Surging Strength

Lu Shaolin solemnly held out a finger and hooked pinkies with Dong Linger as a promise.

After pinky-swearing, the little girl happily spun around the courtyard.

Early the next morning.

The moment Lu Shaolin opened his eyes, he summoned the system.

A system panel immediately appeared before him:

Name: Lu Shaolin

Source Points: 63.8

Martial Realm: Perfected Muscle Tempering

Cultivation Techniques: Yellow Grade Upper-Tier—Reckless Bull Force (Max Level)

Yellow Grade Mid-Tier—Savage Bear Skill (First Level)

Martial Skills: Yellow Grade Mid-Tier—Mad Demon Staff Technique (Great Mastery)

Unranked—Three Absolutes Spear (Perfected), Eight Extremes Fist (Minor Mastery).

The system panel now displayed the ranks of cultivation techniques and martial skills.

In Great Xia, cultivation techniques and martial skills were uniformly divided by power into four ranks: Heaven, Earth, Profound, and Yellow.

He had heard that there were even divine-rank cultivation techniques and martial skills above them, though he did not know whether that was true.

Now that the system had finished upgrading, Lu Shaolin planned to head to the county town to eat and level up.

As for whether the system had patched the bug involving searching corpses, Lu Shaolin intended to test it after leveling up. But in his estimation, it was highly likely that it had been fixed.

Everyone had a gambler's hope. He still wanted to make sure—what if the system had glitched out and forgotten?

With a carp's leap, Lu Shaolin sprang to his feet. He put on his martial outfit, picked up the Black Iron Spear, and walked into the courtyard.

The sky was only beginning to brighten, and the two sisters had not yet risen.

Moving quietly, Lu Shaolin led the Black-Mane Horse out of the courtyard, shut the gate, and headed straight for the county town.

Half an hour later, Lu Shaolin arrived at the county gate.

It was still the same restaurant as last time, the same private room.

Lu Shaolin once again ordered over a dozen meat dishes and a huge basin of rice.

The waiter was still the same waiter from last time.

Seeing Lu Shaolin's increasingly burly frame, he silently wrote down the dishes.

The moment Lu Shaolin finished ordering, he hurriedly ran out of the private room.

Lu Shaolin rubbed his cheek. He was quite handsome, wasn't he? Was he really that scary?

Before long, the waiter brought in the dishes one by one on a tray.

Lu Shaolin loosened his belt and began stuffing himself.

Half an hour later, all that remained on the table were more than a dozen empty plates.

Lu Shaolin, meanwhile, smiled at the system panel before him:

Name: Lu Shaolin

Source Points: 38.8

Martial Realm: Perfected Muscle Tempering

Cultivation Techniques: Yellow Grade Upper-Tier—Reckless Bull Force (Max Level)

Yellow Grade Mid-Tier—Savage Bear Skill (Max Level)

Martial Skills: Yellow Grade Mid-Tier—Mad Demon Staff Technique (Perfected)

Unranked—Three Absolutes Spear (Perfected), Eight Extremes Fist (Minor Mastery).

The Savage Bear Skill had also reached max level.

At this point, Lu Shaolin's strength alone had reached a thousand jin. His defensive power was also twice that of an ordinary martial artist, after all—he had two layers of skin membrane.

His five great tendons had become even tougher and thicker, while his speed had doubled once more!

Though his martial cultivation was only at Perfected Muscle Tempering, his actual strength completely crushed ordinary Perfected Muscle Tempering martial artists.

The all-around improvement in defense, strength, and speed was not merely one plus one—it was greater than two!

Lu Shaolin rose to his feet and flexed his arms slightly. With a ripping sound, his martial outfit tore into several pieces that hung from his body.

The exposed muscles were a horrifying sight!

Each bulging muscle looked as though it had been carved from rock.

His height had surged again, reaching one meter ninety.

His entire body radiated a violent kind of beauty!

Damn it!

Lu Shaolin tore off the martial outfit still hanging from him and tossed it to the floor.

