Physical Strength

The hardware store manager's words were somewhat exaggerated.

Dexi Company belonged to Tiangang Manufacturing Group. Tiangang was the nation's largest manufacturer of magical artifacts, and the drill bits it produced were among the very best in terms of strength.

This red impact drill was considered a mid-range model.

At full power, with maximum output, it could indeed unleash drilling force approaching thirty strength units—the equivalent of a cultivator nearing the Core Formation realm.

What the manager had not mentioned was that running at full power required an astronomical number of Spirit Stones...

Still, Jiang Ran was already more than satisfied.

Even with just one Spirit Stone installed and running at minimum power, this impact drill could bore through any mineral below Level Ten!

"Vermilion Dense Iron" was a Qi Assimilation spiritual material from the Taixu Realm. By Pingjiang's mineral standards, it was equivalent to Level Eighteen.

To refine a mineral of that grade, or even forge it into a magical artifact, naturally required the support of at least Late Foundation Establishment strength.

But if all he wanted was to mine the raw ore and dig it out of the ground, the requirements were not nearly so high.

The soil around the "Vermilion Dense Iron" vein had long been contaminated by spiritual iron, and its fundamental nature had already changed. Yet its hardness and strength were still not particularly high.

The miners recruited by the Hundred-Yue Immortal Sect were all ordinary people.

Qi-Consuming Initiation was an enormous threshold. Without Dao Initiation, one would ultimately remain a mortal.

From Jiang Ran's observations during this time, Qi Cultivation practitioners, even burly men who had reached the peak of Qi Cultivation, were indeed very strong, but they were absolutely no stronger than the subject teachers at a high school.

In other words, the Qi Cultivation realm was at most comparable to Qi Refining cultivators.

"This is the power of science!" Jiang Ran said excitedly as he walked out of the department store.

Without any other means, he would never be able to out-dig those Qi Cultivation peak brutes whose arms were thicker than his thighs.

But now, the situation was completely different.

With an impact drill in hand, mining was as easy as drinking water!

Jiang Ran had prepared very thoroughly. Aside from the impact drill, he had also bought a batch of mining tools.

For example, military shovels, military spades, tow ropes, and specially made helmets with lights.

These days, miners' gear and equipment had become a hobby for quite a few people. The tools available on the civilian market were not professional enough, but they were already more than sufficient for Jiang Ran.

Although Director Ji had approved his leave, meaning he did not need to attend classes for the time being.

The cooldown before he could cross worlds again still had several days left, and Jiang Ran had no intention of wasting them.

He still had to attend the classes he should attend and listen to the lessons he should listen to.

The immortal path was vast, and the knowledge of cultivation was as deep as the sea.

The school's teachers were all Foundation Establishment cultivators, and they always brought new material.

Jiang Ran felt that he had changed. Even three days before the college entrance exams in his previous life, he had never studied this diligently.

After all, the source of motivation was different, and so were his attitude toward learning and its results.

Cultivation was truly for his own sake. Every piece of knowledge he learned would provide profound help to his cultivation.

Although the cultivation systems and inheritances of the Tianlu and Great Ruins worlds were not entirely the same.

They seemed to share many common principles.

As he immersed himself fully in his studies, Jiang Ran could sense that not only had he improved in cultivating the "True Origin Formula," but his Qi-Nourishing Cultivation Method had also progressed without his realizing it.

His days were incredibly fulfilling. Physical education meant practicing martial arts, spell class meant learning spells, Ancient Language class... meant watching Ancient Language movies.

At night, after returning home, Jiang Ran would take "Qi Refining Powder" to cultivate.

For the moment, he could not speed up his progress in the Qi-Nourishing Cultivation Method.

There was no helping it. His essence and qi were overly abundant, and the second stage, "Essence Nourishment," still needed time before it could naturally generate its origin.

Pingjiang No. 1 High School, Cafeteria No. 3.

"Jiang Ran, where have you been these past few days? Why haven't I seen you?"

Tao Dapeng was still the one who cared more about his good brother.

