Martial Arts Hall

"Knock, knock, knock."

"Lin Changqiang? Lin Changqiang!"

The next morning, just as the sky was barely light, Lin Changqiang woke to the familiar knocking and let out a weary sigh.

"Sigh, I don't even have to work anymore, and I still can't sleep in. What a sin."

As expected, Lin Dong had come to fetch him for picking martial arts, and Lin Changqiang naturally didn't refuse.

Although he could eventually leech Lin Dong's martial arts for free from the system once he got his favor back to first place, Lin Changqiang really had no interest in the Mysterious Gate Seal.

In his past life, Lin Changqiang had actually enjoyed watching Naruto, and he thought the hand-seal attack style was pretty cool.

But even with the two seals per second he'd practiced during his chuunibyou phase, he'd probably be beaten to death before he could even unleash the Mysterious Gate Seal.

As for why Lin Dong always managed to pull it off, maybe it was because his hand speed was faster, or maybe his opponents were just more sporting.

The Martial Arts Hall was located in the Lin Family's backyard, one of their most important places, and entry required Lin Zhentian's permission.

At the entrance to the Martial Arts Hall, a few stern-faced guards stood watch. They recognized Lin Changqiang and Lin Dong, so after nodding politely, they opened the door.

As soon as they stepped inside, the scent of old books hit them. Rows of redwood bookshelves crisscrossed the space, packed with all kinds of martial arts manuals.

Just as Lin Dong's eyes lit up and he started scanning for third-grade martial arts, Lin Changqiang yanked him back and shot him a glare.

"Idiot. Obviously the good stuff is in the back. What are you hunting for at the door?"

Of course, this was only because Lin Changqiang already knew the third-grade martial arts were in the back; otherwise, he didn't want to get slapped in the face again like yesterday.

The Martial Arts Hall was surprisingly large. Lin Changqiang and Lin Dong walked deep inside for several minutes without reaching the end. The bookshelves on either side grew sparser, until finally, in a corner, they found ten third-grade martial arts on one shelf.

"These must be all the third-grade martial arts in the Lin Family."

Lin Dong leaned in curiously. Unlike the other shelves, each of the ten ancient scrolls had a wooden plaque beside it with a detailed description.

Lin Changqiang also carefully examined them, looking for something that suited him.

"Third-grade martial art, Returning Wind Soft Hand."

"Third-grade martial art, Traceless Claw."

"Third-grade martial art, Star Burst Airflow Finger."

After reading through all the third-grade martial arts, Lin Changqiang couldn't help feeling disappointed.

"Why isn't there a long-range blast?"

In his past life, when playing games, he preferred tanky, hard-hitting characters, but in reality, he liked the idea of firepower coverage and carpet-bombing more than some Hollywood-style duel.

And since the team already had Lin Dong as a tanky fighter, with Xiao Yan as a battle-tank and Little Sable as a magic assassin later on, it was best for him to hang back as a turret mage or play crowd control.

"I've decided! I'll take this incomplete Mysterious Gate Seal!"

Lin Changqiang followed the voice and saw Lin Dong staring at a pale black scroll with burning eyes. Knowing Lin Dong could repair the incomplete scroll with the Ancestral Stone, he naturally didn't stop him.

"Then I'll take this Returning Wind Soft Hand. It's not strong offensively, but it's pretty fast at clearing out small fry."

Actually, Lin Changqiang had originally leaned toward the Traceless Claw, thinking that with Holy Light Protection, trading blows was a sure win.

But on second thought, for someone with Holy Light Protection, the longer a fight dragged on, the more advantageous it was.

So compared to the purely offensive Traceless Claw, he ultimately chose the Returning Wind Soft Hand, which was weaker in attack but stronger in defense.

After registering, both of them successfully took their martial arts out. Lin Dong was about to rush home without stopping, but Lin Changqiang suddenly grabbed his arm.

"Lin Dong, have you ever heard of chicken soup for the soul?"

"???"

