Playing to Strengths and Avoiding Weaknesses, Senior Sister Expresses Gratitude!

"It seems I must accumulate them gradually, purchasing a few every few days. If I save up for several months, I should be able to gather enough Treasure Fish!"

Liu Chu pondered for a moment, a plan forming in his mind.

Purchasing thirty Treasure Fish at once was simply not realistic.

For one, he lacked sufficient silver; if he were to buy thirty Treasure Fish in one go, the final transaction price would likely exceed one thousand taels of silver.

Furthermore, doing so would offend other major powers in the city and draw unwanted attention to himself.

After all, the total monthly circulation of Treasure Fish in all of Zhaojiang City was only sixty or seventy.

Buying so many at once would mean Liu Chu was snatching up the share of Treasure Fish intended for other major powers.

It was hard to guarantee he wouldn't offend these factions or even incite their greed.

Do not be fooled by the fact that Liu Chu had successfully seized control of the Black Dragon Gang and become its leader, a position that had greatly elevated his status.

Compared to the martial arts halls and martial clans within the Inner City, he was still far from being on their level.

His gang only had four ranked martial artists in total, and he was the only one with the combat strength of the Tendon Refining Realm.

In contrast, the Dragon Tiger Martial Arts Hall had over twenty ranked martial artists, two of whom were in the Tendon Refining Realm, and the hall master was even a Bone Refining Realm expert!

And there were still many other martial arts halls and clans even stronger than the Dragon Tiger Martial Arts Hall!

"No matter, accumulating them slowly won't take much time. Besides, with my current fourfold increase in comprehension, my cultivation speed is already extraordinary."

Liu Chu was not impatient.

One must eat a meal one bite at a time; eating too much at once leads to indigestion.

In fact, his decision to kill the leader of the Green Tiger Gang and choose to suppress the members and become the leader himself, rather than just raiding them and leaving, was based on this very foresight!

If he relied solely on his own ability, gathering ten Treasure Fish wouldn't be too difficult, but it would be quite laborious.

Setting aside the issue of silver, it was impossible to buy ten Treasure Fish at once at the Black Market; for instance, purchasing the six Treasure Fish this time had taken him several days.

If he bought only one or two, or perhaps two or three at a time, he would have to raise them, tending to and guarding them day and night until he had ten to sacrifice.

A person's time and energy are ultimately limited.

Ten was manageable, but what about more?

Take this goal of thirty Treasure Fish, for example. If Liu Chu did it all by himself, not to mention the back-and-forth hassle, even if he guarded them day and night, there was a risk they could be stolen by petty thieves!

That was precisely why he chose to take over the Green Tiger Gang—to let these gang members handle the searching, raising, and guarding of the Treasure Fish for him!

Liu Chu only needed to give a single order, without wasting so much time and energy.

"I'll use this Treasure Fish for a meal!"

Liu Chu looked at the last remaining Treasure Fish and cooked it to eat immediately.

Thirty Treasure Fish would need to be accumulated slowly, so there was no rush, but he could not afford to slack off in his martial arts progress.

One Treasure Fish was worth twenty or thirty taels of silver in medicinal meals, providing significant benefits to Liu Chu's current cultivation.

After consuming the Treasure Fish, Liu Chu continued his training.

"With fourfold comprehension, my cultivation speed is indeed much faster. I can almost fully perceive the progress of my techniques!"

Liu Chu's eyes flashed with a sharp light.

Ordinary martial artists feel almost nothing during cultivation, only a vague sense of accumulation. Only those with exceptional talent can vaguely sense their own progress because their cultivation speed is fast enough.

But now, as Liu Chu practiced the Yanglian Technique and his blade techniques, he could almost completely perceive his progress.

There was only one reason for this: his cultivation speed was so fast that it reached the level of clear perception!

In the miscellaneous courtyard of the Dragon Tiger Martial Arts Hall.

Two figures collided rapidly, accompanied by the burst of dull, forceful energy, before separating in the blink of an eye.

Liu Chu retreated several steps, but the next moment, his footsteps were like a gale, and he appeared before Luo Qingyue in an instant. He suddenly transformed his fist into a palm, his hand acting like a blade, and slashed horizontally.

Whoosh!

The palm-blade tore through the air, whipping up a whistling force, like a swift blade shadow, slashing fiercely toward his opponent.

Luo Qingyue did not expect Liu Chu to switch from a fist to a palm. Facing this horizontal slash, she was momentarily flustered.

The offensive momentum of her original punch was disrupted, and she hurriedly retreated to dodge, simultaneously shifting to block with her arms.

Slap!

