Simplified Footwork, Jishan Martial Arts School

Ren Tian sent Lu Lin and the others back to West City Martial Arts School before leaving. Since he was about to set off, he had many things to prepare, and he also needed to conserve his strength, rest, and regulate his blood and qi to handle the harsh environment outside the city.

After returning to the martial arts school, Lu Lin immediately began cultivating. With only three days left, he had to improve himself as much as possible.

Weight training, breathing exercises, advancing the Thousand Layered Breathing Technique.

Chopping at the wooden dummy, practicing Sky Breaking Thirteen Slashes.

In the gaps between training, he also absorbed that Fifth Order Monster Core, successfully simplifying Snake Step and Soaring Cloud Steps.

Don't underestimate these two Yellow Grade footwork techniques—the simplification points required totaled six thousand. Now, his data panel had a new look.

[Owner: Lu Lin]

[Level: Beginner Martial Artist]

[Techniques: Thousand Layered Breathing Technique Layer 3 (8499/10000), Dragon Roar Golden Bell Shield Layer 2 (948/1000), Sky Breaking Thirteen Slashes Layer 2 (999/1000), Mad Ox Strength Fist Layer 4 (2001/10000), Soaring Cloud Steps Layer 1 (0/100), Snake Step Layer 1 (0/100)]

[Points: 5005.7]

The improvements to his Profound-grade cultivation methods were decent, all hovering near the edge of advancement.

But the newly simplified Soaring Cloud Steps and Snake Step left Lu Lin somewhat... baffled.

Soaring Cloud Steps simplified → Sky Gazing Walk.

Snake Step simplified → Snake Soup Consumption.

Lu Lin had always thought the system's simplifications were pretty reliable, but now—what the hell was this?

Sky Gazing Walk.

System, aren't you afraid your master will walk into a lamppost?

Snake Soup Consumption.

A single Black-tailed Snake costs one or two thousand bucks. If his Snake Step training fell short, would it be because Lu Lin didn't earn enough money to afford snake soup?

Thank goodness he hadn't used the funds for weight training gear to buy Monster Cores. If this was the result, Lu Lin might have just dropped dead on the spot.

Also, the past two nights of practicing Mad Ox Strength Fist had shown some results, reaching 2000 proficiency. Over these three days, he'd push hard to break through to Layer 5.

Layer 5 of Mad Ox Strength Fist gave a martial artist a Punch Force of 1000 kilograms.

Lu Lin's current strength was already at 7000 kilograms. Adding another 1000 would put him close to the Punch Force level of a High-level Martial Artist.

Gaining another 1000 kilograms of strength before leaving the city would undoubtedly boost Lu Lin's combat power and ability to handle danger.

For some reason, Lu Lin had a persistent feeling.

Ren Tian seemed rough and careless, but his true strength probably wasn't what he'd shown during their sparring.

He should be stronger.

Being a dead weight in the Dragon Saber Squad for now was fine, but Lu Lin couldn't stay that way forever. He had to improve his combat ability in the shortest time possible.

After a day of training ended, when Liu Weiran naturally prepared to drive Lu Lin home, he refused.

He wanted to try cultivating Soaring Cloud Steps.

Liu Weiran didn't want to force Lu Lin. After all, before the Twelve Cities League, she had to accommodate him as much as possible.

Of course, whether it was because of the Twelve Cities League or some other reason, only Liu Weiran knew.

Leaving the martial arts school, Lu Lin confirmed the stretch of road was empty, looked up at the sky, and then walked forward.

But he hadn't taken a hundred steps before he had to stop.

Because he'd bumped into someone.

"Hey, kid, the fuck are you walking with no eyes?"

The person he'd hit cursed, and without waiting for Lu Lin to speak, shoved him hard in the shoulder.

Caught off guard, Lu Lin stumbled back three or four steps before steadying himself.

Not far from him stood several martial artists in training clothes. They didn't look too old, in their twenties, all burly and strong, glaring at Lu Lin with hostility.

Lu Lin suppressed his anger. Even though the other party had cursed, he was in the wrong first. "Sorry, I was thinking about something and didn't notice you all."

In truth, Lu Lin had clearly checked—this road had few pedestrians. These guys hadn't even been walking just now; they'd popped up from who knows where.

"Thinkin' about your mom's ass. You gave my brother a heart attack just now. What're you gonna do about it?"

A burly man stepped out from behind, pointing at the martial artist Lu Lin had bumped into.

That martial artist was quite the actor. He'd shoved Lu Lin back several steps just a moment ago, but hearing the burly man's words, he plopped down on the ground, groaning and moaning.

Lu Lin was speechless.

Why did he keep running into people like this today? They were clearly trying to shake him down.

Lu Lin looked at the guy sitting on the ground pretending to be injured and chuckled. "I said, you guys should at least pick the right target for your scam. Bumping into you was my fault, and I've already apologized."

"But saying I gave him a heart attack? That's a bit of a stretch, don't you think?"

"Stretch your mom's ass!"

The burly man was annoyed that Lu Lin dared to talk back. In his eyes, a pretty boy like Lu Lin should just take the loss and cough up a few thousand to make it right. He stepped forward, raising his arm to slap Lu Lin.

Now Lu Lin couldn't take it anymore. He grabbed the burly man's wrist and squeezed.

"Ow, fuck, ease up, will you?"

The burly man had to bend over to relieve the pain in his wrist.

The few martial artists who came out with him saw that the burly man had been subdued by Lu Lin in one move, and they all rushed up from behind to help him out.

Lu Lin had already been holding a bellyful of anger after being threatened by the Great Wind Squad at the Free Martial Artist Association that afternoon.

Now these people had the bad luck to run into him, so they couldn't blame Lu Lin for showing no mercy.

Holding the burly man's arm with one hand, Lu Lin threw punches and kicks, knocking all the burly martial artists to the ground.

Only then did he notice that these martial artists were all wearing the student uniforms of the Jishan Martial Arts School.

Jishan Martial Arts School, Dongshan Martial Arts School, and Lu Lin's own Liu's Martial Arts School were the three major chain martial arts schools in Dongshan City. The Dongshan Martial Arts School was semi-official and generally didn't clash with the other two.

But Jishan Martial Arts School was different. Its founder was also a High-level Martial Master, and they usually lagged behind Liu's Martial Arts School in competing for students and resources, so they couldn't help but stir up trouble now and then.

If they picked on others, Lu Lin couldn't be bothered, but if they tried to mess with him, they were asking for death.

"Shit, brothers, call Master Zhang for help! Tell him Liu's Martial Arts School is bullying us!"

The martial artist lying on the ground shouted toward the back, and a figure quickly disappeared after hearing those words.

Lu Lin only then realized that while he had been busy beating up the ones charging at him, there was still one hiding behind.

Jishan Martial Arts School wasn't far from the West City Liu's Martial Arts School. If they called over a bunch of people, Lu Lin wouldn't be scared, but it would waste time.

After a moment's thought, Lu Lin released the burly man's wrist and prepared to leave.

"Pfft, you son of a bitch from Liu's Martial Arts School. If you're a real man, don't run."

The burly man worked his wrist, cursing under his breath.