After Xiao Feng left, Chu Yun immediately came up to Jiang Lan and gave him a thumbs-up.
"Bro, you're a badass. I'm impressed."
Jiang Lan smiled without saying anything.
He had never liked being in the spotlight, so naturally, he did not continue the conversation with Chu Yun.
"It was nothing. We're all classmates. I have something to take care of, so I'll head out first."
"Come on," Chu Yun said. "It's your first day. We should at least have a meal together and get to know each other."
Jiang Lan smiled and said,
"The day after tomorrow. I'll treat everyone after class."
Right now, he was itching to collect his resources and go home to upgrade. Eating was the last thing on his mind.
Seeing that Jiang Lan was determined, Chu Yun stopped trying to persuade him. He simply took a deep breath and nodded.
"The day after tomorrow, then."
Jiang Lan nodded as well, said goodbye to everyone, and left the classroom.
Once outside the teaching building, Jiang Lan took a deep breath.
Blood essence, here I fucking come!
A dozen minutes later, Jiang Lan arrived outside the academic affairs office.
Though called the Academic Affairs Office, it was actually an entire separate building—the same one where Lin Yu had previously taken him to collect blood essence.
Two guards still stood at the entrance.
Upon seeing Jiang Lan, one of the guards said,
"Student, please show your student ID."
Jiang Lan took out his student ID and handed it over.
After reading the words on it, the guard's expression shifted slightly. He then returned the ID to Jiang Lan with utmost respect.
"Jiang Lan, please go in."
Jiang Lan took his ID back and entered the academic affairs office.
Immediately inside was an enormous warehouse.
A middle-aged woman in a work uniform sat behind the counter.
She looked up when Jiang Lan entered.
"Are you here to collect your resources?"
Jiang Lan walked up to the counter and presented his student ID.
"Yes."
The middle-aged woman took his ID and checked the computer.
A moment later, she looked up, a hint of astonishment in her eyes.
"Jiang Lan, your resources for this month are either thirty bottles of First-Tier Ferocious Beast Essence Blood, or twenty bottles of First-Tier Essence Blood plus two bottles of Second-Tier Essence Blood. Which would you like?"
Without even thinking, Jiang Lan answered,
"Tier-one."
Although tier-two blood essence was more valuable, he could currently only use tier-one blood essence to upgrade his indestructible diamond body.
No matter how good Second-Tier Essence Blood was, it was useless if he could not use it.
He could worry about that once his upgrades required Second-Tier Essence Blood.
"All right. Please wait a moment."
The middle-aged woman stood, went over to the shelves, and took out a metal case and a small bottle.
"These are your Body Tempering Pills, five in total, along with thirty bottles of Fierce Beast Blood Essence. Please check them."
Jiang Lan opened the case. Thirty bottles of Fierce Beast Blood Essence were neatly arranged inside.
She placed the case on the counter and handed Jiang Lan a form.
"If everything is in order, please sign to confirm."
Everything was more than in order!
Jiang Lan took the pen and quickly signed his name on the form.
"Take care."
"Thank you, ma'am."
With that, Jiang Lan eagerly picked up the metal case, turned, and left the resource warehouse.
After leaving the warehouse, Jiang Lan called Shen Qingqiu.
"Uncle, I'm heading home."
Shen Qingqiu's voice came from the other end of the line.
"All right. I happen to be running an errand nearby. I'll pick you up."
After hanging up, Jiang Lan waited at the academy gates for a while.
Before long, Shen Qingqiu's SUV stopped in front of him.
Jiang Lan opened the door and climbed into the passenger seat.
Shen Qingqiu glanced at the metal case in Jiang Lan's lap.
"What's that?"
"The cultivation resources the academy gave me," Jiang Lan said. "First-Tier Ferocious Beast Essence Blood."
"Wow. Just what you'd expect from the Ultimate Dao Martial Academy..."
Jiang Lan smiled without saying anything.
Shen Qingqiu stepped on the gas, and the SUV pulled away.
"How was your first day of class?"
Jiang Lan thought for a moment. "Not bad. I just ran into someone with a bad case of main-character syndrome."
Shen Qingqiu paused. "Main-character syndrome?"
"Yeah." Jiang Lan did not know whether to laugh or cry as he continued. "The guy who used to be number one in our class thought I was threatening his position. He insisted on sparring with me."
Shen Qingqiu's handsome brows furrowed slightly as he glanced sideways at Jiang Lan.
"You weren't hurt, were you?"
"Of course not."
Never mind a student from Rocket Class—even Shen Qingqiu himself might not be able to hurt him.
They chatted along the way and soon arrived home.
As soon as he entered the house, Jiang Lan hurried to his room and shut the door.
Sitting on his bed, he opened the metal case. The sight of the neatly arranged blood essence sent a surge of excitement through him.
He immediately took out all the blood essence and laid it on the bed.
Almost at the same time, the system notification sounded.
[First-Tier Ferocious Beast Essence Blood x32 detected. Use it to upgrade the indestructible diamond body?]
Jiang Lan did not hesitate.
"Upgrade."
[Indestructible diamond body upgraded to level seven!] [Defense +70, vital energy +700, constitution +50]
Boom!
That familiar stream of heat erupted wildly inside Jiang Lan.
Jiang Lan felt his body brimming with even more vitality. The warmth seeped into every cell, making him feel as though he were soaking in a hot spring.
So good!
Jiang Lan narrowed his eyes, nearly letting out a moan.
This felt unbelievably good.
After a long while, the warmth slowly faded.
Only then did Jiang Lan reluctantly open his eyes and clench his fists.
An unprecedented sense of fullness immediately welled up within him.
Jiang Lan could feel that his energy had reached an absolute peak.
These fists were badass!
He looked down and tried punching his own arm.
Thud!
With a muffled impact, Jiang Lan felt as though he had struck a steel plate.
Holy shit!
So tough!
Jiang Lan stared wide-eyed.
But suddenly, a not-particularly-funny joke came to mind.
If he got appendicitis someday... would he die in agony because nobody could operate on him?
Shaking his head, Jiang Lan banished that ridiculous thought.
He was a martial artist now. What fucking appendicitis?
Gathering his thoughts, Jiang Lan looked at his status panel.
[Host: Jiang Lan] [Realm: None (martial talent not awakened)] [Indestructible diamond body: Level seven] [Defense: 280] [Vital energy: 3545] [Strength: 58.6 (average for an ordinary person: 10)] [Spirit: 40.8 (average for an ordinary person: 10)] [Agility: 29.1 (average for an ordinary person: 10)] [Constitution: 79.5 (average for an ordinary person: 10)] [Upgrade requirement: First-Tier Ferocious Beast Essence Blood x64]
Awesome, awesome, awesome!
Over three thousand points of vital energy and nearly three hundred points of defense.
Although there was no way to quantify what those two values meant in practice, watching the numbers keep climbing filled Jiang Lan with satisfaction.
With his current defensive capabilities, even a martial artist at the peak of meridian opening might not be able to break through.
Still...
Jiang Lan looked at the final line.
His next upgrade required sixty-four bottles of First-Tier Ferocious Beast Essence Blood.
The academy only provided thirty bottles a month.
Even with some left over now, he would have to wait another two months to upgrade again.
Time waited for no one!
It seemed he still needed to find a chance to leave the city and hunt Ferocious Beasts.
The academy did not have many classes anyway, and tomorrow happened to be the day the Salvage Team headed out.
That settled it. Tomorrow, he would go to the Salvage Team with his aunt first!