17: Lightspeed slap in the face

Su Wanqing raised her eyebrows slightly, a hint of sharpness flashing in her previously tired eyes.

“Lin Feng, it seems your talent isn’t the only trashy thing; your character is just as despicable. You probably cheated a lot in your studies before, didn’t you? Those academic scores of yours couldn’t possibly be legitimate, could they?!”

Su Wanqing’s voice clearly cut through the noise, and the surrounding waves of mockery instantly intensified.

Just then, a sharp-eyed Student in the crowd noticed Chen Yuxing’s abnormality.

“Look at Teacher Chen!”

Everyone’s gaze was drawn by his voice, all looking at Chen Yuxing in front of the dungeon recorder.

“Lin Feng, do you see? Look how angry you’ve made Teacher Chen! His hands are shaking like he has Parkinson’s!”

“You good-for-nothing! Even Teacher Chen, who has the best temper, can’t stand you anymore!”

As everyone focused their eyes, they indeed saw Chen Yuxing’s face flush red, his hands and even his entire body trembling uncontrollably. He looked as if he was furious to the extreme!

“Awesome, Lin Feng, to make Teacher Chen this angry, you’re quite a talent!”

“Teacher Chen, don’t let it get to you. It’s not worth it for such trash!”

The accusations and schadenfreude on the plaza reached their peak. Everyone was convinced that Lin Feng, this one-star good-for-nothing, was not only cowardly and afraid to fight, but also repeatedly wasted precious teleportation array resources, and had even angered the usually gentle Chen Yuxing to the point of trembling all over!

Xiong Gang and Su Wanqing exchanged glances, a slight smirk playing on their lips.

Seeing Lin Feng being mocked by everyone, their mood was a thousand times better than after a long-awaited rain!

Lin Feng stood calmly in the center of the teleportation array, his gaze sweeping over the trembling Chen Yuxing, then over the smug Xiong Gang and Su Wanqing, and finally over the laughing and mocking Students.

“Teacher Chen, please open the Dire Wolf Den on Hard difficulty.”

His voice wasn’t loud, but many still heard it.

The plaza instantly fell silent, followed by an even more violent burst of laughter.

“Pfft—! Hard difficulty? Did I hear that right?”

“Lin Feng, trying to save face with such a grandstanding method is useless, isn’t it?”

“A one-star good-for-nothing Summoner wants to challenge a Hard difficulty dungeon? Do you know what Hard difficulty means? Even the regular monsters in there are Black Iron Level Six and above!”

Chen Yuxing was also stunned by Lin Feng’s sudden request, forcefully pulling a thread of his mind back from the immense shock.

He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself, but his voice was still strained.

“Lin… Lin Feng, the teleportation array prepared by the school this time does not have permission to open the Dire Wolf Den on Hard difficulty. That’s a training ground for higher-level Professionals! Moreover, entering a Hard difficulty dungeon requires a Professional Level of at least Black Iron Level Five! You probably don’t qualify yet!”

Chen Yuxing looked at Lin Feng, discovering that Lin Feng was already Black Iron Level Two, and was slightly surprised again.

However, his words seemed to seal Lin Feng’s fate, making his desire to challenge the Dire Wolf Den on Hard difficulty a pipe dream, and also solidified the Students’ belief in Lin Feng’s “overestimation of his abilities” and “grandstanding.”

Hearing that he couldn’t enter the Dire Wolf Den on Hard difficulty, Lin Feng was slightly disappointed, but he still tried to ask if the teleportation array could access other dungeons.

After receiving Chen Yuxing’s negative reply, Lin Feng nodded helplessly, took a step, and walked towards the outside of the plaza.

As he passed, Students constantly cast disdainful glances and mockery at him.

“Tch, what’s he putting on an act for!”

“A good-for-nothing is a good-for-nothing. Once exposed, he tucks his tail and runs!”

As Lin Feng left, the Students’ attention returned to Xiong Gang’s team, who had just emerged from the Easy difficulty dungeon, looking exhausted but still basking in the admiring gazes of the crowd.

However, there are always curious people in a crowd.

While Chen Yuxing was still staring blankly at the recorder’s light screen, a Student quickly approached.

【Dire Wolf Den (Easy) · Solo · First Place Completion Record: 5 minutes 23 seconds! Lin Feng!】

【Dire Wolf Den (Normal) · Solo · First Place Completion Record: 12 minutes 47 seconds! Lin Feng!】

These two lines of text, like a red-hot branding iron, seared deeply into this person’s retina!

