Two days later, in the Rocket Class classroom.
The moment Chu Yun saw Jiang Lan walk in, he hurried over.
"All hail my godfather!"
Jiang Lan glanced at him.
"How are your injuries?"
"Hehe, much better." Chu Yun grinned. "Thinking of you every day has even helped me heal faster, Godfather."
The corner of Jiang Lan's mouth twitched. He paid no attention to Chu Yun's flattery.
He sat down in his seat and greeted his classmates.
After the assessment, he had grown considerably closer to them.
Bai Yu and Liu Shiyu went without saying. As for Chu Yun and the other two, they might not even have made it back alive without Jiang Lan.
After he exchanged a few casual words with everyone, Xiao Feng pushed the door open and came in.
As soon as he entered, he looked straight at Jiang Lan and said:
"Jiang Lan, come with me. Everyone else, train on your own today."
The students exchanged looks, but none of them said anything.
After all, the vice dean had personally stepped in two days ago. It was perfectly normal for Jiang Lan to receive some special coaching.
At the Warrior Academy, strength ultimately commanded respect.
Jiang Lan stood up and followed Xiao Feng.
Behind him, Chu Yun called out.
"You've got this, Godfather!"
Jiang Lan: "..."
Xiao Feng led Jiang Lan through the teaching building, then down a small path deeper into the Academy.
Five minutes later, a standalone building appeared before Jiang Lan.
Xiao Feng opened the door and gestured for Jiang Lan to enter.
"We're here," Xiao Feng said. "This is the Astral Condensation training room."
Jiang Lan nodded, stepped inside, and looked around.
This place was much larger than the training rooms in the Library Tower.
The floor and walls had clearly been specially reinforced, too. The materials looked considerably thicker and sturdier than those in ordinary training rooms.
Several pieces of testing equipment stood in the corner. They also looked more advanced than the ones in the classroom.
The entire training room was empty and silent.
"This place is specifically for warriors at the Astral Condensation level," Xiao Feng said. "It doesn't get much use. From now on, you can come here whenever you like."
Jiang Lan gave a slight nod.
Without wasting any time, Xiao Feng strode over to the testing area and pointed at the circular track.
"We'll start with a round of basic tests. I need to get a sense of your current condition. Speed first."
"No problem." Jiang Lan readily agreed. He walked to the track, adjusted his breathing slightly, then exploded into motion.
The instant he pushed off the ground, his whole body shot forward as though launched from a catapult. His surroundings flew backward, even blurring into streaks before his eyes.
The sensation was completely different from before.
He had been fast before, but it had still felt as though he was running one step at a time.
Now, it felt more like flying.
Whoosh!
Wind roared past him. Almost in an instant, he completed a full lap.
Jiang Lan stopped and looked back at the display.
[91.6 m/s]
His eyebrows rose slightly at the number on the screen.
If he remembered correctly, his last speed test had clocked him at less than forty-four meters per second.
This result was more than double his previous one.
Behind Jiang Lan, Xiao Feng stood in front of the display and drew a deep breath.
Ninety-one point six.
His own speed was only around seventy-five meters per second.
In other words, Jiang Lan had already surpassed him in speed alone.
And not by a little, either. He was faster by a considerable margin.
Xiao Feng fell silent for two seconds before taking another deep breath and looking away from the display.
"All right. Next is the punching force test."
Without another word, Jiang Lan walked over and stood before the Punch Force Tester.
He lowered his center of gravity and slowly drew a breath.
Then, engaging every muscle in his body, Jiang Lan drove a fist into the machine before him.
Thud!
A dull impact rang out. The tester shook violently, rocking for a long time before finally settling.
The numbers on its display raced upward before coming to a stop.
[7836 kg]
Seeing the result, Jiang Lan discreetly clenched his fist.
Last time, he had scored less than five thousand eight hundred. This time, it had jumped by over two thousand.
Although his strength stat had not changed, his proficiency in Iron Mountain Fist and the physical coordination provided by his agility had both played significant roles.
Off to the side, Xiao Feng's eyelid twitched violently.
The threshold for the Astral Condensation Realm was eight thousand kilograms.
The force of Jiang Lan's punch was only a little over a hundred kilograms short of that.
In just over a month, he had gone from a warrior who had newly awakened a special talent to someone whose strength approached the Astral Condensation Realm.
Was that really something a normal human could achieve?
Special talent...
After so many years teaching the Rocket Class, he had naturally seen people with special talents before.
But he had never seen anyone quite as special as Jiang Lan.
It was absurd.
After spending nearly ten seconds mentally composing himself, he finally spoke again.
"Not bad."
Following a pause, Xiao Feng continued, "Next, I'll take you to the Spiritual Energy Chamber."
Jiang Lan's eyebrows lifted slightly.
He knew about the Spiritual Energy Chamber.
Rumor had it that the concentration of spiritual energy inside was more than ten times that of the outside world, allowing it to accelerate the tempering of the body.
Training inside could produce enormous gains in both constitution and vital energy.
Moreover, under normal circumstances, the Spiritual Energy Chamber only opened once a year, and only a select few qualified to enter.
Now, the Academy was opening the chamber just for him.
Jiang Lan, at least, did not know of anyone else who had ever enjoyed such treatment.
Under Xiao Feng's guidance, the two left the Astral Condensation training room and continued deeper into the Academy.
The farther they went, the quieter their surroundings became.
After they had walked some distance, there was no one else around at all.
Quite some time later, a row of small rooms made entirely of metal appeared before them.
The rooms had heavy metal doors that reminded Jiang Lan of bank vault doors.
Beside each door was something resembling a fingerprint lock.
Xiao Feng stepped forward and swiped his faculty card, then entered a string of numbers.
Beep!
A mechanical sound rang out, and the metal door slowly opened.
The instant the door opened, Jiang Lan felt a surge of rich energy wash over him.
He instinctively drew a deep breath.
As the air filled his lungs, he immediately felt more refreshed.
"This is the Spiritual Energy Chamber," Xiao Feng said. "Once you're inside, just train as normal, and your body will improve far faster than it would outside."
"However, everyone's body has a different tolerance. Normally, an hour or two is about the limit for someone entering the Spiritual Energy Chamber for the first time."
"I know your constitution is unusual, but if you feel any discomfort at all, come out immediately. Don't try to push through it."
"Don't worry."
Jiang Lan nodded and looked through the doorway.
The chamber was small, seemingly only twenty or thirty square meters.
Numerous pieces of ore were embedded in the walls, and a thin mist hung in the air.
Uh...
A sauna?