Zhang Wan was not very familiar with those students, including Xu Hui.
They had merely been classmates for several years—classmates who knew one another, but were not close.
The people Zhang Wan was familiar with were those who, like him, had no background, and whose talent was neither outstanding nor poor.
This was naturally intentional on Zhang Wan's part.
Otherwise, given that his Blood Qi progress was publicly ranked among the top hundred or so fifth-level students, it would not have been difficult for him to become familiar with Xu Hui and the others.
He deliberately maintained this kind of relationship—acquainted, but not familiar.
That way, he could avoid the eyes of the martial artists watching these people.
Of course, this was only temporary.
After a few more years, when the other students gradually matured and were no longer so ignorant, the maturity they carried would no longer stand out. By then, he would not need to worry about these things.
Besides, after several years as classmates, becoming familiar with one another would not be difficult.
Zhang Wan and several classmates on duty arrived at the cafeteria, where students from the other classes were also carrying out breakfast.
After exchanging greetings, Zhang Wan and the others began carrying the food for Fifth-Level Class E.
Though they were only nine years old, Zhang Wan and the others practiced the Ox Demon Body Tempering Fist, so their bodies were not weak. They possessed considerable strength, and once they circulated the Blood Qi within them, even ordinary adult mortals in peak condition could not compare with them.
Zhang Wan easily lifted two baskets of noodles with a carrying pole. The weight exceeded a hundred jin, yet his expression did not change.
The others were the same, each lifting a load of breakfast.
Only one vat of soup required two people to carry.
What Zhang Wan and the others carried was noodles and meat. The food tasted good, and there was plenty of it—enough to fill the stomachs of the students of Fifth-Level Class E and satisfy their daily practice of the Ox Demon Body Tempering Fist.
That vat of soup, however, was medicinal broth.
It was used to restore the damage caused to the students' bodies during cultivation, ensuring that they would not cripple themselves through continuous training.
It also had a certain nourishing effect on the body.
The noodles and meat were ordinary mortal food.
Only the medicinal broth was different.
It had been prepared by the apothecary of the Beginner Martial Arts Academy. Not only did it contain ordinary medicines of great medicinal potency, it also contained pseudo-spiritual medicines.
These medicines had been touched by spiritual energy but could not yet be considered acquired spiritual medicines. They were nevertheless far superior to ordinary medicines, and were thus given the name pseudo-spiritual medicines.
It was precisely because of this medicinal broth mixed with pseudo-spiritual medicines that Zhang Wan and the other students could practice the Ox Demon Body Tempering Fist to their hearts' content.
Otherwise, how could children of only eight or nine years old temper their Blood Qi to the utmost limit?
Without the nourishment of pseudo-spiritual medicines, no matter how profound and harmless the Ox Demon Body Tempering Fist was, the children could never have tempered their Blood Qi to such a degree.
They would have damaged their bodies through ceaseless tempering long ago, suffering every kind of ailment before dropping dead.
The group carried the breakfast to the classroom. The students of Fifth-Level Class E each took their share and enjoyed a hearty meal.
As for the medicinal broth, each person could only drink one bowl. Any more, and there would be none left.
Zhang Wan found this deeply frustrating.
Though one vat of medicinal broth was a lot, Fifth-Level Class E had more than a hundred students. Even if they wanted to drink more, there was none to be had.
And Zhang Wan understood the benefits of the medicinal broth more clearly than these still-naive children.
Besides repairing bodily damage and nourishing the body, the broth provided energy that was greater and purer than that of noodles and meat!
If he could drink his fill of medicinal broth, it would be far better than eating noodles and meat. Tempering his Blood Qi would become easier.
Unfortunately, there was no more broth for him.
Zhang Wan knew that the academy's private cafeteria had this kind of medicinal broth in unlimited supply, but he could not enter.
Moreover, as far as he knew—
All the meals provided to the teachers and other instructors in the private cafeteria were made entirely from pseudo-spiritual items, unlike the medicinal broth, which was also mixed with large amounts of ordinary medicines.
Just imagining food made entirely from pseudo-spiritual items was enough to make Zhang Wan's mouth water.
