Simplification Point Surges, Kill

Lu Lin's eyes nearly popped out the moment he saw the monster core.

Based on his calculations, a First-Order monster core could provide 1 Simplification Point, a Second-Order provided 10, a Third-Order provided 100, so a Fourth-Order monster core would provide at least 1000 Simplification Points. For Lu Lin, who currently only had 5.7 Simplification Points, this was an overnight windfall.

A massive gain.

But he quickly reined in his excitement, his expression shifting to one of disappointment: "Young Lady, is it only Fourth-Order? Do you have any Fifth-Order? What about Sixth-Order?"

"If it's only Fourth-Order, could you give me a hundred of them? I really need these monster cores."

Liu Weiran shook her head. "Not right now."

Just as Lu Lin's disappointed look deepened, she continued: "Even though I don't have any now, if you really need them, I can help find some for you. My dad has a box in his study where he collects these things, though I have no idea what they're for."

In a dark corner far away, a middle-aged man nearly spat out a mouthful of old blood. His daughter was truly too naive—she'd spilled their family's secrets without even being asked.

"Oh, then could Young Lady bring me some monster cores tomorrow? Preferably all of them. You know, even though the monster core is the most important part of a Monster Beast, it's actually not that useful. Instead of letting it gather dust in your home, why not give it to someone who needs it, right?"

"No, no." Liu Weiran shook her head repeatedly. "I can only bring you ten Fourth-Order monster cores, and I'll steal... take one Fifth-Order for you. You should be satisfied with that."

Liu Weiran seemed to catch herself and refused to promise Lu Lin any more. But she didn't realize that even the single core in her hand had already made Lu Lin's eyes burn with desire. If she really had more, Lu Lin would probably make demands she couldn't fulfill.

"Alright, then thank you, Young Lady."

Lu Lin took the Wood Element Fourth-Order monster core, ignoring the system prompt in his mind asking whether to absorb it. At this time and place, he didn't want to expose his secret in front of anyone.

With the deal settled and Lu Lin full while Liu Weiran had lost her appetite, Lu Lin offered to walk her home.

It wasn't that he'd developed any feelings for Liu Weiran—on a night like this, Lu Lin simply couldn't bring himself to let a girl go home alone.

Liu Weiran lived in a villa district, the best in all of Dongshan City. Even the weakest residents were at the Martial Master level, and the Town Guardian of Dongshan City had his own official residence there.

After saying goodbye to Liu Weiran, Lu Lin walked a long distance before pulling out the Wood Element monster core. He'd held out this long, but now even he couldn't resist, let alone the system.

[Detectable absorbable energy. Absorb?]

Of course, he chose yes.

Lu Lin opened his information panel again.

[Owner: Lu Lin] [Level: Advanced Martial Disciple] [Technique: Golden Bell Shield (Simplified) Layer 4 (57/10000), Mad Ox Strength Fist (Simplified) Layer 4 (16/10000)] [Points: 1005.7]

The Simplification Points had skyrocketed to 1000, proving that the monster core Liu Weiran had given him was of extremely high quality, with its internal energy at full capacity.

Lu Lin's strength now exceeded 1200 kilograms. He planned to ask Li Jiangtao for a Vitality Cultivation Method when he went to work at the Martial Arts School tomorrow. He'd been worried about where to get the points to simplify the technique, but now a single meal and a few words had solved his problem.

Liu Weiran was truly a timely rain.

Lu Lin suppressed the ecstasy in his heart and checked the time—it was almost midnight. The streets were completely empty, with only the occasional car speeding past in the distance.

It was late. He needed to get home quickly, or his parents would worry.

Lu Lin quickened his pace.

He even regretted not asking Liu Weiran for cab fare on the way back, too embarrassed to bring it up. Now he had to run all the way home.

As he passed a 24-hour convenience store, Lu Lin suddenly remembered a shortcut that could save him five minutes. But the path had no lights—could it be dangerous?

Just as he thought that, Lu Lin laughed. He'd taken this route to and from school countless times without any problems. Why was he scared now, after gaining two thousand kilograms of strength? How ridiculous.

After going deeper in, there was indeed no danger. Lu Lin relaxed a little. See, he told himself—Dongshan City had good public safety. There wasn't that much danger around.

"Swoosh."

"Swoosh."

Suddenly, four figures appeared before Lu Lin's eyes.

By the moonlight, he recognized them.

They were the four guys from the Martial Arts School at noon who'd tried to teach him a lesson but ended up exhausting themselves first.

Ma Tianhu's thugs. So they'd been waiting for him here.

"Heh heh, Lu Lin, there's a road to heaven but you won't take it—you just had to run into me here."

"Pretty cocky at the Martial Arts School today, weren't you?"

"Your Golden Bell Shield is decent, but I wonder if it can hold up against the sharpness of this F-grade Alloy Battle Knife."

The leader was an old acquaintance—the Tiger-Headed Tattooed Man.

"Heh, you again. What, is Young Master Ma really planning to kill me?"

Lu Lin asked with a joking tone. He'd just said at the barbecue stall that Ma Tianhu might be furious enough to want him dead, and now here they were, all four of them.

Sure, Martial Artists had immense power these days, but Huaguo also had an agency dedicated to managing them—the Wu'an Bureau.

Any Martial Artist who dared to commit crimes, especially assaulting, killing, or robbing ordinary people, could look forward to at least thirty years in prison.

Over the years, while there had been occasional incidents of Martial Artists breaking the law, Lu Lin had only ever seen them on the news. He really didn't believe these guys would dare take his life—at worst, they'd just beat him up.

But the Lu Lin of now was not the Lu Lin of daytime—his Punch Force had increased, and he might even be able to give these four bastards a surprise.

"Looks like he knows what's up. Brothers, together—kill him."

The Tiger Head Youth snarled viciously, raising the alloy war blade in his hand as he charged at Lu Lin.

The three youths beside him also rushed forward with fierce expressions.

"Damn, you're serious?"

Lu Lin was startled and turned to run.

He had already cultivated the Golden Bell Shield to the fourth layer, but he had never tested whether the fourth-layer Golden Bell Shield could withstand an alloy war blade's attack.

If it held, fine—but if it didn't, wouldn't that mean Lu Lin was throwing his life away?

The key thing was that these bastards were really charging at him with knives in hand.

But just as Lu Lin had run a dozen or so steps after turning around, he saw a tall, sturdy Martial Artist standing in the middle of the road, blocking his path.

Lu Lin glanced back at the four youths rushing up, then looked at that figure, especially imposing under the moonlight.

This—clearly meant a pincer attack from front and back, leaving him no escape at all.

Lu Lin cursed inwardly.

Ma Tianhu, I'll fuck your ancestors.

When two foes meet, the brave one wins.

Lu Lin's heart hardened, and he roared: "Kill!"