Chapter 787 – Three Thousand Mirror Ruins 54

Chapter 787 – Three Thousand Mirror Ruins 54

Yan Shuang quickly gave a brief overview of the exit locations and important precautions for the Moss Stone Forest and Water-Eroded Caverns.

“Thank you, teacher! I understand, I’ll definitely use them carefully!”

Mo Lan’s face showed just the right amount of delight and gratitude as she respectfully accepted the three life-saving mirror space passes.

On the surface, she was merely a novice Mirror Explorer who had only extracted a single beast core skill.

These three mirror spaces were indeed well-suited to her current apparent level.

With these, the safety of her solo explorations would undoubtedly be greatly enhanced.

However, only she herself knew that the three options Teacher Yan Shuang had provided were all far too low-level for her true strength.

The Moss Stone Forest and Water-Eroded Caverns were both one-star mirror spaces, and the Kaleidoscope Wilderness was a two-star mirror space.

Not only did they pose no challenge to her whatsoever, but even if she wanted to collect their specialty resources as card-crafting materials, it would be far more efficient to simply purchase them with mirror coins than to spend her own time exploring and gathering.

What she needed were higher-grade beast cores and rarer materials.

Compared to the handful of one-star and two-star mirror spaces available through the Academy’s Mirror Clarity Hall, the well-established seven-star mirror space “Gushing Spring Forest Sea” at the Deer Cry Mirror’s Mirror Exploration Center was far more suitable for her.

Aside from the still-in-development eight-star mirror space “Landscape Dense Forest,” Gushing Spring Forest Sea was the highest-rated mirror space open to the public in all of Deer Cry Mirror.

Over ninety percent of the high-star Mirror Explorers in the entire Deer Cry Mirror domain had obtained their beast core skills from the mirror beasts within Gushing Spring Forest Sea.

Of course, the price of a single entry wasn’t cheap either—the cheapest ticket cost ten thousand mirror coins, and there were time limits on exploration.

“Come, let’s test your psychic power!” Teacher Yan Shuang’s voice interrupted her thoughts.

Mo Lan quickly gathered her focus and followed her teacher toward the psychic power testing device in the corner of the training ground.

She controlled the output of her psychic power, and the light column rose steadily, easily passing the One-Star Fifth Stage mark—the level she was supposed to be at on paper.

She didn’t stop. A thought flickered through her mind—if she wanted to go to Gushing Spring Forest Sea, she’d need a plausible reason.

The light column continued to climb, breaking through the sixth stage, then the seventh, before finally settling firmly at the One-Star Eighth Stage mark.

It’s been quite a few months now. Rising to One-Star Eighth Stage shouldn’t be too outrageous, right?

Mo Lan withdrew her hand with a hint of anxiety, sneaking a glance up at Yan Shuang.

“…” Yan Shuang stared at the final test result in silence.

Although nearly two months had passed since the last test, and Mo Lan had previously been capable of advancing five stages in three months—making three stages in two months seem not particularly fast by comparison—

Yan Shuang knew all too well just how grueling cultivation in the wild could be.

Mind jade cultivation was extremely taxing on one’s mental faculties. At night, one had to keep watch against mirror beast ambushes. Most people struggled just to get enough rest to maintain their psychic power reserves, let alone make breakthroughs.

This result could only mean one thing: over these past two months, Mo Lan’s cultivation had barely been affected at all.

How much willpower must it take to persist in cultivating psychic power under such conditions! Recalling how Mo Lan had endured the agony of body tempering in the medicinal pool while still reading and studying, Yan Shuang convinced herself—this child’s willpower truly was that extraordinary.

“Not bad.” After a long pause, those two words finally squeezed past Yan Shuang’s lips. Her gaze lingered on Mo Lan’s face for a moment before she abruptly shifted topics: “Regarding your subsequent skill extractions, do you have any ideas?”

This child’s psychic power was rising too quickly. It was time to start planning what beast core skills to extract next.

