June 7.
Dongshan City's ten-thousand-person Martial Arts Examination venue.
"Teacher, please let me take the test one more time."
"Please, give me one more chance."
"I can clearly hit 1,200 kilograms at the Martial Arts School."
One sorrowful, anguished voice after another rang through the passageway at the examination venue. But no matter how desperately the students pleaded, each person had already used up their three strength tests. A failure was a failure; no one would give them another chance.
"Ah..." Lu Lin stood outside the examination venue and let out a long sigh. Three minutes ago, he had been just like these unwilling classmates, asking the teacher for one more chance to take the test.
He had been transported to Blue Star eighteen years ago. It was basically the same as the world where he had lived in his previous life, with one exception: three hundred years ago, Spiritual Energy Resurgence had swept across Blue Star. The birds and beasts in the mountains and forests, and in the rivers, lakes, and seas, had become Monster Beasts under the surge of Spiritual Qi, attacking human cities. The world's population had plummeted in a short time. Fortunately, peerless experts had grasped the mysteries of Spiritual Qi and developed martial arts, fighting the Monster Beasts and buying humanity precious time and territory in which to survive.
Over the following three hundred years, Blue Star had established a rigorous system for scientifically cultivating Martial Artists. By now, it had developed into a three-stage education system: Martial Arts elementary schools, Martial Arts middle schools, and Martial Arts universities.
The Martial Arts Examination was the test students faced upon graduating from Martial Arts middle school at the age of eighteen.
Pass, and they could enter university to study martial arts in depth, eventually becoming peerless Martial Artists, slaying Monster Beasts, earning distinction, and becoming heroes.
Fail, and they would attend vocational school for one or two years, become an ordinary person who amounted to little, and be left with no choice but to pin their hopes on the next generation.
Of course, thanks to the excellent education system, plenty of people refused to accept becoming ordinary after failing the Martial Arts Examination. That was why an organization like the Free Martial Artist Association existed, allowing them to continue their careers as Martial Artists.
After eighteen years in this world, Lu Lin had failed the Martial Arts Examination. Naturally, he wasn't willing to live such an ordinary life. Next, he planned to become a Freelance Martial Artist, fight in the Wilderness, and seek out his own opportunities.
[Detected that the host has turned eighteen. Super Simplification System activating...] [Super Simplification System activated successfully]
A strange voice sounded in Lu Lin's ear.
Immediately afterward, a translucent light screen appeared before him.
[Host: Lu Lin] [Level: Advanced Martial Disciple] [Techniques: Golden Bell Shield (First Layer), simplifiable; Mad Ox Strength Fist (Second Layer), simplifiable] [Points: 200]
Golden Bell Shield and Mad Ox Strength Fist were two extremely common martial arts techniques taught at Huaguo's Martial Arts middle schools. Golden Bell Shield focused on defense, while Mad Ox Strength Fist focused on offense. One attack and one defense gave students a measure of self-protection if they encountered a dangerous situation after graduation.
Although they were basic techniques, both were quite difficult to master. Throughout an entire middle school, only a handful of students could cultivate either one to the first layer.
Cultivating martial arts tested one's Comprehension, physique, and talent most of all.
If a person lacked these innate qualities, no matter how much they tried to make up for them afterward, they would never achieve anything in martial arts.
Lu Lin's martial arts aptitude might not have been among the very worst, but it certainly wasn't any good.
Looking at the light screen before him, Lu Lin's spirits lifted. Although he had failed the Martial Arts Examination and couldn't enter university to study more profound martial arts techniques, he now had a cheat. That meant he had hope of advancing to Martial Artist.
His finger tapped "Simplifiable" beside Golden Bell Shield, and the 200 Simplification Points on the panel were instantly used up.
[Ding! Golden Bell Shield simplification complete. Please check the results, host.]
As the voice sounded, a vast stream of information flooded Lu Lin's mind.
Once he had finished reading through it, a strange expression appeared on his face.
Golden Bell Shield was a widely practiced technique. Its effects were mediocre, and it was difficult to master. At least at the Martial Arts middle school Lu Lin attended, not a single student had managed to cultivate it to the first layer in six years...
