After dropping Lu Lin and the others off at West City Martial Arts School, Ren Tian left. He was about to set out and had plenty to prepare, while also needing to conserve his strength and recover his qi and blood to face the harsh conditions outside the city.
Once back at the martial arts school, Lu Lin immediately began cultivating. He had only three days, and had to improve as much as possible.
Bear the weight, breathe, and improve the Thousand Layered Breathing Technique.
Hack at the wooden dummy and practice Sky Breaking Thirteen Slashes.
During a break in his cultivation, he absorbed the Fifth Order Monster Core, successfully simplifying Snake Step and Soaring Cloud Steps.
They were only two Yellow Grade footwork techniques, but simplifying them had cost Lu Lin a total of six thousand Simplification Points. Now, his status panel had changed.
[Master: Lu Lin] [Level: Beginner Martial Artist] [Cultivation Techniques: Thousand Layered Breathing Technique Third Layer (8499/10000), Dragon Roar Golden Bell Shield Second Layer (948/1000), Sky Breaking Thirteen Slashes Second Layer (999/1000), Mad Ox Strength Fist Fourth Layer (2001/10000), Soaring Cloud Steps First Layer (0/100), Snake Step First Layer (0/100)] [Points: 5005.7]
The improvements to his several Profound-grade cultivation methods had been pretty good. They were all close to advancing.
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 telephone pole?
Snake Soup Consumption.
A Black-tailed Snake cost one or two thousand yuan. If he failed to master Snake Step and couldn't afford snake soup, would that be because Lu Lin hadn't earned enough?
Good thing he hadn't spent the money for weighted equipment on Monster Cores. With a result like this, he might have dropped dead on the spot.
The past two nights of practicing Mad Ox Strength Fist had also paid off somewhat. His proficiency had reached 2,000. He would push himself over the next three days and try to break through to the Fifth Layer.
At the Fifth Layer, Mad Ox Strength Fist would bring a Martial Artist's strength to 1,000 kilograms.
Lu Lin's strength was already around 7,000 kilograms. Another 1,000 kilograms would bring his Punch Force close to the level of a High-level Martial Artist.
Gaining another 1,000 kilograms of strength before leaving the city would undoubtedly greatly improve Lu Lin's combat ability and ability to handle danger.
For some reason, Lu Lin had a feeling.
Ren Tian seemed carefree, but his actual strength was probably greater than what he had shown while sparring with Lu Lin.
He was probably much stronger.
It was fine to be a burden to the Dragon Saber Squad for now, but Lu Lin couldn't remain one forever. He had to improve his combat ability as quickly as possible.
After a day of cultivation, Liu Weiran naturally prepared to drive Lu Lin home, but he turned her down.
He wanted to try practicing Soaring Cloud Steps.
Liu Weiran couldn't force him. After all, before the Twelve Cities League, she needed to indulge Lu Lin as much as possible.
Of course, whether that was because of the Twelve Cities League or some other reason, only Liu Weiran herself knew.
After leaving the martial arts school, Lu Lin made sure no one was around for a stretch of road. Then he looked up at the sky and started walking.
But he had to stop before he'd gone even a hundred steps.
Because he'd walked into someone.
"Hey, kid, are you fucking blind when you walk?"
The person he'd bumped into cursed at him. Before Lu Lin could say anything, the man shoved him in the shoulder.
Caught off guard, Lu Lin staggered back three or four steps before he could steady himself.
A short distance away stood several Martial Artists in training uniforms. They looked to be in their twenties, all strong and powerfully built, and they glared at Lu Lin with unfriendly expressions.
Lu Lin suppressed his anger. Although the other man had cursed at him, he had been the one in the wrong first. "Sorry. I was thinking about something and didn't notice you."
In fact, Lu Lin had clearly looked around. There had been few pedestrians on this road, and these men hadn't been walking just moments earlier. He had no idea where they had suddenly sprung from.
"Thinking about my ass! You gave my brother a heart attack just now. What are you going to do about it?"
A burly man came forward from behind and pointed at the Martial Artist Lu Lin had bumped into.
That Martial Artist was quite the actor. Just moments ago, he had shoved Lu Lin back several steps, but as soon as he heard the burly man, he plopped down on the ground and began groaning.
Lu Lin was speechless.
Why had he run into nothing but people like this today? They were obviously trying to scam him.
Lu Lin looked at the man pretending to be injured on the ground and chuckled. "Listen, if you're going to scam someone, at least pick the right target. It was my fault for bumping into you, 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 this, asshole!"
The burly man was pissed that Lu Lin had dared to talk back. In his eyes, a pretty boy like Lu Lin should have accepted his fate and handed over ten or eight thousand yuan in compensation. The burly man stepped forward and raised his arm to slap Lu Lin.
Now Lu Lin couldn't take it anymore. He grabbed the burly man's wrist and tightened his grip.
"Ow, fuck! Take it easy!"
The burly man had to bend over to ease the pain in his wrist.
The other Martial Artists who had come with him saw that Lu Lin had subdued the burly man in one move. They rushed over to help him.
That afternoon, Lu Lin had been threatened by people from the Great Wind Squad at the Free Martial Artist Association, and he'd been seething ever since.
Now these idiots had walked right into him. They couldn't blame Lu Lin for showing no mercy.
Holding the burly man by the arm, Lu Lin punched and kicked, knocking all the muscular Martial Artists to the ground.
Only then did he notice that they were all wearing the student uniforms of Jishan Martial Arts School.
Jishan Martial Arts School, Dongshan Martial Arts School, and the Liu's Martial Arts School where Lu Lin studied were the three major chain martial arts schools in Dongshan City. Dongshan Martial Arts School was semi-official and generally didn't fight with the other two schools.
Jishan Martial Arts School, however, was different. Its founder was also a High-level Martial Master. It usually fell behind Liu's Martial Arts School in competing for students and resources, so it was always looking for trouble.
Lu Lin couldn't do anything about it if they went after someone else. But if they tried to mess with him, they were asking to die.
"Shit, brothers, go get Master Zhang! Tell him those bastards from Liu's Martial Arts School are bullying us!"
The Martial Artist on the ground shouted toward the back. At his words, a figure quickly disappeared.
Only then did Lu Lin notice that while he had been busy beating up the men who rushed him, someone else had been lurking behind them.
Jishan Martial Arts School wasn't far from West City Martial Arts School. If a whole crowd showed up, Lu Lin wouldn't be afraid, but it would waste time.
After thinking it over, Lu Lin released the burly man's wrist and prepared to leave.
"Spit! You Liu's Martial Arts School bastards, born of dogs and bitches! If you've got any balls, don't run!"
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