Lin Xia knew that if he stayed any longer, he really wouldn't be able to hold on.
So he scrambled to his feet, then glanced at Meng Bo's corpse behind him and thought of what to say when everyone questioned him.
"I'll just insist you were killed by a monster..."
Lin Xia's voice was low, his gaze resolute.
If he hadn't been completely out of strength, he would definitely have destroyed the corpse.
Whoosh—!
The next moment, his figure vanished into the portal.
At the same time, the blood-red gaze hidden in the grass began to crawl frantically.
Before long, it reached Meng Bo's corpse.
The gaze drew closer and closer to the corpse's eyes, then finally burrowed inside.
Outside the secret realm.
Xie Feng had finally received the specially made explosives.
He hurriedly told the staff to prepare to blow up the secret realm.
Just then, amid the crackle of electricity, a bronze-colored portal abruptly appeared.
Everyone, who had been busy with their own tasks, turned to look in unison.
Their faces were filled with shock and disbelief.
In just a few seconds, all kinds of strange thoughts flooded into their minds.
Why had the secret realm's exit appeared?!
Could someone have cleared the secret realm?!
How was that possible?! The secret realm's boss was Level 5! And these kids were all Level 1 rookies!
Although, in theory, the odds of something like this happening were zero.
Faced with the facts right before their eyes, however, they had no choice but to accept them.
That raised another question.
Who had cleared the secret realm while so underleveled?
It was easy to notice the subtle changes in the faces of the rich and powerful led by Meng Dahai and Zhu Ledong.
They looked like gamblers who had placed their bets, firmly convinced they were the one lucky winner, and now waited for the results.
The next second, a battered figure stumbled out.
Disappointment flashed across their faces without any attempt to hide it, but a moment later, it was replaced by shock.
"Lin... Lin Xia?!"
Director Xie Feng and Teacher Xiao Ya exclaimed in unison. They rushed over and each caught one side of Lin Xia, who was about to collapse.
"Quick, take this!"
Xie Feng pulled out a Health Recovery Agent.
Lin Xia wanted to say something, but his eyelids grew heavier and heavier. The muscles around his mouth seemed to have lost their connection to his nerves, and he couldn't open his mouth at all.
Lin Xia's appearance had left everyone stunned, and the crowd fell completely silent.
But the staff quickly came to their senses and approached Xie Feng to ask whether they still needed to set up the explosives.
Xie Feng's answer was:
"Yes, set them up. We absolutely have to!"
Although he didn't know how Lin Xia had managed to come out alive,
that didn't mean the other students could do the same.
After receiving the order, the staff didn't waste any time and quickly got to work.
Just then, Meng Dahai ran over in a panic.
He wasn't stupid. Of course he knew something had happened to his son.
Otherwise, given his son's personality, how could he have let Lin Xia go out first?
"Meng... Meng Bo!?" Ignoring how weak Lin Xia looked, he frantically shook him by the shoulders. "Tell me, did Meng Bo kill the boss, and then you, you bastard, ambush him while he was exhausted?!"
"Mr. Meng, calm down!!"
Xiao Ya shouted angrily and pushed Meng Dahai's hands away. She cared deeply for this prodigy, who had descended upon her Class Four like a ray of light!
Seeing Meng Dahai take advantage of how weak Lin Xia was to not only lay hands on him, but also slander him in front of everyone...
The female teacher made no attempt to hide her anger. Her face taut, she glared fiercely at Meng Dahai. If he said another outrageous thing or laid a hand on Lin Xia again, she would slap him!
By now, the upperclassmen had recovered, and they erupted into a commotion.
"Oh my god, how did Lin Xia do it?!"
"This guy blew everyone away last time, instantly defeating all the other students, and now he's cleared a secret realm while underleveled... I don't get it. I really don't!!"
"I've got to get on good terms with Junior Lin Xia. He's bound to become a world-renowned powerhouse someday, and then I'll be connected too!"
"What good is being connected? I'm going to be his girlfriend. Once we're married, I'll be able to do whatever I want throughout the Great Xia Empire!"
"B-but dude, you're a guy!"
"..."
On the other side, Zhu Ledong took a deep breath. Even after all this time, he still couldn't believe that Lin Xia had cleared the secret realm while underleveled.
"You—!"
Meng Dahai pointed at Lin Xia's nose. He was about to say something when a staff member suddenly ran over and interrupted him.
"D-Director, we got it wrong!" the staff member stammered. "The secret realm boss's level was secretly altered. Its actual level is 8!!"
Those words rang out in everyone's ears like a thunderclap from a clear sky.
"What?!"
The upperclassmen, who had just been discussing Lin Xia, now covered their heads and gaped at one another, their faces full of shock.
Xie Feng, Xiao Ya, Zhu Ledong, and the others could barely breathe.
Lin Xia, who was Level 1, had entered a secret realm teeming with Level 5 monsters, killed them all, and even taken down the Level 8 monster boss... W-who would believe that?!
Even boasting couldn't go that far!
And yet it had really happened to Lin Xia!!
Even Meng Dahai, who had been worried about his son just moments earlier, was so shaken by the news that he slumped to the ground, shaking his head frantically and insisting it couldn't be true!
After that, no one spoke again.
Instead, they all turned to look at Lin Xia as if he were a demon.
"The explosives are in place! Detonation in three seconds!"
No one knew how much time had passed before the staff member's shout broke the suffocating silence.
The parents, delighted that their children were about to be rescued, all turned their eyes away from Lin Xia and toward the secret realm's entrance.
"Three!"
"Two!"
The moment the staff member reached two, the familiar crackle of electricity sounded.
The secret realm's portal appeared again.
"What?!"
Everyone was dumbfounded.
Had someone else cleared the secret realm?!
"You really are something, you know. We cleared it together, but you didn't even wait for me to come out with you."
At the sound of that all-too-familiar voice,
Lin Xia's heart clenched. His body trembled slightly, then he whipped his head around—Meng Bo's figure had emerged from the portal!
In an instant, almost everyone rushed over to Meng Bo, with only Xie Feng and Xiao Ya staying beside Lin Xia to support him.
Compared to Lin Xia's battered appearance, Meng Bo's unharmed arrival was even more shocking.
But while the crowd buzzed with excitement,
Lin Xia's heart pounded as if it were about to burst from his chest. The hairs on his body stood on end, and cold sweat nearly soaked his entire back!
Wasn't this guy dead?!
I saw his health bar turn gray with my own eyes!
How could someone come back from the dead?!
Had I missed something... Was Meng Bo actually pretending to be dead?
No, impossible!
I was sure Meng Bo had died!
But if Meng Bo really was dead... then who was standing right in front of me?!
Before you continue