The moonlight was hazy, draping the earth in an illusory silver veil. By now, exhausted, Lin Changqiang was drowsily waiting for the system's prompt.

Back at the Martial Arts Hall entrance during the day, he'd racked his brain and twisted almost every famous quote he could remember, like:

"Dignity lies only at the sword's edge. Truth lies only within arrow range."

"Those who offend the Lin Family, though far away, shall be punished."

"Who rules the rise and fall on the Tianxuan Continent?"

He rambled on and on, even getting the guards at the door so fired up they wanted to charge out and wipe out the Lei Family, Xie Family, and Mad Saber Martial Hall, making themselves the masters of Qingyang Town. Only then, under Lin Dong's suspicious gaze, did he raise his favor to sixty-nine, tying with Lin Hong for first place.

"This kid... he might be getting immune to my chicken soup..."

Lin Changqiang sprawled out on the bed like a starfish, not wanting to move. Fortunately, the system's voice rang out just in time to keep him awake.

"Ding. Detected that the target of Guerrilla is cultivating the Mid-grade fifth-rank martial art—Mysterious Gate Seal. Host will continuously gain an additional thirty percent experience."

"Assisting cultivation: Mysterious Gate Seal."

"Ding. Assisting cultivation successful. Congratulations, host. You have gained sixteen percent experience in Mysterious Gate Seal. Current mastery: sixteen percent (decimal points ignored)."

"Ding. Congratulations, host, on achieving the accomplishment: First acquisition of a Mid-grade martial art. Reward: two Lottery Draw Opportunities. Next draw guarantees a Mid-grade martial art."

Lin Changqiang's face immediately lit up with joy. Although he had long known that Lin Dong would master the Mysterious Gate Seal, he never expected that obtaining a Mid-grade martial art for the first time would also come with a reward—and a guaranteed martial art at that. Didn't that mean...

"System, if I obtain a High-grade martial art, a Creation martial art, or a Spirit martial art for the first time, will I also complete an achievement and get a guaranteed martial art?"

"Dong. In reply to Host: when first mastering a martial art, technique, or secret skill of a certain grade, a Lottery Draw opportunity will indeed be rewarded. However, only this one time will it guarantee a martial art!"

"???" Lin Changqiang's face turned into a black question mark. "What's so special about this one?"

"Dong. In reply to Host: because earlier today, the system detected that Host enjoys releasing attacks by forming hand seals."

Whether it was an illusion or not, the voice was still that cool female tone, but Lin Changqiang felt the system seemed a little smug. Too bad—he, Lin Changqiang, loved nothing more than saying no to a self-righteous system!

"So you pulled strings and rigged one of my Lottery Draw rewards into a seal-based martial art? Shouldn't you compensate me for that?"

"??? System does not understand..."

"How else can I put it—you're just dumb!"

Lin Changqiang's heart burned with excitement, but his face wore an expression of disappointment.

"Think about it. The martial arts and spirit treasures I draw from the lottery are always at least equal to my own cultivation level, right? So if I had planned to save this draw until the Heavenly Origin Stage, this martial art would at minimum be High-grade. Now that you've rigged it as Mid-grade, the reward is worse, isn't it?"

"That does sound reasonable..."

"See? So you have to compensate me~"

Lin Changqiang secretly rejoiced. This system didn't seem too bright. Although in theory he could save the draw until the Heavenly Origin Stage, first, given his personality, he'd probably never hold onto the draw that long, and second, the draw wasn't guaranteed to be a martial art anyway~

"Dong. In consideration of the loss incurred by Host, the system compensates Host with one Lottery Draw Opportunity."

"Ah~ that feels good." Lin Changqiang felt as refreshed as if he'd just taken a bath. "System, use one Lottery Draw Opportunity and pull my martial art. Just don't let it be some Thousand Years of Death."

"Dong. One Lottery Draw Opportunity used successfully. Congratulations to Host for obtaining the Mid-grade Sixth-grade martial art—Fire Dance Whirlwind."