Two days later.
The bell rang to end class.
Xiao Feng closed the training log in his hands and looked around.
"That's it for today. There are less than two weeks until the exchange tournament. You've been training hard enough lately, so make sure you rest when you get home. Don't train yourselves into an injury."
Everyone nodded in acknowledgment.
After Xiao Feng left, Chu Yun was the first to stand and stretch.
"I'm starving. Come on, let's get something to eat. My treat today."
"The barbecue place again?" Lu Qingshan asked, pushing up his glasses.
"Where else would we go?" Chu Yun said as though it were obvious.
"Uh... I found a pretty good hot pot place recently. How about a change of pace?" Lu Qingshan suggested.
Chu Yun turned to the others.
"What do you guys think?"
"Anything works for me."
"Same here."
"All right, hot pot it is. Lead the way!"
Jiang Lan got up with the others and followed at an unhurried pace.
Lately, whenever they had nothing else to do after school, they would eat together before heading home.
The six of them left the teaching building, made their familiar way to the food street, and ducked into a hot pot restaurant.
"It's on me today, so eat as much as you want!"
"Really? Then I won't hold back," Lu Qingshan said. "A whole morning of training wore me out."
He picked up the menu and ordered a slew of dishes.
The food arrived quickly.
The six ate and chatted, and the conversation naturally turned to the exchange tournament.
"So what's the deal with that Astral Condensation Realm guy from the Heavenly Martial Academy?" Chu Yun asked around a mouthful of lamb.
Bai Yu set down a glass of water and spoke calmly.
"I looked him up. His name is Qin Yue," Bai Yu said. "He's the strongest student the Heavenly Martial Academy has had in the last ten years. He reached the Astral Condensation Realm at seventeen, and he's very aloof."
"Seventeen?" Chu Yun's eyes widened. "Damn, that's insane."
Then he suddenly turned to look at Jiang Lan.
"Hmm... Still a little behind my godfather, though. So what if he's at Astral Condensation? Can he beat a third-tier ferocious beast?"
Jiang Lan didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
How had the conversation come back around to him again?
"When my godfather steps in, Qin Yue or whoever the hell he is, he'll beat them all into the ground!"
Jiang Lan: "..."
"Would you give it a rest?"
"Yes, godfather!"
Jiang Lan: "..."
The meal was lively, and when it came time to pay, Chu Yun settled the bill without hesitation.
As students in the Rocket Class, none of them could be considered poor.
Selling just a couple of bottles from their monthly essence blood allotment would be enough to live far better than most people.
In this world, martial artists and ordinary people lived worlds apart.
An ordinary person could work themselves to the bone for a month and earn only a few hundred to a thousand credit points.
Meanwhile, a martial artist could casually kill a first-tier ferocious beast and earn as much as an ordinary person made in two months.
After leaving the restaurant and saying goodbye to the others, Jiang Lan headed straight for a nearby shopping mall rather than going home.
He had said he would buy Shen Qingqiu a better pair of combat gloves, but he had kept putting it off until now.
Since he had time today, Jiang Lan decided to stop by and take a look.
A little while later, he arrived at one of the best malls in Base City.
Yida!
There weren't many people inside, though.
The mall catered specifically to martial artists. Aside from the extremely wealthy, ordinary people barely had the courage to step through its doors.
Even the most casual purchase could cost hundreds or thousands of credit points.
It catered to much the same market as the luxury shopping malls in Jiang Lan's previous life.
After entering, he browsed for a while and came to a store specializing in combat equipment.
His gaze swept across the counter before settling on a pair of dark brown gloves in the corner.
He picked them up and turned them over.
They felt smooth, with a soft lining. The outer leather was probably made from ferocious beast hide and was exceptionally tough.
"You have a good eye, sir," a saleswoman said, approaching with a smile. "These are made from the hide of a second-tier Iron-Maned Bear. They resist cuts and wear, and they're far more durable than ordinary combat gloves."
Jiang Lan raised an eyebrow slightly and asked:
"How much?"
"Fixed price. Eight thousand credit points."
Jiang Lan inwardly reeled at the price.
What the hell... Why not just rob people?
If he had been buying them for himself, he would have turned around and left the moment he heard the price.
But this was a gift for Shen Qingqiu.
It was only eight thousand credit points. For him, that really wasn't expensive.
Suppressing the sting of parting with his money, Jiang Lan said:
"All right. Pack them up for me."
"Of course, sir!"
The saleswoman was immediately delighted.
She would earn a commission of two hundred credit points from this sale.
Elsewhere, that would be half a month's wages.
After Jiang Lan paid, she packed up the gloves and happily handed them to him.
Taking the bag, Jiang Lan lost interest in browsing any further. He left the mall and took a taxi home.
When he arrived, Jiang Lan opened the door and went inside.
Shen Qingqiu was curled up on the sofa, looking at his phone. He raised his head at the sound.
"You're back?"
"Yeah."
Jiang Lan changed his shoes, walked over to Shen Qingqiu, and set the bag on the coffee table.
"What did you buy?" Shen Qingqiu glanced at it curiously.
Jiang Lan smiled.
"A gift for you, Auntie."
Somewhat surprised, Shen Qingqiu picked up the bag and opened it.
Inside were the gloves Jiang Lan had just bought for eight thousand credit points.
He took them out and examined them closely, running his fingers over their surface before raising an eyebrow.
"Second-tier ferocious beast hide? These weren't cheap, were they?"
"Not too bad..."
Cheap?
Eight thousand credit points for a pair of gloves certainly wasn't cheap.
Even an Iron-Maned Bear's entire hide would only be worth that much.
But it didn't matter. He was no longer in a position where he had to fret over an expense like this.
Shen Qingqiu raised his head and looked at Jiang Lan.
"What made you suddenly think to buy these?"
"I saw that you'd hurt your hand last time, Auntie."
Shen Qingqiu's gaze paused briefly. He lowered his head and looked at the scar on his hand, which was already barely visible.
After a long moment, he pressed his lips together, his voice growing quieter.
"Thank you..."
"There's no need to be so polite with me," Jiang Lan said. "If anyone should be thanking someone, I should be thanking you, Auntie. Without you, who knows where I'd be right now?"
Shen Qingqiu gave Jiang Lan another glance.
"Enough sweet talk. Go wash your hands. Dinner will be ready soon."
"Sure!"
Jiang Lan answered and slipped into the bathroom.
Shen Qingqiu sat in the living room, gazing at the gloves a while longer before getting up and heading to the kitchen.
An hour later, dinner was served.
At the table, Shen Qingqiu looked at Jiang Lan and asked:
"When does that exchange tournament you mentioned start?"
"In less than two weeks."
"All three academies together?"
"Yeah. Students from the Ultimate Dao Martial Academy, the Heavenly Martial Academy, and the Blazing Fire Academy will all compete together."
Shen Qingqiu nodded, picked up a bite of food, and asked, "Can you take first place?"
Jiang Lan set down his chopsticks, looked at Shen Qingqiu, and chuckled.
"What do you think, Auntie?"
Shen Qingqiu rolled his eyes at him.
"Look at you, so full of yourself."