“Yes!” Mo Lan said eagerly. “For my second one-star beast core skill, I still want to focus on support—disrupting enemies and creating offensive openings. The skill I currently have my eye on the most is the ‘White Light Flash’ skill from the Thorn-Spined Glowworm.”

She explained in detail: “This skill can release an intense burst of light in an instant to disrupt an enemy’s vision. It can work in tandem with my ‘Glimmer Phantom’ to create more convincing illusions, and it can also create opportunities for me to attack or retreat.”

Yan Shuang gave a slight nod, a glint of approval flashing in her eyes. “A very clever choice. ‘White Light Flash’ would indeed perfectly complement the gaps in your current skill set and create tactical synergy.”

“However… the Thorn-Spined Glowworm isn’t found in any of the mirror spaces available through Mirror Clarity Hall, is it? Let me think… I believe Gushing Spring Forest Sea has them…”

Mo Lan nodded enthusiastically. The whole reason she had brought up this particular skill was precisely because the Thorn-Spined Glowworm was a specialty mirror beast of Gushing Spring Forest Sea. It was the perfect opportunity to give herself a good reason to go there, and she could also see if Teacher Yan Shuang had any intelligence about Gushing Spring Forest Sea.

Yan Shuang’s tone shifted, her brows furrowing slightly. “…But a seven-star mirror space would be too dangerous for you, and I have classes to teach so I can’t get away…”

Mo Lan’s heart sank slightly. She was about to press her case further when she saw Yan Shuang produce an antique-looking small mirror with silver edges from within her robes.

The mirror’s surface shimmered with a water-ripple luster, and its back was engraved with intricate star-track patterns.

“Take this.” Yan Shuang handed the small mirror to her. “This is an unlimited-duration exploration pass for Gushing Spring Forest Sea. It also comes with ten instant teleportation charges—once activated, you’ll be immediately teleported out of Gushing Spring Forest Sea.

I’ve used it once, so there are nine teleportation charges remaining. With this, you shouldn’t need to worry about safety.”

Mo Lan’s hand froze in midair, her eyes filled with shock. “This is too precious… Teacher, I can’t…”

Something like this—its value couldn’t be measured in mirror coins. It was impossible to buy even if you wanted to. Mo Lan had never even heard of such a thing.

The Academy couldn’t possibly provide something like this, which meant it could only belong to Teacher Yan Shuang personally.

It was far too precious. She didn’t dare accept it.

“Take it.” Yan Shuang’s tone brooked no refusal. “This was one of the rewards I received from the Deer Cry Mirror domain when I placed first in the national Mirror Explorer Academy entrance examination years ago.”

She fixed Mo Lan with a blazing gaze. “I believe that with your talent and dedication, you can claim the top spot next year as well. When that time comes, you can simply return a new one to me.”

“I will absolutely not let you down, teacher!” Mo Lan’s fingers trembled slightly as she accepted the pass.

After a moment, unable to contain her curiosity, she ventured a question: “Teacher, this was only one of the rewards for placing first in the national Mirror Explorer Academy entrance examination? What were the other rewards?”

“Oh? Interested?” The corner of Yan Shuang’s lips curved upward. “The rewards for first place nationally are naturally more than just a single pass. To be precise, each of the eighteen domains sends an unlimited-duration exploration pass for a seven-star mirror space within their territory as a reward. Additionally, the Eastern China Alliance presents an extra unlimited-duration exploration pass for the eight-star mirror space ‘Firmament Summit.’

As for the substantive rewards: three million mirror coins, one hundred five-star beast cores of your choice from any elemental affinity, and a complete set of the Twelve Foundation Body-Tempering Elixir ingredients…”

Mo Lan had already stopped listening to whatever else Teacher Yan Shuang said after that. All she knew was that there were eighteen free unlimited-duration exploration passes for seven-star mirror spaces and one unlimited-duration exploration pass for an eight-star mirror space.