Chapter 37: Outstanding Martial Arts
Editor: Henyee Translations
After the competition, Lin Shen realized no matter where he went, people would point at him.
According to Zheng Hongsheng, he was already a famous figure in the academy.
Among the ordinary students, he was even more renowned than many disciples of influential families.
Zheng Hongsheng had an envious expression when he said this.
However, Lin Shen didn't want that kind of fame.
He had no interest in becoming an influential figure, nor was he in the mood to deal with all kinds of interpersonal relationships useless for improving his strength.
After being surrounded by many students trying to socialize with him several times, Lin Shen simply ran to Kong Hong's office to apply for leave.
"You're taking a month off?"
Kong Hong looked at Lin Shen in surprise.
"Yes, I want to spend the next month focusing on preparing for the exam," Lin Shen nodded.
Kong Hong came to a realization.
The final exam was only a month away. An outstanding student like Lin Shen, who had already obtained the qualifications to participate in the exam, naturally wanted to use more time on cultivation instead of wasting it on knowledge-acquired courses.
There were many similar examples in previous years.
The academy had always been very considerate in that aspect and approved all the requests.
Therefore, Kong Hong didn't think for long and directly approved Lin Shen's leave.
"I hope you do well in the academy entrance examination. Try your best to get outstanding results. That'll be very beneficial to you after you enter the academy," Kong Hong said meaningfully.
Lin Shen had already learned the corresponding information from Yang Zhongyi. He nodded calmly.
After leaving the office, Lin Shen returned to the classroom and told the news to Zheng Hongsheng and Xu Yuan before leaving without hesitation.
Once he was gone, a buzz of discussion immediately started in the classroom.
"I heard Lin Shen won't be coming to class anymore."
"That makes sense. If you had obtained the qualifications for the examination, you would definitely want to focus on cultivation for the next month as well. Who would still attend those useless knowledge-acquired courses?"
"Lin Shen is going to soar into the sky in the future. I'm so envious!"
"He can't help it. He's a genius. Gosh, if only I had Lin Shen's talent."
"Go to bed early tonight. Your wish will come true in your dreams."
"..."
Listening to the discussions around them, Zheng Hongsheng and Xu Yuan looked at each other with complicated expressions.
Just a month ago, Lin Shen was just like them and was an inconspicuous person in the class.
Who would have thought Lin Shen would advance by leaps and bounds in such a short period of time? His strength had increased greatly, and he had even obtained first place in the competition. He was now an influential figure in the academy with a bright future.
They could tell Lin Shen would eventually rise to a height that they could never reach.
When they thought of this, they were filled with a mixture of emotions, and their feelings were extremely complicated.
…
In the following period of time, Lin Shen could focus on his cultivation.
Other than taking the time to go to Calm Sun Martial Arts School as a part-time training partner every day, he spent the rest of his time at home cultivating.
]With sufficient medicinal pills and spirit beast meat, his strength increased at an astonishing speed.
Finally, five days later, Lin Shen successfully broke through to Level 8 of the Qi Transformation Stage.
[Name: Lin Shen]
[Talent: God's Jealousy]
[Stage: Qi Transformation Level 8, 3%]
[Technique: Original Breathing Technique (Perfection), Blazing Sun Palm (Mastery 24%), Mortal Restrain (Beginner 24%), Shadows (Beginner 3%)]
[Number of clones: 4 (10%)]
Lin Shen made a few movements on the spot and nodded in satisfaction.
After breaking through to Qi Transformation Level 8, he could clearly feel his physical strength had increased significantly.
"My Origin Breathing Technique has also reached Perfection. My cultivation speed will increase again!
"There's also Shadows. After comprehending it for so many days, I've finally successfully reached Beginner!"
Lin Shen happily heaved a sigh of relief. His eyes flickered slightly, and he suddenly disappeared from the spot. When he reappeared, he was already five to six meters away.
In the spacious living room, Lin Shen kept reappearing in different spots. He moved like a ghost and was as fast as lightning.
He looked like a child who had just gotten his hands on a new toy. He tried the technique for five to six minutes before stopping, still wanting to try more.
"No wonder it took me so long to comprehend. The power of this movement technique is indeed extraordinary!"
Lin Shen couldn't hide his excitement.
With Shadows, his actual combat ability had undoubtedly increased greatly, and his survivability in battles had also jumped to another level.
"This is only the Beginner level. When I reach Mastery or even Perfection, I wonder how fast I can go."
Lin Shen was very excited.
Shadows was clearly a martial technique with great potential. Even at the Long Breath Stage, it could still play a role that couldn't be underestimated!
"Next, I'll have to arrange for a clone to specialize in cultivating Shadows."
With a thought, Lin Shen summoned the interface.
Clone 4 (Dead), Remaining Resurrection Time: 00: 02: 49]
In the past five days, Clone 4 had revived a total of four times. Unfortunately, the new talents didn't meet Lin Shen's requirements.
