Chapter 816 – Three Thousand Mirror Ruins 83

“The instant you were blinded, your instincts made you prioritize what appeared to be the biggest threat directly in front of you — but that was just a phantom. The real me had already used the flash of light as cover to circle around to your blind spot.

That final strike — as long as the timing was right, it was simple to pull off.”

Qu Luo listened in a daze, only now fully understanding what had happened.

So that seemingly thunderous charge had merely been bait to draw her attention. The real killing moves were the blinding white light, the phantom decoy, and the strike from behind.

The entire sequence was seamlessly linked, exploiting her habit of relying on instinct, leading her straight into the trap.

Thinking back to those earlier sparring exchanges — Mo Lan’s seemingly flashy, full-of-openings techniques — Qu Luo finally realized with belated clarity: Mo Lan hadn’t been fighting at full strength at all. She might have even been using Qu Luo as a practice dummy the entire time, testing and refining various techniques!

The moment Mo Lan set aside her “practice” mindset and fought seriously, Qu Luo had been subdued in less than a minute!

This person… how had she conceived and executed such a complex chain of tactics in such a short exchange?

Qu Luo’s emotions were impossibly tangled.

She could charge in and out of hordes of ferocious mirror beasts in the perilous mirror spaces seven times over, her fighting spirit undimmed even when drenched in blood.

But facing an opponent like Mo Lan, she felt an unprecedented sense of frustration and helplessness.

The combat instincts she’d been so proud of — honed between life and death — seemed completely useless against Mo Lan’s tactics. They had even become exploitable weaknesses.

She stared blankly at the ground, and for the first time, deep doubt crept into her mind about her purely instinct-driven way of fighting.

Maybe… what Teacher Mei Ye said about attending a few classes actually made some sense?

At least… after studying, she might be able to understand where Mo Lan’s bizarre techniques came from?

At this thought, an immense curiosity toward Mo Lan welled up in Qu Luo. She raised her head, her eyes carrying an unprecedented seriousness and inquisitiveness, and asked in a small voice:

“How… how did you come up with fighting like that?

And what… what classes should I take, or what books should I read, to be able to… to learn your kind of… fighting style?”

She truly couldn’t bring herself to simply call what she’d just witnessed a mere “technique.”

“Hmm… well, there’s quite a lot~”

Seeing Qu Luo take the initiative to ask, Mo Lan immediately perked up. Without the slightest intention of keeping secrets, she began generously counting off on her fingers:

“First, you need to be thoroughly familiar with the skill effects of various mirror beast beast cores, right?

You absolutely must readerta 《Encyclopedia of Beast Core Skills》 carefully — ideally memorize the characteristics of each skill when it’s activated, otherwise you won’t be able to react in time when you encounter them.

As for books and courses on skill combinations, the more the better. I’d recommend you check out…”

Mo Lan didn’t speak particularly fast, but the book titles and course names she rattled off came like a barrage of cannon fire:

“Also, there’s systematic training in martial techniques. The variations in martial arts forms are far more complex and diverse than skills, and there are even more combat techniques to learn.

All of the school’s martial technique courses are on my intended course list. Even if you can’t master every single one, going through them once will at least teach you how to deal with opponents who specialize in those styles.

There are also quite a few books on martial techniques and combat in the library space that are really worth reading.

Like 《Introduction to Combat Psychology》 — that one’s super useful, it helps you read your opponent’s mindset.

And there’s 《Fundamentals of Environmental Utilization and Tactical Positioning》, 《Seventeen Techniques for Concealing Spellcasting》, 《Advanced Footwork: Visual Deception and Blind Spot Entry》…”

Qu Luo initially made an effort to pull out pen and paper, scribbling furiously. But the more she wrote, the more alarmed she became — the tip of her pen was practically striking sparks against the paper.

She had just returned from fighting in the Dark Ravine the night before and hadn’t yet heard the campus legends about “Overachiever Mo Lan.” At this moment, she could only feel that the beaming girl before her had a mind stuffed with things from another world entirely.

She filled several pages with dense writing. The book titles and course names had already multiplied to the point of making her head spin, yet Mo Lan showed no sign of stopping. If anything, she was growing more excited, even beginning to recommend different teachers’ lecturing styles and their accompanying reference materials…

Qu Luo’s pen-holding hand trembled slightly. Looking at the absurdly long list, then recalling the lightning-fast chain of tactics that had left her utterly helpless just moments ago, she suddenly understood with profound clarity — her defeat wasn’t unjust in the slightest! This was never a contest on the same level.

Her opponent had synthesized a vast ocean of knowledge into an effortless, dimensional strike from above.

While she was still stuck at the stage of relying on innate talent and muscle memory.

In that moment, the small trace of reluctance Qu Luo had felt over her defeat vanished completely, like smoke in the wind.

Seeing this, Mo Lan decided to add more fuel to the fire:

“Qu Luo, mirror beasts have innate physical abilities and magical power that far surpass humans.

The reason we’re ultimately able to explore and harness one mirror space after another has never been through brute force.

Wisdom — the wisdom to learn, to think, to create, and to apply tools and knowledge — that’s where we humans truly surpass mirror beasts!”

She pointed at the densely written papers in Qu Luo’s hands, then pointed at her own head:

“These are our most powerful ‘fangs’ and ‘claws.’

You have to make good use of them! Otherwise, wouldn’t it be such a waste?”

These words landed like a final strike, hitting Qu Luo right where it mattered most.

Her fighting style — relying on physical speed, reflexes, and killer instinct — was indeed very similar to that of a mirror beast.

But as Mo Lan said, this approach… didn’t truly leverage the advantages of being “human.”

Qu Luo lowered her gaze to the unfamiliar courses and book titles on the paper, then thought back to the defeat that had left her completely helpless.

The instincts she had always relied on had been dismantled with ease. The power that Mo Lan had demonstrated — born from knowledge and wisdom — filled her with a longing she had never felt before.

She gripped the papers tightly in her hands, her fingertips turning faintly white from the force.

This time, she didn’t lower her head. Instead, slowly, with a determination she had never felt before, she looked up at Mo Lan. Her cheeks were still slightly flushed, but something new shone in her eyes:

“I… I’ll read them, and study them.”

“Great!” Mo Lan said happily, seeing that her words had gotten through. “That’s the spirit! I want to learn from you too — to pick up those instinctive reactions and efficient killing techniques you’ve honed through real combat!”

The more she talked, the more excited she became. At the thought of being able to regularly spar with such an opponent in the future, she couldn’t help but propose:

“How about this! Going forward, every month — no! Every week, let’s have a sparring session! I’ll teach you how to fight with your brain, and you help me sharpen my techniques.”

“!!!”

Qu Luo, who had only just kindled a spark of motivation to study, heard the words “weekly sparring” and felt as though a bucket of ice water had been dumped over her head. In an instant, she reverted to a startled rabbit.

Every week, she’d have to endure this kind of public-execution-level social torture and tactical torment?!

“N-no… every week is… t-too frequent…” (End of Chapter)