(P.S. I made a small adjustment to chapter 48 yesterday: Heart Furnace Three Forgings now directly starts at entry level in the first layer. Everything else is unchanged.)
Chen's Rice Noodle Factory.
Li Xiuwen looked at his uncle-in-law and smiled. "More or less."
In truth, Binding Armor Skill was nothing like a run-of-the-mill technique such as Iron Cloth Shirt.
He had asked Big Silly Qiang about it. Iron Cloth Shirt was merely a membrane gate martial art.
Even at perfection, it could only just withstand a full-force palm strike from someone who had recently entered the second gate without suffering serious injury.
In theory, Binding Armor Skill at minor mastery could already match Iron Cloth Shirt at perfection.
"A Wen, come apply your medicine. Once we're done, I'll head into the factory to work."
After his uncle-in-law left, Li Xiuwen looked at the Incense Burner:
[Binding Armor Skill: Entry (93%)]
"It's almost at minor mastery. Once it gets there, I'll have the ultimate trump card, one that puts everyone in the membrane gate to shame!"
He looked at his other martial arts.
[Beginner Martial Arts Knowledge: Minor mastery (36%)] [Sea-Sand Stance: Great mastery (50%)] [Sand-Turning Palm: Great mastery (61%)] [Thousand-Wave Floating Radiance: Entry (70%)] [Heart Furnace Three Forgings: First layer (2%)] [Stage: Black membrane (50%)]
"I need to get Sand-Turning Palm to perfection as soon as possible. If I can master its killing move and combine it with Binding Armor Skill at minor mastery, I might stand a chance against a second-gate expert."
"There's not much I can do about Sea-Sand Stance. The fish balls are getting less and less effective. A single one can't even raise my progress by 2% anymore. They're too expensive for what they do. I might as well train on my own."
In his efforts to reach black membrane sooner, Li Xiuwen had already accumulated a fair amount of medicine poison. It was time to ease off.
Now that he was halfway through black membrane, he was already among the best at that stage.
That night.
Li Xiuwen entered the Grand Void Illusory Realm in his dreams and found Liu Chun in the Martial Arts Hall.
"Let's fight ten rounds first. If I can beat you all ten times today, the Second-Floor Contest will be a foregone conclusion."
He beckoned.
Liu Chun moved, turning into a gust of wind as she lunged at him.
Her broad palm sliced diagonally toward him like a black blade.
Li Xiuwen met her head-on, also using Sand-Turning Palm.
They unleashed their palm force simultaneously.
Both of Liu Chun's palms struck Li Xiuwen squarely in the chest, making his robes billow and sending dust swirling in all directions.
Li Xiuwen followed through with a diagonal chop of his own, his palm whipping through the air before landing on Liu Chun's shoulder.
"Detonation!"
Both unleashed Hard-Soft Palm at the same time. Contact brought an explosion!
Li Xiuwen retreated, using Thousand-Wave Floating Radiance's footwork to dissipate the force as he withdrew ten paces.
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-blue handprint that was recovering at a visible rate.
Liu Chun, meanwhile, had been sent flying more than ten feet into a weapon rack. She clutched her shoulder blade, her face expressionless.
White bone had pierced her flesh, and blood seeped out.
The people in this Grand Void Illusory Realm never pulled their punches. Every move was meant to kill.
Though both had struck with full force, Liu Chun could only cave in the flesh of Li Xiuwen's chest by half an inch, unable to reach vital structures such as his organs and bones.
Li Xiuwen, on the other hand, had shattered her shoulder blade outright and split her flesh open.
Inside the illusory realm, their physical attributes were roughly equal.
That meant Li Xiuwen's mastery of Hard-Soft Palm had, without his noticing, surpassed Liu Chun's by a considerable margin!
"Again!"
Tireless, Li Xiuwen charged at Liu Chun once more.
The second round: seven moves, and Li Xiuwen won.
The third round: five moves, and Li Xiuwen won.
The fourth round: six moves, and Li Xiuwen won.
In just ten minutes, they fought ten rounds.
Liu Chun kept being sent flying. Sometimes the ribs in her chest shattered; sometimes her hand hung limp; sometimes her abdomen was punched through... She lost every round.
There was no doubt that Li Xiuwen's overall strength far exceeded Liu Chun's.
Combat methods, movement techniques, physical attributes... He either matched or surpassed her in every respect.