Fortunately, the martial outfit's trousers were the baggy kind. Otherwise, he would have had to run around naked.

Bare-chested, Lu Shaolin pushed open the wooden door of the private room and swaggered over to the counter.

The shopkeeper behind the counter stared wide-eyed and stammered respectfully, "G-guest... have you finished eating? Are you here to pay?"

"What? Can I not pay?"

Lu Shaolin teased.

"Th-this... if you truly have no money, you can put it on credit and p-pay later!"

The shopkeeper looked at Lu Shaolin's arms, thick enough to race horses on, and swallowed. One punch from those arms could probably kill a cow!

"How much?"

Lu Shaolin asked.

"Eight... no... five qian of silver!"

The shopkeeper wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and craned his neck up at Lu Shaolin.

Lu Shaolin tossed out five qian of silver, turned, and walked out of the restaurant.

After seeing Lu Shaolin leave, the shopkeeper hurriedly shouted for the waiter. He repeatedly instructed him that if this man came again, they were to say the restaurant had not yet opened. They must not lose their lives by provoking him over some petty gain.

Mounting the Black-Mane Horse, Lu Shaolin headed for the clothing shop.

Pedestrians along the way gave way from five meters away.

Lu Shaolin's face darkened. Was I really that frightening?

When he arrived at the clothing shop, the alluring proprietress saw Lu Shaolin's bare upper body, and her beautiful eyes nearly glued themselves to him.

"It has only been a few days, yet you have become even stronger, sir."

Her eyes glistened with moisture as she spoke in a coquettish voice.

"Mm. Find me some clothes first."

Lu Shaolin said.

"With your build, sir, I'm afraid this shop does not have any clothes that would fit you."

The proprietress openly stared at Lu Shaolin's powerful muscles.

"Then make two sets for me. One according to my current build, and the other larger, so I can wear it later."

Lu Shaolin said directly.

"Of course. I'll measure you right away, sir!"

The proprietress picked up a soft measuring tape and slowly walked over to Lu Shaolin.

Tilting her head back, she gave him a flirtatious smile. Her tender white fingers lightly brushed against Lu Shaolin's skin.

Lu Shaolin instantly felt his body grow scorching hot.

Damn it, the fire in his body was a little too strong!

He forcibly suppressed the restlessness within him.

"Stop dawdling!"

Lu Shaolin barked in a low voice.

"Hehehe~, don't be impatient, sir!"

The proprietress giggled coquettishly.

She then swiftly took his measurements.

"Do you still need it rushed, sir?"

The proprietress asked.

"Yes!"

Lu Shaolin nodded.

"Then it will still be five qian of silver."

The proprietress held out five slender white fingers.

Lu Shaolin took out the silver and tossed it to her, then turned to leave.

"Ah~, wait, sir! This humble one is called Wu Qingmei. May I ask what you are called?"

The proprietress hurriedly asked.

Without even turning his head, Lu Shaolin leaped onto the Black-Mane Horse and rode away.

What an unromantic blockhead!

Wu Qingmei stomped her foot fiercely, making the waves on her chest surge and roll.

Lu Shaolin rode all the way to the docks. Since he had nothing else to do, he decided to see whether Li Si was there.

As he entered the docks, the laborers and merchants recognized him at once. Though his physique had changed, his facial features had not changed much, only becoming somewhat more mature.

Cries of "Master Lu!" rose one after another without end.

Sitting atop his horse, Lu Shaolin smiled and cupped his hands in greeting.

When he reached the tea stall, Old Man Zhang hurriedly came out and took the reins from Lu Shaolin's hand.

Lu Shaolin asked about Li Si and learned that Li Si was not on duty today, so he sat at the tea stall and leisurely drank tea.

As he drank, he looked toward the docks.

A familiar figure entered his sight.

Wasn't that Li Cai?

Lu Shaolin looked closely. It really was Li Cai!

He was carrying cargo.

Wasn't he a clerk at the coffin shop? Why had he come to the docks to work as a laborer?