With his revenge finally fulfilled, the heavy boulder pressing on Su Chen’s heart vanished, replaced by a deep sense of relief washing over his entire body. He no longer had to worry about their retaliation.
Looking down at his fists, which were stained with bits of flesh and blood, a sense of melancholy welled up within him. Liu Heishui probably never would have imagined that his killer was the same young man his gang had nearly driven to ruin just a few days ago.
"A commotion this big will definitely attract the Black Water Gang’s attention," Su Chen thought. "If they pin me down, I might not be able to escape. Plus, other gangs are out looting tonight. It’s best if I retreat for now."
A moment later, he composed himself, packed up all the loot he had found, and left the courtyard under the cover of night. Before departing, he quietly set fire to Liu Heishui’s room.
"Huh?"
Not long after exiting the courtyard, Su Chen heard shouts and the clash of battle erupting from within it.
"As expected, the other gangs made their move. Too bad they’re a step too late!" he mused, shaking his head. Even on his way here, he had noticed members of other factions lurking in the shadows. These gangs must have received intelligence beforehand and planned to loot the place right after the Fierce Tiger Gang and the Black Water Gang finished their bitter struggle. They just never anticipated that Su Chen would intercept, directly assassinating Liu Heishui and snatching away the Black Water Gang’s spoils.
It didn’t take long for Su Chen to return home.
By the dim light of a candle, he opened his bundle. Inside lay Liu Heishui’s personal stash and the entire amassed wealth of the Fierce Tiger Gang.
"A land deed and thirty-one taels of silver?"
His anticipation froze upon examining the contents. The land deed was none other than the one for his own home!
"Han’s Pawnshop sure works fast!" Su Chen scoffed, then sighed. "But these local gangs are a bit too poor, aren’t they?"
Two entire gangs yielding a mere thirty-one taels left him slightly disappointed. On second thought, however, it made sense. Both the Black Water Gang and the Fierce Tiger Gang were small-time factions to begin with; how much money could they really have? Furthermore, their leaders were Martial Artists, whose daily training expenses were enormous. Having this much leftover was actually quite decent.
His gaze then shifted to a bound book.
"The Amorous Young Master?" he read the title aloud, a look of confusion crossing his face. Why would Liu Heishui keep a piece of erotica hidden as a personal treasure?
With this doubt in mind, Su Chen flipped the book open. After skimming for a while, realization dawned on him.
"So it’s not an erotic novel, but a secret manual for a palm technique!"
While the vast majority of the text indeed recounted the steamy escapades of an amorous young master, he had accidentally spotted illustrations demonstrating palm stances. If not for that, Su Chen would never have guessed that someone would camouflage a martial arts manual inside a dirty book.
"Just the illustrations aren’t enough. The heavily inked words must be the actual content of the manual."
Su Chen flipped through the remaining pages, noticing that certain characters were deliberately pressed harder into the paper. Fetching a brush and ink, he began transcribing those specific words. Soon, a cultivation method consisting of several hundred characters was laid out before him.
"Thank goodness I’ve been studying these past few days, or I really wouldn’t be able to understand this," he rejoiced inwardly.
He read through the text word by word. Yet, after finishing, the manual did not appear on his interface.
"Do I have to practice it once first?" he guessed.
Although it was already late, the night sky couldn’t dampen Su Chen’s excitement. Memorizing the various stances described in the manual, he began to practice them inside his room.
"It appeared!"
After completing one full routine, Su Chen looked at his interface. As expected, a new palm technique had refreshed on the panel:
[Martial Arts: Iron Wire Fist (Mastery 1%), Nameless Palm Technique (Entry 1%)]
[Simple Mode: Iron Wire Fist 0 times (ten taels of silver/time), Nameless Palm Technique 0 times (one tael of silver/time)]
Seeing this, he sighed softly. He hadn’t expected Liu Heishui to possess a secret manual—no wonder the man had managed to hold out against him for so long despite being injured. But then again, Liu Heishui clearly hadn’t mastered it; otherwise, he wouldn’t have been injured by the Fierce Tiger Gang Leader’s sneak attack in the first place.
