Chapter 745 – Three Thousand Mirror Ruins 12

Chapter 745 – Three Thousand Mirror Ruins 12

Mo Lan furrowed her brows slightly, observing the others’ reactions without letting anything show.

Over in the boys’ medicinal pools, Xiang Yufan was curled up in his pool, grimacing in pain with veins bulging on his forehead. His fingers gripped the pool’s edge so hard his knuckles had turned white.

Wang Jingnan was in even worse shape. The moment he lowered himself in, he let out a miserable “Augh!” and nearly leapt right back out, only to be nailed back in place by one icy glare from Yan Shuang. Now he was huddled in the pool, suffering through it.

Zhao Wuchen, to his credit, hadn’t cried out. He had his back to everyone, but his slightly trembling body betrayed him—clearly he wasn’t having a good time either.

In the pool beside him, Chen Xingye endured with his eyes closed. Fine beads of sweat seeped from his temples, and the veins on his neck stood taut. He was obviously pushing through by sheer force of will.

On the girls’ side, Su Yu’s face was expressionless, but her entire face had flushed a deep red, her jaw clenched tight.

Lin Yue had barely dipped half a foot in before shrieking “Ahh!” and yanking it back out. But cowed by Yan Shuang’s authority, she could only steel herself and inch her way in, whimpering continuously.

Bai Wei was the last to enter. She didn’t make a sound the entire time, but she’d curled herself into a ball, tears pattering down her cheeks.

Twelve small medicinal pools, all filled with the same herbal solution.

Everyone else’s reactions were perfectly normal, completely matching what Mo Lan had read in 《Basic Twelve Body-Tempering Solutions》 about first-time reactions to the Scarlet Refining Solution.

If the solution was fine, then the problem had to be with her.

Based on Mo Lan’s rudimentary understanding of this world’s body-tempering solutions, she reckoned it was most likely because her physical constitution already exceeded the tempering ceiling of this particular solution, which was why it had no effect on her.

If the medicine couldn’t affect her body, naturally she wouldn’t feel anything.

She had been using the Dietary Fortification Card for so many years now. While her physical attributes weren’t comparable to Vasida’s dragon-rivaling constitution, they were far beyond what an ordinary human could match.

Whether it was the local identity Explorers assumed when undertaking missions, or the local identity provided through a close friend’s invitation letter, the physical changes were only superficial.

An Explorer’s body was fundamentally still their own—neither combat ability nor spellcasting ability would be affected.

What they gained was merely the local identity’s emotionless life memories, innate talents, and cultivation level.

In the Three Thousand Mirror Ruins World, Mo Lan’s appearance had been painlessly transformed into that of the local “Mo Lan,” inheriting her memories and identity. But her body was fundamentally still her own.

Given her current physical strength, it was entirely plausible that the most basic body-tempering solution would have no effect on her.

Having identified the cause, Mo Lan settled down.

While her classmates contorted their faces in agony and broke out in cold sweats, she was enjoying it like a hot spring soak.

She even found it a bit boring and started surreptitiously studying the herb residue floating in the pool, trying to identify which ingredient from the solution’s formula each piece belonged to.

Hmm… is this Scarlet Refining Grass?

This one is definitely Fire-Patterned Vine!

Are these Blazing Sun Flower petals? Why have they changed color?

…

Beginners at body tempering couldn’t gauge the proper duration for soaking, so someone needed to supervise. Yan Shuang had been monitoring the students’ conditions the entire time.

But the more she watched, the more confused she became.

This was her first time serving as an Instructor, but in terms of a professional Mirror Explorer’s development, she was absolutely well-traveled and deeply experienced.

During body-tempering solution soaks, she’d seen people grimacing and howling in pain. She’d seen people crying for their mothers and trying to climb out. A rare few who were particularly proud or possessed astonishing willpower would grit their teeth and endure in silence—that wasn’t unusual either.

But someone like Mo Lan, studying herb residue with keen interest while sitting in a medicinal pool? This was genuinely a first for her!

How high must her pain tolerance be to have enough mental bandwidth to examine the dregs in the pool?!

It never even crossed her mind that Mo Lan simply felt nothing from this body-tempering solution.

Because even a three-year-old knew that body tempering had age restrictions.

Thirteen was the minimum age for solution-based body tempering, verified over a century of practice. Starting any earlier could affect physical development or even damage one’s psychic power foundation.

Before thirteen, one could only gently improve their constitution through diet and exercise.

The Basic Twelve Body-Tempering Solutions grew progressively more intense, requiring higher physical tolerance with each successive soak, and had to be undertaken in sequence. Many gifted Mirror Explorers spent three years on body tempering without completing all twelve solutions.

A thirteen-year-old middle school student who had just completed her aptitude test—even if she’d had some prior exposure to solution-based body tempering—couldn’t have been at it for long. There was no way she’d have no reaction to the Scarlet Refining Solution.

The only explanation was that this child possessed willpower and pain tolerance far beyond ordinary people.

About half an hour later, Bai Wei was the first to faint from the pain, her entire body sliding beneath the medicinal liquid.

The next second, she was fished out.

Everyone looked in her direction.

A massive water sphere emanating frigid air appeared in Instructor Yan Shuang’s hand, and she dumped it directly over Bai Wei’s head.

The instant the ice water jolted Bai Wei awake, she sprang up like a startled rabbit. Her sopping wet hair clung to her pallid face, and her lips trembled uncontrollably.

“Is… is it over?” she asked, hugging her arms, her voice barely above a whisper.

Yan Shuang’s expression didn’t change as she raised her hand. Another enormous ice water sphere condensed in her palm, exuding a bone-chilling cold. Her tone was as calm as if discussing the weather:

“Would you like another one to wake you up a bit more?”

Bai Wei: “???”

She instantly shook her head like a rattle drum. “N-no thank you!”

How was that waking someone up? That was clearly torture!

Only then did Yan Shuang disperse the ice sphere. “Go downstairs to the sports field and run thirty laps,” she said coldly. “You can eat lunch after you finish.”

“Th-thirty laps?!” Bai Wei’s eyes went wide, and she nearly fainted again.

Three laps would be more like it!

She already felt her body couldn’t take any more. After thirty laps, she might as well drop dead on the spot!

She opened her mouth, about to say something more, but met Yan Shuang’s utterly impassive eyes and immediately swallowed her words. She shuffled toward the door, trembling all the way.

The others still gritting their teeth in their pools: “!!!”

Bai Wei’s departure seemed to flip a switch.

Over the next half hour, splashing sounds echoed from the pools one after another as more people gave out, fainting in the medicinal bath, only to be doused awake with ice water and rewarded with dozens of laps.

The later you fainted, the more laps you were assigned.

By the one-hour mark, only Mo Lan, Lin Yue, Su Yu, Chen Xingye, and Zhao Wuchen remained.

None of those who’d scored well on the aptitude test had poor physical endurance.

Even Lin Yue, who had been whimpering the entire time, had gritted her teeth and held on until now.

Zhao Wuchen persisted and persisted, but still became the first of the five to faint.

Three minutes after him, Lin Yue finally couldn’t hold on any longer and passed out.

Another fifteen minutes later, Chen Xingye fainted too.

Only Mo Lan and Su Yu remained in their pools.

Su Yu was still clenching her teeth and pushing through. Mo Lan, on the other hand, was starting to feel conflicted.

How was she supposed to faint naturally?