Martial Artists moved quickly; they had only spent extra time handling the entrails to help train Lu Lin.
As the aroma of roasting meat drifted through the air, Li Mo returned to camp without a sound.
Zhou Shenming didn't ask about his scouting report right away. Instead, he took two pieces of roasted venison and handed them to him.
Li Mo didn't stand on ceremony. He took the venison and wolfed it down, without caring that nobody else had anything to eat yet.
Fortunately, the others' meat was soon ready too. Zhou Shenming and Lu Lin were among the first to get theirs.
Sitting beside Lu Lin, Zhou Shenming explained, "Li Mo uses a lot of energy when he goes out to scout. Energy bars can't replenish it. So whenever he returns from scouting, he's the first in the team to eat."
Lu Lin nodded silently.
Li Mo was like the team's radar. He could detect danger nearby before anyone else and keep the team from stumbling blindly into it. His work was the most dangerous and the most exhausting, so it was only right that he ate first.
"Enough talk. Eat. This time, everyone's looking after you. Later on, the order we eat in will depend on what you can do."
After saying this, Zhou Shenming began devouring the meat. He had no table manners at all—instead, he looked as though he were starving, wolfing it down.
Before long, Zhou Shenming had polished off a huge piece of venison.
Lu Lin didn't know why he had to eat so quickly, but it probably had something to do with life in the Wilderness. He followed Zhou Shenming's example, taking big bites, and soon polished off a huge piece of venison too.
Under Zhou Shenming's satisfied gaze, Lu Lin felt his body grow warm.
No, it wasn't just warm. It was more like... burning.
Lu Lin immediately realized that this was a sign of his vitality surging.
Who would have thought that eating a single piece of venison could trigger such a change?
Lu Lin quickly closed his eyes and circulated his Vitality Power over and over, following the Thousand Layered Breathing Technique.
Zhou Shenming, standing beside him, was startled. It didn't take long for him to sense the change in Lu Lin too.
Normally, Martial Artists had only a weak amount of Vitality Power. Even a High-level Martial Artist's vitality wouldn't exceed 10 points.
So, when a Martial Artist was at rest, others couldn't easily sense the fluctuations in their vitality.
Now that Lu Lin's vitality was surging, there was no doubt about it—he was about to advance.
He should be advancing from Initial Grade to Mid-level.
Zhou Shenming remembered Ren Tian saying that Lu Lin had only broken through to Martial Artist grade a few days ago. He hadn't expected Lu Lin to be advancing to Mid-level already.
Without showing it, he carefully stood up and took up a guard position beside Lu Lin.
The commotion soon caught the attention of the other team members. Seeing what was happening, Ren Tian called out, "Captain, is something wrong?"
Zhou Shenming nodded and made a shushing gesture, then pointed at Lu Lin.
Ren Tian froze. Was something wrong with Lu Lin?!
He hurriedly abandoned the rabbit he was roasting and strode over to Zhou Shenming. "Captain, what happened to Lu Lin?"
At that moment, even without Zhou Shenming saying a word, Ren Tian could sense the change in Lu Lin's body.
He stared at Zhou Shenming in disbelief. "C-Captain, Lu Lin, he's..."
Zhou Shenming nodded and gestured for him to keep quiet.
When Martial Artists advanced, they had to cultivate somewhere safe and quiet, where nothing could disturb them. That way, they could avoid unexpected complications.
But Lu Lin had advanced to Martial Artist in West City, in the Monster Beast Trading Market. Now, at the foot of Baiyin Mountain, he was advancing just because he'd eaten a piece of venison.
Realizing this, Ren Tian didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
Lu Lin could advance anywhere, at any time. No one else in the world could possibly learn that ability.
Seeing the two of them, the others kept craning their necks curiously.
Zhou Shenming saw that with Ren Tian here, Lu Lin should be safe, so he went over to explain to the group. Everyone drew in sharp, disbelieving breaths.
This wasn't a joke, was it?
They'd gone into the wild so many times, taken part in over a hundred missions, and eaten more Monster Beast meat than they could count. So why hadn't any of them been as lucky—or as talented—as Lu Lin?
Comparing yourself to others really could make you sick with envy.
Less than ten minutes later, Lu Lin opened his eyes.
He was now a Mid-level Martial Artist.
His physical strength had increased by a great deal as well. After gauging it, Lu Lin estimated that his punch force should exceed 8,000 kilograms without using Vitality Power.
As for using Vitality Power... Lu Lin couldn't even estimate it.
But it would definitely exceed 10,000 kilograms.
Lu Lin instinctively opened his Attribute Panel:
[Master: Lu Lin] [Level: Mid-level Martial Artist] [Techniques: Thousand Layered Breathing Technique Fourth Layer (66666/100000), Dragon Roar Golden Bell Shield Third Layer (888/10000), Sky Breaking Thirteen Slashes Fourth Layer (1/100000), Mad Ox Strength Fist Fourth Layer (1/100000), Soaring Cloud Steps Third Layer (9969/10000), Snake Step First Layer (0/100)] [Points: 5005.7]
Lu Lin had finally reached the level of a Mid-level Martial Artist. Congratulations were in order.
More importantly, there were the several techniques the system had simplified.
The Thousand Layered Breathing Technique had gone from the Third Layer to the Fourth Layer, and was now more than halfway complete.
As for the Dragon Roar Golden Bell Shield, it had gained some progress when he fought Zhang Yu at home that day, but hadn't changed at all over the past few days.
Through Lu Lin's relentless efforts, Sky Breaking Thirteen Slashes had finally reached the Fourth Layer. His maximum attack power could now be multiplied fivefold.
With his current punch force of over 10,000 kilograms, Lu Lin's maximum attack power was second only to that of a Mid-level Martial Master. Of course, that was only his theoretical combat strength. Whether he could defeat a Monster Beast would still depend on how well he performed.
The Mad Ox Strength Fist had also advanced to the Fourth Layer. Lu Lin hadn't focused on it over the past few days, but even with just a bit of practice whenever he had time, he'd managed to raise it to the Fourth Layer and gain another 1,000 kilograms of strength.
Soaring Cloud Steps was also on the verge of advancing. With just a little more effort, Lu Lin could reach the Fourth Layer. By then, his running speed would reach 100 m/s.
If he entered the Olympics or the World Championships at that speed, he'd be swimming in gold medals.
But Blue Star didn't hold sporting events like those.
The only technique that hadn't improved was probably Lu Lin's Snake Step. He didn't have enough money to ask his mother to stew Snake Meat Soup for him, so its progress hadn't increased at all.
Although Lu Lin was only a Mid-level Martial Artist, in terms of actual combat strength, he could hold his own against a Mid-level Martial Master.
Still, Lu Lin knew he had to learn more about wilderness survival and how to fight Monster Beasts. Only then could he bring his combat strength into full play.
At the request of our many readers, we're now offering an ad-free experience for VIP members.
Before you continue