This Punch Hurt!

Wang Qiang pointed at Chen Yi. Though his words remained fierce on the outside and weak within, his feet had already begun to retreat slowly.

"Chen, Chen Yi! Don't go crazy! This is Black Stone Gang territory! Do you know who our gang leader is? Shi San, known in the jianghu as the Black Blood Iron Claw!"

Chen Yi could not be bothered to listen to his nonsense. Holding a small hammer, he charged straight at him and knocked him to the ground with one blow.

"I'll teach you to bully others by relying on power!"

Wang Qiang only felt dizzy and deafened. The searing pain in his face nearly stopped him from thinking.

Before he could cry out, Chen Yi brought the hammer down again.

"I'll teach you to dock our food rations!"

The hammer smashed hard into his back, followed at once by a sharp crack.

"Ah!!"

Though Wang Qiang was a Martial Artist, Chen Yi's cultivation was higher. One hammer blow was enough to leave him unable to bear it, yet Chen Yi directly straddled him and unleashed a frenzied barrage!

"I'll teach you to beat and curse people at the drop of a hat!"

"Ah!! Stop hitting me!"

"I'll teach you to force us to sign contracts selling ourselves!"

"Ah!! Spare me! Spare me! I was wrong! Hero, spare my life!!!"

"I'll teach you to force me to feed demons!"

"Ah!! I never did that?? That's a complete frame-up!!"

In his agitation, Chen Yi had pinned the events from the simulation on him.

"So what if I'm framing you?!"

As foreman, Wang Qiang was responsible for supervising the dock overseers and laborers. Usually, he held the highest status.

So he had done no small amount of throwing his weight around.

Now, seeing Chen Yi beat him until he screamed without end, not only did the laborers find it immensely satisfying, even the overseers who had fallen into the water secretly cheered.

At last, they had vented their pent-up fury!

Not far away, Shi San, the Black Stone Gang leader, walked over.

Seeing Wang Qiang pinned down and beaten by Chen Yi without any ability to fight back, he became interested instead.

"Who is this kid?"

The Black Stone Gang's enforcer glanced over, clasped his fists, and said,

"Gang Leader, that kid is called Chen Yi. Three months ago, he and a fool drifted down from the upper reaches of the Qing River. The brothers took them in and put them to work as dock laborers."

Shi San fell into thought, then spoke to a pot-bellied burly man behind him.

"Fourth, Chen Yi should be a Martial Artist. Wang Qiang is no match for him. Go test him out and see what he's made of. Be careful not to strike too heavily and cripple him."

"Got it, Boss!"

Chen Yi was having a satisfying time beating Wang Qiang when someone suddenly seized his wrist. The small hammer in his hand was taken away and casually tossed to the ground.

Turning around, he saw that it was the Black Stone Gang's Fourth Leader.

"Kid, you're about to beat him to death. How about trading a few moves with me?"

Chen Yi kicked Wang Qiang into the water.

"Fourth Leader, you're a Martial Artist. How could I possibly be your opponent? Isn't that bullying the small with the big?"

There were not many Martial Artists in the Black Stone Gang.

After all, few people in the world possessed Root Bone, and among those, even fewer had the opportunity to step into the Martial Dao.

A small gang like this would surely find a way to recruit any Martial Artist it discovered.

Seeing that the Fourth Leader wanted to spar with him, Chen Yi guessed that his goal had already been achieved.

"Hahaha! Why speak in riddles when we both know the truth? Aren't you a Martial Artist too?"

"Martial Artists have their ranks as well."

"I'm at the sixth stage of Body Refining! But I won't bully you. As long as you can hurt me, we'll let today's matter slide. I can even ask the Gang Leader to make you one of the Black Stone Gang's Four Beams and Eight Pillars!"

Chen Yi clenched his fists.

"Does the Fourth Leader's word count?"

"Hmph! When has Shi Lao Si ever gone back on his word? If I say we won't pay you wages, then we've never paid them!"

Chen Yi felt that this man's intelligence might be fit to share a desk with Dachun.

Since they were sparring, naturally they would not use weapons.

