The Rudimentary Uses of Medicinal Soup and EXP

Zhang Wan wasn't very familiar with them, including the students like Xu Hui.

They were merely classmates for several years, acquaintances but not close friends.

The people Zhang Wan was familiar with were those like himself, without background, whose talent wasn't exceptional but not poor either.

This was naturally Zhang Wan's intention.

Otherwise, with his Blood Essence progress ranked over a hundredth among the fifth-grade students on the surface, it wouldn't be difficult to get close to Xu Hui and the others.

He deliberately maintained this relationship of acquaintance without closeness.

To avoid the gaze of the martial artists who paid attention to these people.

Of course, this was only temporary.

In a few more years, when the other students had also grown and were no longer so naive, and their youthful immaturity was no longer conspicuous, he wouldn't have to worry about these things.

Besides, after several years of being classmates, it wouldn't be hard to become close.

Zhang Wan and a few classmates on duty went to the mess hall. Students from other classes were also getting their breakfast.

After greeting each other, Zhang Wan and his group began to fetch the food for Class E, Fifth Grade.

Although only nine years old, Zhang Wan and the others practiced the Ox Demon Body Tempering Fist, so their physical bodies were not weak. They possessed considerable strength within their bodies, and when circulating their Blood Essence, even ordinary adult mortals at their peak wouldn't be able to match their strength.

Zhang Wan easily carried two baskets of noodles with a shoulder pole, his expression unchanged despite the weight of over a hundred catties.

The others did the same, each carrying their breakfast.

Only a large vat of soup was carried by two people.

What Zhang Wan and the others carried were noodles and meat, which tasted good, were plentiful, and filling, meant to satisfy the daily cultivation needs of the Class E, Fifth Grade students practicing the Ox Demon Body Tempering Fist.

That vat of soup was medicinal broth.

It was used to recover from the damage inflicted on the body during cultivation, ensuring that the students wouldn't ruin themselves through constant practice.

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 was prepared by the pharmacists of the Beginner Martial Arts Academy, not only containing potent mortal herbs but also mixed with pseudo-spiritual medicine.

This type of spiritual medicine was touched by spiritual energy but wasn't yet a Postnatal spiritual medicine. However, it was far superior to mortal medicine, hence its name, pseudo-spiritual medicine.

It was precisely because of this medicinal broth mixed with pseudo-spiritual medicine that Zhang Wan and the other students could cultivate the Ox Demon Body Tempering Fist to their heart's content.

Otherwise, at the tender age of eight or nine, how could they temper their Blood Essence to the extreme?

Without the nourishment of pseudo-spiritual medicine, no matter how profound and harmless the Ox Demon Body Tempering Fist was, these children would not have been able to temper their Blood Essence to such a degree.

They would have long since suffered severe injuries from the constant tempering and perished.

The group carried the breakfast to the classroom, and the students of Class E, Fifth Grade, each took their share and had a hearty meal.

Only the medicinal broth was limited to one bowl per person; there was no more beyond that.

Zhang Wan was quite helpless about this.

Although the vat of medicinal broth was large, Class E, Fifth Grade, had over a hundred people, so there was no way to drink more.

And Zhang Wan understood the benefits of the medicinal broth even better than these more naive children.

Besides repairing bodily damage and nourishing the body, the medicinal broth provided more and purer energy than noodles and meat!

If they could drink their fill of the medicinal broth, it would be better than consuming noodles and meat, and tempering Blood Essence would be easier.

Unfortunately, there was no more medicinal broth for him to drink.

Zhang Wan did know that the academy's exclusive mess hall had an ample supply of this medicinal broth, but he couldn't get in.

And as far as he knew.

The meals provided by the exclusive mess hall for all the teachers and elders were entirely made from pseudo-spiritual items, unlike the medicinal broth which was mixed with a large amount of mortal medicine.

Just thinking about meals made entirely from pseudo-spiritual items made Zhang Wan's mouth water.

After breakfast, the students rested, digesting their food and recovering from the fatigue of the morning's training.

A few students were also quietly circulating the Ox Demon Body Tempering Fist, circulating their Blood Essence to improve its quantity and quality.

Although the Ox Demon Body Tempering Fist was an active exercise, it also had a method for static cultivation.

However, the efficiency of static cultivation was less than half that of active cultivation.

Zhang Wan didn't rush for that moment. He simply mobilized his Blood Essence, strengthening his internal organs, to absorb as much nutrition from the breakfast 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 EXP can raise Blood Essence to Mortal Limit / Already cultivated to Late Stage Blood Qi Realm, only two EXP needed to raise Blood Essence to the limit)
Cultivation Technique & Martial Skill: Mortal Martial Art Ox Demon Body Tempering Fist (Seven EXP for perfection / Already perfected)

Available EXP: 7,886

Zhang Wan had seen this status panel countless times, but he still liked to pull it up when he had nothing else to do.

Firstly, to check his accumulated EXP and feel how wealthy he was.

Secondly, to observe his progress and give himself a motivational boost.

This panel displayed Zhang Wan's current realm and the martial skills he practiced. It also showed the amount of EXP needed to bring them to perfection.

The thirty EXP points after the parentheses for the Mortal Blood Qi Realm could elevate his Blood Essence to the Mortal Limit. Similarly, the seven EXP points for the Ox Demon Body Tempering Fist could bring it to perfection. These were revealed to Zhang Wan right after he first started practicing the Ox Demon Body Tempering Fist.

By simply investing EXP, Zhang Wan could instantly perfect his martial arts and refine his Blood Essence to its peak.

The required thirty EXP for Blood Essence and seven for the Ox Demon Body Tempering Fist were insignificant compared to the vast fortune Zhang Wan possessed.

However, back then, Zhang Wan hadn't rushed to invest his EXP when these numbers first appeared.

For a mortal who had just stepped onto the martial path, instantly perfecting the Ox Demon Body Tempering Fist and refining his Blood Essence to its limit was too astonishing.

Furthermore, Zhang Wan wanted to see how his innate talent measured up through his own practice.

After five years of this, Zhang Wan had cultivated himself to the Late Stage Mortal Blood Qi Realm. He was not far from the Blood Essence limit. What originally required thirty EXP to reach the limit now only needed two.

Through his own efforts, Zhang Wan had reduced the EXP investment by a full twenty-eight points.

Of course, Zhang Wan still invested five EXP points, but it was for the Ox Demon Body Tempering Fist.

After he began practicing the Ox Demon Body Tempering Fist, Zhang Wan had periodically invested a little EXP into it, enhancing his comprehension of the technique.

Thus, with the five invested EXP points and his own understanding, Zhang Wan had long since mastered the Ox Demon Body Tempering Fist.

It was thanks to the perfected Ox Demon Body Tempering Fist and his own diligent effort that Zhang Wan was able to refine his Blood Essence to this extent within five years.

A perfected martial art's effect on Blood Essence refinement was far superior to that of a partially understood one.

Even now, more than half of the students in Class E, Level Five, had not managed to fully master the Ox Demon Body Tempering Fist. Their training efficiency was nowhere near that of individuals like Zhang Wan and Xu Hui, who had already perfected their martial arts.

Through the system's display of how much EXP was still needed to elevate his Blood Essence to the limit, Zhang Wan could also 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 incredible willpower, it would have been difficult for him to resist investing EXP into his realm for five years.

His own cultivation was incredibly slow and tedious, which couldn't compare to the temptation of instantly achieving Blood Essence perfection by simply investing a bit of EXP.