily withstood the residual force of this high-grade skill,

the ripples of frost surging across the shield still sent chills down the spines of those sheltered behind it!

Fang Lei fell onto his butt, voice trembling:

"Damn… is this… the pressure of Lin Mo the Demon Lord?"

Li Xueren murmured:

"If Director Zhang hadn't opened his shield, we'd probably be dead already…"

The group peered through the shield.

Not only had the ground and stakes frozen,

even the air seemed veiled in a mist of snow.

That was an ice mist phenomenon, caused by impurities and moisture in the air freezing...

Ice crystals filled the sky, refracting a chilling glow in the sunlight.

Exquisitely beautiful.

Yet radiating a suffocating pressure of death.

Han Xue stared ahead, murmuring:

"This… is truly a high-tier skill…"

Lin Mo, in the distance.

His gaze was utterly cold.

He raised his right hand and suddenly clenched it into a fist.

"Explode."

Puff! Puff! Puff! Puff! Puff!

A series of muffled sounds emerged from within the frozen wooden stakes.

The sounds were not loud.

Everyone froze.

From the outside,

the thick, solid ice coating the stakes remained perfectly intact.

No shards flew.

No ice blades whirled.

Everything seemed… unchanged?

"This… failed?"

Fang Lei scratched his head, puzzled.

Li Xueren was equally baffled.

All thunder, no rain?

Just then,

Lin Mo casually waved his hand.

Hum—

The absolute-zero domain covering the plain vanished instantly like a receding tide.

The ice coating the stakes likewise dissolved into the air.

In the instant the ice vanished,

Crack! Crack! Crack!

A dense chorus of snapping sounds erupted.

Boom!

Countless wooden stakes, deprived of their outer ice support, shattered completely!

Everyone stared closely.

Every fallen stake, without exception, was riddled with countless dense, massive holes!

Internally, they had clearly been shredded into pulp.

"Ice blades… piercing from within?!"

Han Xue murmured.

Fang Lei, Li Xueren, and others turned pale with shock.

First, absolute freezing at absolute zero.

Then, direct, all-angle ice-blade Jiaosha from within!

Impossible to defend against!

This was the terrifying power of this high-tier skill!

Fang Lei and Li Xueren exchanged glances and involuntarily shuddered.

Imagine being frozen solid.

Then, thousands upon thousands of ice blades suddenly sprouting inside your body…

What the hell kind of sadistic torture skill is this?!

"No wonder he's Lin Mo the Demon Lord…"

Fang Lei swallowed hard and sighed.

Meanwhile,

Zhang Daoyuan retracted his giant shield.

He looked at the pile of shattered wood pulp, then turned to Guhe and asked quietly:

"Principal…"

"These new wooden stakes from the Academy… must've been expensive, right?"

Hearing this,

Guhe's face went rigid.

"Oh my god, I forgot about that!"

"Each one costs several million!"

"The Academy said these stakes can fully withstand mid-tier skills…"

"Even a newly awakened, poorly controlled high-tier skill should endure a few hits."

Guhe wanted to cry.

Yes.

Most people who just awakened a high-tier skill lacked control—they couldn't unleash its true power.

But he forgot one thing.

This kid Lin Mo never knew the meaning of "inexperienced" when mastering a skill!

The moment he understood it, his precision was already maxed out!

So many stakes—tens of millions at least—wiped out in a single move…

Xu Wenchang watched Guhe's agonized expression and patted his shoulder:

"Principal, it's fine."

"After all, this is the 'tuition' of our nation's future Supreme Mage. Worth every penny—absolutely worth it!"