Greatly Increased Strength

It was already 10:00 PM, and since it was the 30th, there were no students at the entrance.

"Student Guan Ning, are you waiting for the Dragon Blood at such a late hour?" the person in charge of the security forces at the main gate, a middle-aged man, called out with a smile; he had also seen the news online.

Guan Ning nodded.

The person in charge looked at Guan Ning deeply, his expression a mix of envy, disdain, distance, and wariness.

"They seemed to have such a good relationship, who would have thought he'd stab him in the back? You really can't judge a book by its cover!"

The person in charge muttered to himself, only to realize the person in question was standing right in front of him, leaving him feeling extremely awkward.

"I didn't stab anyone in the back. I discussed it with Senior Brother Luo Feng, and he agreed to it," Guan Ning explained, looking at the person in charge with a half-smile.

He didn't want to be branded a villain, so he had to spread the word to clear his name.

"Heh heh..." The person in charge gave an awkward laugh and turned back.

"Discussed it? What benefit could this possibly have for Luo Feng? I don't get it..."

Even with Guan Ning's explanation, he was even more confused.

"Beep!"

A horn sounded as a large truck drove toward the training camp entrance.

After passing through security, the large truck drove inside.

"That must be it." Guan Ning walked to the side, and the truck seemed to spot him, driving directly to a wide area nearby before coming to a stop.

Clatter!

The rear door of the truck opened, and a voice rang out: "Student Guan Ning, please board."

Guan Ning ran to the back of the truck, where a blue light scanned his body, and an electronic voice announced: "Identity confirmed, please board."

The interior of the truck was quite luxurious, and the three people inside looked at Guan Ning with surprise.

"This is Guan Ning?"

"The Dragon Blood must be in here." The three people in the cabin—one Asian and two Caucasians—spoke in Chinese.

Guan Ning boarded, and the same blue light scanned the briefcase.

"Item confirmed correct," the electronic voice announced. "Student Guan Ning, please accept it."

Guan Ning stepped forward.

The tall Caucasian among the three lifted the briefcase and held it out directly in front of him.

Guan Ning took the briefcase.

As expected, it looks like I'll have to endure this for a few days.

Seeing the familiar look in the eyes of the three men, Guan Ning smiled bitterly to himself, "I discussed this with the person involved; there was no backstabbing."

He turned and left after speaking.

"No backstabbing?"

The other Caucasian couldn't immediately grasp the key point.

"It means he and Luo Feng teamed up to put on a show, and the goal was that 100 billion bounty."

The Asian man understood and sighed.

"Hiss! Doesn't that make Vulture and Poison Scorpion the suckers?" the tall Caucasian exclaimed in shock.

"They are truly bold; that's Vulture, a high-level War God with a Black God set!" The Caucasian who had asked the question earlier was amazed at the audacity of Guan Ning and Luo Feng.

Guan Ning didn't care about their conversation; if it weren't for his reputation, he wouldn't even bother explaining.

Carrying the briefcase, Guan Ning felt a burning excitement, and his pace quickened.

Before long, he arrived at Jiangnan Pavilion.

"Guan Ning, get out here! Don't think hiding will make me let you off!"

"You've grown some guts, haven't you? Daring to stab someone in the back."

"Give you an inch and you take a mile."

As soon as he entered, he saw Zhao Ruo cursing in front of his pavilion, showing none of the grace typical of a Jiangnan woman.

"You're back!" Seeing Guan Ning return, Zhao Ruo finally found her target. "Come with me now and apologize to Luo Feng."

"Sister Ruo, I only leaked the information after discussing it with Luo Feng. Otherwise, how would I dare do such a thing? Who would want to be friends with me in the future?"

Guan Ning had to explain it once more.

"Today... after the head of the main pavilion, Hong... and I discussed it, we made the decision."

"So that's how it is!" Zhao Ruo felt no guilt for having wronged Guan Ning; instead, her eyes lit up as she looked at the case in his hand. "Is the Dragon Blood in here?"

Guan Ning nodded.

"Let me see it!" Zhao Ruo began to act spoiled; given her financial means, she truly couldn't afford such an item.

"No." Guan Ning refused decisively.

"By the way, where are Luo Feng and Senior Brother Shi Jiang?" Guan Ning hadn't seen Luo Feng or Shi Jiang. Logically speaking, with such a commotion from Zhao Ruo, they shouldn't have missed it!

If Luo Feng had heard it, he wouldn't have needed to explain himself.

"Senior Brother Shi Jiang hasn't returned from the Nine-Story Tower yet. Ever since Chu Qiang reached the top, Senior Brother Shi Jiang has practically been living there."

Zhao Ruo explained, "As for Luo Feng, I have no idea."

"Sister Ruo, now that you've finished asking, can you head back now?"

Guan Ning felt a burning impatience. Under normal circumstances, he might have chatted with Zhao Ruo, but right now, he was in no mood for it.

"How stingy." Zhao Ruo sniffed, "I know you find me a nuisance. I'm leaving right now."

"Take care, Sister Ruo." Guan Ning wasn't about to indulge her.

