This One's Not Bad. I'll Take Him

Luo Wendi grew anxious at those words. The Chen siblings before him were benefactors of the Green Bamboo Gang. The Chen Family had supplied the gang with plenty of resources over the years, making them, in effect, its patrons.

Even as the Black Sheath Hall Master, with power enough to blot out the sky within the gang, he was still only working for someone else. The real authority wasn't in his hands.

Luo Wendi waved a hand. A burly man standing at the edge of the building behind him rose and headed toward the densely packed crowd on the earthen mound.

"Miss, Uncle Chen really knows how to give us a headache. The gang's 'Elite Selection' is usually meant to scout newcomers with strong physiques and at least a little talent..."

"The Primordial Stance is an excellent stance technique the eldest young master brought back from Jinmen. These brothers barely get enough to eat. They won't be able to endure it..."

Luo Wendi couldn't bear to watch. These were gang members under his command, the Black Sheath Hall's new blood. He wouldn't claim much, but as their hall master, he had to make sure they could at least stay alive.

Very few of the gang members taking part in the Elite Selection had outstanding talent. By convention, even if they passed, they would only be taught an easy introductory stance technique—

such as Horse Stance.

A sweet smile flitted across the face of the elegant young woman called Miss. She spoke gently:

"Uncle Luo, there's no need to worry. The Primordial Stance may be hard to get a chance to learn, but it won't kill anyone. And after this stance technique bruises and strains their bones, those bones will only grow tougher."

The young man beside her chimed in at just the right moment:

"Uncle Luo, don't listen to my sister's nonsense. She went abroad for all those years and came back with what? She even went to university, but I say it was all a load of crap!"

"Run one last batch. If there still aren't enough, I'll go home and apologize to the old man!"

The young man was so gallant and righteous that one grand wave of his hand eased much of the knot in Luo Wendi's chest. What else could he say? The young master had spoken. He couldn't refuse...

Then he called out, "One last batch!"

The people from Black Sheath Hall felt relieved, but the two "ancestors" beside them started squabbling. They bristled like roosters, neither willing to yield.

"Chen Jing, are you asking to die?"

"Chen Manqing, listen here. Don't think that going to some lousy university means you can lecture me about 'philosophy' every day. Our Great Xin Republic doesn't buy that Western nonsense!"

Chen Manqing was so angry she could barely contain herself. Her chest rose and fell as she clenched her pearly teeth.

"Don't think I don't know about you sneaking into the bathhouse to peep at those female university students. I know all about it, and I can tell Father whenever I want!"

"Don't, sis! I was wrong..."

"..."

The scene turned excruciatingly awkward. First he'd been arrogant, then he'd bowed and scraped—a sight that made you laugh just thinking about it.

But Luo Wendi had already given the order. He couldn't take it back now, and the siblings had nothing more to say. After all, Chen Jing had agreed to it himself.

Luo Bin stepped forward and joined the crowd, becoming one of this batch of people testing the Primordial Stance.

Luo Wendi went over the key points he'd just mentioned once more. Then the burly man began weaving through gaps in the crowd, studying everyone's stances and sensing the rhythm of their breathing.

"Your breathing's too erratic!"

"Your stance is unstable!"

The young man the burly man criticized was instantly mortified and tried to argue. "Master Ruan, I...!"

Bang!

A dull crash rang out. The young man was kicked more than ten meters away by the man called Master Ruan. The movement was fluid and the kick carried tremendous force. As Luo Bin practiced the stance technique, he witnessed it all with his own eyes.

Was that even human?

A team of medical workers in white coats rushed over from the distance and carried away the young man, who lay on the ground spitting blood and foam.

"Hiss..."

The atmosphere among the people holding their stances immediately turned cold. No one dared speak again. Nervous, they focused all their attention on feeling the rhythm of the stance technique.

Judging by what the two elegant young masters had let slip while arguing, and their conversation with Luo Wendi, Luo Bin could guess that the day he'd turn his fortunes around was today.

Luo Wendi had admired him last night for his ruthlessness and decisiveness, but that didn't change the fundamental problem: right now, he was a genuine commoner.

As for his cheat, "Crimson," Luo Bin still hadn't figured out how to use it.

Going by the extreme martial-arts novels of his previous life, protagonists usually got this sort of stat-boosting cheat. The formula was always the same: a bitter, tragic start, entry into a martial arts school, shocking the master and pretty senior and junior sisters, then gaining access to resources.

And then, he'd level up in bliss...

But it was now the third year of the Great Xin Republic. There were no martial arts schools to join. Powerful families stood everywhere, gangs fought bloody turf wars, warlords were still locked in endless conflict, and there were even inexplicable monsters and ghosts.

In a situation like this, resources were often the hardest thing to get.

In a world built on ordinary people, the supernatural was beyond their reach...

Perhaps the Chen Family would be a good stepping-stone.

With that thought, Luo Bin's mind grew clearer. He had settled on a short-term plan: show off the "talent" Crimson had given him and get the Chen Family to invest in him...?

Luo Bin stood on the grass amid the heavy breathing of the other young gang members.

His eyes were half-closed, and he was completely unaware of it.

His qi and blood slowly surged like boiling water. In the sunlight, it resembled the white mist rising from sweat when someone stood bare-chested in winter.

The pathways for circulating qi and blood described in White Ape Through-Arm Fist had been imprinted with crystal clarity in Luo Bin's mind. Following that somewhat similar circulation route, he recalled the instructions Luo Wendi had given...

Then he began circulating his qi and blood according to the most correct and efficient method for practicing the Primordial Stance.

Though Crimson showed Luo Bin as an unranked, low-level novice, his body now felt as if it held an explosive, swelling force—enough to kill a bull.

"This kid's qi and blood are surging like that?"

Master Ruan turned his burly frame and looked toward the boy on the grass, as steady as a mountain. Sweat hissed as it evaporated from his body.

Luo Wendi had noticed as well. He waved a hand.

"Ruan Pei, don't disturb him. He's just entering the zone."

At that, Ruan Pei returned to the stone platform at the front of the grass, where Luo Wendi and the others stood.

"Uncle Luo, this fellow's interesting. The Primordial Stance probably won't give him any trouble... He's got real potential. Could you let me keep him for a few days and train him?" Chen Jing said eagerly, pointing at Luo Bin.

Luo Wendi hesitated slightly. "Well... Second Young Master, let's observe him a little longer..."

Before he could finish, Chen Jing cut him off.

"Don't worry, Uncle Luo. He'll still belong to your Black Sheath Hall. I just appreciate talent and want Uncle Jiang to give him some pointers. Once he's been polished into a fine piece of jade, I'll send him back to you."

"After all, the Chen Family and the Green Bamboo Gang are one family, sharing honor and disgrace. I'd never take your—talent."

Though Chen Jing was young, he wasn't jealous of his dazzling older brother. Instead, he looked up to him, and from childhood had studied his brother's character, conduct, and virtues.

He often went out of his way to help people whose talent caught his eye.

That was a well-known trait of his in the eyes of Luo Wendi and the others.

It wasn't that Luo Wendi was afraid Chen Jing would take the boy. It was just that the kid on the grass had only broken away from the Pei Family yesterday, and the Chen Family had been the main force behind the action against them.

If Chen Jing found out, he might take offense... It was possible.

Never mind. If he wanted the boy, he could have him. Luo Wendi was about to agree.

A clear, gentle voice rang out beside him.

"Uncle Luo, wait."

Chen Manqing stared coldly at Chen Jing. "This one's not bad. I'll take him."