Formal Disciple, Initiation Ceremony

Early the next morning.

Su Chen practiced his punches in the air for half an hour, every strike brimming with power.

When he finished, he was drenched in sweat, yet he did not feel the slightest bit tired.

At last, Iron Wire Fist had caught up with Iron Sand Palm, reaching the perfected realm.

Su Chen could see that the Blood Line on his arm had turned an incomparably deep red, even faintly showing signs of changing from red to black.

He believed that as long as he activated Easy Mode once more, Iron Wire Fist would truly reach perfection.

By then, his strength would surely rise to another level!

"If Senior Brother Li Mo knew that my Iron Wire Fist had already been cultivated to perfection, he would probably drop his jaw."

Su Chen wiped the sweat from his cheeks and could not help but chuckle.

He had learned from the other disciples that Li Mo had trained for two years, yet his Iron Wire Fist had only barely reached major accomplishment.

The Blood Line on Li Mo's hand had not yet completely deepened.

By comparison, Su Chen had reached the level of Li Mo's two years of effort in barely more than ten days. It could not be called anything but swift.

"I wonder what level my strength stands at in White Stone City."

On second thought, Su Chen pondered it, but soon stopped dwelling on it.

Who cared what level he was at? He trained to become stronger, not to compare himself with others.

After returning to his room and finishing breakfast, Su Chen had not even stepped outside when he heard knocking at the door.

When he opened it, he saw two men with red sashes tied around their waists.

Seeing Su Chen, the two said expressionlessly, "We're from the Blood Clothes Gang. It's the beginning of the month. Time to pay the head tax."

The Blood Clothes Gang?

Su Chen had heard of this gang before.

It was a relatively powerful gang in the Outer City, far beyond what the Fierce Tiger Gang and Black Water Gang could compare to.

Su Chen pressed his lips together slightly and asked, "How much?"

"Ten copper coins!" the man replied.

After a moment of silence, Su Chen took out ten copper coins from his pocket and handed them over.

After receiving the money, the other party said nothing further. He turned and left, heading for the next household.

Su Chen stood at the doorway and watched for a while. Seeing that his neighbors paid up readily, also handing over ten copper coins, he stopped paying attention.

Weighing his dwindling money pouch, Su Chen shut the door and headed out.

He went straight to the Tea House to read and study, occasionally glancing toward the Black Water Gang's courtyard across the street.

It seemed last night's clash had been extremely fierce. Early in the morning, people were already coming and going through the courtyard, scrubbing away the bloodstains on the ground.

In the span of half a day, the Black Water Gang had completely become history, and a new gang was born.

This was more or less what Su Chen had expected. This gang was likely one of the groups that had struck against the Black Water Gang last night.

Without Liu Heishui, the entire Black Water Gang was like a heap of loose sand. It could not stir up much trouble at all, so it was naturally wiped out by the other side.

Su Chen noticed that apart from Liu Heishui's two trusted aides, who had vanished, everyone else had immediately thrown themselves into the arms of this new gang.

They had become members of it.

Su Chen studied until evening before finally heading back.

Over the following days, Su Chen never went to the Tea House again.

While continuing to deepen his understanding of Great Qian's writing system, he also searched for ways to make money.

The reason he needed to study was because Su Chen had a faint suspicion in his heart.

Although the panel could help him quickly master Martial Arts, it was not omnipotent.

There was a prerequisite: Su Chen had to "practice" the Martial Art.

For example,

when cultivating Iron Wire Fist, it had only appeared on the panel after Su Chen watched Li Mo demonstrate it once.

When cultivating Iron Sand Palm, Su Chen had likewise assembled the manual into a complete manual and practiced it once before it appeared on the panel.

In other words, if Su Chen wanted to learn a manual, there was at least one prerequisite: he had to practice it first.

But,

what if a future manual consisted entirely of text, without any moves? If Su Chen wanted to cultivate it but could not even understand what he was reading, how was he supposed to cultivate it?

That was precisely why Su Chen wanted to study and learn.

Studying was not much of a problem, but the difficulty of making money was beyond Su Chen's expectations.

He had thought that, with his identity as a martial artist, finding a way to earn money should not be difficult.

But reality proved that in any world, without connections, the truly easy paths to wealth would not be opened to you.

The money-making methods circulating in the market were basically unsuitable for Su Chen.

It was not merely a case of using a sledgehammer to crack a nut. More importantly, the money they earned was simply too little.

After searching for several days in a row, Su Chen gave up.

As for relying on knowledge from his previous life to make money, he could only say that he had been overthinking it.

In his previous life, Su Chen had merely been a truck driver. He did not know anything about making perfume, seasonings, glass, or related matters.

Even if he did, others might not necessarily cooperate with him.

Of course, he could force both sides into cooperation, but that would inevitably bring trouble.

Those profitable trades were basically monopolized by gangs or Lineages.

If Su Chen tried to get involved, what awaited him would be retaliation from the forces behind them.

White Stone City had its own operating system. Anyone who tried to break that system would suffer its backlash.

Unless Su Chen possessed absolute strength and feared no challenge.

But unfortunately, he did not possess that strength yet.

"Fortunately, it has been nearly twenty days since I began learning the fist techniques. It's time to visit the Martial Hall!"

On this day, the Hong Family Martial Hall

was especially lively.

It turned out that today was the day Hong Ming would take on a disciple.

Half a month earlier, after Qin Hao had gained entry into the fist technique and developed an Iron Line, Hong Ming had promised to accept him as a disciple as long as Qin Hao could stabilize the Iron Line.

Three days ago, Qin Hao had stabilized the Blood Line as promised. When Hong Ming learned of it, he was overjoyed.

He immediately announced Qin Hao as the eighth formal disciple of the Hong Family Martial Hall.

For this reason, Hong Ming had specially selected an auspicious day, setting the ceremony for three days later, intending for Qin Hao to formally acknowledge him as master.

At the same time, he informed the other disciples of the matter.

Apart from those occupied with important affairs, basically everyone who could come had come.

"Qin Hao, come here. Let me introduce you to your Senior Brothers."

Hong Ming, his face glowing with health, called over Qin Hao, who was dressed noticeably differently from usual. His attitude was warm and cordial.

He introduced them one by one. "Your Eldest Brother Wei Ping and Fourth Senior Brother Wu Hai are escorting a shipment. Third Senior Sister Liu Fang is away conducting business. This is your Second Senior Brother Zhou Tao, Fifth Senior Brother Hu Zong, Sixth Senior Brother Fang Yanxun, and Seventh Senior Brother Li Mo."

"Qin Hao greets Second Senior Brother, Fifth Senior Brother, Sixth Senior Brother, and Seventh Senior Brother."

After the introductions, Qin Hao cupped his hands toward the four men.

"Hahaha, I'd heard Master mention Junior Brother Qin Hao long ago. Now that I see him today, he truly is an outstanding talent."

Second Senior Brother Zhou Tao returned the gesture with a smile, and the others also greeted him in turn.

Hearing this, Qin Hao looked somewhat restrained. He scratched his head and smiled, neither accepting nor denying their praise.

There was still some time before the meal. After making the introductions, Hong Ming left Qin Hao and the others to themselves.

Seeing this, Zhou Tao and the others stepped forward and began chatting with Qin Hao.

At the same time.

Su Chen looked at the Martial Hall he had not seen in a long time, his face showing a trace of wistfulness.

He wondered whether the Martial Hall had forgotten this apprentice of theirs after he had stayed away for so many days.

Shaking his head and brushing away his wild thoughts, Su Chen strode toward the Martial Hall.

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