The Four Seas Martial Arts Hall.
"Big Silly Qiang, come try my new move!" He held out his hand.
Big Silly Qiang moved without expression, charging like a mountain and swinging a palm with tremendous force.
In the past, Li Xiuwen would have used footwork to dodge, avoiding a direct clash with someone who had Innate Strength like Big Silly Qiang.
This time, he neither dodged nor evaded. He unleashed his Hard-Soft Palm at full power and met the massive hand head-on.
Boom! A visible ripple of air spread outward. Big Silly Qiang staggered back, shattering floor tiles with every step.
His bear-like muscles and flesh collapsed in folds like a deflating tire.
"Detonation!" Li Xiuwen withdrew his palm.
The bones in the hand Big Silly Qiang had used to meet the blow crackled like lit firecrackers. Tiny beads of blood seeped through his skin.
His bones fractured and his capillaries ruptured. His hand hung limp, unable to straighten. It was practically crippled.
"That palm packed a punch. The extraordinary power of the Sea-Sand Palm is finally showing itself."
Big Silly Qiang had Innate Strength and had also trained in Iron Cloth Shirt.
His physical abilities surpassed those of others at his level, approaching Black Membrane Level.
Yet one seemingly effortless palm strike had crippled him.
"Big Silly Qiang isn't qualified to be my opponent anymore... Come on, Liu Chun!"
Li Xiuwen approached the young woman standing with her head high and chest out in the corner, then crooked a finger at her.
Whoosh! Liu Chun moved with astonishing speed.
Li Xiuwen's eyes narrowed. Has Liu Chun secretly paid extra to learn a Movement Technique?
That footwork was unmistakably Thousand-Wave Floating Radiance.
In the blink of an eye, he had already exchanged several palm strikes with Liu Chun.
Both had mastered the Hard-Soft Palm. Every clash detonated, filling the martial arts hall with a racket like exploding firecrackers.
Liu Chun's footwork was inferior to his.
But she had the basic physical abilities of a Black Membrane martial artist. Her reflexes and bodily agility were no worse than his.
And Liu Chun had reached Great Mastery in her palm technique two months ago, giving her a deeper command of it.
Though they both used the Hard-Soft Palm, Li Xiuwen remained at a disadvantage.
Not to mention, Liu Chun had entered Black Membrane some time ago and was already fifty or sixty percent of the way through it.
Her strength, endurance, and every other physical attribute overwhelmed those of a Purple Membrane Martial Artist.
After a full hundred exchanges, Liu Chun caught an opening and defeated Li Xiuwen.
"Not bad. A month ago, I could only last thirty moves. That's a huge improvement."
[Sand-Turning Palm proficiency increased by 1%.] [Thousand-Wave Floating Radiance proficiency increased by 1%.]
The Incense Burner's notifications sent a surge of excitement through Li Xiuwen.
He went to the Night Heron Martial Arts Hall to find Little Yellow Hair.
Seven moves later, the doors of the Night Heron Martial Arts Hall flew off their hinges. Li Xiuwen was kicked out and left hanging against a building wall, his tendons and meridians severed.
Inside, Longlegs Seven narrowed his eyes to slits. His stance resembled White Crane Spreads Its Wings, his presence overbearing.
"I could only last three moves before. Now it's seven. Not bad."
"Right, I haven't wandered around the Night Heron Martial Arts Hall in ages. It's time to update the Grand Void Illusory Realm. This is still Little Yellow Hair from a month ago."
Li Xiuwen then tested his fists against Tian Er, Black Dog, and Wen Wu in turn, defeating each within a few moves.
Even combined, the three were no match for one of Longlegs Seven's hands. The gap was enormous.
If the Grand Void Illusory Realm were a game, Old Huang would be the final boss among the NPCs he currently had access to.
Longlegs Seven was a minor boss. The others were, at best, elite monsters or ordinary mobs along the roadside.
In the end, he went back to sparring with Liu Chun.
Sparring with an expert slightly stronger than him raised his proficiency the fastest.
There was pressure, but he could also learn something.
Too strong, and he would be instantly defeated. Too weak wouldn't work either.
An hour later, his Sand-Turning Palm proficiency had increased by 2%.
