Chapter 763 – Three Thousand Mirror Ruins 30

Spring brought the revival and wild growth of all things. Most mirror beasts were extremely well-adapted to this season, making it the peak period for frequent mirror beast activity.

Sure enough, almost the instant the rules of spring fully stabilized over the Giant Toe Meadow—

“Sha sha sha—screeeech!”

From the depths of the grass far to the west and south of the camp—grass that had suddenly become abnormally dense due to the seasonal shift—there erupted a series of sharp, rapid shrieks, like metal scraping against metal, brimming with agitation and aggression.

Immediately after, the dense waves of grass churned violently. Twenty to thirty insectoid mirror beasts, each the size of a basketball, their entire bodies a deep, rich emerald green, with a pair of enormous, bulging compound eyes on their heads that flickered with a frenzied crimson glow, burst leaping from the tall grass. Judging by their direction of advance, they appeared to be heading straight through the camp!

“Red-eyed grasshoppers!” Chen Xingye’s voice carried a note of gravity as he immediately identified the mirror beasts. “Watch out for the high-temperature liquid they spit!”

Red-eyed grasshoppers were fire-attribute one-star mirror beasts. They lived in swarms and had violent temperaments.

Not only did they possess razor-sharp mandibles capable of biting through tree trunks as thick as a forearm and powerful hind legs that could launch them several meters in a single leap, they could also spray a highly concentrated, scorching viscous liquid from their mandibles—like miniature balls of lava!

This liquid was extremely adhesive and corrosive. A single direct hit was enough to instantly burn a hole clean through an ordinary person’s skin.

However, for the students of Mirror Explorer Class One, who had spent over two months soaking in Scarlet Tempering Decoction and enduring grueling body conditioning, their skin toughness, muscle density, and heat resistance had all improved considerably. While such attacks were still painful and dangerous, the actual damage they could inflict was far less severe.

These creatures were already violent by nature, and having stumbled upon the students during their migration, a battle was inevitable.

“Stay calm! Hold formation, prepare for combat!” Wang Jingnan’s commanding shout rang out at just the right moment.

“The joints and compound eyes are their weak points. When the compound eyes flash red, it means they’re about to spit—dodge immediately!” Mo Lan called out her warning, then raised her blade and charged at the nearest red-eyed grasshopper.

That grasshopper’s compound eyes had only just begun to glow red, its mandibles barely parting, when Mo Lan’s long blade struck first despite moving second!

“Pfft!”

The tip of the blade didn’t thrust straight in, but instead tapped at a subtle angle just below the side of its mandibles, flicking upward with a deft motion.

This single flick not only cleverly interrupted its spitting action, but the superheated liquid glob that was about to leave its mouth actually detonated slightly inside its own maw, scalding it into releasing a piercing shriek.

Mo Lan’s blade didn’t pause for an instant. Borrowing the recoil force, it traced a silver arc through the air. With a soft “hiss,” it pierced both primary compound eyes along with their internal structures with flawless precision!

The entire sequence was clean and decisive. That red-eyed grasshopper didn’t even have time for a second reaction before it crashed heavily to the ground.

She then plunged headlong into the densest concentration of the swarm on the western side. The long blade in her hand became a streak of silver lightning—one flash of steel, and a grasshopper’s red eyes were instantly pierced through; a flick of the wrist, and the blade tip traced lightly across the relatively fragile neck joint of another; sometimes she even used the corpse of a fallen grasshopper as a momentary shield to block viscous liquid flying in from the side, while simultaneously reversing her blade to cut down a grasshopper attacking from behind.

While efficiently clearing the threats around her, she never lost track of what was happening to the others on the battlefield.

“Watch your left!” As her voice rang out, a blade of energy arrived a beat later—yet still ahead of the threat—cleaving a grasshopper that was about to land on Xiang Yufan’s face cleanly in two mid-air.

Her figure flickered, and she appeared nearby again. The spine of her blade delivered a deft strike that knocked a grasshopper off course—one that had been spitting scalding viscous liquid at Bai Wei, forcing her into a continuous retreat—creating a perfect opening for Zhou Ming, who was covering from the side, to deliver the killing blow. Throughout it all, not a single drop of scorching liquid or insect limb managed to touch her. She made it look effortless.

Nearby, Su Yu was like a starving wolf that had plunged into a flock of sheep—eyes fierce and razor-sharp, movements explosively swift and utterly direct.

She barely dodged at all, fighting in a style that was pure offense as defense!

The dagger in her hand became a lethal fang, targeting only the most vulnerable spots—compound eyes, the base of mandibles, joint connections. Every charge she made was accompanied by the death of a grasshopper.

“Hiss!” A glob of scorching liquid grazed past her arm, instantly burning through her sleeve and leaving a red, swollen burn mark on her skin.

Yet she only furrowed her brow slightly before unhesitatingly seizing the brief moment of rigidity that followed the creature’s spit. She lunged forward, her dagger striking like a viper from its den, piercing upward through the grasshopper’s skull from below with unerring precision. Her movements were vicious and ruthless—a fighting style that showed complete disregard for her own safety.

Zhao Wuchen was in no rush to attack. Instead, he continuously used subtle shifts in position and provocative flashes of his blade to draw the attention of one or two grasshoppers at a time. He deliberately exposed openings, luring the grasshoppers into rearing up to unleash their most threatening viscous liquid spit.

In the exact instant a grasshopper tilted its head back, throat swelling, liquid about to spray forth—his body slid sideways at an impossibly tricky angle as if he were boneless, perfectly evading the straight-line trajectory of the liquid jet. Simultaneously, the slightly curved blade in his hand slithered out silent as a viper.

Lin Yue’s bladework was exquisite. When she danced with her blade, the flashing steel wove dense and tight, as though she had spun a net of silver light around herself—a defense without the slightest gap.

Most grasshoppers that lunged at her were shredded by this dense web of steel or parried away.

But she was extremely sensitive to pain, and every time viscous liquid splattered her way or a grasshopper broke through the blade net and got close, she let out a string of yelps.

“Eek! So hot!”

“Go away, go away! Ugly things, stay away from me!”

“My new clothes! This slime doesn’t wash out!”

Her blade whirled in an impenetrable curtain, while the complaints and shrieks from her mouth never ceased either. Though it looked harrowing, her defense was genuinely solid—she never actually got hurt.

Chen Xingye didn’t anchor himself in one spot to fight head-on. Instead, he continuously roamed through the relatively safe zones of the battlefield. He didn’t strike often, but every time he did, it was devastatingly precise.

His eyes seemed capable of seeing through the grasshoppers’ muscle structure and energy flow. His blade tip always managed to bypass the hardened carapace, slipping in through joint gaps, compound eye sockets, and other points of least resistance. Often, a single light thrust and flick was enough to instantly paralyze or kill a ferocious grasshopper. His efficiency was remarkably high, carrying a calm, clinical brutality.

Wang Jingnan, Zhou Ming, Xiang Yufan, Ding Yan, Zhu Rao, Ren Miao, and Bai Wei, meanwhile, formed a small battle formation.

Zhou Ming and Xiang Yufan served as the vanguard, relying on strength and martial prowess to hold the front line and draw fire. Wang Jingnan held the center, coordinating commands and filling gaps. Ding Yan and Zhu Rao provided flanking support. Ren Miao and Bai Wei were responsible for cover fire, throwing daggers and disrupting the grasshoppers’ lunges and spitting attacks.

They worked in close coordination, and though their individual combat ability didn’t match that of their top-tier classmates, they held their ground steadily and managed to collectively slay seven or eight grasshoppers.