"Top up ten taels. Activate Simple Mode for Iron Wire Fist," Su Chen willed, deciding to focus on the fist technique first. This martial art was his current foundation for survival.
[Simple Mode Activated: Shadowbox in thin air for half an hour to train the Iron Wire Fist to Perfection.]
The interface quickly displayed a notification. However, Su Chen didn’t immediately start throwing punches; instead, his gaze lingered on the panel.
[Simple Mode: Iron Wire Fist 0 times (ten taels of gold/time)]
"The next time is also ten taels? Wait? Gold? Isn’t that equal to one hundred taels of silver?!"
Even though Su Chen was mentally prepared, he was still startled by the staggering cost. A tenfold increase all at once was a bit ridiculous!
"Let’s look at the Nameless Palm Technique instead. Top up one tael. Activate Simple Mode for Nameless Palm Technique."
A notification chimed on the interface:
[Simple Mode Activated: Furiously thrust into sand fifty times to train the Nameless Palm Technique to Competence.]
It really was simple!
There happened to be a pile of sand out in the courtyard. Su Chen hurried outside, plunged his hands into the sand, and furiously thrust and retracted fifty times.
The moment he finished, Su Chen felt a mild heat emanating from his palms.
Opening his hands, he noticed that the skin had toughened slightly, as if coated in a fresh layer of calluses. Even his overall strength had increased. When he threw a swift palm strike, it produced a faint whistling sound in the air.
"This Nameless Palm Technique might not be any weaker than the Iron Wire Fist!" he pondered, feeling the changes in his hands. Earlier, when his Iron Wire Fist had reached Mastery, his physical strength had surged. He hadn’t expected merely reaching Competence in this palm technique to yield a similar effect.
He glanced at his arms. The muscles were sharply defined and as hard as iron, resembling those of a bodybuilder who had trained for over a decade. A simple clench of his fist brimmed with explosive power. Coupled with his martial arts, Su Chen felt like he could take on ten men right now!
Ten Liu Heishuis!
"Let’s go again. Top up five taels. Activate Simple Mode for Nameless Palm Technique."
[Simple Mode Activated: Furiously thrust into sand one hundred times to train the Nameless Palm Technique to Mastery.]
After thrusting and retracting one hundred times, a rush of warm heat washed over him. Su Chen’s palms underwent another transformation, becoming incredibly tough and resilient.
"Of my thirty-one taels, only fifteen taels remain. That’s enough for one more activation, so I might as well use it."
After a moment of thought, Su Chen discarded any hesitation. Only by becoming stronger could he better protect himself. If the money was gone, he could always earn more.
"Top up ten taels. Activate Simple Mode for Nameless Palm Technique."
[Simple Mode Activated: Furiously thrust into sand two hundred times to train the Nameless Palm Technique to Perfection.]
A quarter of an hour later, Su Chen slammed his palm onto a rock. With a loud BANG, the brick beneath the rock shattered, leaving a gaping hole in its wake.
His palm, on the other hand, was not only uninjured, but he didn’t even feel a sting of pain.
"So strong! I bet I could easily take on ten Liu Heishuis—and this time, uninjured Liu Heishuis at that!"
He rejoiced inwardly, genuinely astounded by the sheer power of the Nameless Palm Technique.
"Still, with a technique this destructive, always calling it the Nameless Palm Technique doesn’t sound right. Since I learned it by thrusting into sand, I might as well call it the Iron Sand Palm."
As soon as the thought crossed Su Chen’s mind, the interface flickered. The entry that previously read ’Nameless Palm Technique’ instantly updated to ’Iron Sand Palm’:
[Martial Arts: Iron Wire Fist (Mastery 1%), Iron Sand Palm (Perfection 1%)]
Su Chen cast a satisfied glance at the panel, a smile creeping onto his face. In this chaotic world, he finally had some measure of power to protect himself.
"But for now, I should wash up and get some sleep."