He had expected the Ironback Wolf to be formidable, but it could not even break through his defenses.
In that case, there was no need to hold back.
Today, you little wolf bastard, I'll show you who you're messing with!
Jiang Lan grinned viciously, raised his blade, and thrust.
The Ironback Wolf clearly had not expected its full-strength attack to fail to penetrate this human's defenses.
In that moment of hesitation, Jiang Lan drove his blade straight into the Ironback Wolf's eye.
Squelch!
"Awooo!!"
As the blade pierced it, the Ironback Wolf let out an agonized howl and struggled frantically to escape.
But Jiang Lan was not about to give it a chance to escape. He closed the distance in a few quick strides and plunged his blade into the fleeing Ironback Wolf's neck.
Squelch!
The blade sank into flesh, and blood sprayed out, splattering all over Jiang Lan.
"Awooo!"
The Ironback Wolf immediately collapsed, its entire body convulsing. Blood gushed from its wound, and before long, it lay utterly lifeless.
Jiang Lan panted as he stared at the Ironback Wolf's corpse nearby, still finding it hard to believe.
He had killed a ferocious beast!
Just like that?
Excitement and exhilaration surged within Jiang Lan.
He felt none of the nausea that killing might have brought, only admiration for his own handiwork.
Indestructible Diamond Body...
It's seriously powerful!
As long as his opponents could not break through his defenses, he could do whatever he pleased with them, couldn't he?
Recalling what Zhao Gang had done earlier, Jiang Lan crouched and cut open the Ironback Wolf's chest.
Squelch!
The blade sliced through flesh. Jiang Lan reached inside, felt around for a while, and pulled out its heart.
The heart was still beating faintly, with a little dark red liquid flowing slowly inside.
But holding the heart, Jiang Lan found himself in a bind.
He did not have a collection vial.
So how was he supposed to collect its blood essence?
Eat it directly?
Can I really eat this thing raw? Could it be poisonous? What if it upsets my stomach?
After agonizing over it for a while, Jiang Lan gritted his teeth.
The system wants blood essence. It never said it had to be bottled.
So his only option was to bite into it.
Let's do this!
Bottoms up, boys!
Jiang Lan closed his eyes, opened his mouth, and bit into the heart.
A foul, bloody stench instantly flooded his mouth and nose.
Suppressing his nausea, Jiang Lan gulped down the heart's blood essence, his brows tightly furrowed.
The taste was simply indescribable.
It was rank and bitter, even worse than that bowl of medicinal soup he had drunk earlier.
Fighting the urge to vomit, he sucked the heart dry of blood essence.
Jiang Lan tossed the heart aside and gasped for breath, his mouth filled with the taste of blood.
The next moment, a system notification sounded.
[First-Tier Ferocious Beast Essence Blood detected. Use it to upgrade Indestructible Diamond Body?]
Jiang Lan's eyes lit up.
"Yes!"
[Indestructible Diamond Body upgraded to the second level!] [Defense +20, vitality +200, strength +10]
A wave of heat suddenly erupted inside Jiang Lan, flowing through every part of his body.
He could feel his physical capabilities improving rapidly. His strength, vitality, and defense were all surging.
This feels... amazing!
Jiang Lan clenched his fists, feeling the overwhelming power coursing through his body.
He threw an experimental punch.
Whoosh!
His fist swept through the air with a sharp whistle.
His strength had definitely more than doubled.
A panel appeared before Jiang Lan.
[Host: Jiang Lan] [Realm: None (martial talent not awakened)] [Indestructible Diamond Body: Second level] [Defense: 30] [Vitality: 394] [Strength: 18.5 (average ordinary person: 10)] [Spirit: 10.8 (average ordinary person: 10)] [Agility: 8.8 (average ordinary person: 10)] [Constitution: 9.4 (average ordinary person: 10)] [Upgrade requirement: First-Tier Ferocious Beast Essence Blood x2]
Jiang Lan grinned at the numbers on the panel.
His strength had more than doubled, his defense had risen from 10 to 30, and his vitality had doubled as well.
If he encountered another Ironback Wolf, Jiang Lan was confident he could kill it barehanded.
With that thought, Jiang Lan raised his long blade again and thrust it into the Ironback Wolf's head.
He could not take the essence blood with him, but he could take the Beast Core.
It was worth a thousand Credit Points. He certainly could not leave it behind.
Since he was still inexperienced, it took some rummaging before he found the Beast Core and carefully tucked it inside his clothes.
Finished with the corpse, Jiang Lan wiped his mouth and hurried toward the Rally Point.
Along the way, he could clearly feel the improvement in his physical capabilities.
Although his agility and constitution remained unchanged, his increased strength gave him noticeably greater explosive power.
After running for just over ten minutes, Jiang Lan spotted the group in the distance.
Shen Qingqiu and Zhao Gang had already shaken off the Bloodfang Tiger and were at the front of the group.
At the sight of Jiang Lan, Shen Qingqiu's face instantly turned pale.
Jiang Lan's current appearance was truly hard to look at.
Not only was he covered in blood, but blood still lingered at the corners of his mouth, leaving him looking utterly bedraggled.
Shen Qingqiu immediately darted over to Jiang Lan, held his shoulders, and examined him carefully, his voice trembling slightly as he spoke:
"I'm fine. This is all Ferocious Beast blood."
Hearing that, Shen Qingqiu breathed a sigh of relief.
But a moment later, his gaze sharpened slightly.
Ferocious Beast blood?
"You encountered a ferocious beast?"
"Yeah." Jiang Lan nodded. "I ran into an Ironback Wolf, but I killed it."
"Killed it?"
Shen Qingqiu's eyes widened.
Jiang Lan had no martial talent and was destined never to become a martial artist.
Even an ordinary Body Tempering Realm martial artist stood little chance against an Ironback Wolf.
Yet Jiang Lan, an ordinary person, had managed to kill an Ironback Wolf?
Zhao Gang came over as well.
"Not bad, brother! You killed an Ironback Wolf all by yourself?"
Jiang Lan had known that saying this would arouse everyone's curiosity.
So he had prepared an explanation in advance.
"When I found it, the Ironback Wolf was already badly injured. It must have fought another Ferocious Beast. I just got lucky."
Zhao Gang's eyes flickered. Then he stepped forward and patted Jiang Lan on the shoulder.
"That's still impressive!"
Jiang Lan shut his mouth and said nothing more.
The more he said, the more chances he had to slip up. Too much explanation would only expose him.
"Roooar!"
The Bloodfang Tiger's roar rang out again in the distance.
Shen Qingqiu's expression changed.
"Retreat immediately!"
At his command, everyone immediately ran toward the Rally Point.
Before long, the three squads regrouped at the Rally Point.
Shen Qingqiu took a head count and only relaxed after confirming that no one had been killed or injured.
By then, their time was almost up anyway. With the Bloodfang Tiger still lurking deeper inside, there was certainly no way to continue the search.
Shen Qingqiu waved a hand and said:
"Get in. We're heading back to the base city."
Everyone boarded their respective vehicles, and Jiang Lan took the front passenger seat.
Shen Qingqiu sat behind the wheel and glanced sideways at Jiang Lan, lingering puzzlement in his eyes.
What exactly is going on with this kid...?
He kept feeling that Jiang Lan had changed considerably since his last injury.
It felt almost as though...
He had become someone else?
Could getting injured once really have transformed him completely?
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