Unbeaten (Please Follow)

(PS: I made slight adjustments to yesterday's Chapter 48, changing Heart Furnace Three Forgings to directly entering the first level. Nothing else was changed.)

Chen's Rice Noodle Factory.

Li Xiuwen looked at his uncle by marriage and smiled. "More or less."

In truth, Binding Armor Skill was nothing like Iron Cloth Shirt.

He had asked Silly Qiang about it. Iron Cloth Shirt was merely a Membrane Gate martial art.

At mastery, it could only barely withstand a full-force palm strike from someone who had just entered the second gate without suffering serious injury.

In theory, once Binding Armor Skill reached minor mastery, it would match the effects of Iron Cloth Shirt at mastery.

"Awen, come apply the medicine. Once I'm done here, I'm heading into the factory to work."

After his uncle by marriage left, Li Xiuwen looked toward the incense burner:

[Binding Armor Skill: Beginner (93%)]

"It's almost at minor mastery. When that happens, I'll have the strongest trump card among Membrane Gate martial artists!"

He looked at his other martial arts.

[Beginner Martial Arts Knowledge: Minor Mastery (36%)]

[Sea-Sand Stance: Major Mastery (50%)]

[Sand-Turning Palm: Major Mastery (61%)]

[Thousand-Wave Floating Radiance: Beginner (70%)]

[Heart Furnace Three Forgings: First Level (2%)]

[Stage: Black Membrane (50%)]

"I need to hurry and train Sand-Turning Palm to mastery. If I can grasp its killing move, then paired with minor mastery Binding Armor Skill, I might not be unable to fight a second-gate expert."

"There's no shortcut for Sea-Sand Stance. Fish Ball's effects are getting weaker and weaker. One pill can't even raise progress by 2% anymore. The value is too poor—I might as well train it myself."

To reach Black Membrane sooner, Li Xiuwen had accumulated quite a bit of medicinal poison. It was time to slow down.

Now that he was halfway along the Black Membrane path, he was already among the best at this stage.

That night.

Li Xiuwen entered the Dream Void Realm and found Liu Chun inside the martial arts hall.

"Let's fight ten rounds first. If I can beat you ten times today, then there won't be the slightest suspense over the fight for the second floor."

He beckoned to her.

Liu Chun moved, turning into a gust of wind as she lunged straight at him.

Her large palm slashed diagonally at him like a black blade.

Li Xiuwen met her head-on, using Sand-Turning Palm as well.

Their palm force shot out simultaneously.

Liu Chun's twin palms struck Li Xiuwen squarely in the chest, making his robes billow as dust surged in every direction.

Li Xiuwen, meanwhile, followed the momentum with a diagonal chop. His palm wind howled as it landed on Liu Chun's shoulder.

"Burst!"

They both unleashed Hard-Soft Palm at the same time—it exploded upon contact!

Li Xiuwen retreated, using the footwork of Thousand-Wave Floating Radiance to disperse the force. He withdrew ten steps.

He looked down at his chest. His clothes had been blasted apart, leaving a hole.

The flesh of his chest had caved in an inch, bearing a purplish bruise in the shape of a handprint that was healing at a visible rate.

Liu Chun, on the other hand, was sent flying more than ten feet before crashing into the weapon rack. She clutched her shoulder blade, expressionless.

White bone pierced through the flesh, and blood seeped out.

The people in the Dream Void Realm did not hold back. Every move was a killing move.

Both had struck with full force, yet Liu Chun could only dent the flesh on Li Xiuwen's chest by half an inch. She could not reach vital areas such as his internal organs and bones.

Li Xiuwen, by contrast, had directly shattered her shoulder blade and blasted open her flesh.

Within the realm, their physical abilities were roughly equal.

This meant that, without realizing it, Li Xiuwen's mastery of Hard-Soft Palm had surpassed Liu Chun's by a great deal!

"Continue!"

Tireless, Li Xiuwen charged at Liu Chun again.

The second time, Li Xiuwen won in seven moves.

The third time, Li Xiuwen won in five moves.

The fourth time, Li Xiuwen won in six moves.

In just ten minutes, they fought ten rounds.

Liu Chun's body was sent flying again and again. At times, her chest and ribs were shattered; at times, her hand dangled limply; at times, her abdomen was punched through... She lost every match.

There was no doubt that Li Xiuwen's overall strength had surpassed Liu Chun's by a wide margin.

