Dragon Blood

After chatting a few more sentences, Yao Leden bade them farewell and headed toward the newcomers. Watching her leave, Jia Dong stared at her back and murmured,

"Is this what Martial Arts is like?"

He shook his head with a self-mocking laugh.

"It's too damn worldly. I thought I wouldn't see this kind of social maneuvering until college, but it started in Martial Arts already. I thought she was a kindhearted person before, but after getting to know her, it turned out she just wanted benefits. We're only students."

"I don't see anything wrong with it. Isn't Sister Le pretty nice?"

Deng Hao did not care much. "She kindly reminded us, explained everything responsibly, and even offered better terms than the school. She said Brother Ye starts with twenty Ironclad Boars a day. If we take down a few a day, that should be doable too. That's all money."

"Is something wrong with your head?"

Jia Dong snapped, "A few? Did you forget why we beat up Guo Chuming back then? Old Yan said he came back after killing one. We're all at the First Dragon Gate, and we've only just entered it. We all came from martial arts schools—how could we possibly be that much better than him?"

Deng Hao shouted, "Then train harder! I don't want to end up like Guo Chuming. He had no ambition and ran off to the prep school cafeteria to swagger around. Then he shouldn't blame people for telling him to fuck off. We need to keep our spirits up and not disgrace Martial Arts Students!"

Jia Dong rolled his eyes at him.

Li Ye chuckled. "Just practice martial arts properly. Don't go stirring up trouble all day."

Thinking of something, Deng Hao asked, "Brother Ye, aren't the main players different from us? What kind of treatment do they get?"

After Li Ye gave him a brief explanation, Deng Hao said enviously, "Holy shit, they can just learn martial arts techniques whenever they want? We ordinary Martial Arts Students don't get that option. Old Gu said he'd distribute techniques for us to study based on our strengths, like a master instructor giving targeted guidance."

"I think so too. Martial Arts teachers seem to be like master instructors."

Jia Dong nodded. "Except they're free."

Li Ye said, "Cultivation is your own responsibility. Everything others do is only assistance. Anyone qualified to be a martial arts teacher must have solid experience, so it's good to listen more."

After they chatted for a while longer, Gu Yang appeared again, this time carrying a large box.

"Line up and collect your Nutrient Solution."

At those words, all the Martial Arts Students who were still practicing stopped. They started to head over, but when one person halted, everyone else paused as well. They merely looked at Li Ye, seemingly waiting for him to go first.

Even Yang Jie, the tower-like burly man and one of the main players, stopped in his tracks.

As for Fu Yan's daughter, the stunning Fu Chuxue, she had disappeared long ago.

Yao Leden walked over helplessly. "Li Ye, if you don't go, they won't dare to."

"Am I some vicious fiend?" Li Ye was speechless.

He had only smashed one person. Was there really any need for things to become like this?

Still, he did not care much. He stepped forward first and collected the Nutrient Solution Gu Yang handed out—four vials in total. The liquid inside was gray but clear, unlike the black, murky liquid he had encountered before.

After distributing the Nutrient Solution, Gu Yang said directly:

"Drink it immediately. Once you're done, keep practicing martial arts. Everyone trains as usual. That includes the newcomers—don't hold back or hide anything. Let me see what you're good at."

In fact, the Martial Arts Students had already drunk their Nutrient Solution the moment they received it and resumed training.

Deng Hao and Jia Dong uncapped their bottles and poured them into their mouths. After drinking, they looked at each other, both showing shock.

"That's got some kick!"

Deng Hao roared, his fists whipping up like a violent gale as he began practicing his forms.

Li Ye uncapped one as well. After drinking the Nutrient Solution, he froze for a moment.

His qi and blood had risen by 5 points.

The ingredients were a blend of various high-quality herbs, along with an extremely faint amount of demon blood to balance them, enhancing the effect.

The key was not the herbs.

