The second layer was complete!
Lu Lin's eyes lit up. He was just about to tell Liu Weiran to stop and take a break when she punched at him.
Lu Lin had no choice but to take the hit.
[1/100]
"Lu Lin, zoning out during a fight isn't a quality you'd expect from a proper sparring partner."
The punch landed squarely on Lu Lin's chest.
Though Liu Weiran had already pulled her strength, it still made a dull thud.
But Lu Lin took it without so much as a wobble, and he didn't feel the slightest bit uncomfortable.
"Keep going!"
Seeing the new progress bar appear, Lu Lin knew he'd have to take another hundred punches to level up again.
"Oh? You're fine? Then watch out."
Liu Weiran didn't know Lu Lin's Golden Bell Shield had advanced to the second layer. Seeing how completely unbothered he looked, she seethed inwardly and put quite a bit more force into her punches.
After around five minutes of continuous punching, Liu Weiran was drenched in sweat. Her hair clung to her forehead and cheeks, and her little face was flushed, giving her a uniquely lovely look.
"Stop, I can't go on. I'm out of strength."
Liu Weiran threw one last punch, then collapsed onto the Arena Platform, completely spent.
She couldn't help wondering. During their sparring sessions, Lu Lin had never let himself take hits for so long. Had he taken some kind of pill today? After sparring for five minutes, she was completely exhausted, yet Lu Lin seemed perfectly fine.
"That's all it takes?"
Lu Lin smiled. He ignored Liu Weiran's glare, stepped down from the Arena Platform, and tossed her an energy bar. "Recover your strength first."
Then he paid her no further attention and opened his panel to check his information.
[Master: Lu Lin] [Level: Advanced Martial Apprentice] [Cultivation Techniques: Golden Bell Shield (simplified) Second Layer, Mad Bull Strength Fist (insufficient points) Second Layer] [Points: 0]
Golden Bell Shield had indeed reached the second layer. Back when he was still at the first layer, Lu Lin hadn't been able to perfectly defend against all of Liu Weiran's attacks. But now, with Liu Weiran only at the Advanced Martial Disciple level, she posed no threat to him at all.
Lu Lin had never imagined he could reach the second layer so easily.
He closed the panel and glanced at Liu Weiran, who was still recovering her strength. He wondered if she had enough left in her to continue. Their five minutes of nonstop fighting had drained her badly, but the progress toward the third layer had already reached [81/100]. If they pushed a little harder, he had a chance of reaching the third layer of Golden Bell Shield today.
Lu Lin had also noticed that after Golden Bell Shield advanced, his strength had increased somewhat.
He didn't know by how much, but Liu's Martial Arts School had a dedicated strength-testing machine. He could find out after his shift ended.
"Ready? Did you skip breakfast today? You don't have any strength in your punches."
After waiting nearly ten minutes, Lu Lin climbed back onto the Arena Platform and called out to Liu Weiran.
"Skip breakfast?!"
Liu Weiran's eyes widened. She immediately sprang to her feet. After resting for ten minutes and eating another energy bar, she felt ready to go again.
"Come on, Lu Lin. Let's keep going. I refuse to believe I can't take you down today."
As she spoke, Liu Weiran punched toward Lu Lin.
Mad Ox Strength Fist was an aggressive style of boxing, commonly practiced by boys at martial arts middle schools. The girls usually chose the more agile and fluid Spirit Snake Fist instead.
Liu Weiran had a well-off family that was willing to prepare plenty of Monster Beast meat for her, giving her ample strength and energy to practice this style.
Their sparring sessions had usually been the complete opposite of today's. Lu Lin had been the one she beat until he could barely stay on his feet, calling for breaks again and again. But today, after taking the Martial Arts Examination, Lu Lin was suddenly this strong. Could he have turned his anger over failing the Martial Arts Examination into fighting power? He didn't even seem to feel any pain.
"Thud, thud-thud."
The two of them moved constantly around the Arena Platform. Lu Lin was giving her the experience of a real fight.
In a real fight, nobody would stand there like a wooden post and wait for you to punch them.
[83/100] [91/100] [97/100] [98/100] [99/100]
After eating the energy bar, Liu Weiran was indeed back in form. She quickly pushed Lu Lin's Golden Bell Shield progress higher.
``` [100/100]
[Master meets the conditions for a medicinal bath. Golden Bell Shield, Third Layer, successfully cultivated.]
[Congratulations, Master! You have obtained the Golden Bell Shield special effect: Rebound]
Lu Lin hadn't expected Golden Bell Shield to grant him a Counter Shock effect when it reached the third layer. He just didn't know how well it worked.
"Ah—"
Just then, Liu Weiran cried out in pain as she threw a punch. She lost her balance and fell onto the Arena Platform.
"What happened?"
Lu Lin hurried over to check on her, thinking she might have twisted her ankle. Martial Artists could easily get injured while training or fighting.
"It hurts."
Liu Weiran sat on the ground, tears nearly welling in her eyes. She lifted her left hand and saw that her palm, tempered thousands of times and soaked in medicinal baths countless times, had turned purplish-blue. The impact had burst the capillaries beneath her skin.
"What happened?" Lu Lin asked, baffled.
He knew how strong Liu Weiran was. Though she hadn't seriously practiced Golden Bell Shield, she had spent a long time strengthening her body with medicinal baths. She shouldn't have ended up like this even if she'd punched a steel plate.
"Don't touch it, it hurts—" The moment Lu Lin touched Liu Weiran's hand, she shrieked.
It had hurt before, but now Liu Weiran felt as if her left hand had become incredibly fragile. Even Lu Lin's touch felt like a needle prick. The pain was unbearable.
"Oh, okay, okay."
Lu Lin let go of Liu Weiran's hand, at a loss.
"What do you mean, 'okay'? Hurry and take me to a doctor."
"Okay, okay."
Lu Lin readily agreed. Fortunately, Liu's Martial Arts School had a doctor on site. Seeing how badly Liu Weiran's hand was injured, the doctor assumed it had been crushed by a piece of training equipment.
After giving her emergency treatment, Liu Weiran shot Lu Lin a furious look and left the Martial Arts School.
Her hand needed further treatment, but fortunately, medical technology was advanced. Liu Weiran would make a full recovery before long.
After she left, the doctor and Li Jiangtao, the school's deputy Hall Master, came to find Lu Lin. They wanted to know how he had injured Liu Weiran.
Li Jiangtao, already an Initial Grade Martial Master, punched Lu Lin. After feeling the force of the rebound, he too looked astonished.
Counter Shock?
Golden Bell Shield did seem to have a special effect like this.
Though Golden Bell Shield was only a basic martial art, very few people could cultivate it to such a high level at this age.
Most importantly, the force of that rebound had even affected him, a Martial General at the Initial Grade. At the Martial Artist level, it would be downright heaven-defying.
Anyone who punched Lu Lin would hurt themselves from the rebounding force. He was practically a hedgehog among Martial Artists.
Martial cultivation progressed through five levels, from low to high: Martial Trainee, Martial Artist, Martial Master, Martial King, and Martial God. Each level was further divided into Initial, Intermediate, and Advanced grades.
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