Chapter 776 – Three Thousand Mirror Ruins 43

The frog meat hit the palate, and the firm, springy yet extraordinarily tender texture was the first thing to conquer the taste buds.

Immediately after, the numbing spiciness exploded across the tongue, followed by the rich aroma compounded from various spices and the faint, sweet aftertaste inherent to the frog meat itself.

For a time, the campsite was filled with nothing but satisfied chewing sounds and the occasional sharp intake of breath from someone hit by the spice.

“Mo Lan, your cooking skills are incredible! From now on, all the mirror beast meat we hunt should be handed over to you!” Xiang Yufan shouted between mouthfuls, his words muffled as he wolfed down the food.

Lin Yue shot back irritably, “You sure have some nerve asking that!”

Mo Lan gave a slight nod, declining tactfully. “If there’s edible mirror beast meat, everyone should store it properly and eat it gradually. In the future, body tempering will require plenty of mirror beast meat to nourish yourselves!”

Without being able to use Witch Culinary Magic, or shadow magic to have her shadows help, cooking for twelve people was no easy task.

Today she had simply been in the mood for it and wanted to eat, but she had no intention of making it her permanent responsibility.

Not far from the campsite, in the shadow of a dense patch of grass that was in its withered, yellowed “autumn” state, a figure stood perfectly still, nearly indistinguishable from the surroundings. It was Yan Shuang, secretly following along to protect them.

She maintained the same stern expression as always, as if the heartwarming scene of students sharing a delicious meal before her had nothing to do with her.

However, if one looked closely, they would notice her throat bobbing ever so slightly.

That domineering, tantalizing aroma would not detour around her simply because she was a teacher. It was seeping relentlessly into her nostrils through every opening it could find.

Yan Shuang: “…”

She watched the group of students eating with grease all over their faces, completely devoid of any composure, and an internal war raged within her.

“As a teacher, shouldn’t I go over and… take a bite, to evaluate the students’ ability to utilize wilderness resources?”

“No, absolutely not. I must maintain my authority. The students are in no danger right now — observing from the shadows will suffice.”

But that aroma was simply too persistent…

Expressionless, Yan Shuang silently retrieved from her storage ring one of the standard-issue Academy high-energy compressed field rations — the kind that always tasted exactly the same — and mechanically took a bite.

She chewed.

Mm, same as always… efficient, nutritious, quickly replenishes stamina.

It was just the taste… compared to the aroma drifting over from the distance…

Yan Shuang silently took another bite of the field ration, but her gaze drifted uncontrollably back toward that aromatic pot and the glistening, red-glazed frog meat inside it.

Then she tossed the high-energy compressed field ration aside, swiftly left the vicinity of the campsite, and using her powerful perception-type skills, quickly located a small stream in a nearby area experiencing its “spring” season, where water babbled gently. In a pool by the stream, sure enough, several plump water-tongue frogs were croaking away.

Yan Shuang didn’t even bother with a weapon. She merely flicked out two wind blades and precisely dispatched the two fattest water-tongue frogs, carrying them back with her.

At a concealed, wind-sheltered slope far from the campsite — somewhere she was certain the students wouldn’t discover her — Teacher Yan Shuang began her “replication” attempt.

She recalled Mo Lan’s general steps: prepare the frog meat, apparently marinate it with some herbs and powder, then stir-fry it in hot oil, add those red dried fruits and black seeds, plus some sauce…

The process didn’t look complicated. It shouldn’t be hard to imitate.

However, half an hour later…

Teacher Yan Shuang stared at the contents of her small pot — a pile of blackened matter that was simultaneously burnt and half-raw, presenting an overall appearance of extreme suspicion — her “dry pot water-tongue frog,” and sank into a prolonged silence.

Far from any pleasant aroma, the thing in the pot actually emitted a faintly… indescribable pungent smell of burnt residue mixed with bizarre spices. This was nothing like what she had envisioned.

She had imitated every step as closely as possible, controlling both force and heat with extreme precision. So why was the result this far off?

The ratio of herbal powders? The order in which things went into the pot? The duration of stir-frying?

Yan Shuang stared at the nameless abomination in the pot, then glanced toward the student campsite. On her icy face, there seemed to appear the faintest trace of… frustration.

She silently dumped the failed creation to the side, buried it with dirt, and destroyed all evidence.

Then, once again, she produced that faithful, eternally-unchanging high-energy compressed field ration.

“Crunch.”

She bit down hard and chewed with exceptional deliberateness.

As if she were locked in a battle with some invisible enemy.

Only her gaze had grown several degrees colder than usual, and the atmospheric pressure around her had dropped even further.

Back at the campsite, the bonfire was burning brightly. After finishing that unforgettable meal of dry pot water-tongue frog, no one went straight to rest. Instead, they gathered around Ren Miao and Bai Wei.

The two of them had successfully hunted their target mirror beasts solo today and obtained the beast cores corresponding to the magic skills they wanted.

Next came skill extraction.

This was the most critical step on every mirror explorer’s path of growth.

Both Ren Miao and Bai Wei appeared somewhat nervous and excited. Each sat cross-legged, adjusting their breathing, working to calm their restless minds that were buzzing with anticipation.

Ren Miao cupped the water-blue beast core extracted from the water-tongue frog — roughly the size of a pigeon’s egg — in her hands. She took a deep breath, then slowly closed her eyes, sinking her full consciousness into her mental sea. With the utmost care, she guided her psychic power like the finest of threads, slowly probing into the interior of the beast core in her palm.

The inside of a beast core was no dead thing. It was suffused with the water elemental power that the water-tongue frog had condensed during its lifetime, along with a unique skill imprint.

That was the skill imprint of Lesser Water Arrow.

Ren Miao strained to perceive and capture those intertwined energies and imprints, attempting to extract the portion representing “Lesser Water Arrow” in its entirety. The process demanded extreme concentration and psychic control. Fine beads of sweat gradually appeared on Ren Miao’s forehead.

Everyone else held their breath and watched in silence, afraid of disturbing her.

Time trickled by. Finally, the water-tongue frog beast core in Ren Miao’s palm gradually dimmed, as if it had lost its essence.

At the same time, at the center of Ren Miao’s brow, a tiny pale-blue imprint composed of flowing water and arrow-shaft patterns flashed briefly before slowly fading into her mental sea.

Ren Miao’s eyes snapped open. She let out a long breath, her face showing an exhausted yet immensely excited smile.

“I did it! I extracted Lesser Water Arrow!”

“Quick, try using the skill!” Lin Yue urged.

Ren Miao nodded. She took out a one-star water-attribute beast core as casting material, carefully used her psychic power to activate the “Lesser Water Arrow” skill imprint within her mental sea, and a small, murky, viscous water arrow materialized before her. With a whoosh, it shot into the ground.

“I can feel it — I haven’t fully unleashed the skill imprint’s power yet. With more practice, the water arrow can be bigger and shoot farther!”

“That’s wonderful!” Everyone was thrilled for her.

This meant that Ren Miao’s degree of skill extraction was quite high. (End of Chapter)