Chapter 796 – Three Thousand Mirror Ruins 63

“Second, this is strictly forbidden! It is absolutely prohibited to forcibly seize, rob, or deceive other examinees or individual teams of their hunted beast cores in any form! Once discovered, examination eligibility will be immediately revoked, and the offender will be placed on the Alliance’s integrity blacklist. The consequences are extremely severe!”

The proctor paused for a moment, letting the weight of those words fully sink into every student’s heart, before continuing in a deep voice:

“The nation expends enormous resources to train Mirror Explorers so that you can explore unknown mirror spaces, battle dangerous mirror beasts, and expand humanity’s living space! Not so you can turn your blades and skills against your own compatriots and waste energy on infighting! Is that understood?!”

“Understood!” A response rang out from below—uneven but loud enough.

Mo Lan stood among the crowd, listening quietly. The humans of this world, threatened by limited living space and mirror beasts, still needed to unite their strength as much as possible, so internal conflicts among Mirror Explorers were handled with particular severity.

“Finally, I wish you all the best on your exam!”

With the rules reiterated, the Kaleidoscope Wilderness teleportation entrances in every key middle school across the nation flashed with a beam of light.

All examinees within the Mirror Clarity Hall were pulled by that light into the Kaleidoscope Wilderness, landing at various locations throughout.

The Kaleidoscope Wilderness seven-day hunt had officially begun.

Relying on her knowledge of the Kaleidoscope Wilderness, Mo Lan headed straight for the two-star mirror beast habitats she remembered, her objective crystal clear.

By a springtime stream, she used “Belly Light Flash” to blind a two-star “Water Blade Otter” that was drinking, then swiftly finished the fight with exquisite bladework.

In the shadows of the summer stone forest, she precisely located a hidden two-star “Shadow Scorpion,” drew its attention with Glimmer Phantom, then delivered a fatal strike with her true body.

When the wilderness cycled into an autumn dusk, she lay in ambush along a Wind-Patterned Leopard’s habitual path, waited patiently, then struck with sudden ferocity.

In the bitter cold of the winter snowfields, she tracked prints in the snow and dug out a hibernating two-star “Ice-Armored Mole.”

Every single one of her hunting targets was a higher-value two-star mirror beast. Her strikes were clean and decisive, never dragging things out.

When she encountered one-star mirror beasts along the way, she didn’t let those go either.

After each successful hunt, once she extracted and stored the beast core, the exam-specific storage mirror accessory on her wrist would flash faintly, automatically recording the beast core information and converting it into points.

And so, on the real-time national enrollment exam ranking light screens projected simultaneously in Mirror Exploration Center halls across every city, a name and its corresponding score began climbing at a jaw-dropping pace—continuously, steadily, and explosively!

Deer Cry Mirror. Mo Lan.

From the very first day, this name shot up like a rocket, ascending steadily and dominantly, firmly occupying the top position on the leaderboard, with the gap between her and second place growing ever wider!

“Who is this Mo Lan? Since when did Deer Cry Mirror produce a monster like this?”

“It’s her again! Look! The score just moved! She hunted another two-star mirror beast!”

“That’s way too fast! Doesn’t she need time to rest and search?”

“Her score is climbing too quickly, and most of it is from two-star beast cores! Her psychic power level must already be at two-star!”

“Now I remember—isn’t she that commoner genius from Deer Cry Mirror last year who scored perfect marks in both talents?”

“It is her! Didn’t she refuse all sponsorships? Her growth rate doesn’t seem affected at all!”

“Her parents were both high-star Mirror Explorers. It’s possible they left her a considerable inheritance.”

……

The discussion among Mirror Explorers across the nation who were following this exam focused almost entirely on this “genius” who had burst onto the scene. The name “Mo Lan” entered the national consciousness for the first time in such a dazzling fashion, truly making a name for herself across the entire Eastern China Alliance!

The cheers at the Deer Cry Mirror Exploration Center were nearly enough to blow the roof off. Yan Shuang stood among the crowd, watching the name that sat atop the leaderboard on the light screen. Her expression remained as cold as ever, but the slight upturn at the corners of her lips betrayed her excellent mood.

The seven days of examination flew by in the blink of an eye.

When the final bell rang in every examinee’s mind, regardless of where they were in the Kaleidoscope Wilderness, everyone was instantly teleported back to their starting point by an invisible force.

Most students were in tattered clothes, wearing expressions of exhaustion, excitement, or regret.

Soon, the rankings appeared prominently on the massive light screen.

First Place: Deer Cry Mirror. Mo Lan.

Total Score: 1,123 points.

The moment the results were announced, every pair of eyes in the Mirror Clarity Hall focused on Mo Lan.

Although this was still only a provisional score and ranking—the final results would only come after reviewing the recorded footage stored in each examinee’s exam storage mirror accessory—they all knew Mo Lan had hunted solo. In that case, as long as she hadn’t done anything foolish like stealing someone else’s beast cores, this score was set in stone and essentially wouldn’t change.

“Our Deer Cry Mirror has produced another national first place!”

“Isn’t this score a bit absurd? Didn’t Teacher Yan Shuang only score around nine hundred something back in her day?!”

……

Mo Lan felt the various gazes of envy, admiration, and curiosity from all around her, and felt slightly guilty.

She was a Sorceress of several decades, competing against a group of fifteen-year-old human children. It really was a bit unfair.

But she needed the unlimited exploration permit that came as the first-place reward.

“Alright!” The proctor’s booming voice rang out once more, quieting the noisy chatter that had erupted among the examinees upon their return to the Mirror Clarity Hall.

“The exam has officially concluded. In one week, the final detailed scores, rankings, and statistics for each score bracket will be sent to the registered mailboxes you provided through official channels.

The application forms and subsequent admission procedures will be completed within one month after the scores are published. Everyone must pay close attention to the relevant information and be sure not to miss any important notifications!”

With the announcement finished, the examinees—already exhausted yet anxious about their results—wasted no time lingering. They began filing up to return the exam-specific storage mirror accessories from their wrists, then headed to the changing rooms to remove their standardized combat uniforms.

Staff members stood nearby, strictly verifying records to ensure all equipment was returned intact.

The atmosphere in the hall was complex, filled with the post-exam sense of release mixed with anxious anticipation for the future. Students who knew each other greeted one another, discussing what they’d witnessed during the exam and their likely scores, their voices blending into a constant hum.

Mo Lan efficiently returned her mirror accessory and combat uniform. She didn’t join the discussions around her, merely giving a simple nod in response when a few classmates came over to greet her, before quietly slipping away with the crowd from the still-bustling Mirror Clarity Hall.

The sunlight outside was somewhat blinding. She squinted slightly.

The title of top scorer on the national Mirror Explorer Academy enrollment exam was now beyond doubt. She only needed to wait for the final score tabulation to be published, and the reward would be sent along with it.

When that time came, she would be able to return an unused Gushing Spring Forest Sea mirror space unlimited exploration permit to Teacher Yan Shuang.