The reason Lu Lin had reached the first layer was that he worked as a sparring partner at a Martial Arts School. To avoid getting injured, he had trained hard for a full year before barely managing to reach the first layer. But advancing to the second layer had proven extremely difficult.
Not only was it even harder to cultivate, it also required medicinal baths.
Medicinal baths were something an ordinary family like Lu Lin's could hardly dream of affording.
A single low-grade medicinal bath cost ten thousand yuan. Reaching the second layer required at least thirty baths, which meant a total of three hundred thousand yuan.
But.
Now.
After the system's simplification, the difficulty of cultivating Golden Bell Shield had plummeted.
Everyday cultivation → taking a beating.
Expensive medicinal baths → pain-relief patches.
This simplification was outrageous!
A medicinal bath that cost ten thousand yuan had been turned into a patch that cost just a few yuan.
Cultivating day and night had been simplified to taking a beating.
Lu Lin was wild with joy. It was like getting a pillow just as sleepiness hit.
Taking a beating.
Lu Lin's job at the Martial Arts School was to be a sparring partner. Although he sometimes fought with the clients, most of the time he simply took hits, helping them practice and get familiar with their moves.
As for the pain-relief patches, those were even simpler. Lu Lin's dad did manual labor at a construction site year-round, and his back and waist ached after every workday. Pain-relief patches were a staple in their home.
At once, Lu Lin stopped brooding over his failure at the Martial Arts Examination. He hurried home, took a few boxes of pain-relief patches from a drawer, and headed to the Martial Arts School where he worked.
Liu's Martial Arts School.
"Little Lu's here. Hurry up and go in. The young lady's been waiting for you for ages."
"Little Lu, how'd the Martial Arts Examination go today? Want to join our Martial Arts School?"
"Little Lu..."
"Little Lu..."
Lu Lin had worked here for three years, so all the staff at the Martial Arts School knew him well. But he had no time to chat with everyone now. He needed to hurry and try out the effects of the simplified Golden Bell Shield.
He changed in a rush, took out the pain-relief patches, and stuck them over his knees. When he stepped out of the changing room and reached the Arena Platform, he heard:
"Lu Lin, what took you so long? How'd the Martial Arts Examination go today?"
The speaker was a tall young woman wearing a red practice uniform, her hair tied in a ponytail. She stood five foot seven. Though she was leaning against the edge of the Arena Platform, she looked full of energy.
"Miss Liu, sorry I'm a little late. Let's get started as soon as possible."
Miss Liu was named Liu Weiran, the daughter of the Hall Master of Liu's Martial Arts School. Two years ago, she had come to the school looking for a sparring partner. She had passed over the Martial Artist-grade and even Martial Master-grade sparring partners and, at first glance, picked out Lu Lin, who was handsome and had cultivated Mad Ox Strength Fist to the second layer. From then on, Lu Lin had become Liu Weiran's personal sparring partner.
Liu Weiran glanced at Lu Lin. Seeing no dejection from his failure at the Martial Arts Examination, she jumped to her feet and said, "All right."
The two of them leaped onto the Arena Platform. Liu Weiran didn't say a word before launching straight into an attack.
She used Mad Ox Strength Fist, too. Her punch landed on Lu Lin, making him let out a muffled groan.
[1/10]
Even with Golden Bell Shield protecting him, the punch still hurt a little. But when Lu Lin saw the progress bar appear before him, he was overcome with excitement.
It worked.
He narrowed his eyes at Liu Weiran and barked, "That was too weak. Again."
Thump.
[2/10]
"Not good enough. You're too slow."
Thump.
[3/10]
Lu Lin shuffled his feet, constantly adjusting his position, while pointing out some of the flaws in Liu Weiran's punches.
Usually, when he was a sparring partner, he barely said a word. He just kept taking hits. Today, his sudden change of style only stoked Liu Weiran's competitive spirit.
Thump.
Thump, thump, thump.
Her fists kept landing on Lu Lin. Before long, the light screen before him showed [10/10]. He was about to advance.
[Detected that the host meets the medicinal bath requirement. Golden Bell Shield Second Layer cultivation successful.]
Before you continue