Join Dragon Saber, Head Out in Three Days

Join Dragon Saber, Head Out in Three Days

His defense was pretty good. That could count as a strength.

But good defense alone wasn't enough to make him a member of the Dragon Saber Squad.

Lu Lin approached.

He threw a punch.

This time, Zhou Shenming didn't counterattack. Instead, he raised his arms to defend, just as Lu Lin had done earlier.

He wanted to see Lu Lin's offensive ability, too.

"Moo!"

"Thud!"

Out of habit, Lu Lin let out a moo after throwing his punch. The sudden sound startled Zhou Shenming.

It was the first time he'd ever seen a Martial Artist moo in the middle of a fight.

But it didn't take long for all other thoughts to leave his mind.

Under Lu Lin's attack, Zhou Shenming couldn't help but step back half a pace.

Impossible!

Zhou Shenming was a Mid-level Martial Master, with around 80 points of Vitality Power. Under normal circumstances, an ordinary Beginner Martial Artist couldn't budge him—even if he stood still and didn't defend himself.

And yet Lu Lin had made him take half a step back with that punch.

A look of shock appeared in Zhou Shenming's eyes.

Standing off to the side, Ren Tian saw Zhou Shenming take a tiny loss from Lu Lin's punch and couldn't help bursting into laughter.

"Captain, Lu Lin's really strong. Better watch out!"

Zhou Shenming ignored him.

Because Lu Lin's second punch was already coming.

"Thud!"

"Thud, thud!"

Lu Lin wasn't the type to just take a beating without hitting back.

After Zhou Shenming's punch had sent him flying, Lu Lin had figured he probably wouldn't pass the assessment.

If that was the case, he might as well vent his frustration properly.

He attacked without stopping.

Deep, muffled sounds rumbled from his mouth.

"Moo, moo-moo!"

Like a real Iron Bone Bull on the Wilderness, he launched a Death Charge at Zhou Shenming.

After taking more than twenty of Lu Lin's punches in a row, Zhou Shenming was even more astonished.

It wasn't as if Lu Lin's attacks could injure him. It was just... Lu Lin's stamina was absurdly high.

Normally, when a Martial Artist attacked with all their strength, they could manage at most a dozen or twenty punches. Their Vitality Power and stamina would be depleted, and their energy would wane. Any attacks after that would lose much of their force.

That was why Martial Artists preferred to use sharp weapons like swords and blades to kill Monster Beasts: they could conserve their strength while dealing the most damage.

But Lu Lin was different. The more he fought, the stronger he seemed to get.

It was as if he had endless strength inside him.

Zhou Shenming made a rough estimate: Lu Lin's Punch Force had nearly reached the 9,000-kilogram level of a High-level Martial Artist.

That was a little ridiculous.

After Lu Lin attacked more than thirty times, his stamina still hadn't noticeably dropped. Zhou Shenming naturally wasn't willing to keep taking the hits.

As he received one of Lu Lin's punches, he suddenly let the force slide off him, making Lu Lin stumble.

Then, while Lu Lin was off balance, Zhou Shenming swept his right leg out. Lu Lin was knocked to the ground.

"Thump."

Lu Lin struggled to get back up.

He'd just been attacking too fiercely. Only when he hit the Arena Platform did he realize he was out of strength, and he couldn't get up.

Just then, a large black hand appeared before his eyes.

Its knuckles were thick.

It was strong and powerful.

Following the hand, Lu Lin looked up and saw Zhou Shenming's stern face, its expression forced into the faintest hint of a smile.

"Get up."

Lu Lin didn't stand on ceremony. He took Zhou Shenming's hand and got back to his feet.

"Lu Lin, you're good. You're the kind of Martial Artist our Dragon Saber Squad needs."

"Welcome aboard."

Though Zhou Shenming offered his congratulations, there wasn't a trace of a smile on his face.

But that didn't matter to Lu Lin.

He'd thought he was bound to fail the assessment, yet they'd actually approved him to join.

"Thank you, thank you, Brother Zhou. I'll work hard from now on and help the team kill Monster Beasts."

Looking at Lu Lin, Zhou Shenming twitched the corner of his mouth. "Good. I look forward to it."

"Ren Tian, Ren the Cannon, take Lu Lin to get his Free Martial Artist Qualification Certificate later, then sign a contract with him on behalf of the squad."

"We head out in three days to take on a mission."

"Yes, Captain. I'll make sure it gets done."

In Zhou Shenming's eyes, Ren Tian's antics were automatically filtered out. He nodded at Lu Lin, then coldly walked out of the training room alone.

If Lu Lin hadn't just heard him say that he'd passed the assessment and could join the squad, he might have thought Zhou Shenming was leaving in disappointment.

"Lu Lin, welcome! From now on, we're brothers who can trust each other with our lives."

"That's just how the captain is. Don't take it to heart. He's only cold on the outside. He cares a lot about the brothers in our squad."

"Mm, I'm fine."

"Brother Ren, when Brother Zhou said we're heading out in three days... does that mean we'll be going on a mission?"

The timing made Lu Lin feel a little pressed.

He'd only started cultivating Blade Technique yesterday, and Liu Weiran had brought him a Fifth Order Monster Core today. He hadn't had a chance to absorb it or simplify his two movement techniques yet.

Wasn't it a little too soon to head outside the city for a mission?

"Right, the mission starts in three days. But don't worry too much. Everyone in the squad will be going this time, and the mission isn't to hunt Monster Beasts or search for materials. We're just scouting ahead. It'll be easy, and the whole thing should take about a week. As for the pay..."

"How much?"

Ren Tian knew Lu Lin would be interested in the pay. He already knew Lu Lin's family wasn't well-off; otherwise, he wouldn't have sent him money disguised as tips.

"Five hundred thousand."

Ren Tian proudly held up five fingers. "Lu Lin, our squad's pay distribution is really fair. Before every mission, we set a base payment for each person. The rest depends on how you perform outside the city and how you do in battle. The better your performance and the greater your contribution, the more you get paid."

"You don't need to worry about that. The captain will take care of everything."

Lu Lin wasn't worried about any of that. He was already stunned by the figure of five hundred thousand.

Everyone knew Martial Artists made money, but they were getting five hundred thousand each before the mission had even begun—and they could earn even more by performing well during it.

That was more than enough to set Lu Lin's heart racing.

Three days to prepare wasn't all that short.

For those three days, Lu Lin planned to stop taking sparring jobs and go all out, grinding experience and progress so he could be in peak condition before heading out of the city.

"Okay, thanks, Brother Ren. I'll be counting on you to look after me in the squad."

"Don't worry, I've got you. The other members of our squad are easy to get along with, too. You'll see for yourself. Come on, I'll take you out for a meal, then we'll register at the Free Martial Artist Association and sign the contract."

"Okay."

Lu Lin agreed, changed out of his training clothes, and left with Ren Tian.