Li Xiuwen knocked and entered Huang Sihai's study.
"I'm practicing," Huang Sihai called out.
"Then I'll come back later, Master," Li Xiuwen said.
He went to the dining table and ordered a large bowl of rice, three duck legs, a serving of fried fish balls, and a bowl of pork trotters.
For those at the bottom of the Enclave, this meal was a feast of delicacies. Even he normally couldn't bear to spend this much on food.
"Eating this well? Planning to stop living after today?!" Big Silly Qiang kept getting the feeling that A Wen had been giving up on himself lately.
Li Xiuwen gnawed on a duck leg, his face slick with grease, and smiled faintly. "Nothing like that. I just broke through to purple membrane, so I'm celebrating."
He had no intention of hiding it. Their fight with the Night Heron Martial Arts Hall was coming up soon. He had to show Huang Sihai his potential to earn attention and resources.
"Seriously? You joined a month after me, and you reached purple membrane at the same time?"
A Zhen's chopsticks froze in midair. She was stunned, and the duck leg in her bowl suddenly lost its appeal.
Whether in resources or talent, she had the advantage.
Even if she hadn't worked as hard as A Wen, surely he shouldn't have caught up like this.
Li Xiuwen rolled up his sleeves and smiled. "Take a look. This should be purple membrane, right?"
Beneath his loose robes lay well-proportioned, powerful muscles, like purple copper, giving off a heavy, steady metallic sheen.
"It is purple membrane... Good grief. Didn't Master say A Wen was only ordinary among those with an average physique?" Big Silly Qiang said in surprise.
"Damn, even A Wen's reached purple membrane? I have an average physique too, and I still haven't reached it after three months. What's going on?" someone grumbled.
"A Wen's only been here forty days, right? That's way too fast. He's practically keeping pace with Senior Sister Liu Chun." Someone looked toward the silent Liu Chun.
Liu Chun couldn't quite understand it either. Even if Li Xiuwen had eaten two fish balls, he shouldn't have reached purple membrane in forty days.
Could his inner bone constitution really be that good?
Everyone's eyes turned toward her, many with an amused glint.
After all, just a week ago, Liu Chun had said things like "hard work is useless" to discourage A Wen and the other students whose talents weren't particularly good.
Liu Chun smiled. "Looks like Master's fish balls really do work wonders. If you have the money, you can give them a try too. That should be how A Wen managed it."
With that, she whistled awkwardly and left the dining table.
Once Liu Chun was gone, people began murmuring.
"Does that mean we could reach purple membrane in forty days too, if we worked as hard as A Wen?"
"Doesn't Liu Da work harder than A Wen? Forget purple membrane-he couldn't even reach entry level in two months."
At that moment, Li Xiuwen became the object of everyone's envy.
After he had eaten and drunk his fill, Huang Sihai heard about Li Xiuwen reaching purple membrane and hurried over.
"A Wen, let me see." He lifted Li Xiuwen's clothes and confirmed that he had reached purple membrane, his face remaining expressionless.
Are my fish balls really that effective? They brought someone with a servant physique to purple membrane in forty days? Huang Sihai was astonished.
Only he knew that Li Xiuwen didn't have an average physique at all. He had a servant physique, no different from Liu Da.
Yet the fact remained that Li Xiuwen's progress was almost on par with Liu Chun's.
The fish balls had helped, but they shouldn't have been this effective.
Otherwise, experts would have been a dime a dozen in the Enclave.
As for diligence?
There were plenty of people in the Enclave who worked harder than Li Xiuwen.
How many with a servant physique could reach purple membrane in forty days?
Hardly any!
There was only one explanation:
Li Xiuwen had a good inner bone constitution. He appeared to have a servant physique, but in truth, he was close to an average physique.
With that, combined with fish balls and hard work, reaching purple membrane in forty days made sense.
Huang Sihai's eyes shifted. He patted Li Xiuwen's shoulder and said with a faint smile:
"Good. I said long ago that your bone constitution was concealed within and your comprehension was good. Looks like my judgment is as accurate as ever."
"Yes, Master! You have a discerning eye!"
"That settles our fourth contestant! You, A Zhen, Big Silly Qiang, and Liu Chun!"
"Thank you, Master!"
"The four of you will undergo ten days of special training with me. Your cultivation is decent, but apart from Liu Chun, none of you has reached minor mastery in your combat method. That won't do."
On this day, forty days into his martial training, Li Xiuwen finally got to hold his head a little higher.
He could truly feel the change in Huang Sihai's underlying attitude toward him.
In this world, it was right to be cautious and keep a low profile. After all, the tallest tree bore the brunt of the wind.
But showing enough talent to earn a greater share of resources was important too.
Balancing the two was an art.
Over the next three days.
Li Xiuwen and the other three began special training in Sand-flipping Palm under Huang Sihai.
Having an expert like him personally guide them was nothing like studying on their own.
Their proficiency in Sand-flipping Palm shot up.
From time to time, Huang Sihai would also offer new insights, enriching Li Xiuwen's theoretical foundations.
His basic martial knowledge slowly improved as well.
Compared with stance training and combat methods, Li Xiuwen was more curious about what effects a breakthrough in this special skill would bring.
All in all, everything was progressing steadily in the right direction.
That day.
At Chen's Noodle Factory, his aunt and uncle waited anxiously.
This was the agreed deadline for Brother Ji to collect ten years' worth of protection money.
Brother Ji had generously called it a discount, but they still owed ten thousand.
Given their current finances, they couldn't possibly scrape that together unless they sold everything they owned.
So they had already made up their minds: they had no money, only their lives.
If Brother Ji was willing, he could simply haul away the machines and call it even.
But they hadn't seen Brother Ji for days, and deep down, they clung to the hope that he might be dead.
They waited from daylight until nightfall, but Brother Ji never appeared.
In the lamplight, Li Xiuwen's arrival gradually eased his aunt's worries.
"A Wen, I'm afraid Brother Ji really is dead," his aunt said worriedly.
"He probably is. Otherwise, he would have come for the money long ago. Still, we can't let our guard down. Remember to contact me immediately if anything happens," Li Xiuwen said.
"Oh, right. I got a phone call today. That fellow townsman of yours, Zhao Dalong, said everything's arranged. The gathering is tomorrow at Hongyun Restaurant," his aunt said.
"Oh, Zhao Dalong..." Busy practicing martial arts, Li Xiuwen had almost forgotten about the hometown gathering.
"Are you going?" his uncle asked.
"Yes. Here in Fragrant Sea, knowing more people means having more options," Li Xiuwen said with a smile.
The night was deep and still.
In the "Dragon Palace" within the dark Sewers.
The tall, thin Martial Artist Venomous Snake waded through the water onto the platform and said, "Third Master, I think I know how Brother Ji died."
Still vigorous despite his age, Third Master was venting his urges on pale flesh.
Wails and sobs echoed through the Sewers.
An ordinary person truly couldn't withstand a purple membrane expert's brutal pounding.
Only after Third Master finished did he ask, panting heavily, "Who was it? Someone we can afford to cross?"
"Third Master, I'm not certain yet. This is only a guess, but Brother Ji was probably killed by A Wen from Chen's Noodle Factory," Venomous Snake said gravely.
"Chen's Noodle Factory? I remember... But does that A Wen know martial arts? Isn't he a notorious coward on Longjin Road?" Third Master frowned.
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