The next day, at the Four Seas Martial Arts Hall.
Li Xiuwen finished his stance training and looked at his arms.
The purple light within his skin membrane had grown richer, flecked with tiny black spots like splashes of ink.
He was getting closer and closer to black membrane.
At a thought, the Incense Burner appeared.
[Sea-Sand Stance: Minor Mastery (99%)]
"It's time to break through."
After returning home, Li Xiuwen did not practice Hard Qigong.
He took out a fish ball and swallowed it. The familiar medicinal effects spread through his body.
"It barely hurts anymore. That means these fish balls are getting less and less effective for me."
"Old Huang should have something better, but I probably have to become a Second-Floor Disciple to get access to it."
With the medicine's help, Li Xiuwen tempered his skin membrane over and over,
tearing it apart, crushing it, rebuilding it, repeating the cycle...
Before he knew it, he had trained until the sky was about to brighten.
In the Incense Burner in his mind, the incense belonging to [Sea-Sand Stance] burned out, and a fresh stick emerged.
[Sea-Sand Stance proficiency increased by 1%] [Sea-Sand Stance: Great Mastery (1%)]
The instant his Sea-Sand Stance broke through, the barrier swung wide open.
After two months of tempering, the apertures stimulated by his stance training began releasing streams of fine rain.
The rain flowed through his meridians and gathered into streams, which pooled into lakes throughout his four limbs and hundred bones,
An unbearable itch spread inside him, as though flesh buds were constantly growing and compressing,
The muscles throughout his body grew ever tighter and firmer.
Li Xiuwen clenched his fists, his muscles twisting like ropes.
On his arms, the purple membrane shattered, and an ink-black coating gradually formed.
Under the moonlight, it gleamed darkly.
"Black membrane... I've reached the final stage of the skin membrane gate."
"Three times the qi and blood of an ordinary person. My whole body is brimming with brute strength."
Li Xiuwen admired his reflection in the water vat.
His muscles were balanced and streamlined, completely different from Brother Ji's massive slabs of muscle.
He had always felt that Brother Ji's exaggerated bulk compressed his body too much during actual combat, making agility difficult.
His own physique was closer to Bruce Lee's, though a little fuller.
At last, his cultivation was no longer too far behind Liu Chun's.
Liu Chun had reached black membrane over two months ago.
Unless she had talent on the level of Longlegs Seven's, she could not attempt worshiping the second gate before reaching the Second Floor.
As far as Li Xiuwen knew, worshiping the second gate could fail.
Even someone as gifted as Longlegs Seven, with his superior physique, only had a ninety percent chance of success.
To be safe, even those with a superior physique had to build up their reserves or seek out Gate-Worship Great Medicine that increased their odds, striving to bring their chances as close to a hundred percent as possible.
Liu Chun had an average physique, giving her only a fifty percent chance of success. She needed even more preparation.
Failing a gate initiation would not kill you, but it would waste a considerable amount of time.
With this sort of thing, the first attempt had the strongest momentum; the second weakened it, and the third exhausted it.
Once you failed and lost your drive, your chances would only be lower on the second attempt.
Of course, with the Incense Burner, Li Xiuwen had no such worries.
He had a hundred percent chance of passing any gate.
Once he had accumulated enough qi and blood and brought his stance training to perfection, he could attempt the initiation directly, without building up reserves or obtaining Gate-Worship Great Medicine.
On the rooftop, Li Xiuwen practiced another round of Sea-Sand Palm. Every strike stirred the wind, sounding out even when it hit empty air.
"I can tell Old Huang tomorrow. There's no need to hide how long it took me to reach black membrane."
"If I still couldn't reach black membrane in two months after eating so many fish balls, Old Huang wouldn't think I was worth nurturing."
In the East District of the Walled City,
on Hesheng Street,
vendors with stalls, dental clinics, small restaurants, lottery dens, and brothels filled the bustling street.
It was many times more prosperous than Longjin Road.
A Fourteen-Story Tenement covered in graffiti stood in the middle of the street.
From time to time, powerful martial artists with concealed auras came and went.
This was the headquarters of Hesheng, a well-known major club in the East District.
On the rooftop, two men and a woman in outlandish clothes were enjoying a steaming hot pot.
The woman with the afro was Lion-Head Buddha.
The man with a short crew cut and a Vermilion Bird tattoo on his arm was Brother Wild Chicken.
