The True Pillar of Support

After breaking through to the Stone Skin Realm, Gong Yulei's hearing had improved greatly.

Though the conversation inside the room was not loud, he heard every word clearly.

He was not angry, only disappointed.

He had thought that becoming stronger would let him fit in with them.

But in the end, he was still an outsider.

Another half month passed without him noticing.

That day, Jiang Che came to the Martial Arts Hall's Disciple Courtyard to practice his fists, only to hear faint scolding from inside the room.

He looked around and realized that Gong Yulei was nowhere to be seen.

Zhang Xiong came over and said in a low voice:

"Master and Gong Yulei are inside."

"Oh? What happened?" Jiang Che was somewhat surprised.

Gong Yulei cultivated faster than anyone else in the courtyard, and he had already broken through to the Stone Skin Realm.

Anyone with eyes could see that Master favored him most, practically wishing he could give him special lessons every day. Who would have thought he would actually scold him?

"Wasn't he affiliated with the Fish Dragon Gang? I heard he officially joined them recently and even became a minor leader," Zhang Xiong said.

"Why did he join the Fish Dragon Gang? Wouldn't that mean losing his freedom?" Jiang Che asked doubtfully.

Though such gangs had plenty of lucrative opportunities, they often had to fight and kill, becoming entangled in all sorts of matters and easily inviting disaster.

Being merely affiliated with them was one thing. Actually joining meant that many things would no longer be up to him.

"I heard it was for Mid-Grade Exotic Beast Meat." Zhang Xiong sighed. "The Fish Dragon Gang is considered one of the major gangs in Abyss-Facing City. Supposedly, they have Mid-Grade Exotic Beast Meat."

"So that was it." Jiang Che nodded.

To advance from the Stone Skin Realm to the Iron Skin Realm, one needed not only talent, but also the support of a great deal of Mid-Grade Exotic Beast Meat!

If he had not happened to save the young mistress of the Shao Estate, he could never have obtained Mid-Grade Exotic Beast Meat so early.

Of course, even without that opportunity, he was confident that he could slowly pile his way up through the Proficiency Panel and time.

His Qi-Blood accumulated slowly, but there would be no bottleneck holding him back.

"You don't understand. The Fish Dragon Gang is no respectable gang. I heard that, in order to earn merit, Gong Yulei..." Zhang Xiong lowered his voice.

"...beat a minor leader from another gang competing with them for territory until he was gravely injured! He even severed the tendons in his hands and feet, then threw him onto the street as a public display!"

After Zhang Xiong finished speaking, he shook his head.

"This... isn't that going too far? Does the government not care?" Jiang Che frowned.

"When gangs fight, as long as ordinary civilians are not harmed, the government never interferes.

"And I heard the Fish Dragon Gang's leader has quite the background. Even if a murder case arises, he can smooth it over," Zhang Xiong said.

At that moment, Gong Yulei walked out of the room, his face full of defiance.

The two stopped talking and went back to practicing separately.

Lin Xue'er, however, went over to him. No one knew what she said, but Gong Yulei's expression gradually softened.

Before long, the two left together.

Over the next few days, Gong Yulei did not come to the Martial Arts Hall, and Luo Kun did not ask after him either.

Remembering what Master had said while drunk before, Jiang Che brought Linger to the Martial Arts Hall from time to time. Master visibly became happier as well.

No one took the initiative to mention Gong Yulei's matter.

Ten days later, Gong Yulei suddenly returned to the Martial Arts Hall.

When he saw Jiang Che and the others, he nodded in greeting, then went straight into Master's room.

Jiang Che saw him talk with Master inside for a long time. When they emerged, both wore smiles.

From that day onward, Luo Kun once again gave Gong Yulei special lessons as usual, as though nothing had ever happened.

The only difference was that whenever Gong Yulei left the Martial Arts Hall each day, gang members would be waiting outside to pick him up.

Jiang Che felt that these people looked fierce and carried a faint smell of blood. They did not seem like decent people.

But Jiang Che could not concern himself with them. Every day, he focused on accumulating Qi-Blood and practicing [Body Tempering] and [Calligraphy].

Inside the Jiang Family courtyard.

Jiang Che stood bare-chested in the courtyard, continuously striking himself with a long, thin iron rod.

Every muscle in his body was taut, faintly flushed red.

Though he was not yet as exaggerated as Sun Yong, his muscles were already full and well-defined.

Compared with before his breakthrough, he had grown much stronger.

Even his height had increased somewhat, reaching roughly one meter eighty.

"Whew—"

After feeling that he had struck every part of his body, Jiang Che stopped.

"It barely hurts when the iron rod hits me now..."

Jiang Che carefully sensed his body. The blows just now had not caused him much damage.

He waved a hand and opened the panel.

