Lu Qi heard those words and snapped fully awake.
The official price of an F-grade Battle Saber was twenty thousand yuan apiece. If a Martial Artist wanted one custom-made, it cost even more.
There had been a time when he and Lu Lin could only stand outside the display window of the Martial Arts Store, drooling as they stared.
But now, so late at night, Lu Lin had suddenly come back and told him he'd gotten his hands on several F-grade Battle Sabers worth twenty thousand yuan each. Something about this just didn't add up.
Lu Qi reached over and flicked on the room light. After the blinding moment passed, the first thing he saw was the bloodstains on Lu Lin.
"Blood!"
"Bro, are you okay? Where are you hurt?"
Lu Qi scrambled out of bed. He didn't even look at the four gleaming Battle Sabers Lu Lin was holding.
"I'm fine. Your brother's fine."
Lu Lin felt a warmth in his heart. "Lu Qi, sit down. I need to talk to you."
"Okay."
Lu Qi obediently agreed. For some reason, after seeing the bloodstains on Lu Lin, a feeling of fear—and... longing—rose within him.
Lu Lin briefly explained what had happened that night.
He left out the full story and only said that someone had tried to kill him, but he'd found a way to kill them first.
These four F-grade Battle Sabers were the spoils of that fight, obtained at the risk of his life.
"Lu Qi, put these four sabers under my bed later. Be careful not to let Mom and Dad see them."
"From now on, don't be afraid when you run into trouble. Got it?"
"Okay."
Lu Qi answered. What Lu Lin had told him tonight made him feel as if he no longer knew the brother he'd grown up with.
It all felt unreal.
"Okay, go to sleep. Get up early tomorrow and buy me breakfast. Buy extra, as punishment for taking my bed."
After saying this, Lu Lin grabbed the frame of the upper bunk with one hand and climbed straight into bed.
Lu Qi sat there dazed for a while. It wasn't until Lu Lin urged him that he turned off the light and went to sleep.
That night, Lu Qi tossed and turned, only finally managing to drift off just before dawn. But remembering that Lu Lin had asked him to buy breakfast, he didn't dare dawdle. He changed his clothes, glanced instinctively beneath the bed where the F-grade Battle Sabers were stashed, then left the room with a troubled look on his face.
As for Lu Lin, after surviving a life-and-death battle, he not only didn't suffer from insomnia but slept even more soundly than usual.
By the time he woke up, it was already eight in the morning. On the desk sat the breakfast Lu Qi had bought him: twenty youtiao and five cups of soy milk. There was also a note.
"Bro, I washed your clothes. Be careful when you go out from now on."
Looking at Lu Qi's handwriting, which was as ugly as a puppy's scrawl, Lu Lin felt a rush of warmth all the same.
He wolfed down all the food in no time and patted his stomach. Mm, thirty percent full.
When he left his room, Mom and Dad were both out. They still had work, so naturally they'd left early.
That made Lu Lin the freest person in the house.
He took out the copy of Soaring Cloud Steps from the night before, and the system prompt appeared again.
[Detected a cultivation technique available to learn. Learn it?]
This time, Lu Lin chose yes.
[Master: Lu Lin] [Level: Advanced Martial Disciple] [Techniques: Golden Bell Shield (Simplified) Fourth Layer (4337/10000), Mad Ox Strength Fist (Simplified) Fourth Layer (199/10000), Soaring Cloud Steps Yellow Grade (Insufficient Points)] [Points: 1005.7]
The techniques panel had changed dramatically. First up was Golden Bell Shield.
After last night's training, Lu Lin's Golden Bell Shield proficiency had climbed above 4,000. That was all thanks to Scarface and his four disciples, who'd generously helped him out. While he was armed, each attack had added 20 proficiency points to Golden Bell Shield.
Lu Lin had also attacked a few times, so Mad Ox Strength Fist had improved slightly too, though the increase was almost negligible.
But staring at the words "Insufficient Points" after Soaring Cloud Steps, Lu Lin fell into thought.
Even a thousand Simplification Points weren't enough to simplify a Yellow Grade technique?
Then how many Simplification Points would it take to simplify a Breathing Technique for cultivating Vitality Power? Lu Lin couldn't even begin to guess.
For now, he could only pin his hopes on Liu Weiran, hoping she could successfully "take" enough Monster Cores from Liu Qinglong's study for him to use.
There was no point dwelling on it. Lu Lin tidied up and hurried toward Liu's Martial Arts School.
It served as a warm-up and saved him the fare.
He could barely afford to eat these days. He certainly didn't have money to spare on a taxi.
He arrived at the Martial Arts School right at eight thirty, the liveliest time of day.
The Martial Artists who trained there on an irregular basis tended to come around this time for a workout before heading off to work.
Because of what had happened yesterday, Lu Lin's colleagues at the Martial Arts School all knew how strong he was now.
They couldn't say he could beat a Martial Artist, but at least he could get away from one.
Anywhere you went, strength was a person's most important calling card, and the thing they could be proudest of.
"Morning, Lu Lin."
"Good morning, Coach Lu. You're looking sharp today."
Everyone passing by Lu Lin greeted him, men and women alike. They'd also stopped calling him "Little Lu" and started calling him "Lu Lin" or "Coach Lu."
Lu Lin didn't give anyone the cold shoulder when they showed him goodwill. After nodding and returning each greeting, he went over to the young woman at the front desk and asked, "Miss, is Hall Master Li here today?"
"He is. He's in his office."
The receptionist answered, then added, "Thanks for yesterday. I just didn't expect that things would later..."
"It's fine. Don't mention it."
Lu Lin waved to her and turned to leave.
Li Jiangtao's office was on the second floor.
Calling it his office was a stretch. It was more like his private cultivation room.
Apart from a desk and a chair, there was nothing in the room that had anything to do with an office.
"Knock, knock, knock."
Lu Lin knocked on the door.
"Come in."
When he pushed the door open, he immediately saw Li Jiangtao lifting a dumbbell, with Zhao Xun standing beside him.
When Zhao Xun saw Lu Lin, a flash of resentment crossed his face.
He'd also seen Lu Lin fighting several Martial Artists yesterday. Any one of those four could have beaten him senseless, yet they hadn't been able to do a thing to Lu Lin.
That meant Lu Lin had already crushed him, at least when it came to defense.
"Lu Lin, what is it?"
Li Jiangtao kept lifting the dumbbell without looking up.
"Hall Master, my Punch Force has reached 1,200 kilograms. I'd like to request a Vitality cultivation technique."
Lu Lin got straight to the point.
"What?"
"What?"
"Bang!"
"Thud."
"Ah!"
A burst of chaos followed. Clutching his foot, Zhao Xun toppled heavily to the floor.
The whole scene left Lu Lin blinking in confusion.
Startled by the news that Lu Lin's Punch Force had broken through, Li Jiangtao accidentally dropped the dumbbell.
It bounced and rolled as it fell, landing right on Zhao Xun's right foot.
Pain shot through Zhao Xun's foot. He lost his balance and crashed heavily to the floor.
But Li Jiangtao didn't pay Zhao Xun any attention. He shot to his feet and came over to Lu Lin. "Kid, you can't go throwing around a joke like that!"
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