"I was a little sleepy, so I stayed home and slept for a few days." Jiang Ran finished the last bite of his meal, wearing a satisfied expression.

He had to admit that Pingjiang's food was better. Even the braised pork in No. 1 High School's cafeteria could utterly crush every dish on Black Dragon Mountain.

"A little sleepy, so you stayed home and slept?" Tao Dapeng nearly sprayed out a mouthful of food.

Was that even human language? Why could he not understand it?

"You're a senior about to take the college entrance exams, and you stayed home sleeping for days?"

"Didn't your homeroom teacher give you trouble?"

"No."

"Then... what about Ji Old Devil? Ji Old Devil didn't do anything to you either?"

In the minds of most Pingjiang No. 1 High School students, grade director Ji Linchun was elusive and unpredictable, always lurking in dark corners to witness students breaking school rules. He was practically the incarnation of a messenger from hell, earning him the nickname "Ji Old Devil."

"Teacher Ji? Teacher Ji is a pretty nice person." Jiang Ran shrugged.

"Impossible. Ji Old Devil hates students being late or leaving early the most. You skipped school for several days—there's no way he'd let you off easily." Tao Dapeng lowered his voice.

"Jiang Ran, listen to me. Before the teachers come looking for you, take the initiative and go to the office to admit your mistake. Maybe then you can still..."

Jiang Ran chuckled and interrupted him. "Da Peng, I'm full. I'm going home to sleep off my meal. What about you?"

"I..."

"Jiang Ran, stop messing with me. We have physical education this afternoon. If you skip class, Teacher Wang will kill you!"

"If you're not leaving, forget it. We can eat together again next time."

Under Tao Dapeng's stunned gaze, Jiang Ran walked over to the guardroom by the entrance.

Then the two security guards personally saw him off, and he passed through the school gates without the slightest issue.

"Are my eyes broken..." Tao Dapeng's jaw nearly hit the floor.

As a "bad student" whose grades were just as poor as Jiang Ran's, he had fantasized countless times about being able to walk out through the school gates openly during class hours after graduation.

And now, his good brother Jiang Ran had actually done it...

This was too outrageous!

It was not until the next day that Tao Dapeng learned Jiang Ran had received a handwritten "leave pass exempt from punishment" from Director Ji Linchun.

Jealousy surged through him. This time, he did not pay, and finally got Jiang Ran to treat him to chicken stew!

The final physical education class of the week.

Teacher Wang Changming brought equipment out of the storage room and conducted physical assessments for the students.

The assessment was simple and consisted of two categories: physical strength and martial arts proficiency.

"Zhao Xiaohong, physical fitness Level 1.82, martial arts: 90 points."

"Pan Yunye, physical fitness Level 1.61, martial arts: 90 points."

Teacher Wang sat beneath the shade and read out the scores one by one without hurry.

Physical fitness, or physical strength, was divided into one hundred levels. Qi Refining cultivators generally did not exceed Level Ten.

During the early stages of cultivation, training the body was easier than raising one's cultivation.

A Qi Refinement Level One cultivator could still temper their body to Level Two strength.

Of course, the higher one's cultivation, the greater the benefits received by the physical body. That was an indisputable fact.

"Cheng Qian, physical fitness Level 2.73, martial arts: 95 points."

As the class monitor of Class Three and a "seed contender" who had broken through to Qi Refinement Level Two early on, Cheng Qian's physical strength far surpassed that of ordinary people. She was already extremely close to Level Three!

"Cheng Qian did well," Teacher Wang praised.

"This is related to her long-term use of Kehua No. 7 Potion. After class, everyone can come to me to buy more..."

Very soon, it was Jiang Ran's turn.

The instrument scanned his entire body, and a flash of light vanished in an instant.

Jiang Ran had been prepared for this and remained calm.

Hardly anyone paid attention to the bottom-ranked slacker in the class. After all, a slacker could at most temper their body to a little over Level One, completely unable to compare with anyone else.

"What..."

To everyone's surprise, Teacher Wang suddenly stood up.