The last was a tall, broad, fat man with fair, tender skin and a round belly, sitting there like a mountain of flesh.
He was Hesheng's boss, its sole Red Pole!
In the underworld, he was known as Heavenly-Liang Old Man!
These three were the pillars of Hesheng.
"Lion-Head Buddha, how are those two prospects you recruited at the Four Seas Martial Arts Hall the other day?" Heavenly-Liang Old Man asked, picking up a piece of beef.
"Nothing special," Lion-Head Buddha said, shaking his head. "They only have average physiques, after all. Two months and they still haven't reached black membrane. They'll never amount to much."
"That Liu Chun I recruited seems pretty good," Brother Wild Chicken said with a smile. "I reckon she'll have a shot at worshiping the second gate in another six months or so."
"We're not running a charity," Heavenly-Liang Old Man said. "Let the ones without potential go. Find them a decent place to watch over, and that'll do. We'll give Master Huang that much face."
"That was my thought too," Lion-Head Buddha said. "I want to send Ah Zhen to watch over Emerald Cloud Residence and help Twelfth Lady. Working under Hesheng's best Straw Sandal, she won't get a raw deal."
Emerald Cloud Residence was a brothel under Hesheng, a lucrative business.
Twelfth Lady was at the peak of the second gate. Once she had accumulated enough reserves, she could attempt the third gate at any time.
"That works." Heavenly-Liang Old Man gave a slight nod.
"As for Big Dumb Qiang... he was born with immense strength, after all, and he's suited to Hard Qigong," Lion-Head Buddha added. "I've always wanted a disciple to teach Hard Qigong. Let's give him a few more chances."
"Decide for yourself," Heavenly-Liang Old Man said with a chuckle. "An ordinary physique with innate strength can only throw its weight around at the skin membrane gate. Once it reaches the second gate, it's worth jack shit."
"Oh, right. Night Heron Martial Arts Hall challenged the Four Seas Martial Arts Hall a while ago. Did you hear about it?" Brother Wild Chicken asked, remembering something.
Heavenly-Liang Old Man nodded. "What happened?"
"That Li Xiuwen did pretty well. Better than Big Dumb Qiang and Ah Zhen," Wild Chicken said. "His martial constitution is no good, but he brought Sand-Flipping Palm to minor mastery in just one month. He's got something."
"When I examined his bones, he only had a servant physique, so I didn't pay much attention to him," Lion-Head Buddha said, looking surprised. "Could his inner bone structure be good?"
"Who knows what his inner bone structure is like?" Heavenly-Liang Old Man said, taking a puff of his cigar. "But mastering a fighting technique to minor mastery in a month takes decent comprehension."
Sand-Flipping Palm was no roadside brawling technique. It was an orthodox art from a reputable school.
Even among Hesheng's core members, reaching minor mastery in one month put him toward the upper end.
Brother Wild Chicken sighed. "Unfortunately, no matter how good his comprehension is, it's only a bonus. For people like us, martial constitution is the foundation. With a servant physique, it's hard to achieve much."
"I'll have Little Loudspeaker ask about him at the martial arts hall tomorrow," Lion-Head Buddha said. "Bring him over and test him for a while. If he's good, we can keep him in the club."
"We really do need to hurry and recruit some good prospects," Heavenly-Liang Old Man said with a smile. "Those fuckers at Thunder God Shed have been making little moves lately."
"Anyone with eyes can see Thunder God Shed has other plans," Wild Chicken said, puzzled. "But the higher-ups at the Branch Headquarters aren't doing anything about it."
"The Main Headquarters is playing the long game to catch bigger fish," Heavenly-Liang Old Man said with a smile. "Ever Joy has four major branch headquarters, east, west, south, and north, and so many halls. Who knows how many big fish are still out there?"
The next day,
in the study at the Four Seas Martial Arts Hall,
Li Xiuwen knocked and entered, getting straight to the point. "Master, I've reached black membrane."
Huang Sihai did not seem surprised. He smiled. "You've eaten about ten fish balls over these past two months, haven't you?"
"Yes." Li Xiuwen nodded.
"I know you want to make a push for the Second Floor. That's understandable," Huang Sihai said. "Now that you've reached black membrane, your cultivation isn't much behind Liu Chun's. Try to practice on your own as much as you can."
Before you continue