A month remained until the Hall Tournament.
The atmosphere throughout the Black Water Gang's War Hall had grown tense.
The air was thick with the scent of gunpowder. Gang members who had once called each other brothers now eyed one another with wariness and a hint of rivalry.
Shouts and the clash of weapons rang out across the Training Ground all day long.
Everyone was preparing for the bloodbath to come in their own way.
Lu Chen, meanwhile, had managed to disappear into the feverish tide.
His life had once again become disciplined and relentless.
By day, he no longer deliberately held back as he had before. Instead, he worked even harder than everyone else.
He carried out every task assigned by the gang, from patrols to collecting dues, with meticulous care.
Whenever a gap opened between tasks, he seized every moment to practice the Mountain Splitting Saber Technique.
He didn't chase after any intricate moves. He simply practiced the most basic chops, hacks, sweeps, and slashes over and over, thousands upon thousands of times.
Sweat soaked his clothes, only to be steamed dry by the qi and blood within him, leaving behind a layer of white salt.
The Mountain Splitting Saber in his hands, awkward at first, grew more and more familiar.
Every swing carried an unstoppable force, precise and heavy.
Everyone saw how hard he worked.
To the other gang members, this youth called "Lu Iron Skin" was making the clumsiest, yet most painstaking, preparations for the tournament.
They only laughed at him behind his back. He was a newcomer; no matter how hard he worked, could he really shake up veteran fighters like Zhang Meng?
Lu Chen didn't care about any of that.
He simply immersed himself in his own world, feeling his strength grow with every ounce of effort.
The Heavenly Dao Rewards Diligence panel ensured that not a single drop of sweat he shed went to waste.
[Martial Art: Mountain Splitting Saber Technique (1st Realm, Initial Understanding 78%)]
The progress bar on the panel was the finest reward for his hard work.
And at night, when everyone else had fallen asleep, Lu Chen's true period of bitter cultivation began.
He would quietly leave the dormitory and head to a secluded, forgotten corner of the gang's back mountain.
There, he stopped practicing the saber and trained the Stone Crushing Palm instead.
But he wasn't practicing the moves. He was practicing "force."
He stood before a massive boulder, sometimes pushing both palms forward, sometimes drawing them back. His movements were slow, yet carried a peculiar rhythm.
His palms never touched the boulder.
But up close, one could see the air in front of his palms warping ever so slightly, too subtly for the naked eye to detect.
An invisible Vibrating Force emanated from his palms, silently penetrating the boulder before him.
He was trying to control the Vibrating Force granted by the "mastery" realm.
At first, he found it difficult to control. His force fluctuated, sometimes strong, sometimes weak, and even rebounded against him, churning his qi and blood.
But Lu Chen didn't give up.
He tried again and again, adjusting his breathing, sensing every subtle change in his muscles, and feeling out how to circulate the force.
He realized that although the energy in the Water Ghost flesh he had eaten that night had long since run out, his body seemed to have been completely remade by that violent energy.
His meridians had become tougher and broader, and his qi and blood were far more abundant and vigorous than an ordinary person's.
This gave him far greater stamina and recovery than a martial artist of the same level, along with the reserves to keep trying and expend his strength.
Gradually, he began to gain basic control over the Vibrating Force.
He even started trying to attach this invisible force to a blade.
He picked up a dead branch and held it in his hand, imagining it was his Mountain Splitting Saber.
As he swung the branch, he focused and guided a thread of Vibrating Force toward its tip.
Vmmm...
The branch gave a faint tremble.
He lightly slashed at a small tree beside him.
Crack!
The small tree, as thick as a bowl, snapped cleanly in two, its cut surface smooth.
"Success!"
A flicker of delight crossed Lu Chen's eyes.
It was only a preliminary success, and highly unstable. It also took a tremendous amount of energy.
Still, this had undoubtedly opened a new door for him.
If he could perfectly attach the Vibrating Force to his Mountain Splitting Saber, every slash would grow many times more powerful.
Time flew by as he practiced the saber by day and the force by night, cultivating with mad intensity.
A month passed in the blink of an eye.
Lu Chen's appearance had changed noticeably.
He had grown a little taller, his frame fully filled out, and his shoulders broadened. The muscles all over his body didn't bulge as extravagantly as Zhang Meng's; instead, they formed a streamlined shape brimming with strength.
Standing there, he was like a saber sheathed in its scabbard. Its edge remained hidden, but its solid, weighty presence could no longer be concealed.
His panel had also taken on a whole new look.
[Name: Lu Chen] [Identity: Black Water Gang Member] [Realm: Body Tempering Realm (Flesh Refining Stage)] [Martial Arts: Stone Crushing Palm (3rd Realm, Mastery 5%), Mountain Splitting Saber Technique (2nd Realm, Proficient 10%)] [Traits: Iron Hand (Basic), Bronze Skin (Basic)]
After a month of bitter cultivation, his Mountain Splitting Saber Technique had successfully reached the "proficient" realm, bringing his control over the saber to an entirely new level.
His control over the Stone Crushing Palm's Vibrating Force had also become increasingly effortless.
He had completely consolidated his explosively increased strength and made it part of his true foundation.
The day of the tournament had finally arrived.
That day, the massive Training Ground before the Black Water Gang's Main Hall was packed with people, amid the thunder of drums and gongs.
Not only had members of the War Hall come, but gang members from other halls and even several wealthy merchants from the city who were friendly with the Black Water Gang had also come to watch. The scene was lively beyond compare.
Three sturdy bluestone arenas had been set up in the center of the Training Ground.
Nearly a hundred War Hall members who would be competing had changed into matching outfits and stood in groups beneath the arenas according to the order of their draw.
Everyone looked solemn, eyes burning with the desire to win.
Lu Chen stood among them, quietly regulating his breathing.
He had drawn number forty-seven—not near the beginning, nor near the end.
His gaze swept calmly across the grounds before finally settling on the Viewing Platform above.
Zhao Tieshan, the War Hall's hall master, sat in the central seat. Several other high-ranking gang members with imposing presences sat to either side of him.
Their eyes scrutinized every competitor below.
As a long horn blast rang across the grounds, the noisy Training Ground fell silent in an instant.
Zhao Tieshan rose slowly, his booming voice carrying in every direction.
"The Black Water Gang's War Hall Tournament begins now!"
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