Martial Arts Overlord!

"Lu's talent is truly terrifying."

"I just don't know if he can withstand being ganged up on by the geniuses from the other branches."

Jiang Zheng shook his head. He was willing to believe Lu Jin, but after all, the people in the other branches were also geniuses.

You said Lu Jin could take on ten people at once, and he believes Lu Jin can.

But fighting twenty at once is quite worrying, even though he has already informed Chu Zhen and Yang Tai.

However, Chu Zhen and Yang Tai would at most not gang up on Lu Jin, since they also had to consider their own interests.

Furthermore, they might also be affected by Lu Jin and suffer the same beating.

Just then, Lu Jin arrived at the martial arts school cafeteria. Chen Wei suddenly appeared beside Lu Jin, his face flushed red and his chest heaving violently, looking like an enraged calf.

He was clutching his phone in his hand, the screen still lit up, displaying a group chat interface with messages scrolling by so fast that the content was impossible to read.

"Brother Lu Jin!" Chen Wei was furious. "Tomorrow you must teach them a lesson they won't forget!"

Lu Jin glanced at Chen Wei, then calmly ate his food and asked, "What's wrong?"

"Those bastards!" Chen Wei shoved his phone in front of Lu Jin. On the screen was a group chat called "Eight Branch Selection Exchange Group," with more than 9,800 members and messages scrolling up like a waterfall.

"We created a group chat for this inner-city selection process, and people from all the branch offices are in it. You haven't seen what they're saying!"

Lu Jin took the phone and scrolled up.

Chen Wei's comments in the group were easy to recognize.

His profile picture is a photo of himself, grinning and giving a thumbs up, and his nickname is simply "Chen Wei from Baijiang District".

He led his branch's students against dozens of people online, sending hundreds of messages, each one praising Lu Jin.

"Lu Jin, a cultivator at the Body Refinement Realm, can solo a cultivator at the Tendon Transformation Realm. Who among you can do that?"

"Have you checked the elevator security footage? Hundreds of punches in ten seconds, who among you can do that?"

At first, some people were seriously debating with him, but then people from the Tianzhen District branch joined in, and the atmosphere changed.

A user nicknamed "Zhao Peng from Tianzhen District" sent a message:

"It's just killing a wanted criminal at the first level of the Yi Jin Jing realm, right? Anyone who didn't know better would think Lu Jin had taken down a cult's hideout. This is really messed up."

Another person from the Tianzhen District followed closely behind: "Sorry, Lu Jin has had too much to drink."

"Get out of here if you've had too much to drink. You're not still thinking about winning first place in this competition, are you?"

"To be fair, Lu Jin is indeed strong and talented, but when we all swarm him during tomorrow's selection, it's impossible for him to defeat everyone before he runs out of energy. Twenty-four people, twenty-one against one, he'll be exhausted to death."

In an instant, people from other branches also spoke up, and Chen Wei and his group could not withstand the siege of the students from the seven branches.

They then erupted in impotent rage, with many people in their own branch's group chat tagging Lu Jin and sending him private messages.

I'm looking forward to Lu Jin making these people kneel down and sing "Conquer" tomorrow!

Lu Jin returned the phone to him, his expression calm.

"this one?"

Chen Wei was stunned: "Brother Lu Jin, aren't you angry that they said that about you?"

"What's there to be angry about?" Lu Jin ate his nutritious meal slowly, his expression completely calm.

"Tomorrow, it will be me standing in the ring, not them."

Chen Wei opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but then felt that Lu Jin's words made sense.

But he was still furious, muttering things like "Let's see how they cry tomorrow," and started eating a lot of rice, as if that would vent his frustration.

Just then, footsteps came from behind Lu Jin.

Looking back, Chu Zhen and Yang Tai walked over, one in front of the other carrying trays.

"Lu Jin," Chu Zhen said, sitting down beside Lu Jin, his voice a little hoarse, "Be careful tomorrow."

