All the exclamations were cut off at the same time.
The longsword failed to pierce Lin Ce's abdomen.
A hand, arriving almost before the opponent, grasped the sword.
"Have you given up yet?"
Li Qingshan struggled to draw his sword, but found it wouldn't budge. Then he heard Lin Ce's words.
With a forceful tug, the longsword slipped from Li Qingshan's hand and was then thrown to the ground by Lin Ce.
The bluestone floor, at this moment, was as soft as tofu, allowing the sword to easily penetrate most of it.
Li Qingshan noticed that the other person's palms had no marks whatsoever.
To wield such a sharp longsword, yet to achieve such a feat.
"You know martial arts like the 'Vajra Palm'?"
Otherwise, the explanation doesn't make sense.
Lin Ce smiled enigmatically, without responding.
"Your skills are good, but you're not quite ready to be the chief镖头 (chief镖头 is a Chinese idiom meaning 'head镖师'). For now, you'll be a镖师 (bodyguard/escort)."
"Let's go eat, while it's hot."
Li Qingshan stood up, looking utterly dejected.
It was only at this moment that he suddenly remembered that when he stabbed his opponent with his longsword earlier, he had also encountered considerable resistance.
The opponent's ability to ignore the sharpness of the longsword was not limited to his hands; his entire body was the same, just like the "Azure Rock Robe" that he possessed.
“Besides the ‘Mountain-Breaking Fist,’ Lin Ce has also mastered a body-protecting hard skill. His overall strength is no less than that of any ninth-rank martial artist. He was obviously hiding his true abilities before.”
Behind her, Rose said this to Su Caiying.
Little did she know that Lin Ce was not hiding his true abilities; rather, his strength had rapidly increased by two levels in just a short period of time.
"Ninth Rank, Upper Grade? Does that mean you're very strong? How do you compare to Rose?"
"Heh..."
Rose didn't bother to respond to Su Caiying's mindless words.
"Looks like we need to find a way to take on a bigger shipment."
Su Caiying murmured softly.
Time passed by quietly and uneventfully.
Seven days have passed since I returned to the escort agency.
Following Lin Ce's instructions, the escort agency posted a notice recruiting escorts, but to this day, not a single person has come to apply.
One of the requirements is that one must be a disciple of a major sect.
Upon seeing the recruitment notice, Li Qingshan chuckled coldly.
"Do you really think disciples of major sects are just a common sight? If I hadn't come back to find my relatives, how could disciples of major sects have graced this mere Erhe County with their presence?"
Lin Ce was also taking a chance; since there were no suitable candidates at the moment, there was no need to rush.
His desire to recruit disciples from major sects was simple: he hoped they could bring him more martial arts knowledge, just like Li Qingshan.
Thinking about this, he became somewhat dissatisfied.
"Have you been slacking off in your training lately? How come you haven't made any progress at all?"
Since acquiring the "Azure Rock Robe," the title "King of Escorts" has failed to grant him any new martial arts skills in the past seven days.
Clearly, Li Qingshan had not been able to break through to a higher level in any of his martial arts techniques during those seven days.
"Who says I haven't improved? I've improved a lot! My practice has been incredibly smooth these past few days, with no bottlenecks at all. Should I say I truly deserve to be called a genius?"
Li Qingshan smiled smugly, "I can sense that another major breakthrough is coming soon. Just wait, your position as chief镖头 (chief镖师, a high-ranking镖师) will one day be mine."
Lin Ce shook his head, ignoring him, and continued to supervise the other teenagers' training.
Over the past seven days, as the boys have been practicing relentlessly, his "Mountain-Breaking Fist" experience points have been slowly increasing.
Eventually, at some point, the "perfect" milestone was reached.
At the moment of reaching "perfection", Lin Ce's blood surged, his skin trembled violently, and his strength increased once again.
He could sense that his strength had reached the limit of the ninth rank.
With each punch, an astonishing force surges across the body's surface, traveling along the fist to the point of impact.
This is a manifestation of mastering the ninth-grade "external strength" realm.
To break through to the eighth rank, one must cultivate "internal strength".
"It seems I'm missing an internal martial arts technique."
Lin Ce murmured to himself.
Finding a martial art with internal energy cultivation techniques in Erhe County is obviously too difficult.
But there must be some in Sanjiang County.
However, with his current financial resources, it is clearly beyond his means to purchase an internal martial arts manual.
He thought of the rose beside his employer, Su Caiying.
Judging from all his actions, that person is definitely a martial artist of the eighth rank or above.
For Su Caiying, the owner, a mere internal martial arts manual shouldn't be a big problem.
But Lin Ce had a vague feeling that his employer didn't seem to be very keen on helping him improve his strength.
Well, as they say, one shouldn't accept rewards without merit. They're just doing business; there's no reason for them to keep spending and investing.
He knew very well that the goods in this first shipment were only worth a few hundred taels of silver, and the escort agency would earn even less.
So far, the expenses for training the teenagers haven't even been recouped yet.
"Huh?"
He noticed something unusual in the martial arts panel.
[Mountain-Breaking Fist (Post-natal)]: Third Level (Perfect)
Logically speaking, at this stage, the "Mountain-Breaking Fist" should be considered fully mastered, reaching the limit of this martial art.
Next, he should try to find more martial arts techniques to improve his overall strength.
But at this moment, as the boys practiced the "Mountain-Breaking Fist," the experience points for this martial art on the martial arts panel were still slowly increasing.
In the training formation, a boy stopped his punching motion and shouted excitedly.
"I've broken through to the first level (minor success)!"
Amidst excited shouts, the experience bar on Lin Ce's martial arts panel jumped, reaching a certain milestone.
[Breaking Mountain Fist (Post-Training)]: Fourth Level (Beginner)
It's just a tiny difference compared to before.
However, at this moment, Lin Ce's entire body was trembling uncontrollably, as he entered a state he had never been to before.
With his veins throbbing, Lin Ce couldn't hold back any longer and threw a punch forward.
"Boom!"
The air was blasted open with a loud roar.
"this……"
Lin Ce was deeply shaken.
He was clearly still at the ninth-grade "external strength" level, but the speed and intensity of his punch just now were far superior to before.
If it were me right now, and I encountered the giant black wolf on Black Mountain again, I wouldn't even need a steel knife; one punch would be enough to take it down.
This is clearly due to the constant shaking of the major tendons throughout the body.
"The Mountain-Breaking Fist actually has a fourth level, and this fourth level seems to focus on tendon training?"
Lin Ce, who had never heard of the "Mountain-Breaking Fist" having a fourth level, was somewhat taken aback.
Could it be due to the effect of "no bottleneck in practice" when everyone is united in purpose?
In other words, he can still continue to practice the "Mountain-Breaking Fist".
"Chief镖头?"
The boy woke Lin Ce from his reverie.
"Chief Escort, you previously said that whoever is the first to master the 'Mountain Breaking Fist' to the first level (perfection) will be promoted to escort master. Does that still hold true?"
"Natural numbers are used."
Looking at the excited boy, Lin Ce smiled, "Keep it up! You've already achieved a small success; perfection won't be far behind!"
"And you all too."
Lin Ce looked at the other teenagers and understood the longing in their eyes.
"The outcome is still uncertain, I'm waiting for you to surprise me."
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