Fighting techniques, movement techniques, physical ability... he either matched or exceeded her in every respect.

As for combat awareness, tempered by the Dream Void Realm, he completely overwhelmed Liu Chun.

Li Xiuwen let out a breath. "With this, even if I don't use hard qigong, there's no suspense over the second floor."

Hard qigong was a life-saving trump card. Li Xiuwen did not want to use it in a place with so many watchful eyes.

So far, only dead people had seen him use hard qigong.

Li Xiuwen wiped away his sweat, an old fossil looked down on by a brat.

In four months, he had gone from an ordinary person to a top expert within the Membrane Gate.

"I can't deny the incense burner's contribution, but my diligence was just as important... Let's call it fifty-fifty."

Li Xiuwen smiled as he headed out, making straight for Night Heron Martial Arts Hall.

Now that he had comprehensively surpassed Liu Chun, fighting her did little to improve his proficiency.

He needed opponents at the peak of Black Membrane, or those who had just entered the second gate, to train against.

"Blondie, get out here!"

Li Xiuwen kicked open the doors of Night Heron Martial Arts Hall and crooked a finger.

Longlegs Seven leaped into the air, arms spread wide like a great bird skimming over water.

Before he arrived, the fierce wind did!

A sharp and tricky Waterbird Fist shot straight toward Li Xiuwen's chest.

Li Xiuwen's body shook as his blood and qi erupted. Strength surged through his entire body into his palm, and Hard-Soft Palm fell onto the incoming fist.

Shark Shadow Strike—an explosion rang out at contact!

Boom! The air wave swept up dust, creating visible ripples in the air as it blew aside the puddles by the roadside.

Li Xiuwen retreated seven steps, dispersing the force and steadying himself. Blood spilled from his mouth, but he threw back his head and laughed freely.

"Cough, cough... Hahaha, that felt great!"

In theory, a second-gate expert could crush a first-gate martial artist as though fighting on an entirely different level, killing them in an instant.

The gap between them was as vast as heaven and earth.

Three Purple Membrane martial artists might be able to fight one Black Membrane martial artist.

Yet even ten Black Membrane martial artists could not defeat someone who had just entered the second gate.

And now, he could take one of Longlegs Seven's punches head-on!

"Continue!"

Seven moves later, Li Xiuwen lost.

His tendons and veins were severed, his bones fell apart, and he lay sprawled on the ground like a flatbread.

"If this were reality, with Binding Armor Skill, I wouldn't be in such a sorry state."

A prompt came from the incense burner:

[Sand-Turning Palm proficiency has increased by 1%...]

Li Xiuwen beamed. "Fighting Longlegs Seven raises my proficiency quickly too. Increasing it by 2% a day won't be a problem."

Once a fighting technique reached major mastery, people like Silly Qiang and A Zhen could go several days without even gaining 1%.

Time passed.

In the blink of an eye, the day of the contest for the second floor arrived.

The sun shone brightly over Fragrant Sea, mottled sunlight filtering through gaps between buildings and spilling onto the streets.

Li Xiuwen arrived at Four Seas Martial Arts Hall. The training ground had been cleared, leaving space for a ring.

Huang Sihai sat in a grand chair, taking a sip of tea. Beside him sat a handsome short-haired youth—Thunder Boy.

The two sat close together and spoke in low voices. No one else dared approach them.

"Master, have you found a candidate for the fourth outstanding talent lately? Does anyone on the second floor have any hope?" Thunder Boy asked.

Huang Sihai sighed. "Difficult... Finding someone as outstanding as you three siblings is harder than ascending to heaven."

When he saw Li Xiuwen enter, Thunder Boy's eyes stirred. He rose to his feet and strode over with a smile. "Awen, right? I didn't remember wrong, did I?"

Li Xiuwen smiled and saluted him. "I'm deeply honored that Senior Brother still remembers my name!"

"You kid, you helped Four Seas Martial Arts Hall retain a shred of its dignity some days ago. Of course I remember." Thunder Boy laughed heartily.

"I merely made a fool of myself," Li Xiuwen said.

"With your talent and age, achieving so much in only four months already makes you one in a hundred. Don't be modest."

Thunder Boy smiled and handed him a small porcelain bottle in front of everyone.

"Senior Brother... what is this?" Li Xiuwen asked, somewhat puzzled.