His Thousand-Wave Floating Radiance had increased by 1%.
"Going from Great Mastery to Perfection is harder than the previous three stages combined."
"The fourth stage's Giant Whale Swallows the Sea and Unpredictable Reversal are Killing Moves that only Black Membrane martial artists can use. I really can't wait."
Before long,
News that Li Xiuwen's Sand-Turning Palm had reached Great Mastery spread through the Four Seas Martial Arts Hall.
"Wen? You reached Great Mastery without saying a word?" Having heard the news, Ah Zhen came over during their meal.
"Great Mastery?" Big Silly Qiang's eyes flickered, and his body trembled slightly. "I've only just reached Minor Mastery, and you've already reached Great Mastery? You... are you even human?"
Li Xiuwen rolled his eyes at Ah Zhen. "I got lucky. I happened to have an insight and somehow reached Great Mastery."
"You're just brushing me off... You must have gotten your hands on something good." Ah Zhen was envious. "I'd like to somehow reach Great Mastery too."
"I could tell ages ago that Wen was smart and had a knack for understanding things. He gets twice the results with half the effort when he trains. An idiot like me just can't do that," Big Silly Qiang said dejectedly.
Back when Wen had been learning the theory, he had picked it up quickly. That was the difference between them.
"Congratulations, Senior Brother Wen!"
"Senior Brother Wen, look out for me from now on!"
The new junior brothers and sisters crowded around Li Xiuwen, making the place lively.
In the corner, Chun Liu ate alone. She had grown increasingly withdrawn lately.
She knew she shouldn't be like this, but it was her nature, and she couldn't change it. She was far too competitive.
That evening,
After leaving the martial arts hall, Li Xiuwen went to the entrance of the Night Heron Martial Arts Hall, ordered a serving of pork intestine from a roadside stall, and squatted there to eat.
"You from the Four Seas Martial Arts Hall, what are you doing here?" Tian Er, on his way home, spotted Li Xiuwen squatting there and frowned.
"Eating pork intestine. Can't you see?" Li Xiuwen said with a smile.
"You got lucky last time, so I let you win. It won't happen again. Don't get cocky." Tian Er snorted and turned to leave.
Li Xiuwen ignored him and ordered another serving of pork intestine.
Black Dog, Wen Wu, and the others also headed home one after another. The sight of Li Xiuwen irritated them.
Someone from the Four Seas Martial Arts Hall eating pork intestine outside the Night Heron Martial Arts Hall-he must have come to gloat about his earlier victory.
"You again, you old fart." Longlegs Seven had appeared in the doorway at some point and stood there sneering. "What, planning to avenge Chun Liu and bring glory to the Four Seas Martial Arts Hall?"
"I'm just having a meal. You people at the Night Heron Martial Arts Hall really love making a fuss." Li Xiuwen ordered another serving to take away and left.
Unless something unexpected happened, the Grand Void Illusory Realm should now have updated Longlegs Seven's cultivation and martial arts.
Once he reached Black Membrane, he would use Longlegs Seven as a sparring partner.
Huang from the Four Seas Martial Arts Hall had said that someone at Longlegs Seven's level had a chance of competing in the Crossing River Association-and even placing.
Once he could defeat Longlegs Seven, he wouldn't be far from the Crossing River Association himself.
That night.
Li Xiuwen entered the Grand Void Illusory Realm and headed straight for the Night Heron Martial Arts Hall.
He found Longlegs Seven and began sparring.
Longlegs Seven moved. An overwhelming presence surged toward him like a mighty river.
He heard the cries of a water bird echoing between heaven and earth.
He saw vast gray wings tearing open a great marsh.
He went flying and ended up hanging from a utility pole.
"Little Yellow Hair really has undergone Worshiping the Second Gate. He took me out instantly."
"I'm improving, but he's improving rapidly too. The potential of someone destined for greatness really is terrifying."
"I won't be pulling off that whole 'thirty years east of the river, thirty years west' reversal anytime soon."
Li Xiuwen went back to sparring with Chun Liu.
He would take it slowly. There was no rush.
An "old bag of bones" like him had only trained in martial arts for three months. He should be satisfied with what he had achieved.
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