Black Membrane (Please Follow)

The next day, Four Seas Martial Arts Hall.

After finishing his stance training, Li Xiuwen looked at his arms.

The purple glow within his skin membrane had grown increasingly dense, flecked with inky black spots.

He was getting closer and closer to the Black Membrane.

With 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, feeling the familiar medicinal effects enter his body.

"It barely hurts anymore. That means the Fish Ball's effects are getting weaker and weaker for me."

"Old Huang should have better ones, but only second-floor disciples can access them."

Using the medicine's power, Li Xiuwen tempered his skin membrane over and over.

Tearing it apart, crushing it, rebuilding it, again and again...

In the blink of an eye, dawn was approaching.

Within the incense burner in his mind, the incense belonging to [Sea-Sand Stance] burned out, and fresh incense sprouted from the earth.

[Sea-Sand Stance proficiency increased by 1%]

[Sea-Sand Stance: Major Mastery (1%)]

The instant Sea-Sand Stance broke through, the barrier opened wide.

After two months of tempering, tiny streams of rain seeped from the acupoints stimulated by the stance art.

The fine rain flowed through his meridians and gathered into streams, while those streams accumulated throughout his limbs and bones, forming lakes.

His body itched unbearably, as though flesh buds were constantly growing and compressing.

The muscles all over his body became increasingly compact and solid.

Li Xiuwen clenched his fist. Every strand of muscle was like a twisted cable.

The Purple Membrane on his arms shattered, and an inky membrane gradually formed.

Under the moonlight, it gave off a dim gleam.

"Black Membrane... the final stage of the Membrane Gate. I've made it."

"Three times the vitality and blood of an ordinary person, with endless ox-like strength throughout my body."

Li Xiuwen admired his reflection in the water vat.

His muscles were even and streamlined, completely different from Brother Ji's huge blocks of muscle.

He had always felt that Brother Ji's overly exaggerated muscles compressed too severely in actual combat, making it difficult to move flexibly.

His physique was closer to Bruce Lee's, though somewhat fuller.

At last, in terms of cultivation, he was no longer too far behind Liu Chun.

Liu Chun had reached Black Membrane over two months ago.

Unless she possessed talent like Longlegs Seven's, she could not possibly attempt the Second Gate before reaching the second floor.

As far as Li Xiuwen knew, attempting the Second Gate had a chance of failure.

Even someone as gifted as Longlegs Seven had only a ninety percent chance of succeeding.

To be safe, even those with superior talent had to build up their foundation or seek powerful medicines that increased the success rate, striving to raise it as close to one hundred percent as possible.

Liu Chun had average talent and only a fifty percent chance of success, so she needed even more preparation.

Failing an attempt would not kill her, but it would still waste a great deal of time for nothing.

This was the kind of thing where "the first burst of effort succeeds, the second weakens, and the third is exhausted."

Once one failed, their spirit would scatter, and the odds of succeeding on a second attempt would only be lower.

Of course, Li Xiuwen had the incense burner, so he had no such worries.

Any barrier, one hundred percent success.

As long as he accumulated enough vitality and blood and brought his stance art to perfection, he could attempt it directly. There was no need to build a foundation or seek powerful gate-breaking medicine.

On the rooftop, Li Xiuwen practiced Sea-Sand Palm once more. Every palm strike stirred the wind, and even misses cracked through the air.

"Tomorrow, I can tell Old Huang. There's no need to hide how quickly I reached Black Membrane."

"I've eaten so many Fish Balls. If I still couldn't reach Black Membrane after two months, I wouldn't be worth Old Huang's effort anyway."

Eastern District of the walled city.

Hesheng Street.

Street vendors had set up stalls everywhere, alongside dental clinics, small restaurants, lottery shops, and brothels. It was loud and bustling.

Compared to Longjin Road, it was prosperous beyond measure.

A fourteen-story tenement building covered in graffiti stood in the middle of the street.

From time to time, powerful martial artists with concealed auras entered it.

This was Hesheng Tu's headquarters, a prominent syndicate in the Eastern District.

On the rooftop, two men and a woman in strange outfits were eating hotpot with great enthusiasm.

The woman had an afro. She was Lion-Head Buddha.

One of the men had short cropped hair and a Vermilion Bird tattooed on his arm. He was Brother Wild Chicken.