And if they were using fists, then Chen Yi had to bring up the trait he had just acquired.

Serious Punch!

At the first exchange, the Fourth Leader felt completely at ease.

Chen Yi was indeed a Martial Artist. His strength and reactions were beyond what an ordinary person could possess.

But compared with his own sixth stage of Body Refining, there was still an obvious gap. He could handle Chen Yi with ease.

"Is that all you've got? You can't even touch the corner of my clothes!"

"Does the Fourth Leader only dare to dodge around?"

"Hmph! I'm afraid that if I strike without knowing my own strength, I'll beat you to death and have a hard time explaining it to Big Brother! With your three-legged cat skills, even if I stood still and let you hit me, you couldn't harm a single hair on me!"

This fellow truly kept his word.

He said he would stand still, and he stood still.

Chen Yi seized the chance, pouring all his strength into maximizing the trait's effect.

Serious Punch!

Tenfold Destructive Power!

Bang!!

The punch made the Fourth Leader's belly fat ripple like waves across a lake.

His body instantly caved backward.

He forcibly swallowed down a metallic sweetness rising in his throat.

The corners of Chen Yi's lips lifted. He took a step back and looked at the Fourth Leader, who was stubbornly holding on, with an amused expression.

"Fourth Leader, how was that?"

The Fourth Leader endured the stabbing pain in his abdomen, desperately swallowing mouthful after mouthful of blood surging up his throat. His entire body trembled faintly.

"N-not painful! N-not at all. But it really wasn't bad. I'll go report to the Gang Leader right away! Y-you'd better not hurt anyone else!"

When the Fourth Leader turned around, Shi San was already standing behind him.

"I saw everything. Chen Yi, since you are a Martial Artist, my Black Stone Gang would like to invite you to take a position in the gang and share in wealth and honor! You'll never have to do this hard labor again!"

His goal had been achieved, but Chen Yi kept his face expressionless. He had to make the act more convincing.

"I want to leave."

Shi San gave a derisive laugh.

"Fourth did not use his full strength just now, because he was afraid of hurting you. But don't think that means he can't beat you."

The implication was clear.

Even the Black Stone Gang's Fourth Leader could deal with him, much less Shi San himself, the gang leader.

They were inviting him to join only because he was a Martial Artist. He should not refuse a toast only to be forced to drink a forfeit.

"Then I shall stay."

"I have one more question. Since you are a Martial Artist, why didn't you tell us? Why were you willing to work here as a laborer instead?"

Chen Yi replied blandly,

"After falling into the water, my body was weak. I was unable to mobilize my Blood Qi until I recovered in the past few days. Besides, I said so before, but your people did not believe me."

"Who did you tell?"

"Wang Qiang."

Wang Qiang had just been fished out of the water by Black Stone Gang members.

He was covered in injuries, and every part of him hurt.

The moment he heard this, his pupils shrank.

"What? I didn't know! Gang Leader! I didn't know! I really didn't know!"

Shi San snorted coldly.

"You buried a talent and left him harboring resentment. Is this how you do your job? Throw him down to feed the fish!"

"Yes!"

Wang Qiang, who had just been pulled from the water, was thrown back in.

Almost every bone in his body had been smashed. Falling into the water like this meant certain death.

"Gang Leader! Spare me! I really didn't kno... glug glug... Gang Leader! Save... glug glug..."

A gang was a gang. They could turn hostile at the drop of a hat.

Chen Yi was only pretending to join for now, in order to find an opportunity to leave with Dachun.

If he could wipe out this gang along the way, he would not mind. It would depend on whether he could gain enough strength in the next simulation.

At noon that day, Shi San held a banquet for Chen Yi at the Black Stone Gang's main headquarters near the docks.

The gang's four leaders, Four Beams and Eight Pillars, and elite members all took their seats.

"Raise your bowls of wine and toast our new brother, Chen Yi!"

Shi San arranged for Chen Yi to serve as the new recruit instructor, responsible for teaching the gang's lower-ranking members martial arts.

It was a position that seemed to carry status, yet gave him no access to the gang's core.

Clearly, Shi San was no fool. He had not handed Chen Yi an important position right from the start.