For example, there was Mediocre, which didn't have any bonus effects.
There was Handsome, which increased charm by 30%.
There was Knowledgeable, which improved memory by 50%.
There was even Adverse Fortune, which reduced luck by 50%.
All four talents were useless for increasing one's strength.
The last one was especially annoying.
"Last time I had to refresh the talent three times before getting God's Jealousy. This time, it has been four times, but a single one was useful."
Lin Shen shook his head helplessly.
He hoped he could get a talent with better effects this time. It would be best if it could increase his cultivation speed.
The two minutes passed in the blink of an eye. Lin Shen took a deep breath and summoned Clone 4 with a pious attitude.
With a glance, his eyes lit up.
[Superior Martial Arts: Martial Technique Cultivation Speed+100%, Martial Technique Power+50%, Combat Skills+50%]
"This talent… is pretty good!"
Lin Shen smiled.
Although it wasn't as good as God's Jealousy, which increased cultivation speed by 100%, the effect of increasing the cultivation speed of martial techniques by 100% was already good enough. It was very beneficial to his future cultivation of the Blazing Sun Palm and Shadows.
In addition, Martial Technique Power+50% and Combat Skills+50% were equally powerful. They could increase Lin Shen's combat ability to a new level.
Considering the exam was in a month, this talent might be quite useful.
"It's a pity that I can only have one talent at a time. Otherwise, if I could use Pure Yang Body and Superior Martial Arts at the same time, I would probably be invincible when fighting against people below the Long Breath Stage!"
Lin Shen felt it was a pity.
He wondered if this would change as his cultivation level increased in the future, just as the way the materialization of his clones did.
After a while, Lin Shen restrained his thoughts and turned to test the consumption of his clone's physical form.
As expected, the clone's zero consumption distance had increased to 80m.
Moreover, his current physical strength and vitality could sustain a clone to move at a distance of about 700m for as long as a minute.
To be honest, this amount of time and distance was only barely satisfactory. It was far from letting his clone move freely.
However, it was enough to help Lin Shen achieve some goals every once in a while,
such as killing a certain person.
Lin Shen was in no hurry. As his cultivation level increased, his clones would eventually become an existence similar to the incarnation of a legendary cultivator master. When that happened, he would be able to control them freely without the restriction of distance.
[Clone 5]
[Condensing. Current progress: 10%]
"The progress is 2% every day. It'll take me 50 days to condense the fifth clone… I have to wait until after the exam."
Lin Shen looked out the window at the night sky, his eyes flickering.
The next step was to continue cultivating and wait for the examination to arrive.
Chapter 38: Hunt in the Dark
Editor: Henyee Translations
The dark night was like a pitch-black curtain that enveloped the entire black street.
There was only a little light coming out of shops on the big street. It looked even more sinister at night.
Walking on the dark street, Lin Shen looked at the shops on both sides and pursed his lips.
This was his third time coming to the black street.
The first two times were to buy the Condensing Liquid, but this time, his main purpose was to get back the deposit from Lurking Snake.
In order not to appear too abrupt, Lin Shen deliberately waited five days after Zhou Zhihai's death before visiting Lurking Snake again.
He remembered the location of the alley very clearly. Soon, he arrived at the iron door and reached out to knock on it.
After a round of questions and answers, the man guarding the door moved aside and let Lin Shen in.
It was the same dim bar. As usual, there were only over half a dozen customers.
Behind the counter was the same bartender who had received Lin Shen last time. He was meticulously wiping a transparent glass.
Lin Shen went straight to the bar counter and knocked on it. He feigned a hoarse voice and said,
"Mission D2201 is misinformed!"
The bartender stopped wiping, glanced at him, and took out a document from under the bar counter. He flipped through it for a while before nodding.
"The information is indeed wrong, but there's no need to continue the mission. The person who issued the mission is already dead. According to the rules, 30% of the mission deposit will be given to you as compensation."
Lin Shen frowned. "If the information is wrong, shouldn't my compensation be half of the deposit?"
The bartender glanced at him but said nothing.
"Damn this profiteer!"
Lin Shen cursed under his breath and said, "Give me the deposit and compensation!"
The bartender quickly counted the spirit coins and handed them to him.
Lin Shen counted the coins and realized 30% of the deposit was as many as 40,000 to 50,000 spirit coins.
"Is the down payment half of the mission reward? Damn these profiteers!"
After cursing Lurking Snake again, Lin Shen put away the spirit coins and left the bar without looking back.
After walking out of the alley, Lin Shen didn't leave the black street immediately. Instead, he rushed to the shop that sold Condensing Liquid.
After breaking through to Qi Transformation Level 8, the cultivation progress of every 100ml of Condensing Liquid had decreased sharply to less than 1%. On average, 300ml of Condensing Liquid could only increase the cultivation progress by 1%.
