Chapter 198: Long Country Must Have Hacked a BUG

When Lin Mo's silhouette finally vanished from view.

Xu Wenchang stood in place, gazing at the direction Lin Mo had left, unable to hold back a long sigh.

"Ah…"

"What a monster."

Xu Wenchang counted on his fingers:

"Just this morning, he learned three high-grade ice techniques, one high-grade lightning technique—one of which he discovered on his own…"

At this point, Xu Wenchang looked up, his eyes filled with bitterness.

"Damn."

"Including the three he already knew, he now has seven high-grade skills altogether!"

"Heh…"

Xu Wenchang glanced at Guhe and Zhang Daoyuan, then chuckled bitterly:

"All three of us old men combined don't know as many high-grade skills as Lin Mo, this first-year student!"

"How absurd."

Hearing Xu Wenchang's words,

Zhang Daoyuan also sighed heavily beside him, his face utterly deflated.

"Xu, don't say any more—it's painful to compare."

Xu Wenchang laughed heartily.

"Enough with the self-pity."

He turned to Guhe:

"Principal, everything's done. Shall we head back?"

But,

Guhe shook his head.

"You two go back first."

"I'm not leaving."

"Huh?"

Xu Wenchang froze, staring at Guhe in confusion.

Guhe ignored Xu Wenchang's bewilderment.

He simply crossed his legs and sat down on the ground.

"I'll stay here to meditate."

"Lin Mo's words just now were too profound."

"I must seize this moment to fully comprehend them. You two go back."

"Ah, this…"

Xu Wenchang opened his mouth slightly.

Damn.

Is he that eager?

Whatever—he's in this state now, and no one can talk him out of it.

"Fine."

"Then good luck, Principal."

"Zhang, Teacher Han, let's go!"

With that, the group quietly left the Back Mountain Plain.

Only Guhe remained, sitting motionless atop the lifeless ice field.

……

……

Meanwhile,

Ying Country, Supreme Academy.

Replica Center Plaza.

At this moment, the entire plaza was packed with dense crowds of Ying Country students.

Everyone strained their necks, staring fixedly at the glowing rift in the plaza's center.

Hum—

With a ripple of spatial distortion,

twenty figures staggered out of the replica rift.

They were the current members of Ying Country's strongest prodigy group, "Oni Clan."

Now, these twenty individuals bore no trace of their former arrogance; their faces were filled with despair, even a hint of hopelessness.

Aso Katsuro's eyes were bloodshot, his hair disheveled.

The moment he stepped out of the replica, he immediately pulled out a tablet from his chest.

"This can't be…"

His fingers frantically swiped across the screen.

Even now, he believed the fault lay with himself—he had failed to uncover the perfect solution to this replica.

"How could this happen?"

"How did Long Country manage it?"

The surrounding Ying Country students, upon seeing them emerge and the unchanged replica record, erupted into murmurs.

"Did they fail?"

"Even the strongest Oni Clan ever assembled couldn't reclaim the record for Burial Dragon Snowfield?"

"This is insane… How did Long Country achieve a 1: 0 clearance of a Hell-tier dungeon? Is that even human?"

"It's cheating! Definitely cheating!"

"Yes! Long Country must have found an unknown exploit in this replica—they hacked a BUG to get this result!"

The students' chattering reached Shinomochi Kyō's ears.

Shinomochi Kyō clenched his teeth.

He glanced around at the faces filled with expectation, yet unmistakably tinged with disappointment.

His cheeks burned with shame!

Humiliation!

Utter humiliation!

Just yesterday, when they shattered Long Country's record, standing here, they had been so triumphant, basking in everyone's worship!

And now, only one night later,

their record had been crushed by Long Country.

Worse still, today they had personally attempted to reclaim it.

Yet they couldn't even match their own previous time.

"Enough, Aso."

Yanagi Ken'ichi reached out and gripped Aso Katsuro's hand, still frantically swiping the tablet.

He sighed, speaking in a low, soothing tone:

"Listen to the crowd."

"Everyone believes Long Country found a loophole in 'Burial Dragon Snowfield'—they hacked a BUG to achieve this!"

"This isn't about skill difference."

Yanagi Ken'ichi sneered:

"It's just one replica."

"Don't forget—we still hold the records for two other dungeons! Long Country can't find loopholes in every single one!"

Hearing Yanagi's words,

Aso Katsuro still muttered in a dazed rebuttal:

"No… If Long Country can find a loophole, then I, Aso, can too!"

"But…"

"I have no clue… It's impossible…"

"You've really lost it."

Yanagi Ken'ichi shook his head helplessly.

Then he glanced at the records above the other two replica rifts and snorted:

"Aso, look—this entire morning has passed, and the records for the other two dungeons are still ours."

"If Long Country truly had this ability, they would've reclaimed those records by now."

Don't tell me Long Country people sleep until noon?"

Hearing this,

Aso Katsuro snapped his head up.

He seemed to have just been awakened by Yanagi's words.

Yes...

If they really had that kind of strength, they would have reclaimed the record long ago.

When Yanagiba Kenichi saw this, he slapped Aso Sōichirō on the shoulder, his eyes blazing with murderous intent:

"Aso, if you really want to know how Longguo did it, it's simple..."

"Don't forget, among our cohort, what we're best at is killing, not grinding dungeons or chasing records."

"Once we reach the Ten Nations Battlefield, we'll capture Longguo's Dragon Order class, interrogate them brutally, and everything will become clear."

As he spoke, Yanagiba Kenichi licked his lips, his gaze cold and sinister.

Listening to these words, Aso Sōichirō's manic stare gradually faded, replaced by a sickly excitement on his face.

"That makes sense..."

"We must interrogate them—I must find out what loophole they exploited that I, Aso, never noticed."

At that moment,

Shinomochi Kyō spoke coldly.

"Enough. Let's go."

His voice carried a thread of fury.

He didn't want to stay here another second, surrounded by the watching students—each moment felt like public execution.

Saying this,

Shinomochi stepped forward first, heading toward the outside of the dungeon center.

Seeing this, the others suppressed their emotions and hurried after him.