“Uh… uh…”

Wang Hao pointed at the light screen, his throat emitting strange, unintelligible sounds, his body trembling even more violently than Chen Yuxing’s.

“Wang Hao, what’s wrong?”

The person next to him was startled by his ghost-seeing appearance and quickly asked.

Wang Hao stiffly turned his neck to look at his companion, his eyes hollow, as if his soul had been sucked out.

“What exactly is wrong?”

“What’s on the record?”

“Speak up, Wang Hao!”

Doubt spread like a plague through the crowd, and more and more people couldn’t hold back, gathering around to try and see the contents of the light screen.

“Oh my god!!”

“This… this is impossible!”

“Are my eyes… playing tricks on me?!”

“5 minutes 23 seconds?! Easy difficulty?! Solo?!”

“12 minutes 47 seconds?! Normal difficulty?! Solo?!”

“Is… is it Lin Feng? That good-for-nothing Lin Feng?!”

Everyone who saw the record instantly mirrored Wang Hao’s expression of stunned speechlessness and disbelief.

The entire plaza, after a brief period of dead silence, erupted into a roar!

“5 minutes 23 seconds? Solo completion of the Dire Wolf Den on Easy difficulty?! This speed… is several times shorter than the completion time of Senior Xiong Gang and his five-person team!”

“12 minutes 47 seconds? Solo completion of Normal difficulty?! Is this record insane?!”

“The previous Easy difficulty dungeon completion record was 25 minutes 46 seconds! Boss Xiong Gang and his team completed it in 23 minutes 18 seconds! They also broke the previous dungeon record!”

“23 minutes 18 seconds? What the hell is that, Lin Feng did it in 5 minutes 23 seconds! The difference is a full 4 times!”

“How is this possible?! He’s clearly just a one-star trashy Summoner!”

“There must be a problem with the record?! How could a one-star Summoner clear the Dire Wolf Den on Normal difficulty?!”

“He just said he wanted to enter Hard difficulty… Could he really…”

A huge shock, like a tsunami, swept across the entire plaza. All the Students were dumbfounded, their minds buzzing, completely unable to comprehend this scene that defied their understanding.

The disdain on Su Wanqing’s face had long since frozen, replaced by deep bewilderment and anger.

The smugness and pride on Xiong Gang’s face shattered completely when he heard the continuous gasps of surprise and the clear “5 minutes 23 seconds” and “12 minutes 47 seconds”!

A rush of blood went straight to his head, his face burning hot!

“Impossible! Absolutely impossible!”

Xiong Gang violently pushed aside the people in front of him, rushing a few steps to Chen Yuxing’s side, his gaze fixed on the two dazzling records on the light screen.

“Teacher Chen!”

Xiong Gang sharply turned his head, his eyes bloodshot as he looked at Chen Yuxing.

“There’s a problem with this record! How could Lin Feng, a one-star good-for-nothing, set these two records?! He must have used some despicable means, or the recording system is broken! I don’t believe it!”

He pointed at the teleportation array, his voice hoarse and distorted with excitement and anger.

“Open the teleportation! Open the Dire Wolf Den on Normal difficulty for me right now! I want to go in and verify it myself! I want to expose his trickery!”

Xiong Gang’s roar was particularly jarring in the noisy plaza.

His words also represented the thoughts of some Students who couldn’t accept reality. For a moment, many eyes focused on Chen Yuxing, awaiting his decision.

However, Chen Yuxing, who had gradually regained his composure, sharply turned his head after hearing Xiong Gang’s almost unreasonable demand.

His bloodshot eyes, sharp as knives, pierced Xiong Gang.

“Verify?”

Chen Yuxing’s voice carried an undeniable authority.

“Xiong Gang, mind your attitude! This record is accurate! There’s nothing wrong with the system!”

He unceremoniously scanned Xiong Gang and his team members behind him, who were covered in injuries and looked dispirited, his tone resolute.

“Challenge the Dire Wolf Den on Normal difficulty? In your current state? Your professional energy is depleted, you’re covered in injuries, and some of you can barely stand… ”

“I’m telling you, in your team’s current state, even entering the Dire Wolf Den on Easy difficulty again would be difficult to clear!”

“You still want to enter the Dire Wolf Den on Normal difficulty?! Are you trying to die?! Go back and rest!”

Chen Yuxing’s words were like a bucket of ice water, poured harshly over Xiong Gang’s head, and also over the hearts of all the Students who harbored a glimmer of hope.

Xiong Gang’s face instantly changed from red to green, then from green to white. Being reprimanded so mercilessly in public, the immense shame almost suffocated him, and his body trembled violently from extreme anger and embarrassment…