As for combat awareness, the training he had undergone in the Grand Void Illusory Realm allowed him to utterly outclass Liu Chun.
Li Xiuwen breathed a sigh of relief. "In that case, even without Hard Qigong, the Second Floor is as good as settled."
Hard Qigong was his life-saving trump card. Li Xiuwen did not want to reveal it somewhere crowded with prying eyes.
So far, only dead people had seen him use Hard Qigong.
Li Xiuwen wiped away his sweat-a washed-up old fellow whom a little brat had written off.
In four months, he had gone from an ordinary person to one of the top experts in the membrane gate.
"The Incense Burner's contribution is undeniable, but my diligence was just as important... Let's call it fifty-fifty."
Li Xiuwen headed out with a smile and made straight for the Night Heron Martial Arts Hall.
Now that he surpassed Liu Chun in every respect, sparring with her improved his proficiency no more than ordinary practice did.
He needed to seek out those at the peak of black membrane, or perhaps someone who had just entered the second gate, to spar with.
"Come out, blondie!"
Li Xiuwen kicked open the main doors of the Night Heron Martial Arts Hall and crooked a finger.
Gao Jiaoqi leaped up, spreading both arms like a great bird skimming the water.
Before he arrived, the force of his attack struck first!
A vicious, cunning punch from Waterbird Fist drove straight toward Li Xiuwen's chest.
Li Xiuwen shook his body, his blood and qi erupting as the force of his entire body surged into his palm. His Hard-Soft Palm landed on the incoming fist.
A startled shark flashed past, and contact brought an explosive crack!
Boom! The blast swept dust along with it, forming visible ripples in the air and pushing aside the puddles by the road.
Li Xiuwen retreated seven steps, dissipating the force before steadying himself. He spat blood and laughed in exhilaration.
"Cough, cough... Hahahaha, that felt good!"
In theory, a second-gate expert attacking someone in the first gate was an overwhelming mismatch, capable of killing them instantly.
The gap between the two was like heaven and earth.
Three purple-membrane fighters might be able to contend with a black-membrane fighter.
But even ten black-membrane fighters could not defeat someone who had just entered the second gate.
Yet now, he could take a punch from Gao Jiaoqi head-on!
"Again!"
Seven moves later, Li Xiuwen lost.
His tendons were torn apart and his skeleton fell to pieces, leaving him sprawled on the ground like a pancake.
"If this were the real world, with Binding Armor Skill, I wouldn't end up in such a sorry state."
A notification came from the Incense Burner:
[Sand-Turning Palm proficiency increased by 1%...]
Li Xiuwen looked delighted. "Fighting Gao Jiaoqi raises my proficiency much faster. Gaining 2% a day should be no problem."
Once a combat method reached great mastery, people like Big Silly Qiang and A Zhen could go several days without gaining even 1%.
Time passed.
In the blink of an eye, the Second-Floor Contest arrived.
The day had come.
Fragrant Sea basked in bright sunshine, with dappled light spilling through the gaps between buildings onto the streets.
Li Xiuwen arrived at the Four Seas Martial Arts Hall. The training grounds had been cleared, leaving room for an arena.
Huang Sihai sat in the Grandmaster's Chair and took a sip of tea. Beside him was a handsome youth with short hair: Thunder Boy.
The two sat very close together, discussing something in low voices. No one else dared approach.
"Master, have you found any candidates for the Fourth Prodigy lately? Does anyone on the Second Floor have a chance?" Thunder Boy asked.
Huang Sihai sighed. "It's difficult... Finding someone as outstanding as you three fellow disciples is as hard as reaching the heavens."
Seeing Li Xiuwen enter, Thunder Boy's gaze shifted. He stood and strode over with a smile. "A Wen, right? I haven't remembered that wrong, have I?"
Li Xiuwen smiled and bowed. "I'm deeply honored that you still remember my name, senior brother!"
Thunder Boy laughed heartily. "You helped preserve a little of our Four Seas Martial Arts Hall's dignity the other day, kid. Of course I remember."
"It was a humble effort," Li Xiuwen said.
"Don't be modest. Given your age and aptitude, achieving this much in just four short months already makes you one in a hundred."
Smiling, Thunder Boy handed him a small porcelain bottle in front of everyone.
"Senior brother... what's this?" Li Xiuwen asked, puzzled.
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