What’s more, among the 300-plus people, nearly a third of them weren’t skilled in combat.

There weren’t nearly enough people to ensure the safety of the entire academy.

Shrinking the core area and establishing a buffer zone was the only wise choice.

As they chatted, the three of them saw white spiderwebs ahead, stretched between the bushes and small trees of the green belt.

A few scattered Brain-Eating Spiders were crawling over the webs, spitting out silk from their mouths and slowly expanding their size.

Countless pale green spider eggs were scattered among the leaves, a dense and utterly disgusting sight.

The kind that should come with a trigger warning for trypophobia.

The faint vibrations from the three of them walking on the ground seemed to attract the attention of the Brain-Eating Spiders.

Five Brain-Eating Spiders raised their heads, their compound eyes glinting with a cold, bloodthirsty light as they stared in unison at Han Ning and the others.

Before they could even speak, the Brain-Eating Spiders kicked off their webs, leaped nimbly into the air, and spat out silk, trying to entangle the three of them.

"Your Silver Lotus Woods can handle four of these five Brain-Eating Spiders, right?"

Their bodies weren’t as large as the three Brain-Eating Spiders they had encountered back at the Ninth Canteen. They were only about half a person’s height, and some were even smaller.

"No problem," Lin Tianhe and Chen Linyu answered quickly, having their respective Silver Lotus Woods stand guard in front.

Seeing his two roommates already engaging the Brain-Eating Spiders, Han Ning turned to Yin Yi, who was standing guard beside him, and said:

"Yin Yi, bring one of the smaller Brain-Eating Spiders over. Don’t kill it. I want to create a 1v1 situation for Egg Pancake."

"Ling!" Yin Yi glanced at Egg Pancake, who was perched on Han Ning’s shoulder, then flicked her Vine Whip, dragging a calf-high Brain-Eating Spider over and tossing it in front of Egg Pancake.

Egg Pancake: "?"

"Chirp..."

It was Egg Pancake’s first time facing a ferocious Brain-Eating Spider. Though it was a little scared, it immediately tensed up, staring fixedly at its opponent with wary eyes, ready to fight at any moment.

"Hiss..."

The Brain-Eating Spider had no gentlemanly intentions. Pushing off with several of its appendages, it leaped into the air and swung its sharp limbs down at Egg Pancake.

Han Ning didn’t command Egg Pancake, instead watching its actions quietly.

Yin Yi floated nervously nearby, ready to intervene at any moment to save Egg Pancake.

"Chirp!"

The appendage cut through the white mist, the faint currents of air it created just like the pebbles Yin Yi had launched during training.

Egg Pancake’s expression flickered. Just before the sharp appendage could strike its head, it quickly dodged to the side.

WHOOSH!

The appendage struck the empty ground, sending a few small pebbles flying.

Without any commands from Han Ning, Egg Pancake began to instinctively run in fast circles around the Brain-Eating Spider.

Faced with the constantly running Egg Pancake, the Brain-Eating Spider’s six pairs of compound eyes stared fixedly at its trajectory, but its body remained motionless. Then, it opened its mouth.

"Hiss~"

Snow-white silk shot from its mouth, aimed at where Egg Pancake was about to land.

At the same time, the running Egg Pancake also opened its small mouth and, with a PLOP, spat out a small, goopy ball of mud.

The silk and the mud ball collided. The snow-white silk was enveloped by the brownish-yellow mud and fell crookedly to the ground.

By this time, Lin Tianhe and Chen Linyu had already directed their Silver Lotus Woods to finish off the other four Brain-Eating Spiders. They came over to Han Ning’s side and watched the battle with great interest.

"Little Egg Pancake’s pretty strong, huh? It actually managed to last two rounds against a Brain-Eating Spider," Lin Tianhe commented with a laugh, having just seen Egg Pancake knock down the silk.

"Han Ning, you’re ruthless, man. Egg Pancake was just born a few days ago, and you’re already making it fight," Chen Linyu couldn’t help but complain.

