Chapter 26: Extreme Iron Wire Fist, Qi and Blood Powder

Chapter 26: Chapter 26: Extreme Iron Wire Fist, Qi and Blood Powder

The next day.

Just as Li Mo had predicted, several gangs came knocking on his door one after another. Most were from the transition zone between the slums and the Outer City, while a small number were from the Outer City’s fringes. They were all small-time gangs.

Other than that, he didn’t receive any requests for affiliation from shops. This was normal; the profitable shops all had Martial Artists backing them and didn’t need to affiliate themselves with Su Chen.

Su Chen selected a few satisfactory gangs to affiliate with. The protection fees he charged weren’t much; combined, they didn’t even amount to the cost of last night’s meal. As for the gangs he found unsatisfactory, he rejected them without hesitation.

By noon, the expected gangs had mostly come and gone, finally leaving Su Chen with some free time.

Just as he was about to head out for lunch, an unexpected visitor arrived.

"Senior Sister Fang Rou, you came to see me?" Su Chen asked in surprise, looking at her standing by the door.

Fang Rou smiled and nodded. "Yes, Junior Brother Su. I have a good proposition I’d like to discuss with you."

"Come on in." Su Chen invited her inside and asked, "What kind of proposition?"

"It’s like this, Junior Brother Su. My family runs a silk and fabric business. I’d like to invite you to affiliate with my family—would you be interested?" Fang Rou cut straight to the chase. "As for the compensation, my family is willing to offer you a monthly protection fee of ten taels."

Hearing this, Su Chen paused. "Senior Sister Fang Rou, I’ve only just joined the master. I’m afraid I’m not worth that price yet, am I?"

From his conversation with Li Mo last night, Su Chen had a rough idea of his current market value. Based on the strength he had displayed so far, whether it was gangs or shops, he could command at most two taels. Yet Fang Rou had immediately offered ten taels, which naturally sparked his curiosity.

"Right now, you certainly aren’t. But I heard from Senior Brother Li Mo that you have incredibly high talent. Up to this point in your cultivation, you’ve never relied on anyone else and achieved everything through your own hard work. Therefore, the price I’m offering is based on your potential," Fang Rou explained, showing her sincerity. "Furthermore, the reason I chose you is also because of Senior Brother Li Mo’s recommendation."

Li Mo had indeed mentioned this matter last night, but Su Chen simply hadn’t expected Fang Rou to offer such a high price.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK.

"Excuse me, is Mr. Su Chen here?"

As they spoke, a series of knocks came from outside. A middle-aged man stood at the entrance. Spotting Su Chen in the courtyard, he said, "I am from the Zhou Family."

Su Chen wondered about the Zhou Family and motioned for the middle-aged man to enter.

"What can I do for you?" Su Chen asked.

The middle-aged man replied, "It is like this. My family’s Second Young Master, Zhou Shen, learned that Mr. Su has joined the Hong Family Martial Arts Hall. He specifically sent me to invite you to a banquet at the Drunken Immortal Tower tonight."

"Zhou Shen? Zhou Tao’s second older brother?" Fang Rou asked in confusion.

The middle-aged man smiled and nodded. "Exactly." He then looked at Su Chen and added, "Young Master Zhou Shen greatly admires Mr. Su and hopes you will do him the honor of attending."

"What does he want with me?" Su Chen asked in return.

"This..." The middle-aged man hesitated.

"I’ll step outside for a moment," Fang Rou said, tactfully leaving the courtyard.

Once she was gone, the middle-aged man spoke up. "It is like this. Young Master Zhou Shen has long admired Mr. Su’s reputation and wishes to invite you to serve as a Guest for the Zhou Family. The offer is one hundred taels."

He held up a single finger, his voice trembling slightly alongside his shaking hand. Mentioning the sum of one hundred taels made even him a little excited.

