Time flew by.
Li Xiuwen immersed himself in his busy training, unable to tear himself away.
He had been at the Four Seas Martial Arts Hall for almost three months, and only one month remained before the contest for the second floor.
Over these days, quite a few newcomers had joined the hall, while another batch had left.
The first thing newcomers did was try to get on good terms with Liu Chun and Li Xiuwen.
"Senior A Wen, thank you for the pointers!" A female student left with her cheeks flushed.
"A Wen, not bad. Looks like romance is coming your way," A Zhen teased.
"Women aren't nearly as interesting as practicing martial arts," Li Xiuwen said.
"Listen to yourself. Having a woman look after your daily needs would be nice. You're not getting any younger, either," A Zhen said, urging him to marry.
"What, are you interested in me? Even my aunt-in-law isn't pushing me to get married, but you're already getting anxious?" Li Xiuwen retorted bluntly. He hated being pressured into marriage.
A Zhen tucked her hair behind her ear, her face reddening. To his surprise, she answered seriously, "It's not out of the question, but I've always thought of you as a brother."
"Get lost!" Li Xiuwen laughed, tossed out the curse, and left.
With the Incense Burner by his side, all he wanted was to become a mighty practitioner of the Martial Way and stand tall upon the earth.
No one would make him stop advancing.
That night, everyone went home.
Only two people remained in the martial arts hall, still training.
Liu Chun and Li Xiuwen.
Neither spoke. They simply trained, occasionally glancing at the other to gauge their progress.
Suddenly, Li Xiuwen grasped something. He thrust out his Sand-Turning Palm, its momentum like a surging wave, fierce and forceful.
Yet when it struck the sandbag, there was no explosive bang. Instead, it was as quiet as a fine rain nourishing the earth.
Layers of yielding force brushed through it, bunching the sandbag into fold after fold.
One breath later, boom! The sandbag erupted with a report that shook the hall.
Li Xiuwen looked at the [Incense Burner] in his mind.
[Li Xiuwen] [Martial arts] [Sand-Turning Palm: minor mastery (100%) → great mastery (1%)]
Excitement surged through Li Xiuwen.
It looks like a hard palm strike, but it actually carries soft force. Softness within hardness, hardness within softness!
With hardness and softness working together, my Sand-Turning Palm has reached great mastery!
The third level: "Shark Shadow Strike, exploding on contact!"
Huang Sihai had always said that Sand-Turning Palm only began to reveal its true wonders with Shark Shadow Strike.
The palm force shifted between feints and real attacks, overt and hidden power, leaving enemies unable to read it.
One careless mistake against the Hard-Soft Palm, and its force would penetrate the organs and ravage the marrow!
Liu Chun stopped practicing, her eyes widening as she stared at the sandbag.
She had also reached great mastery in Sand-Turning Palm, so naturally, she could recognize what had happened.
A Wen had broken through again in Sand-Turning Palm.
Only a little over a month had passed since he reached minor mastery.
Without realizing it, Liu Chun began breathing faster, as though a heavy stone were crushing her heart.
She had enrolled before A Wen, possessed something close to a superior physique, and came from a wealthier family. She had never lacked resources.
Besides paying her monthly fees, she often spent extra to receive private instruction from Huang Sihai.
Yet even she had taken two months to advance from minor mastery to great mastery in Sand-Turning Palm.
Just how strong was A Wen's comprehension?
A month earlier,
she had spent a staggering ten thousand to have Huang Sihai teach her the movement technique Thousand-Wave Floating Radiance ahead of schedule, all to keep A Wen from catching up.
But now,
A Wen had closed the distance again and looked ready to kick her backside. How could she not be anxious?
At that thought,
Liu Chun lost all interest in practicing. She packed up and left the hall without even saying goodbye.
Li Xiuwen had no interest in Liu Chun's private worries. In high spirits, he knocked on the door of Huang Sihai's study.
"Come in."
"Master, my Sand-Turning Palm has reached great mastery."