Yang Tai sat down and nodded, adding, "We can only hold them off for a little while at most. We can't handle more than that. Out of twenty people, we can only hold off four or five at most. You'll have to deal with the rest yourself."

At that moment, Chu Zhen remained silent for a few seconds, then sighed: "The tallest tree in the forest will surely be felled by the wind."

News of your killing of Jin Hu has spread too far; now everyone considers you their primary target. When the selection begins tomorrow, they'll definitely focus their attacks on you first.

"We might all be implicated because of you."

"I don't care anyway." Yang Tai shrugged. "I know my own strength. Even without this incident, unless luck is on my side, it would be almost impossible for me to enter the inner city."

When he said this, there was an indescribable complexity in his tone.

Once upon a time, he was also the "outstanding figure" in this branch, and everyone looked up to him.

Yet, among a group of geniuses, he appeared so mediocre.

And they were right.

Of the twenty-three people, apart from Chu Zhen and Yang Tai, the remaining twenty-one will most likely rush towards Lu Jin as soon as the selection begins.

Lu Jin nodded after listening.

"understood."

Three words, neither too light nor too heavy.

Chu Zhen and Yang Tai exchanged a glance, but neither of them said anything more.

Everything that needed to be said has been said. The rest will only be known when we stand in the ring tomorrow.

"You two just need to stand still tomorrow."

"I will lead you into the inner city."

Upon hearing Lu Jin's words, Chen Wei was stunned. Chu Zhen and Yang Tai exchanged bewildered glances, their hands holding chopsticks hovering in mid-air, completely unaware of what Lu Jin meant.

But they quickly came up with a possibility.

Does Lu Jin mean that he's going to defeat everyone else tomorrow and make those two crawl into the inner city?

is it possible?

A storm raged within them. Chu Zhen's gaze was complex; he felt that Lu Jin wouldn't speak without reason.

Since you dare to say such a thing, you must have such confidence that you can take on twenty-one people at once.

They're all at the same level; even the most powerful person couldn't be this powerful, right?

Yang Tai was the first to regain his composure. Regardless of the possibility, he nodded and said, "Thank you very much. If I enter the inner city, I'll consider it a good thing you hit me before!"

"Me too!" Chu Zhen immediately chimed in.

Lu Jin slowly raised his head, took the tissue Chen Wei handed him, wiped his lips, and spoke in a deep voice.

"I led you into the inner city, and you wouldn't even call me Brother Lu Jin."

At that moment, Chu Zhen and Yang Tai exchanged a glance, and the next second, they both said in unison:

"Brother Lu Jin!"

...

Another peaceful night passed, but the eternal night still did not descend.

The next day, the sun shone brightly.

The top floor of Tianlong Martial Arts School Baijiang Branch starts to get lively from seven o'clock in the morning.

The top floor is an open training ground of several thousand square meters, which is usually used for large-scale training and assessments.

Today, a circular open space with a diameter of about fifty meters has been cleared in the center of the training field. The ground is covered with specially made cushioning material, and the edges are marked with eye-catching red tape.

Beyond the boundary, the tiered spectator stands surrounded the area from all sides and were already full of people.

Not only students from the Baijiang branch, but also many people from the other seven branches came.

Each branch gym has its own cheering squad, dressed in their respective gym's training uniforms, occupying different areas in the stands.

The crowd was full of people.

Shouts rose and fell, mingling into a buzzing sound wave that made eardrums vibrate, and the air on the entire top floor was scorching hot from the heat.

Lu Jin pushed open the door to the top floor, and a wave of heat and noise rushed towards him at the same time.

He ignored the noise from the stands and walked straight to the players' preparation area at the edge of the field.

Chu Zhen and Yang Tai were already standing there, loosening their joints. When they saw Lu Jin approaching, they both stopped what they were doing.

"Here we are," Chu Zhen said.

Lu Jin hummed in agreement, his gaze sweeping across the entire venue.

On the other side of the circular open space, athletes from other venues were warming up.