Su Chen frowned, completely unfazed by the number; after all, he was someone who had seen the world. A so-called Guest was essentially a private bodyguard. While it was easier than being a slave, it required signing a contract—something akin to a watered-down indenture agreement, usually with a set number of years. Once signed, one’s personal freedom would be severely restricted.

Naturally, Su Chen couldn’t agree to that, so he shook his head and refused. "I’m sorry, I don’t have such plans at the moment."

The middle-aged man paused slightly. Seeing that Su Chen was serious, he didn’t press the matter and turned to leave.

A moment later, Fang Rou walked back in and said, "Junior Brother Su, how about this? I’ll raise the price to fifteen taels. What do you think?"

She had accidentally overheard the middle-aged man’s offer earlier and was secretly shocked, never expecting Su Chen to attract an invitation from Zhou Shen. An offer of one hundred taels was enough to show how much Zhou Shen valued Su Chen. Thus, after some thought, she raised her price. This was already the absolute limit of what she could offer. Yet she was still filled with apprehension, worried that Su Chen would refuse—after all, he had just rejected one hundred taels so decisively.

"Alright!"

"Then I won’t bother you... Ah!" Assuming Su Chen would refuse, Fang Rou abruptly choked on her parting words. She blinked her bright eyes, seemingly unable to believe what she had just heard.

"Great, then I’ll prepare the contract right away," Fang Rou said with a sweet smile.

Half an hour later, Fang Rou brought the contract over. Su Chen looked it over, found no issues, and signed it.

"Senior Sister Fang Rou, could you advance me the fifteen taels?" Su Chen called out to her as she was about to leave, coughing lightly as he asked.

"Sure!" Fang Rou very straightforwardly took out fifteen taels and handed them to him. Then, with a brisk step, she turned and left.

Afterward, Su Chen made a trip to the Money Shop.

He closed the door upon his return, having no plans to go out for the rest of the day. He had already earned a total of one hundred taels, which he had exchanged for ten taels of gold.

"It’s time to upgrade the Iron Wire Fist!" he thought.

The reason he had prioritized upgrading the Iron Sand Palm earlier was that the Iron Wire Fist was too easily exposed. The scene of his fight with Liu Heishui was still vivid in his mind; the man had recognized the Iron Wire Fist at a single glance. That was why Su Chen had upgraded the Iron Sand Palm instead. But now, the Iron Sand Palm had already reached its limit.

The Ape Arm Skill was sufficient for his current needs, and he didn’t have enough money to upgrade either the Turtle Shell Skill or the Bone Shrinking Skill to their limits. Therefore, he simply chose to upgrade the Iron Wire Fist. More importantly, he also wanted to see what changes maxing out the Iron Wire Fist would bring to his Iron Sand Palm.

[Simple Mode activated: Practice shadowboxing for one hour to train the Iron Wire Fist to its limit.]

After topping up the money, Su Chen immediately activated Simple Mode. As the panel’s prompt lit up, he began punching the air.

WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH.

Soon, an hour passed. As a warm sensation spread across his arms and a black blood line emerged, Su Chen’s Iron Wire Fist was completely trained to its limit.

On the panel:

[Martial Arts: Iron Wire Fist (Limit), Iron Sand Palm (Limit)...]

[Simple Mode: Iron Wire Fist 0 times (None), Iron Sand Palm 0 times (Extreme Iron Wire Fist/Time)...]

Looking at the panel, Su Chen was baffled. "How does this work?"

Before he could finish his sentence, the panel automatically changed:

[Martial Arts: Iron Cloth Shirt - Fragment (Not Initiated)...]

[Simple Mode: Iron Cloth Shirt - Fragment 0 times (10 portions of Qi and Blood Powder/Time)...]

"The Iron Sand Palm and the Iron Wire Fist fused to become the Iron Cloth Shirt?" Seeing this, Su Chen was somewhat surprised, but a blank look quickly crossed his face. "But what is this Qi and Blood Powder all about?"