In the time that followed.
Every morning, Jiang Wangzu reported for duty at the rear courtyard of Hongyun Mahjong and Card Hall on Rongsheng Street.
In the afternoons, he went on patrol duty at Longjiang Wharf.
In the evenings, he went to the Rear Courtyard of Jishi Hall to take Black Tiger Powder Secret Medicine and practice martial arts.
The conflict between Rongsheng Street and Xinglong Street also came to an end.
Chen Tai suffered a minor loss and lost control of several shops.
Both sides had several people killed and many others injured.
Jiang Wangzu saw the number of people in the rear courtyard of Hongyun Mahjong and Card Hall surge. Every one of them was wounded.
Several others lay in bed with serious injuries.
Chen Tai had barefoot doctors bandage them, gave them a little food each day, and left them to live or die on their own.
Given the current sanitary and medical conditions, these people might survive if their wounds stayed free of infection.
If their wounds became infected, they would probably die.
This was the life of the ruffians at the bottom of a gang!
They had no idea whether they would have food for the next meal. Surviving today did not guarantee a tomorrow!
He had to change his fate. He could not follow in these people’s footsteps!
He had to lie low until his Black Tiger Fist reached Major Accomplishment and he attained the Major Accomplishment Level in Strength Training. With his foundation and strength, he could surpass Chen Tai, who had reached Major Accomplishment in Strength Training.
When that time came, he would seek personal advancement. Even if he could not leave the Cao Gang, he would at least cast off his identity as a bottom-level ruffian.
No matter what, he had to rise to Chen Tai’s level and become a minor gang leader in the middle ranks of the Cao Gang.
Such an identity would be far more respectable.
Practice martial arts!
Become stronger!
Change his fate!
Jiang Wangzu’s desire to control his own destiny had never changed; it had only grown firmer!
…………
Jishi Hall.
The rear courtyard.
Jiang Wangzu drank down the tenth dose of black tiger powder secret medicine in one gulp!
Black Tiger Fist, minor accomplishment!
A stabbing pain shot through his brain as countless scenes of Stance Training and punch practice surged into his mind.
He seemed to stand atop a high mountain, training through the hottest days of summer and the coldest days of winter, cultivating day and night without rest!
In that instant, it was as if Abhisheka Empowerment had transformed him into an ascetic who had practiced martial arts for more than a decade!
His understanding of Black Tiger Fist advanced another step, as if he had experienced Sudden Enlightenment. At the same time, his strength and power surged.
Crack, crack, crack!
A massive warm current flowed through his body, and every bone crackled and popped.
Roar!
Unable to hold himself back, he let out a long howl, like a fierce tiger’s roar.
“So strong!”
“Wasn’t he only at minor achievement in strength training?”
“How could he possess such might?”
“Could he have entered a state of sudden enlightenment?”
“Sudden Enlightenment in the Martial Dao is something every Martial Artist may encounter but cannot seek in a lifetime. I never thought I would witness it with my own eyes!”
Seeing the changes in Jiang Wangzu, Yan Ruyu could not help but proactively put some distance between them.
At that moment, Jiang Wangzu remained immersed in his skyrocketing strength.
His entire body brimmed with explosive power. He had absorbed all the medicinal effects of the Black Tiger Powder Secret Medicine.
Every inch of his skin, his Sinews, Bones, Flesh, and Blood, and his Internal Organs grew stronger in different ways!
He opened his eyes, and golden-red words appeared before him:
【Technique: Black Tiger Fist（minor accomplishment）】
【Rapid Cultivation Method: Ten practice sessions each day, supplemented by one dose of Black Tiger Powder Secret Medicine, can achieve Major Accomplishment in thirty days; alternatively, one hundred practice sessions each day and thirty pounds of beef daily can achieve Major Accomplishment in three years!】
“Thirty doses of Black Tiger Powder Secret Medicine cost Two Thousand Seven Hundred Silver Dollars—nearly three thousand Silver Dollars.”
