Jiang Lan stepped into the chamber.
The moment he entered, a wave of warmth washed over him.
Behind him, the metal door slowly closed, cutting off every sound from outside.
For a moment, the only sound in the chamber was his own breathing.
Jiang Lan: "..."
So it really was a sauna?
After looking around, Jiang Lan took a deep breath.
Immediately, he felt a surge of energy.
No, this place was way better than a sauna.
With little time and plenty to do, Jiang Lan wasted no time. He took his stance and began practicing his punches.
Whoosh!
His fist sliced through the air, scattering some of the mist.
Then a strange sensation spread through Jiang Lan's body.
Every time he exerted himself, he could feel the surrounding mist desperately pushing its way into his body.
Jiang Lan kept punching, throwing one blow after another.
Just as he threw his tenth punch, a screen of light suddenly lit up before him.
[High-concentration spiritual energy environment detected] [Spiritual energy can replace fierce beast blood essence for upgrades] [Current upgrade progress: first-tier ferocious beast essence blood 251/256]
Jiang Lan paused, his eyes widening.
Holy shit!
It could do that, too?
Excitement surged through Jiang Lan, and he hurriedly resumed punching.
A short while later, the number changed again.
243/256
Jiang Lan took a deep breath.
He understood now.
The spiritual energy here could directly replace essence blood when upgrading Indestructible Diamond Body.
In other words, as long as he stayed here long enough, the cost of reaching the next level could drop to zero.
Wild joy instantly filled his heart.
What else was there to say?
With an opportunity this good right in front of him, he'd have to be a complete idiot not to make the most of it.
With that thought, Jiang Lan held nothing back, furiously throwing punch after punch.
As his training grew more intense, his body absorbed spiritual energy faster.
Naturally, the number on the panel fell faster as well.
After just half an hour, it had dropped to 198/256.
After an hour: 134/256.
Perhaps because his body was gradually adjusting to the Spiritual Energy Chamber, Jiang Lan's absorption efficiency continued to improve.
After an hour and a half, the number dropped to 67.
Most importantly, even now, Jiang Lan felt no strain whatsoever.
On the contrary, he felt as though he could train here until the end of time.
Jiang Lan didn't know whether this had anything to do with Indestructible Diamond Body, but it was a good thing either way.
Of course, he wasn't sure how long this state would last.
At that thought, he punched a little faster.
Chances to get something for free were rare.
He'd level up Indestructible Diamond Body first and worry about the rest later.
Outside the chamber, Xiao Feng leaned against the wall and glanced down at his watch.
Nearly two hours had passed since Jiang Lan went inside.
On their first visit to the Spiritual Energy Chamber, most students began feeling unwell from spiritual energy overload after an hour to an hour and a half.
But that kid Jiang Lan showed no sign of coming out.
Xiao Feng frowned slightly, a little worried.
But he soon cast that worry aside.
Who was he kidding? Even if Jiang Lan stayed in there all day, he wouldn't be surprised.
That kid was a freak to begin with.
Inside the chamber.
Two hours flew by.
By now, Jiang Lan had completely lost himself in his training. His punches flowed smoothly as spiritual energy poured into him.
Just then, the panel appeared before him again.
[Upgrade requirements met] [Upgrade Indestructible Diamond Body?]
Without the slightest hesitation, Jiang Lan said:
"Upgrade."
[Indestructible Diamond Body has reached the tenth level!] [Defense +100, blood vitality +1000, mental power +80]
Boom!
A torrent of energy surged straight into Jiang Lan's head.
Unlike the energy in his body, the energy swirling through his head carried a cooling sensation.
It felt as though he'd just swallowed two drops of Medicated Cooling Oil, and even the slightest breath brought absolute zero.
At that moment, Jiang Lan felt more clearheaded than ever before.
Everything around him seemed to slow to a crawl.
After a long while, the cooling sensation faded.
Jiang Lan slowly opened his eyes and let out a long breath.
He looked at the system screen:
[Host: Jiang Lan] [Realm: Meridian Opening] [Indestructible Diamond Body: tenth level] [Defense: 550] [Blood vitality: 6250] [Strength: 118.8] [Mental power: 121] [Agility: 99.5] [Constitution: 80] [Upgrade requirements: second-tier ferocious beast essence blood ×8]
Jiang Lan raised an eyebrow.
Meridian Opening?
Hadn't it always said his martial talent was unawakened before?
But Jiang Lan soon stopped dwelling on the question.
It was probably because of the Spiritual Energy Chamber.
Whether his talent had awakened or not made little difference to him anyway.
For him, the only thing that mattered was the level of Indestructible Diamond Body.
Jiang Lan glanced around again.
His senses were now far sharper than before.
Although it might not seem that useful, in actual combat, mental power was every bit as important as strength and speed.
After all, better neural reflexes meant he could react to an opponent's movements faster and respond in advance.
But none of that was the most important part.
The most important information was on the last line.
The next upgrade only needed eight bottles of second-tier ferocious beast essence blood?!
Now that was light at the end of the tunnel!
He had thought the next upgrade would require a full 512 bottles of first-tier essence blood.
Apparently, that wouldn't be necessary.
Although second-tier essence blood was worth far more than first-tier essence blood, their market prices were only six to one: twelve thousand credit points for second-tier and two thousand for first-tier.
By that calculation, eight bottles of second-tier essence blood were only worth forty-eight bottles of first-tier essence blood-a world cheaper than over five hundred bottles.
More importantly, he already had four bottles of second-tier essence blood.
Plus the three bottles the Academy gave him every month.
That meant he only needed one more bottle of second-tier essence blood to reach the eleventh level.
Just one bottle.
He could get that by taking a quick trip out of the city and hunting a second-tier ferocious beast.
Looking at the panel, Jiang Lan felt his chance to soar was right within reach.
Two blessings at once.
Taking a deep breath, Jiang Lan dismissed the panel and stretched.
Right now, his entire body felt astonishingly clear and refreshed.
After thinking it over, he decided to head out first.
There was no other reason-Jiang Lan was finally starting to feel a little uncomfortable.
It was like oxygen intoxication, leaving him slightly dizzy and lightheaded.
Staying any longer probably wouldn't do him any good.
Walking up to the chamber entrance, Jiang Lan pushed open the heavy metal door.
Xiao Feng was waiting against a wall nearby. When he saw Jiang Lan, he quickly stepped forward.
Jiang Lan had been inside for nearly three hours.
Although Xiao Feng had said he wasn't worried, he had still felt a little uncertain.
Now that he saw Jiang Lan come out, he could finally relax.
"How do you feel?"
"Pretty good." Jiang Lan smiled. "Thanks for your concern, sir."