Chapter 37: Outstanding Martial Arts
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.