The dark red liquid in the essence blood vial swirled slightly, noticeably thicker than first-tier essence blood.
At the same time, a system notification appeared.
[Second-tier fierce beast blood essence ×8 detected. Use it to upgrade Indestructible Diamond Body?]
"Upgrade."
[Indestructible Diamond Body advanced to layer eleven!] [Defense +110, vitality +1100, strength +90]
A current of warmth flooded Jiang Lan's limbs and body.
He could clearly feel his muscles becoming denser, as though they were being compressed.
It wasn't just his muscles. His bones were growing sturdier too.
After a long while, the warmth faded.
Jiang Lan slowly opened his eyes and punched the air in front of him.
Crack!
A sharp report rang out through the air.
Jiang Lan lowered his head and looked at his hand.
His fist looked the same, but the strength within it had risen by far more than a single notch.
He looked at the system panel.
[Host: Jiang Lan] [Realm: meridian opening] [Indestructible Diamond Body: layer eleven] [Defense: 660] [Vitality: 7350] [Strength: 208.8] [Spirit: 121] [Agility: 99.5] [Constitution: 80] [Upgrade requirement: second-tier fierce beast blood essence ×16]
His strength had shot straight from 118.8 to 208.8, nearly doubling.
Six hundred and sixty defense. Over seventy-three hundred vitality.
Forget astral condensation. Even blood exchange...
Never mind. With my current physical stats, I probably still couldn't take on a blood exchange realm warrior.
But my strength... it's nearly doubled, and that's before the boosts from Iron Mountain Fist and agility.
Even he couldn't imagine how powerful a punch from him would be now.
Jiang Lan's gaze settled on the last line of the panel.
Sixteen vials, just as expected.
Although the requirement had doubled, it was still much better than five hundred vials of first-tier essence blood.
He had now used up all the essence blood he had.
If I rely on those three second-tier vials each month...
No, besides the three second-tier vials, there are also fifty vials of first-tier essence blood.
Selling those would get me eight and a half second-tier vials... that makes eleven vials a month.
At that rate, another trip to the Wilderness Zone or the Spiritual Energy Chamber should probably be enough for another upgrade.
Dismissing the panel, Jiang Lan leaned back in his chair with a smile.
Nothing beats a cheat.
All that matters is how ridiculously strong it makes me!
If he kept progressing steadily like this, it wouldn't be long before his strength reached a truly terrifying level.
Taking a deep breath, Jiang Lan suppressed his excitement.
Now I have everything I need!
The next day, in the Rocket Class classroom.
The moment Jiang Lan walked in, Chu Yun came over.
"Godfather!"
Jiang Lan couldn't be bothered with him and went straight to his seat.
Chu Yun didn't mind. He chuckled and returned to his own seat.
A moment later, Xiao Feng pushed open the door and entered the classroom.
Unlike usual, his expression was somewhat more serious.
"I have an important announcement today."
The six exchanged glances and fell silent.
Xiao Feng looked around before speaking.
"In a month and a half, the three major warrior academies will hold a joint interschool competition."
"Students from the Ultimate Dao Martial Academy, the Heavenly Martial Academy, and the Blazing Fire Academy will compete against each other."
Chu Yun's eyes instantly lit up.
Xiao Feng continued, "The competition has two events."
"First, an individual combat tournament. One-on-one arena matches, grouped by realm, with each academy sending representatives."
"Second, a team hunting competition. Students from all three academies will be assigned to mixed teams and enter a designated area to hunt ferocious beasts. Rankings will be based on points."
"The results of both events will be combined to determine the final individual and team rankings."
Chu Yun couldn't help asking, "What about the rewards?"
Xiao Feng glanced at him.
"The top three in the individual tournament will receive large quantities of essence blood and cultivation resources. The exact amounts haven't been announced, but they'll be substantial."
At this point, he paused, his voice growing more solemn.
"Besides the resource rewards, outstanding students will have a chance to be recommended for further study at the elite institutions in the Central Base City."
The classroom fell silent for a moment.
Chu Yun was the first to react.
"The Central Base City? Isn't that the place where all the legendary heavyweights gather?"
"To be precise, it's the strongest human base city on all of Blue Star," Xiao Feng said. "Our outlying base city can't compare to its resources and opportunities."
Mo Han's expression shifted slightly, a flicker of anticipation crossing his eyes.
Bai Yu narrowed their eyes slightly as well.
Xiao Feng looked at Jiang Lan.
"All six members of the Rocket Class will participate."
"For the individual tournament, Jiang Lan, you'll compete in the meridian opening division."
Jiang Lan nodded.
His realm was indeed still meridian opening.
Of course, that was without retesting his punching power.
As for his actual strength... that was another matter entirely.
Then Xiao Feng continued.
"There's something I need to tell you in advance."
"The other two academies are strong, especially the Heavenly Martial Academy. One of their students has already broken through to the early astral condensation realm this year."
A chorus of sharp gasps rose through the classroom.
"The astral condensation realm?" Chu Yun's eyes widened. "They have a student in the astral condensation realm?"
Mo Han's expression grew more solemn too.
The astral condensation realm was the third realm.
Eight thousand kilograms of punching power, and a speed of one hundred and sixty meters per second.
For most of those present, the astral condensation realm was a completely unattainable height.
At least for now.
Xiao Feng nodded. "So during this month of preparation, we'll be increasing the intensity of your training. Stay focused, all of you."
Everyone nodded.
Sitting in his seat, Jiang Lan felt a stir of interest.
Early astral condensation realm. Around eight thousand kilograms of punching power.
To be honest, he would have felt some pressure before.
But now...
After the massive increase in his strength stat, even Jiang Lan didn't know his current punching power, but it was certainly far beyond eight thousand.
Besides, even before the upgrade, he had been able to kill a third-tier ferocious beast on his own.
So this astral condensation realm opponent really didn't put any pressure on him.
"All right, let's start today's training."
Everyone rose to their feet.
Three hours passed quickly.
With his improvements across the board, keeping up with the training was no longer difficult for Jiang Lan at all.
After class, Chu Yun immediately came over to Jiang Lan.
"Bro, are you confident you can beat that astral condensation guy from Heavenly Martial?"
Jiang Lan smiled.
"I probably can."
"Hell yeah! My godfather's a badass!"
"But seriously..." Chu Yun rubbed his hands together. "That's the Central Base City. Just thinking about it gets me excited."
Hearing that, Mo Han poured cold water on his enthusiasm from the side.
"Instead of thinking about the Central Base City, you should worry about surviving the first round of the individual tournament."
Chu Yun: "..."
"Damn it, man, could you stop crushing my spirit like that?"
Seeing his dejected expression, Jiang Lan smiled and shook his head. He patted Chu Yun on the shoulder, then headed out of the classroom.
The Central Base City... sounds pretty good.
It's just a little too far away...