The last was a tall, broad, fat man with fair, tender skin and a round belly. Sitting there, he looked like a mountain of flesh.

Hesheng Tu's boss, its only Red Pole!

Known in the underworld as the Heavenly-Liang Old Man!

These three were Hesheng Tu's three pillars.

"Lion-Head Buddha, how are those two prospects you recruited from Four Seas Martial Arts Hall some time ago?" Heavenly-Liang Old Man asked, biting into a slice of beef.

Lion-Head Buddha shook her head. "So-so. They only have average talent, after all. They still haven't reached Black Membrane after two months. They won't amount to much."

Brother Wild Chicken laughed. "Looks like the Liu Chun I recruited is pretty good. In another half year or so, she might have a chance to attempt the Second Gate."

Heavenly-Liang Old Man said, "The syndicate isn't a charity. Let go of those without potential and send them to work at some decent establishment. We'll give Master Huang some face."

Lion-Head Buddha said, "That was my thought as well. I want A Zhen to watch over Jadecloud Residence and help Twelfth Madam run the place. She'll be under Hesheng Tu's strongest Straw Sandal, so she won't be mistreated."

Jadecloud Residence was one of Hesheng Tu's pleasure houses and brought in plenty of money.

Twelfth Madam was at the peak of the Second Gate. As long as she accumulated enough foundation, she could attempt the Third Gate at any time.

Heavenly-Liang Old Man nodded slightly. "That works."

Lion-Head Buddha added, "As for Silly Qiang... he was born with divine strength and is suited for hard qigong. I've always wanted to find a hard qigong disciple, so let's give him a few more chances."

Heavenly-Liang Old Man smiled. "Handle it as you see fit. Ordinary innate divine strength is only fierce at the Membrane Gate. Once they reach the Second Gate, it's worth jack shit."

Remembering something, Brother Wild Chicken asked, "By the way, do you know that Night Heron Martial Arts Hall challenged Four Seas Martial Arts Hall some time ago?"

Heavenly-Liang Old Man nodded. "What about it?"

Brother Wild Chicken said, "That Li Xiuwen was pretty good. He performed better than Silly Qiang and A Zhen. His natural aptitude isn't great, but he brought Sand-Turning Palm to Minor Mastery in a month. He's got something."

Lion-Head Buddha revealed a look of surprise. "When I examined his bones, he only had inferior talent, so I didn't pay much attention. Could his inner bone structure be good?"

Heavenly-Liang Old Man took a drag from his cigar and said, "Who knows about his inner bone structure? But reaching Minor Mastery in a combat art within a month shows decent comprehension."

Sand-Turning Palm was no roadside wild fist. It was an orthodox martial art from a renowned school.

Reaching Minor Mastery in a month would place him above average even among Hesheng Tu's core members.

Brother Wild Chicken sighed. "It's a pity. No matter how good his comprehension is, it only adds icing to the cake. For people like us, natural aptitude is the foundation. With inferior talent, it'll be hard for him to achieve anything."

Lion-Head Buddha said, "I'll have Little Loudspeaker visit the martial arts hall tomorrow and ask about him. Bring him over and test him for a while. If he's good enough, we can keep him in the syndicate."

Heavenly-Liang Old Man smiled. "We do need to hurry up and recruit a batch of good prospects. Those bastards from Thunder God Shed have been making moves lately."

Brother Wild Chicken asked in confusion, "Anyone with eyes can tell Thunder God Shed has rebellious intentions. Why are the higher-ups at the branch headquarters ignoring it?"

Heavenly-Liang Old Man smiled. "The main headquarters is casting a long line for big fish. Among Ever Joy's four branch headquarters in the east, west, south, and north, with so many halls under them, who knows how many big fish there are?"

The next day.

Four Seas Martial Arts Hall, study.

Li Xiuwen knocked and entered, getting straight to the point. "Master, I've reached Black Membrane."

Huang Sihai did not seem surprised. He smiled and asked, "You've eaten around ten Fish Balls over these past two months, haven't you?"

Li Xiuwen nodded. "Yes."

Huang Sihai said, "I know you want to take a shot at the second floor. It's understandable. Now that you've reached Black Membrane, your cultivation isn't too far behind Liu Chun's. Practice on your own as much as you can."