Cutting Heads

Qin Shaofeng possessed the Thunder Body, so learning Lightning Armor, a Lightning Release Ninjutsu, posed no problem at all.

At that moment, Qin Shaofeng also realized that learning skills through the system really did require the right innate conditions.

If he hadn't possessed the Thunder Body, he probably wouldn't have been able to learn Lightning Release, either.

And if Qin Shaofeng wanted to learn other ninjutsu, he would need to possess other types of physiques as well.

Of course, that didn't mean he needed a special physique like a Fire Body or Water Body. Any fire-type physique would do. It didn't have to be particularly powerful for him to learn other ninjutsu.

Lightning Release: Lightning Armor: Level 1 00, Human Grade Three Stars skill. Summons lightning to cover the body, forming Lightning Armor that increases the player's defense and blocks enemy attacks. Currently Level 1; can summon weak lightning to form a low-grade Lightning Armor. Maintaining Lightning Armor for one minute consumes 100 Inner Qi Points.

After learning Lightning Armor, Qin Shaofeng didn't go out at all.

Even if he had gone out, as someone who had only qualified to take the test, Qin Shaofeng wasn't allowed to leave the area where the examinees lived. So, over the next two days, he stayed in his room, frantically training Lightning Armor.

By training like mad to build up his proficiency, Qin Shaofeng managed to raise Lightning Armor to Level 2 in just two days.

That was thanks to Yi Jin Jing at Level 2, which gave Qin Shaofeng not only 2,750 Inner Qi Points but also a recovery rate of five points per minute. Without that, no matter how frantically he trained, he couldn't have raised Lightning Armor to Level 2 in a mere two days.

Level 2 Lightning Armor wasn't much different from Level 1, except that its defensive power had increased considerably.

Level 1 Lightning Armor had let Qin Shaofeng ignore attacks from people at the same cultivation level, and even those one minor level above him.

Level 2 Lightning Armor, on the other hand, was enough to let Qin Shaofeng ignore attacks from the vast majority of martial artists below the Xiantian Realm.

The Inner Qi Points it consumed per minute hadn't changed, though. It still used 100.

Qin Shaofeng wasn't too bothered by that. With Level 2 Lightning Armor, he was growing more and more confident about taking first place in the examination.

As soon as Qin Shaofeng raised Lightning Armor to Level 2, Du Meng came to see him.

But when he saw Du Meng again, Qin Shaofeng was even more astonished.

Du Meng was no longer in the early stage of the Houtian Tenth Layer. He had reached the middle stage.

Even his Inner Qi Points had increased, reaching exactly 2,000.

Qin Shaofeng knew that Du Meng had broken through to the Houtian Tenth Layer only half a month ago. Now, in less than half a month, he had gone from the early stage to the middle stage. That was downright shocking.

Du Meng wasn't like Qin Shaofeng, who had a system to raise his levels.

Raising one minor level in half a month, especially at the Houtian Tenth Layer, would cause quite a stir if word got out.

Qin Shaofeng asked Du Meng if his future master had been giving him special treatment. At the thought, he couldn't help feeling a little envious of Du Meng.

It really was good to have someone powerful backing you!

But Du Meng's answer left Qin Shaofeng torn between laughter and tears. His master hadn't given him any special treatment at all. Instead, he'd beaten him up badly.

That was when Qin Shaofeng learned that Du Meng was training in a special body-tempering technique. Getting beaten up was part of the training—and it could raise his strength, too.

At that, Qin Shaofeng stopped envying Du Meng.

No matter how quickly a self-torturing technique like that raised his level, he would never train in it.

Getting beaten up to improve your cultivation—what kind of nonsense was that?

Du Meng himself didn't seem to mind. In fact, he was rather pleased. According to his future master, with his current strength, making the top twenty in the entrance examination wouldn't be a problem.

And if he performed exceptionally well, he might even make the top ten!

Hearing that, Qin Shaofeng had an idea and challenged Du Meng to a match.

When Du Meng heard Qin Shaofeng wanted to fight him, his first reaction was to shake his head hard and say in his deep voice, "Brother Feng, maybe we should forget it. I'm afraid I'll hurt you!"

If Qin Shaofeng hadn't known Du Meng and understood his personality, he might have thought Du Meng was looking down on him.

But Qin Shaofeng knew him well enough to understand that Du Meng meant it. He wasn't looking down on him at all.

"Big guy, don't worry. Your Brother Feng isn't made of glass!" Qin Shaofeng said with a smile.

But as soon as he said that, Du Meng seriously looked him up and down, then hesitated before saying, "Brother Feng, with your build, you really do look a little fragile!"

Damn you!

My build is already pretty good!

I'm sixteen, five foot seven, and weigh over 120 pounds. That's perfectly average!

Qin Shaofeng soon realized that Big Guy was judging him by his own build. He didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

Don't use yourself as the standard for normal people. Your build doesn't even belong to the human race!

In the end, after Qin Shaofeng insisted, Du Meng reluctantly agreed to fight him.

But from the start, Du Meng had decided he wouldn't use his full strength.

It didn't take long for him to realize he'd been wrong!