The blade-hand struck Luo Qingyue's arm, making her feel a slight numbness and causing her retreating figure to stumble.

But Liu Chu's palm-blade did not stop; one strike was faster than the last, his hand truly seeming to have transformed into a sharp long blade.

Every strike was swift and overbearing, yet hidden with clever variations. The blade technique was incredibly exquisite, and the transitions between moves were seamless.

Luo Qingyue had only blocked three strikes before revealing a flaw. Liu Chu seized the opportunity, his long blade-hand suddenly sweeping upward, passing through the gap between her chest, as if splitting two mountain peaks, before pressing the palm-blade against her fair chin.

"I lost again. This time, it only took seven moves..."

Luo Qingyue's beautiful eyes widened, her expression filled with dejection.

Over this period, she had sparred with Liu Chu several times, but not only had she failed to win even once, the gap between them had actually grown wider.

From being able to trade over a dozen blows initially, she was now down to just seven!

"Junior brother, have you actually cultivated your blade technique to such a level as well?"

Watching Liu Chu withdraw his palm from beneath her chin, Luo Qingyue couldn't help but ask in shock and suspicion.

A thought surfaced in her mind: If Liu Chu were using a real blade, wouldn't he be able to defeat me in three or five moves...

Thinking of this, her expression became even more dejected, and she murmured, "Junior brother, am I just not suited for martial arts?"

"Senior sister, there is no need to belittle yourself."

Liu Chu comforted her, "Although your comprehension is average, your natural talent is exceptional. Since that is the case, why obsess over martial techniques? It would be better to focus on your realm, play to your strengths and avoid your weaknesses, and push your advantages to the absolute limit."

Through his sparring with Luo Qingyue, Liu Chu had already seen that she not only lacked comprehension but also possessed extremely poor adaptability in the heat of the moment.

He had simply switched from fists to a blade, and such a simple change was enough to disrupt her rhythm and send her into a state of panic.

It could be said that Luo Qingyue was suited for steady, grounded cultivation, not for fighting others.

Given her natural talent, her progress through the Skin Refining Realm, Tendon Refining Realm, and Bone Refining Realm would be much faster than the average martial artist; she didn't need to rely on cultivation technique realms to compensate for her speed like Liu Chu did.

Because Liu Chu's natural talent was poor, he needed to strengthen his blood-qi to break through to the next grade faster.

However, Luo Qingyue had no such need. With her exceptional talent, even if her Nourishing Stake Practice was only at a minor success level, she could still break through easily.

In short, Luo Qingyue's skin, membranes, tendons, and bones were inherently superior to those of martial artists like Liu Chu who had average talent; she only needed a tiny amount of blood-qi to wash over them to break through to the next grade.

Conversely, Liu Chu's advantage lay in his comprehension.

Therefore, he pushed his comprehension to the limit. Since his skin, membranes, tendons, and bones were not strong, he would strengthen his blood-qi, breaking through cultivation techniques to nourish even more powerful blood-qi to wash over his body!

Likewise, because of his advantage in comprehension, Liu Chu's speed in cultivating techniques was extremely fast.

Whether it was the Combat Technique or his blade technique, he had reached major success or even perfection, so he naturally held the advantage in combat!

"But, to have the realm yet be defeated by someone of a lower level—such shame lingers in my heart, unable to be cast aside, leaving me unable to eat or sleep in peace..."

Luo Qingyue lamented, showing not a trace of her usual cold, senior-sister demeanor.

Liu Chu chuckled, "If senior sister can reach the next level and break through to the Bone Refining Realm, you will be able to easily crush the opponents who once defeated you. Such trivial shame will naturally vanish into thin air."

He paused, then added, "I believe those who once looked at you with strange eyes will only become incredibly respectful."

"If you can break through to the middle three grades, I believe you won't even find it worth your time to glance at your former opponents."

Hearing this, Luo Qingyue's eyes brightened, "Junior brother is right. I may not be able to beat others, but in terms of cultivation speed, even Senior Brother Lin Bei is inferior to me!"

"Thank you for your guidance, junior brother. I will go cultivate properly and strive to break through to the Bone Refining Realm as soon as possible!"

Luo Qingyue thanked Liu Chu, her fighting spirit soaring.

"You are too kind, senior sister. I was just speaking casually; there is no need to take it so seriously."

Liu Chu smiled and shook his head, though he didn't hold much hope for it in his heart.

He had said it lightly, intending only to comfort his senior sister. Breaking through to the Bone Refining Realm was incredibly difficult; out of ten people in the Tendon Refining Realm, it would be considered good if even one succeeded.