Lu Lin walked out of Li Jiangtao's office, contract in hand, his heart pounding with excitement. He was finally earning an income.
His job at Liu's Martial Arts School would be a rare chance to build up his strength.
A bright future was already waving to Lu Lin.
Naturally, his coworkers at the school noticed the contract in his hand.
"Little Lu, what have you got there?"
"A contract."
"What kind of contract?"
"Sister Li, I've joined the school. I'm a full-fledged sparring partner now. I hope you'll look after me."
"Really? That's wonderful! I've been telling you to join the school for ages. Looks like you made a wise choice."
After exchanging a few words with Sister Li as they passed, Lu Lin returned to the changing room to get dressed. Before, he had been a temporary sparring partner and only needed to work with Liu Weiran each day. Now he was officially employed as a sparring partner, but he wouldn't be assigned any tasks for a while.
What he didn't know was that while he was changing, Sister Li had already spread the news of his official employment to every staff member.
When Lu Lin came out of the changing room, he saw a crowd of coworkers waiting by the door. As soon as they saw him, they began congratulating him.
"Thanks, thank you, everyone."
Lu Lin smiled. Most of the staff at the school were older than him, and smiling at all those big brothers and sisters left the muscles in his face aching.
"Hmph. He's nothing but the lowest-level sparring partner. What's there to be proud of?"
Just then, a discordant voice rang out.
Lu Lin turned toward the voice and saw who had spoken. It was him!
The man was Zhao Xun. He and Lu Lin had joined the school three years ago, one right after the other. Back then, Zhao Xun had been just like Lu Lin was now: after failing the Martial Arts Examination, he still wanted to pursue the path of a Martial Artist, so he had become a sparring partner at the school.
Since they had joined at the same time, people couldn't help comparing them. Zhao Xun was three years older than Lu Lin, but he was far worse at dealing with people. He wore a sour expression wherever he went, and no one at the school was more of a loner.
Lu Lin had only just joined the school, and Zhao Xun had already stepped forward to make himself noticed.
"Zhao Xun, what do you mean by that? Lu Lin just started today, and you're already talking to him like this?"
"Exactly. Aren't you just an Advanced Martial Disciple working as a sparring partner at the school?"
"Zhao Xun, maybe keep your mouth shut for once. We're all coworkers. We see each other every day."
Some people tried to talk him down, but Zhao Xun merely lifted his chin and looked at everyone down his nose.
"A sparring partner? Heh. Sorry to disappoint you all, but after training, my punch force has passed 1,200 kilograms. Soon, we won't even be living in the same world."
What?!
His punch force had passed 1,200 kilograms?!
The coworkers around them were stunned. A punch force of 1,200 kilograms represented the limit of an ordinary human body.
In this age of Spiritual Energy Resurgence, an ordinary person could have a strength of one or two hundred kilograms. A little training could make someone a Beginner, Intermediate, or Advanced Martial Disciple. But raising punch force to 1,200 kilograms was something no ordinary person could achieve.
If Zhao Xun had really had that kind of talent, he wouldn't have failed the Martial Arts Examination three years ago.
Seeing everyone fall silent over a single remark, Zhao Xun secretly gloated. He looked at Lu Lin with contempt.
"So, kid, what's there for a mere Beginner Sparring Partner like you to brag about?"
The other sparring partners at the school all looked annoyed.
At the end of the day, they were all Beginner Sparring Partners in Zhao Xun's eyes.
Lu Lin glanced at Zhao Xun. He couldn't stand the way the man strutted around like a petty fool who'd just found a little power. He raised the contract in his hand and waved it at him. "Sorry, but mine is a Martial Artist Level Sparring Partner contract."
"A Martial Artist grade contract?"
"Impossible!"
Zhao Xun had been standing some distance away. He shoved his way through the crowd and came up to Lu Lin. When he saw the words "Liu's Martial Arts School Martial Artist Level Sparring Partner Contract" on the page, he was stunned.
It was actually real!
Why?
Lu Lin was just an Advanced Martial Disciple with utterly ordinary talent. Why would he get a Martial Artist grade contract? Unless...
"You're a fraud!"
"This isn't a Martial Artist grade contract at all. If you had that kind of strength, how could you have failed the Martial Arts Examination?"
"Fraud!"
"I'll expose you!"
As he spoke, Zhao Xun swung his right fist at Lu Lin.
Lu Lin gave a contemptuous snort and shifted slightly, letting Zhao Xun's fist strike his left shoulder.
Thud!
Zhao Xun stumbled back three steps.
Fortunately, there were plenty of people behind him to stop him from falling.
It felt as though his fist hadn't hit Lu Lin at all, but had slammed into a thick alloy steel plate.
"Believe me now?"
Lu Lin asked.
Truthfully, he wanted Zhao Xun to hit him a few more times, since Zhao Xun's attacks had also increased the progress of his Golden Bell Shield.
But Liu's Martial Arts School prohibited fighting on its premises, especially between sparring partners. If they had the energy to fight, they might as well take on a couple more clients.
"Hmph."
Zhao Xun gritted his teeth against the pain in his hand, glared coldly at Lu Lin, and turned to leave.
He knew he wouldn't gain anything by staying. Better to go get treated and investigate the situation while he was at it.
Zhao Xun and Lu Lin had joined the school at the same time, and Zhao Xun was three years older. He had finally raised his punch force to the 1,200-kilogram level, but this wasn't the time to pick a fight with Lu Lin.
Once he learned a Vitality Cultivation Method, he'd smash Lu Lin to pieces with a single punch.
After Zhao Xun slunk away, everyone watching finally came to their senses.
Lu Lin had actually signed a Martial Artist grade contract with the school?
That meant Lu Lin had the fighting strength of a Martial Artist. He was a golden ticket!
If Lu Lin looked out for them a little, they could get plenty of high-quality sparring orders in the future.
A Martial Artist's training needed to be as comprehensive as possible. For areas Lu Lin wasn't good at, he could let the other sparring partners get a taste of the business too.
At that thought, the sparring partners and receptionists all crowded around Lu Lin with even greater enthusiasm.
Lu Lin could only cry out that he couldn't handle it.
"Which damn one of you is Lu Lin? Get your ass out here!"
With a bang, someone shoved open the school's front door with tremendous force. If the door hadn't been so sturdy, it would probably have shattered on the spot.
The young woman at the front desk hurried over to greet them. "Gentlemen, how can I help you?"
"Stay out of this. Which damn one of you is Lu Lin? If you've got any guts, get out here!"
A burly youth with a tiger-head tattoo on his arm impatiently cut off her greeting and rudely shoved her aside.
Three other youths stood beside the Tiger-Tattooed Youth. They were just as imposing and unreasonable.
Lu Lin didn't know any of the four. Seeing the delicate young woman treated so rudely was more than he could stomach, so he stepped out of the crowd and called, "I'm Lu Lin. What do you want?"
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