Zhao Ruo stumbled, shot Guan Ning an annoyed glare, and stomped off in a huff.

Inside the basement, Guan Ning placed the safe on the alloy floor. Upon opening it, he found two small wooden boxes. One contained the Mist Sword manual and several discs, while the other held a test tube secured by foam. The tube was sealed with a stopper, and inside flowed golden blood, occupying a little over a third of the tube's volume.

"This is it? Dragon Blood, the Dragon Blood worth 80 billion?" Guan Ning carefully took out the test tube and held it high against the fluorescent light.

Under the light, the golden blood was breathtaking.

Guan Ning searched inside the box and quickly found the instruction manual for the Dragon Blood. It detailed how to use it. Although the original work had mentioned the method and he remembered it clearly, he preferred to be cautious.

Just as the original work stated, one only needed to apply the Dragon Blood to the body; there was no need to cover the entire surface, just one spot would suffice.

The Dragon Blood would naturally permeate and spread throughout the entire body.

The only taboo—do not ingest it.

Guan Ning lay on the floor and pulled the stopper from the test tube. Immediately, a peculiar scent permeated the underground chamber. Just by smelling this scent and inhaling it into his body, Guan Ning felt every part of him go faintly numb, a sensation similar to practicing Genetic Origin Energy.

He tilted the test tube slightly, pouring the Dragon Blood onto his chest.

The Dragon Blood was as viscous as mercury, flowing slowly.

Soon, all the Dragon Blood in the tube had flowed out. He rubbed his palm gently against his chest to spread the coverage. Guan Ning immediately felt his chest heat up.

Waves of heat rapidly spread from his chest to every part of his body, and this heat continued to intensify. The Dragon Blood on his chest vanished at a speed visible to the naked eye, seemingly seeping into his skin.

The heat grew stronger!

The temperature continued to rise!

Guan Ning felt as if a flame were first burning on his chest, then rapidly spreading across his entire body, relentlessly roasting his physique. He felt his skin cracking and his blood evaporating.

"The original work said it would be excruciatingly painful, and the manual pointed this out as well. I didn't expect it to be this unbearable; it's truly going to be the death of me."

Guan Ning clenched his fists, his whole body trembling faintly. He didn't have Luo Feng's history of childhood headaches; for him, this was a first.

The roasted skin cracked and fell away due to dehydration, and new skin began to regenerate. The tingling, itchy sensation felt as if thousands of ants were crawling and biting every inch of his body, making one wish they could scratch themselves to death.

As the Dragon Blood on the surface of his body disappeared, the burning and tingling sensations faded.

However, as the Dragon Blood permeated his body, it was accompanied by full-body spasms. It wasn't just his body twitching; every single muscle was convulsing. One could see the muscles on his bare upper torso writhing like earthworms. His skin looked as if it had been scorched red, and the veins across his body bulged and twisted, looking quite terrifying.

Pain!

Heart-wrenching, lung-tearing pain!

Pain that made one want to give up!

At this moment, Guan Ning wished he could just pass out so he wouldn't have to experience this inhuman agony.

Unfortunately, this wish could not be granted. His soul quality was exceptionally high, his consciousness far surpassing that of an ordinary person. Coupled with his years of reading the Dao Scripture, his willpower was not to be underestimated, so he was forced to experience this pain firsthand.

As the agony deepened, every cell in Guan Ning's body frantically devoured the Dragon Blood energy. Under the influence of this energy, the genetic material within his cells underwent rapid transformation, shedding useless genes and improving and perfecting them.

Waste cells and impurities were directly expelled, surfacing on Guan Ning's skin like grime.

With the transformation of his cells, Guan Ning's muscles, bones, skin, and blood were all undergoing a metamorphosis.

"Boom, boom, boom..."

The pain Guan Ning felt became even more intense. He could no longer maintain his lying position and rolled back and forth on the alloy floor. He fought the urge to tear his own body apart, slamming his fists into the alloy floor to vent the impulses within him.

"Hoo..."

The entire process lasted about three hours. Guan Ning lay on the floor like a pile of mud, not wanting to move even a finger.

He couldn't believe he had actually made it through. He had desperately wanted to pass out, but he simply couldn't; he had been forced to endure the heart-wrenching pain and vent it wildly in the basement.

The training room was now a mess. There were mottled bloodstains everywhere on the floor and walls—traces left by his knuckles splitting open. Had it not been for the energy replenished by the Dragon Blood, he would have died from excessive blood loss long ago.

Looking at the chaotic training room and thinking back to the maddening pain he had just endured, Guan Ning felt a lingering fear. He never imagined he would be unable to lose consciousness.

Because he hadn't passed out, he had sweated profusely, and the impurities expelled during his body's transformation had stuck to the surfaces of the training room.

At this moment, although Guan Ning was drenched in sweat, one could still see his skin shimmering with a bronze luster. Because he had spent so long in the training room away from the sun—and even when he went out to hunt monsters, he wore combat gear—his skin had been a sickly pale. Now, stimulated by the Dragon Blood, his bronze skin looked textured and full of power.

Guan Ning thought to himself, "Not bad! I'm very satisfied. This is what a man should look like."