The three people from the earthquake zone gathered together. The man in the middle with a buzz cut was stretching, his movements unhurried and unhurried, seemingly oblivious to the surrounding noise.

As Lu Jin looked over, Lu Jin also happened to raise his head, and their eyes met briefly in the air.

Then they each moved away.

At the highest point of the spectator stands, there is a row of separate seats from the others.

There were nine people sitting there—the owners of the eight branch libraries, and a middle-aged man sitting in the very center.

The middle-aged man was wearing a dark gray Zhongshan suit, with the collar buttoned up meticulously.

He looked to be in his early forties, with regular features and a calm demeanor; sitting there, he was like a stone sinking to the bottom of the water.

He held a cup of tea, the steam rising gently into the air, which he blew away.

He Yulong, the curator of the inner city branch.

Jiang Zheng sat to his right, leaning slightly forward, his posture carrying a hint of cautious respect.

The other seven branch owners were the same; although they all wore confident smiles, their eyes would unconsciously drift towards He Yulong.

He Yulong took a sip of tea and his gaze fell on Lu Jin at the edge of the venue.

"That person is the genius you mentioned, Lu Jin?"

His voice wasn't loud, but Jiang Zheng, who was sitting next to him, heard it clearly.

"Yes, Master He." Jiang Zheng nodded quickly. "How about it? Seeing is believing."

He Yulong's gaze lingered on Lu Jin for a few seconds before he looked away, nodding calmly, "Not bad. His aura is steady, and his basic skills are solid. I just don't know if he's as fierce as the rumors say."

He picked up his teacup, took a sip of tea, and said calmly.

"If he doesn't get first place in the selection this time, I'll have to reconsider the extent of his talent."

These words were spoken neither too lightly nor too heavily, but Jiang Zheng understood their meaning.

He Yulong knew that Lu Jin had already learned the Yi Jin Jing technique ahead of time. In his estimation, given Lu Jin's displayed talent, he should have broken through to the first level of Yi Jin Jing within the next few days.

If Lu Jin breaks through to the first level of the Yi Jin Jing, then this selection will be like an adult kicking a kindergarten.

Not getting first place only means that this genius isn't good enough.

Jiang Zheng opened his mouth, about to say something, but Lü Yang, who was sitting to He Yulong's left, spoke first.

The owner of the Tianzhen District branch, and Luo Yuansheng's master.

Lu Yang was in his fifties. His hair was shaved very short, revealing his bluish scalp. He was very thin, but had a large frame. When he sat there, he looked like an iron nail wedged into the chair.

He smiled, his tone carrying just the right amount of politeness, leaving no room for criticism, yet there was something else about it.

"Master, you can't say that."

Lu Yang tapped his fingers lightly on his knee.

"Even if he makes a great contribution and learns the Yi Jin Jing technique in advance, it doesn't guarantee him first place in the selection. It's not like Lu Jin alone can defeat someone in the Muscle Refining Realm.

As he said this, his gaze had already fallen on Luo Yuansheng on the other side of the field.

Luo Yuansheng, who has a buzz cut, is doing his final warm-up.

His movements were very simple; he just repeated the same punching motion over and over again.

Every punch was delivered with utmost seriousness, as if he were calibrating some kind of precision instrument.

The surrounding noise seemed to disappear to him.

He Yulong followed Lü Yang's gaze to Luo Yuansheng, but did not reply. He simply picked up his teacup again and gently blew on it to cool it down.

At the edge of the field, Lu Jin was stretching his wrists.

Chu Zhen and Yang Tai stood beside him, their positions subtly forming a triangle.

Chu Zhen was in front, Yang Tai was on the left, and Lu Jin was on the right, with their backs against the border line to ensure that they would not be attacked from behind.

Just then, Luo Yuansheng walked over.

He crossed half the venue at a moderate pace, and athletes from other branches instinctively made way for him.

Luo Yuansheng walked straight up to Lu Jin, stopped, and then extended his right hand.

"You're Lu Jin?"

...