“This is not martial arts training. It is swallowing gold!”
The golden words before his eyes ruined Jiang Wangzu’s joy at breaking through.
Although he knew that spending Two Thousand Seven Hundred Silver Dollars to advance from Minor Achievement in Strength Training to Major Accomplishment in Strength Training was a rare opportunity for any Martial Artist,
he had no money left!
With the Silver Dollars he had, he could buy at most one more dose of Black Tiger Powder Secret Medicine. He still needed twenty-nine doses to reach the Major Accomplishment Level in Strength Training.
He had to find a way to get money!
“Congratulations on breaking through to the minor achievement in strength training realm.”
“To cultivate to such a realm in the martial dao at your age makes you an outstanding martial artist.”
When Yan Ruyu saw Jiang Wangzu open his eyes and the aura around him return to calm, she took the initiative to speak.
A look of astonishment and a smile crossed her face, but faint sorrow filled her eyes.
That was right!
Jiang Wangzu had reached Minor Achievement in Strength Training. Reaching Major Accomplishment in Strength Training would require another long period of accumulation.
Perhaps he would not return to Jishi Hall for Strength Training Secret Medicine Decoction Refinement for a long time!
Would the two of them meet again, then?
“Physician yan, I have you to thank for your help.”
“I still need thirty doses of black tiger powder secret medicine, but right now I only have enough money for one dose.”
“I wonder if I could buy them on credit here?”
Jiang Wangzu looked at Yan Ruyu and spoke with some embarrassment.
“Huh?”
“Thirty doses?”
“Even at cost, they would require at least Two Thousand Seven Hundred silver dollars. That is no small sum.”
“Moreover, I may not be able to prepare the medicine for you at cost from now on.”
“Although Jishi Hall is my family’s ancestral business, its owner is my grandfather.”
“My grandfather has three sons and two daughters. Although my father is the eldest legitimate son, my two uncles also hold shares in Jishi Hall.”
“Furthermore, my grandfather is not the sort of feudal patriarch who thinks only of himself. He hopes every one of his children can live well, so my two married aunts also hold shares in Jishi Hall.”
“Not only that, even those of us in the younger generation hold a portion of the shares.”
“Selling at cost would harm not only my interests but those of every shareholder in Jishi Hall. I do not mind, but my uncles and aunts are not easy to deal with.”
“The Medicinal Herbs required for Black Tiger Powder Secret Medicine are also too precious…”
Yan Ruyu was surprised and delighted by Jiang Wangzu’s words, yet she also felt apologetic.
Jiang Wangzu understood what Yan Ruyu meant.
Medicinal Herbs were expensive, but their scarcity also made them precious.
By agreeing to provide him with ten doses of Black Tiger Powder Secret Medicine at cost, Yan Ruyu would forgo at least several hundred Silver Dollars in profit.
If she gave him another thirty doses at cost, she would be giving up several hundred silver dollars more.
Even Jishi Hall’s vast family business could not withstand such treatment.
Moreover, Yan Ruyu’s uncles, aunts, and cousins were probably competing with her and her family, waiting in secret for her to make a mistake.
The struggle over the heir had always been like this!
The infighting within a great family was even more ruthless.
“Physician yan, you do not need to explain. I understand everything.”
“I will take you home first. We can talk as we walk.”
“By the way, physician yan, how much does Jishi Hall charge for secret medicine of the same level as Black Tiger Powder?”
Jiang Wangzu showed no dissatisfaction. He continued escorting Yan Ruyu home as usual.
“About one hundred silver dollars.”
Yan Ruyu thought for a moment before answering.
This covered only the selling price of the Medicinal Herbs. Her consultation fee, Decoction Refinement fee, and other labor costs were not included.
However, these were all things she was willing to do for Jiang Wangzu herself, so the others could not say much.
Even within the family, selling one dose of Strength Training Secret Medicine for One Hundred Silver Dollars was defensible.