At those words, Huang Sihai paused, then said, "Show me a palm strike."
Li Xiuwen took his stance. His back quivered, sending rings of invisible force rippling through his muscles and skin membrane before surging into his right hand as he struck!
A ring of white, rippling waves actually became visible in the air, formed by dust swept up in the invisible force.
"Hard-Soft Palm. You really have mastered it."
Huang Sihai murmured to himself, clearly not expecting Li Xiuwen's palm technique to improve again after just over a month.
Someone with a little talent might manage to advance from entry level to minor mastery in a month.
But advancing from minor mastery to great mastery was several times harder. Even Liu Chun had taken two months.
People like Big Dummy and A Zhen might not manage it in three or four months. Getting stuck for half a year was normal.
A Wen's progress was quite impressive.
"Master, I'll head home now."
"Go on. Be careful on the way."
The hall fell quiet as Huang Sihai watched Li Xiuwen's retreating figure.
Could he... really do it?
Two months earlier, he had declared that even with fish balls, A Wen would struggle to catch up with Liu Chun.
Now it seemed he had spoken too soon.
With his combat techniques advancing so rapidly, and his conditioning progressing at a respectable pace thanks to the fish balls he could afford, things were different.
The contest for the second floor really did have an uncertain outcome now.
"I heard A Wen went to the Night Heron Martial Arts Hall first, but they thought he was too old, so he came here instead."
"Heh. Old Night, I wonder how you'll feel if A Wen makes it to the second floor?"
That night,
Thud, thud, thud! His aunt-in-law held a small hammer, repeatedly striking key points on Li Xiuwen's body.
Training the Binding Armor Skill meant being "tempered a thousand times" in a very literal sense.
After finishing, his aunt-in-law rubbed her aching arms and laughed. "I hit you with a hammer, and you don't hurt, but I'm aching all over. Martial artists really aren't human."
"It still hurts," Li Xiuwen said with a smile. "Aunt-in-law, eat better from now on and get some exercise, too. Just think of it as helping me train."
After his aunt-in-law left, Li Xiuwen showered while looking at the [Incense Burner].
[Li Xiuwen] [Sea-Sand Stance: minor mastery (93%)] [Binding Armor Skill: entry (61%)] [Thousand-Wave Floating Radiance: entry (32%)] [Stage: purple membrane (93%)]
This month's training has paid off nicely.
Besides reaching great mastery in Sand-Turning Palm, my Sea-Sand Stance is almost there, too. I'll eat a fish ball in the next few days for a final push and safely break through to black membrane.
I reckon another month should bring my Binding Armor Skill to minor mastery. I need to train hard and advance before the second-floor contest. Even at black membrane, my cultivation will still be a notch below Liu Chun's.
I haven't practiced my movement technique much.
To reach minor mastery, I need to take thirty steps across water without sinking. Right now, I can only manage fifteen. I'll take it slowly. Entry-level proficiency is enough for now.
In the bathroom, Li Xiuwen planned his training for the coming month.
Everything was for the sake of reaching the second floor.
Of course, his rapid progress in martial arts came at a price.
The Binding Armor Skill cost a hundred a day in medicinal ointment, totaling three thousand a month.
Sea-Sand Stance required at least four fish balls a month.
With better food, monthly fees, and miscellaneous expenses added in... he had spent nearly five thousand last month.
Not counting his gold and silver jewelry, his savings had fallen below ten thousand.
Training really burned through money.
Five thousand a month-ordinary people wouldn't even dare dream of spending that much.
For so many people at the bottom of the stockade's society, their monthly earnings were barely enough to stay alive.
Even if I get onto the second floor and have my monthly fees waived, I'll still need money for the fish balls and hard-body training. I need to find a way to earn money. I can't just keep living off my savings.
After his shower, Li Xiuwen lay down in bed, entered the [Great Void Illusion Realm], and headed straight for the Four Seas Martial Arts Hall.
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