The referee stood stunned for a full three seconds before coming to his senses.
"The Meridian Opening Group final... Jiang Lan of the Ultimate Dao Martial Academy wins!"
"The champion of the Individual Combat Tournament's Meridian Opening Group is Jiang Lan!"
The moment those words fell, the entire Arena erupted.
In the Ultimate Dao Martial Academy's stands, Chu Yun was the first to leap up, bellowing at the top of his lungs:
"Godfather, you're fucking awesome!!! Godfather, you're the greatest in the world!!!"
Beside him, Liu Shiyu followed with a soft murmur of admiration. "He's so amazing..."
Over on the Heavenly Martial Academy's side, however, the atmosphere was the complete opposite.
The crowd was deathly silent, seemingly still reeling from what they had just witnessed.
Their ace, Qin Yue, who had reached the astral condensation realm, had actually lost.
It wasn't just Qin Yue who couldn't accept it. His classmates had never even considered the possibility of him losing.
As far as they were concerned, Qin Yue should have crushed any opponent he faced.
And yet...
Outside the ring, Qin Yue braced himself against the ground and slowly rose.
Expressionless, he moved his arm a little, then turned and walked straight back to the Heavenly Martial Academy's rest area, disappearing down the passage.
A buzz of conversation filled the Arena.
Xiao Feng looked at Jiang Lan below, a smile spreading across his face.
He had known all along that Jiang Lan would surprise him.
But he hadn't expected him to actually win.
He had to admit, Jiang Lan's strength really was absurdly over the top.
Even though he had been prepared, watching Jiang Lan send Qin Yue flying with a head-on punch still made Xiao Feng's scalp prickle.
With that, the Individual Tournament came to an end.
Next came the awards ceremony.
Standing in the center of the ring, the referee announced each division's rankings and prizes in turn.
In the Body Tempering division, Chu Yun placed third, Mo Han fourth, and Bai Yu fifth.
Aside from Liu Shiyu and Lu Qingshan, who had been eliminated right at the start, the other three had all secured places-and good ones, too.
Only after handing out the Body Tempering division's prizes did the referee look at the list in his hand and raise his voice.
"Champion of the Meridian Opening Group: Jiang Lan of the Ultimate Dao Martial Academy!"
"Prize: twenty bottles of second-tier ferocious beast essence blood!"
At the announcement, spectators throughout the stands sucked in sharp breaths.
Twenty bottles of second-tier essence blood. That was a staggering amount.
Converted into credit points, it was worth over two hundred thousand.
That was enough to buy a home in the Base City.
Jiang Lan was quite pleased with the prize, too.
Twenty bottles of second-tier essence blood.
He had already saved up twelve bottles of essence blood, plus the three he had collected from the Academy that day.
Over the past fortnight, he had also made two more trips into the Wilderness Zone and obtained five bottles of second-tier essence blood.
With these twenty bottles added in, he now had a total of forty bottles of second-tier essence blood on hand.
He needed thirty-two bottles to upgrade.
Enough!
At that thought, Jiang Lan slowly drew a breath.
The prize really was generous.
Once he got home tonight, he could gain another level.
After collecting his prize, Jiang Lan returned to the stands, and Chu Yun immediately sidled up to him.
"Godfather, how can you be this strong? It's official. From today on, you're my idol!"
Jiang Lan: "..."
Beside them, Lu Qingshan pushed up his glasses and offered a timely reminder.
"We still have the Team Hunting Tournament this afternoon. Don't get carried away celebrating."
"Right, right." Remembering the business at hand, Chu Yun grew serious. "Our Rocket Class has to take first place this afternoon!"
"Grrr..."
Jiang Lan lowered his head and looked at Chu Yun's stomach.
"We have a two-hour lunch break. Let's get something to eat first. My treat."
"Godfather, you're awesome!"
Before long, it was two in the afternoon.
Everyone gathered on the field.
The referee stood at the front of the platform and announced loudly:
"The Team Hunting Tournament is about to begin."
"Next, each squad will enter the Hunting Ground. You have two hours. Each first-tier ferocious beast killed earns one point, and each second-tier earns five. Rankings will be determined by each team's total score!"
"Each team may carry only one signal flare. If you encounter danger you cannot handle, launch it immediately."
"All ferocious beasts in the Hunting Ground were released before the tournament. Their types and numbers have been strictly controlled. All teams must act within their abilities."
"Now, everyone, get ready!"
Amid the commotion, the six members of the Rocket Class gathered a short distance from the Beast Arena's entrance.
Xiao Feng walked over and swept his gaze across them.
"Don't get careless. The ferocious beasts in the Hunting Ground are much more densely packed than in the wild, and the terrain is complicated."
"Don't worry, sir." Chu Yun thumped his chest. "With Godfather here, we've got this in the bag."
Xiao Feng: "..."
Wait, if Jiang Lan's the one here, why are you thumping your own chest?
Still, he said nothing more.
With Jiang Lan around, there really wasn't much to worry about.
Time passed. Once everyone had lined up, a mechanical rumble came from the Beast Arena's massive gates.
"Bzzzz!"
Then the gates slowly opened.
The six exchanged glances and filed inside.
The interior of the Beast Arena was considerably larger than Jiang Lan had expected.
Within the walls, trees grew thickly and rocks littered the ground. There were even several sections of artificially constructed ruined walls, severely restricting visibility.
"Same as before. I'll lead, and you follow behind," Jiang Lan said.
Everyone nodded in agreement.
Jiang Lan walked at the front, scanning his surroundings.
After his Mental Attribute had reached 120, his perception of the surrounding environment had improved by far more than a single notch.
Right now, he could clearly sense two Ironback Wolves lurking in the bushes just over thirty meters ahead.
"Be careful. There are Ironback Wolves up ahead."
Behind him, the other five grew serious.
Ironback Wolves might not amount to much for Jiang Lan.
But for them, they were formidable enemies through and through.
The group advanced slowly. When they were less than ten meters away, the bushes suddenly shook violently.
Two Ironback Wolves sprang out and lunged straight at Jiang Lan.
Jiang Lan stopped, raised his right fist, and drove a punch straight into the first wolf's head.
"Bang!"
The Ironback Wolf's head burst apart, spraying red and white across the ground. Its body flew backward into the bushes and went completely still.
The second wolf couldn't stop in time and lunged right up to him.
Jiang Lan sidestepped it and casually slapped its back.
The Ironback Wolf let out a muffled grunt. Its legs buckled beneath the blow, and after a couple of struggles, it fell silent.
Jiang Lan crouched down, preparing to collect the essence blood.
Behind him, Chu Yun immediately stopped him and eagerly volunteered:
"Godfather, how could I let you handle a little chore like this? Leave it to me!"
The corner of Jiang Lan's mouth twitched. "Don't forget to cut off the left ears. We'll need them to verify our points later."
With someone offering to help, he naturally couldn't be bothered to do it himself.
Honestly, first-tier Blood Essence Cores were no longer worth much to him.
Of course, he could still sell them for credit points.
"You can count on me!" Chu Yun promised, thumping his chest.
Beside him, Mo Han said nothing. He simply slipped into the bushes and began processing the other Ironback Wolf's carcass.
A little while later, once the carcasses had been dealt with, Jiang Lan waved a hand.
"Let's go. Keep moving."