"Bleed more now, cry less in battle."

Han Ning’s expression was serious as he stared intently at the fighting Egg Pancake, replying distractedly.

"Chirp~"

Meanwhile, seeing its Mud Missile had worked, Egg Pancake’s large, intelligent eyes darted around. It seized the opportunity to run a few steps forward and opened its mouth again. It shot out a long, narrow tongue. The pink tongue, like a slithering snake, twirled in mid-air and rapidly wrapped around the Brain-Eating Spider’s appendage.

But just as the long tongue was about to connect, Han Ning’s eyes narrowed. He had keenly spotted one of the Brain-Eating Spider’s right appendages lifting slightly—a telltale sign of an attack.

For the first time, he issued a command to Egg Pancake: "Stop moving forward! Jump forward and to the left!"

Immediately, Egg Pancake, who had been running while sticking out its tongue, came to a sudden halt. Its small body abruptly leaped forward and to the left.

The next second, a sharp appendage covered in fine hairs slammed down precisely where Egg Pancake had been about to move.

Taking advantage of the opening created by the Brain-Eating Spider’s attack, Egg Pancake had already wrapped its long tongue around one of the spider’s appendages.

Egg Pancake used all its strength, pulling the Brain-Eating Spider off-balance.

Furthermore, clumps of earthy-yellow mud traveled along the tongue and rapidly accumulated on the spider’s appendage.

Instantly, the Brain-Eating Spider felt its body grow heavier.

"Now! Use Mud Missile! Aim for its eyes!" Han Ning’s voice rang out.

"Chirp! Chirp!"

Egg Pancake’s mouth was already open. Above its tongue, an earthy-yellow glob of mud the size of a ping-pong ball was rapidly forming.

It took only a second, barely giving the Brain-Eating Spider time to react.

SWOOSH!

A glob of mud shot through the air and struck one of the Brain-Eating Spider’s compound eyes with perfect accuracy.

SCREECH!! 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

The Brain-Eating Spider shut its eyes in pain, using all its strength to break free from Egg Pancake’s long tongue. It raised its appendage and brought it down viciously on Egg Pancake’s head.

"Chirp!"

The immense force from the Brain-Eating Spider’s appendage sent Egg Pancake stumbling. Faced with the rapidly descending limb, it struggled to dodge to the side.

THWACK! THWACK! THWACK!

The Brain-Eating Spider continuously raised its front pair of appendages, striking down at Egg Pancake again and again, like a cleaver hitting a chopping board.

The appendages were striking too quickly. Egg Pancake couldn’t counter-attack and could only desperately roll left and right, trying to evade the assault.

The speed of the strikes increased, and the space Egg Pancake had to move grew smaller and smaller. It could be killed at any moment.

Seeing this, Han Ning waved to Yin Yi.

"Alright, that’s enough. There’s still a bit of a gap in their physical abilities."

Just as Chen Linyu had said, Egg Pancake’s body hadn’t been enhanced with Attribute Points yet. It had only been born two days ago. In every respect, it was no match for this Brain-Eating Spider, which had been alive for some time.

It would have been truly bizarre if Egg Pancake had actually managed to defeat a Brain-Eating Spider so far superior to it in physical stats.

’Did Yin Yi just happen to randomly pick up an emperor-grade prospect from the Guardian Race?’

’Unlikely.’

Han Ning’s only goal was to let Egg Pancake get a taste of battle.

"Ling~"

Yin Yi understood. With a flick of her whip, a powerful sonic boom cracked through the air, and the Brain-Eating Spider’s head instantly exploded.

"Chirp! Chirp!"

Seeing the Brain-Eating Spider die, Egg Pancake scrambled to its feet, ran to Han Ning’s side, and panted lightly with its tongue hanging out.

The battle had only lasted a dozen or so seconds, but it had given the little guy a whiff of death.

In Egg Pancake’s small world, those constantly descending appendages had been like the Grim Reaper’s scythe.