What exactly happened that night, and who won the fight between Qin Shaofeng and Du Meng? Aside from the two of them, nobody ever found out.

Still, whenever Du Meng thought back to that night, he would say, "That was the night Brother Feng became an unbelievable person in my eyes."

Early the next morning, Qin Shaofeng and Du Meng walked out of their rooms.

In truth, neither of them had slept at all.

The previous night's fight had already been decided not long after it began.

Qin Shaofeng had to admit that Du Meng's build wasn't just for show. The guy really was thick-skinned and tough as nails!

At first, Du Meng had believed Qin Shaofeng couldn't beat him. He didn't even attack; he just stood there and let Qin Shaofeng hit him.

But to Qin Shaofeng's dismay, he really couldn't do anything to Du Meng.

Du Meng's defense was astonishing. He completely ignored Qin Shaofeng's attacks.

Qin Shaofeng's Wudang Long Fist and Huashan Basic Swordplay Moves were useless against Du Meng. After attacking for a while, Qin Shaofeng understood that attacks from anyone below the Houtian Tenth Layer couldn't hurt him at all.

In the end, Qin Shaofeng used Lightning Armor.

While training Lightning Armor over the previous two days, Qin Shaofeng had discovered that whenever he activated it, his Thunder Body would trigger, and his attacks would be imbued with the Power of Thunder.

That changed everything.

Wudang Long Fist imbued with the Power of Thunder finally broke through Du Meng's defenses.

Du Meng still wasn't badly hurt, but the Power of Thunder made him feel as though he'd been shocked by electricity. Every time Qin Shaofeng threw a punch, Du Meng's whole body would twitch from the shock.

At last, Du Meng began to fight back.

But soon, he realized something was wrong.

The same thing that had happened to Qin Shaofeng was happening to him, too.

He was attacking, but Qin Shaofeng was blocking his attacks.

And every time he hit Qin Shaofeng, a flash of lightning knocked his fist away and shocked him.

Ordinary people couldn't see Qin Shaofeng's Lightning Armor. Only when he was attacked did tiny sparks of electricity appear.

At first, Du Meng attacked cautiously, afraid of hurting Qin Shaofeng. But as he gradually increased his strength, until he was finally attacking with everything he had, he came to understand one thing.

When it came to defense, he was no match for Qin Shaofeng!

That discovery left Du Meng completely dumbfounded.

But Du Meng didn't know that Qin Shaofeng was having a rough time, too.

Lightning Armor blocked Du Meng's attacks and kept Qin Shaofeng from getting hurt, but every time Du Meng attacked, Qin Shaofeng's Inner Qi Points were consumed several times faster.

That was when Qin Shaofeng realized that while maintaining Lightning Armor consumed 100 Inner Qi Points per minute, being attacked made his Inner Qi consumption skyrocket.

Lightning Armor was great, but the cost was just too high!

His attacks were useless, and he kept getting shocked instead. Du Meng was completely baffled and frustrated by this.

But soon, he was surprised to find that being shocked seemed to bring about a tiny improvement in his body.

It was as if the lightning on Qin Shaofeng's body, while shocking him, was improving him through the self-torturing body-tempering technique he practiced.

It was like being tempered by lightning!

That discovery convinced Qin Shaofeng that Du Meng really was practicing a brainless, self-torturing technique.

But since his Lightning Armor helped improve Du Meng's strength, Qin Shaofeng didn't stop. Their match ultimately turned into a training session for Du Meng.

They continued until the sky began to brighten, then finally stopped and took pills to recover.

Though it had only been a short time, Du Meng's strength had improved quite a bit, giving him confidence that he could make the top ten.

The pills were Du Meng's. They were recovery pills that replenished Inner Qi, and they were even Mortal Grade Three Stars.

In just one hour, they restored all of Qin Shaofeng's depleted Inner Qi, and even completely refreshed him.

Once they left, Qin Shaofeng and Du Meng headed for the designated location.

Today was the day of Lianyang Academy's entrance examination.

Qin Shaofeng had stayed in his room for the last two days, so he had no idea how many people were taking the examination this time.

As for Du Meng, there was even less to say. With his personality, he wouldn't pay attention to things like that.

But seeing the sea of people before him, Qin Shaofeng finally understood that far more than a hundred thousand people were probably taking the entrance examination this time.

Lianyang City, where Lianyang Academy was located, had four gates to the east, west, south, and north. The entrance examination began at all four gates at once, and Qin Shaofeng and Du Meng were at the east gate.

Qin Shaofeng had no idea how many people were at the other three gates, but even the examination grounds at the east gate had over a hundred testing stations.

They had arrived early, but Qin Shaofeng and Du Meng still ended up near the back of a long line.

There was no opening ceremony. As soon as the appointed time arrived, the testing began at the front of the line.

The first two tests, age and cultivation level, were fairly straightforward.

From the little booklet, Qin Shaofeng had learned that Lianyang Academy had special tools for testing age and cultivation, so those tests wouldn't take long.

The final test of strength, however, would take some time.

Apparently, the final strength test took place in a separate room, where examinees fought a number of puppets.

Qin Shaofeng still didn't know the details of the fight, but he did know that the more puppets someone defeated, the better their result would be.