Since it was Nutrient Solution issued by the school exclusively for Martial Arts Students, it was certainly more special than anything on the market. Li Ye had originally only intended to taste what was inside, but after that taste, he discovered something extraordinary.

Li Ye shook the remaining Nutrient Solution in his hand and looked at Yao Leden. "Do you know what ingredients are in this?"

"People have analyzed the ingredients of commercially available Nutrient Solution, trying to replicate it and make something better. But there's a special ingredient inside that fuses everything together. Technological methods can't analyze it," Yao Leden said.

How could no one have thought of replicating it? There were even training classes on the market touting high-tech martial arts. If they could truly replicate the Nutrient Solution supplied nationwide to Martial Arts Students, the capitalists chasing profit would never let it go.

Hearing that, Li Ye looked at the Nutrient Solution in his hand again and smiled mutely.

Though it was faint, once it entered his mouth, there was nothing he could not taste.

The herbal ingredients were easy enough to explain—they were simply of decent quality. But that trace of demon blood, no matter how faint, let him identify its composition.

Dragon!

A demon named the Crimson Blood Dragon appeared in the information within Li Ye's mind through his authority. He did not know the specifics, but what he had tasted was undeniably dragon.

What Martial Arts Students drank was dragon blood!

The dragon blood content was extremely faint, almost negligible. It had definitely been diluted, yet even this dilution could produce such powerful effects. It could even balance the herbs and purely transform them into the benefit of increasing qi and blood.

Li Ye smiled and put away the remaining vials.

Divine Land was truly generous.

But thinking about it, that made sense. The Pest Control Bureau monitored the demons throughout the city, yet demons still ran rampant outside. The Training Points alone made that clear.

Divine Land's cultivation of martial artists was also a strategic necessity, and it certainly spared no effort. Otherwise, with so many martial arts competitions and Training Points, even if they failed to produce the talent Divine Land needed, at least they would give people the ability to protect themselves.

That was also why Li Ye had never resisted the Pest Control Bureau or joining the system.

The benefits were good, and there was a sense of responsibility. Some individuals might resent it, but ordinary people genuinely hoped the place they lived was like this.

If they truly ignored everything, how could Divine Land have a population of two billion?

He did not plan to drink the remaining Nutrient Solution yet. He did not need to use martial arts techniques to convert it into tangible qi and blood. He might as well go home and use the Five Flavors Chopsticks to increase it another threefold, maximizing its effects.

Ordinary people could not improve so efficiently, but he had cheats. Of course he could.

One vial gave 5 points, four gave 20 points, and that made 80 points a month. With his Five Flavors Chopsticks, he could reach 240 in a month.

If it were normal qi and blood growth, he could break through to the Fourth Dragon Gate in under three months. But his martial arts technique could not be calculated that way, considering it had a tenfold conversion rate.

Li Ye clicked his tongue. Cultivation resources were still scarce.

The debt at home did not need to be rushed. Once he grew stronger, he would have everything.

But at this pace, even after a year, he would not be able to circulate his qi and blood and break through to a higher level.

The more things were like this, the more he felt unable to repay Director Pan's great kindness. If he had not known the man was an official, he would have thought Director Pan was raising personal death warriors.

He still needed to find a way to make money and look for ingredients.

He had to take a good look at next week's Training Points.

Seeing everyone around him practicing martial arts, including Yang Jie, who had found a rotating iron dummy, striking it as it spun and moved while the extended iron rods lashed heavily against his body with dull thuds,

Li Ye shook his head and walked out of the training hall, heading for the library.

He intended to see what martial arts techniques were available.

Although he possessed a top-tier technique, he had not obtained it through normal means. At his core, as a Martial Arts Student at the Dragon Gate Realm who had only broken through recently, he was still very interested in martial arts techniques.

For example, Xiang Feipeng's Lightness Skill, which seemed like he was riding the wind, was entirely different from Li Ye's. Xiang Feipeng's was more graceful and ethereal.

There were always different martial arts techniques, and he needed to experiment with them further.