After breakfast, the students rested individually, digesting their food and recovering from the depletion caused by their morning training.
A few students also silently circulated the Ox Demon Body Tempering Fist, circulating their Blood Qi and increasing its quantity and quality.
Though the Ox Demon Body Tempering Fist was a dynamic technique, it also had a static cultivation method.
It was just that the efficiency of the static method was less than half that of the dynamic method.
Zhang Wan did not fight for this brief moment. Instead, he circulated his Blood Qi to strengthen his internal organs, allowing his body to absorb as much of the breakfast's nourishment as possible.
At the same time, he closed his eyes and brought up the system interface.
A panel visible only to Zhang Wan appeared.
Host: Zhang Wan (nine years old) Realm: Late Stage Mortal Blood Qi Realm (Thirty experience points can raise Blood Qi to the Mortal Limit / Already cultivated to the Late Stage Blood Qi Realm; only two experience points are needed to raise Blood Qi to the limit) Cultivation Technique and Martial Skill: Mortal Martial Art—Ox Demon Body Tempering Fist (Seven experience points can bring it to perfection / Already perfected) Available Experience Points: 7,886
Zhang Wan had seen this panel countless times, but whenever he had nothing to do, he still liked to pull it up and take a look.
First, he could look at the experience points he possessed and savor his own wealth.
Second, he could look at his progress and give himself a shot of chicken blood.
The panel displayed Zhang Wan's realm and the cultivation techniques and martial skills he practiced. At the same time, it showed how many experience points were required to raise them to perfection.
The thirty experience points after the Mortal Blood Qi Realm, which could raise his Blood Qi to the Mortal Limit, and the seven experience points after the Ox Demon Body Tempering Fist, which could perfect it, had both appeared after Zhang Wan first practiced the Ox Demon Body Tempering Fist.
As long as he invested the experience points, Zhang Wan could perfect the martial art and temper his Blood Qi to the utmost limit in an instant.
The thirty and seven experience points required were nothing compared with Zhang Wan's enormous fortune.
However, when they had first appeared, Zhang Wan had not hurried to invest his experience points.
For an ordinary mortal who had only just come into contact with martial arts to perfect the Ox Demon Body Tempering Fist and temper his Blood Qi to the limit in an instant—that would have been far too shocking.
Zhang Wan also wanted to cultivate on his own and see what his natural talent was like.
Thus, over the past five years, Zhang Wan had relied on his own cultivation to reach the Late Stage Mortal Blood Qi Realm. He was not far from the Blood Qi limit, and the thirty experience points originally required had been reduced to only two.
Through his own efforts, Zhang Wan had reduced the required investment by a full twenty-eight experience points.
Of course, Zhang Wan had still invested five experience points, but he had invested them in the Ox Demon Body Tempering Fist.
After first practicing the Ox Demon Body Tempering Fist, Zhang Wan had invested one experience point into it at regular intervals, improving his comprehension of the body-tempering fist.
In this way, relying on the five invested experience points and his own insights, Zhang Wan had understood the Ox Demon Body Tempering Fist thoroughly long ago.
It was also through the perfected Ox Demon Body Tempering Fist, along with his own diligence and hard work, that Zhang Wan had been able to temper his Blood Qi to this level within five years.
The tempering effect of a perfected martial art on Blood Qi was far stronger than that of a martial art only half-understood.
Even now, more than half the students in Fifth-Level Class E had yet to perfect the Ox Demon Body Tempering Fist. Their cultivation efficiency was far inferior to that of people like Zhang Wan and Xu Hui, who had already perfected the martial art.
And through the system's display of how many experience points were still needed to raise his Blood Qi to the limit, Zhang Wan could directly see his own progress.
It was precisely this ability to see his progress in numerical form that filled Zhang Wan with motivation.
Otherwise, even with his astonishing willpower, it would have been difficult for him to resist investing experience points into his realm over the past five years.
His own cultivation was slow and incredibly dull. It could not compare with the temptation of casually investing a few experience points and immediately bringing his Blood Qi to perfection.
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