[Name: Jiang Che]
[Age: 16]
[Realm: Qi-Blood First Layer · Late Ox-Hide Realm]
[Qi-Blood Martial Arts: Layered Cloud Fist Minor Accomplishment Realm (1/200) · Flying Swallow Steps Minor Accomplishment Realm (1/200)]
[Skills: Body Tempering Minor Accomplishment Realm (140/200) · Calligraphy Minor Accomplishment Realm (190/200) · White Cloud Fist Perfection Realm]
[Talents: Flow State · Omen]

After cultivating for some time.

Jiang Che's Qi-Blood had thoroughly reached eighty percent.

His Late Ox-Hide Realm strength had been fully consolidated.

Moreover, because he had devoted all his time to practicing Body Tempering.

His proficiency had advanced rapidly, and it had now reached the Minor Accomplishment Realm.

However, this skill was not a proper external hardening art after all, so its effects were limited.

After breaking through to Minor Accomplishment, Jiang Che felt that being struck did not hurt much anymore. But if he was attacked with full force, he would still be injured all the same.

Still, this was merely an ordinary skill he had activated by accident. It was not restricted by Qi-Blood and could be trained directly to the Perfection Realm.

What Jiang Che truly anticipated was the talent skill that would activate after he reached the Perfection Realm.

That was his true pillar of support.

North of Abyss-Facing City.

Fish Market.

This was a street near the docks, with fishermen on both sides selling all kinds of catches.

A tall, thin youth with dark skin was selling small miscellaneous fish and river shrimp.

Yet after a long while, no one had visited his stall.

Seeing the sun about to set while he had earned only a few coins, the youth could not help sighing, his face full of sorrow.

This person was Zhao Xisheng.

After catching the Treasure Fish earlier, his father Zhao Tiegen had secretly brought the fish into the Inner City.

He had successfully sold it to the Drunken Immortal Pavilion and received two hundred taels of silver.

After returning, father and son had kept quiet and continued fishing as usual.

After chatting with the other fishermen, they discovered that the Fish Dragon Gang had not noticed that they had secretly sold the Treasure Fish.

With the weight lifted from their hearts, father and son began secretly looking for farmland, planning for their future lives.

Zhao Tiegen had even found a matchmaker to arrange a meeting for Zhao Xisheng.

Zhao Xisheng had taken a liking to a girl as well.

Her family were farmers. She was quiet and gentle-looking, capable of every kind of work, and Zhao Tiegen was quite satisfied with her too.

Just as they were preparing to sell their boat, bid farewell to fishing for good, and live a better life.

Zhao Tiegen fell ill.

Only then did Zhao Xisheng discover that the wound where his father had been bitten by the fish had long since festered.

Zhao Tiegen had not taken it seriously at first. Fishermen were injured all the time.

In the past, they would simply bandage the wounds, and nothing had ever gone wrong.

But unexpectedly, the wound left by the Treasure Fish's bite had refused to heal.

By the time they realized what was happening, he had developed a high fever, and even his consciousness had begun to blur.

Zhao Xisheng hurriedly sought out a physician.

After examining him, the physician merely shook his head and said, "The disease has entered the marrow; medicine cannot cure it," before leaving.

Zhao Xisheng sought out three physicians in succession, and all of them said the same thing.

In the end, he gritted his teeth and spent a fortune to invite a renowned physician from the Inner City. Only then was he prescribed some medicine that temporarily kept his father alive.

But the physician used extremely expensive medicinal ingredients, and the two hundred taels from selling the Treasure Fish were quickly spent.

With that, the dreamed-of farmland was gone, and the girl he had taken a liking to was out of reach as well.

He had lost his mother as a child. It was his father who had raised him through all those years.

Left with no choice, Zhao Xisheng could only fish during the day to earn money for medicine and care for his father at night.

The weight of life suddenly came crashing down onto his shoulders.

He had also grown visibly haggard.

"Ah... I only earned twenty coins today. I couldn't even make back the docking fee, much less the money for medicine!"

Zhao Xisheng looked at the fish and shrimp in his basket, his heart filled with bitterness.

Suddenly, a commotion rose through the Fish Market as a large group of people approached in a grand procession.

The man in the lead had a rat-faced look and walked pigeon-toed, appearing somewhat comical.

Zhao Xisheng focused his eyes and recognized him as Li San of the Fish Dragon Gang!

Oh no, are they here to collect stall fees again? But didn't I just pay half a month ago?

As the group drew near, he suddenly noticed that Li San was bowing and scraping beside a tall young man.

The young man wore a fitted white martial outfit. He had phoenix eyes and an arrogant expression.

Zhao Xisheng found him familiar. After thinking carefully, he suddenly remembered.

"Gong Yulei... It's Senior Brother Gong Yulei!"