Lin Shen only had less than 12 liters of Condensing Liquid left. After absorbing all of it, his cultivation progress would increase by at most 40%. It was far from enough for him to break through again.
There was still a huge gap in cultivation resources, and he needed to buy a large amount of Condensing Liquid.
…
In a dark corner of the alley,
Hao Tu leaned against the wall and stood with his arms crossed. His fingers kept tapping his arms, and his eyes were filled with impatience.
A few minutes later, a figure suddenly appeared a short distance away. After looking around for a while, the figure seemed to have spotted Hao Tu and slowly approached him.
After seeing the other party's face under the moonlight, Hao Tu couldn't help but curse softly.
"What took you so long? Where have you been?"
"Calm down. I went to look for a target."
Dai Geng smiled obsequiously but involuntarily began to complain.
"I don't know what the Boss is thinking. He actually asked us to come to the black street to catch out prey. The cultivators here are all smart. They can't be easy to catch!"
At the mention of this, Hao Tu felt his dissipated anger surge again. He lowered his voice and scolded,
"Why do you have the nerve to say that?
"If you hadn't killed a student from Willow Academy the other day and attracted the Martial Enforcement Hall's attention, we wouldn't have gone to such a remote place to look for prey!"
Dai Geng cringed and said embarrassedly, "How would I know that kid was a student of Willow Academy…"
After a pause, he said indignantly,
"Speaking of which, another student from Willow Academy died a few days ago, and that goddamn Martial Enforcement Hall actually suspects that we did it. Damn it! If I find out who dared to frame us, I'll definitely make him suffer!"
Hao Tu snorted coldly.
"Mind your own business first. Don't forget what Boss said. If we can't hand over the prey tonight, we'll make up the numbers!"
Dai Geng shuddered at his words and swallowed involuntarily.
Seeing this, Hao Tu despised Dai Geng inwardly. He didn't care about the latter anymore. Instead, he said coldly,
"You said you were looking for a target. Did you find a suitable one?"
"Yes!"
Dai Geng quickly nodded and gestured for Hao Tu to follow him. Then, he turned around and led the way.
Not long after, the two arrived at a shop more than 200m away.
"Target's in there now."
Dai Geng pointed at the shop. Through the gap in the open door, they could vaguely see figures moving inside.
Hao Tu sized it up carefully and quickly recalled it was a shop that sold medicinal pills. He had visited it a few times in the past, and Dai Geng was a regular customer here.
"The last few times I came to buy pills, I had a chat with the shop owner. He told me a guy had come twice to buy more than ten liters of Condensing Liquid. Although that guy used a Face Changing Pill, it was most likely the same person, so he left a deep impression on the shop owner!"
"Is the target you're talking about the person who bought the Condensing Liquid?"
"That's right!"
Dai Geng nodded heavily, a sinister smile appearing on his face.
"Only Qi Transformation cultivators would use the Condensing Liquid. If the two of us work together, we can easily handle that person!"
Hao Tu pondered for a moment, and a faint light flashed in his eyes.
the Condensing Liquid was a by-product of the Condensing Pill. It was true. Only Qi Transformation cultivators would use it to aid their cultivation.
Moreover, because of the side effects of reducing one's lifespan, only cultivators who had been stuck at the ninth level of the Qi Transformation Stage for many years and had no hope of breaking through would take the risk to use it. If they could break through to the Long Breath Stage, their lifespan would be extended.
In other words, the target that Dai Geng mentioned was most likely a Qi Transformation Stage Level Nine cultivator!
He and Dai Geng were both at that cultivation level. If the two of them fought against one, it wouldn't be difficult to kill that person.
Hao Tu quickly made up his mind and nodded decisively.
"We'll do as you say!
"Let's take action after the target leaves the black street!"
The black street was a gray area with chaotic order. It was very suitable for killing people in the middle of the night, but it was also because of this that Hao Tu didn't want to make a move here.
Who knew if someone wouldn't try to still their reward after they took out the target?
They didn't want to work so hard but only let others benefit from it.
Just in case, it was better to attack outside the black street!
Dai Geng naturally understood this point and nodded heavily.
After confirming their goal, the two of them relaxed a little.
Recently, the higher-ups had been pressing them because they urgently needed a large number of cultivator corpses. However, they had been hiding everywhere because of the pursuit of the Martial Enforcement Hall and didn't have the time to find prey.
In the end, they had no choice but to run to the black street.
The target in front of them was the first prey they had found since coming here!
As long as they captured this prey and handed it to the higher-ups, they could buy themselves some time.
Thinking of this, Hao Tu and Dai Geng heaved a sigh of relief.
When they looked at the shop again, their eyes were filled with cold killing intent.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
200+ Power
Ranking 
0 Power
stone 
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