Chapter 7: Iron Thread Fist Perfected, Iron Sand Palm

Chapter 7: Iron Thread Fist Perfected, Iron Sand Palm

With his long-standing vengeance fulfilled, the weight that had pressed on Su Chen’s heart finally lifted, leaving him with a profound sense of liberation.

He no longer needed to fear retaliation.

Staring at his bloodstained fists, Su Chen felt a flicker of melancholy. Liu Heishui would never have imagined that his killer was the very youth they’d nearly crushed days earlier.

“The commotion earlier might draw the Black Water Gang’s attention. If they corner me, escaping could be tricky. Plus, other gangs might try to exploit the chaos tonight. Better to retreat first.”

After collecting his loot, Su Chen left the courtyard under the cover of night, pausing only to silently set fire to Liu Heishui’s room.

“Hn?”

Hardly had he exited when shouts and clashing blades erupted from the courtyard.

“So the other gangs have moved already. Pity they’re too late.”

He’d noticed their lurking shadows earlier. These gangs had likely been waiting for the Tiger Gang and Black Water Gang to exhaust themselves before swooping in. They hadn’t anticipated Su Chen intervening, killing Liu Heishui, and seizing the spoils.

Back home, Su Chen lit a candle and unwrapped his haul—Liu Heishui’s personal treasures and the Tiger Gang’s entire fortune.

“A land deed and thirty-one silver taels?”

Recognizing the deed as his family’s stolen property, he muttered, “Han’s Pawnshop sure works fast.”

“Still, these local gangs are pathetically broke. Two entire gangs and this is all they have?”

He sighed. The Black Water Gang and Tiger Gang were minor factions, and as martial cultivators, their expenses were high. Thirty-one taels wasn’t terrible.

His gaze shifted to a book.

“Flirtatious Lord?”

Frowning, he flipped it open. Most of the text seemed to be a risqué novel, but after spotting an illustration of a martial arts technique, realization dawned.

“So it’s not just smut—it’s a secret manual disguised as a novel!”

The book’s explicit passages likely concealed the manual’s content. Tracing the heavily inked characters, he copied them onto paper. Soon, a condensed cultivation method lay before him.

“Good thing I’ve been studying lately. Otherwise, I’d never have deciphered this.”

The Progress Panel didn’t display the manual’s name, prompting him to test cultivation.

Though late, his excitement kept him awake. Memorizing the techniques, he began practicing in his room.

“It appeared!”

After one cycle, the Progress Panel updated:

【Martial Arts: Iron Thread Fist (Perfected 1%) | Iron Sand Palm (Novice 1%)】
【Easy Mode: Iron Thread Fist 0 uses (10 silver taels/use) | Iron Sand Palm 0 uses (1 silver tael/use)】

He exhaled sharply. No wonder Liu Heishui had held his own despite injuries. But his cultivation must’ve been incomplete—otherwise, the Tiger Gang Leader wouldn’t have wounded him.

“Ten taels for Iron Thread Fist’s Easy Mode.”

【Easy Mode Activated: Punch empty air for half an hour to perfect Iron Thread Fist.】

The cost startled him. “Next time it’s still ten? Wait—gold? That’s a hundred taels!” The tenfold increase left him reeling.

Testing Iron Sand Palm instead, he paid one tael.

【Easy Mode Activated: Thrust hands into sand fifty times to minorly master Iron Sand Palm.】

Perfecting it was absurdly simple.

At the courtyard’s sand pile, he thrust his hands fifty times. Instantly, his palms warmed, toughening like calloused steel. His strength surged, each palm strike whistling through the air.

“This Iron Sand Palm might rival the Iron Thread Fist!”

Examining his arms, now corded with muscle like a decade-long cultivator’s, he clenched his fist. Power thrummed in his limbs.

“I could take ten Liu Heishuis!”

Paying five taels more, he activated Iron Sand Palm’s next stage.

【Easy Mode Activated: Two hundred thrusts to perfect Iron Sand Palm.】

Afterward, a stone shattered under his palm, leaving his hand unscathed.

“Now I could fight ten uninjured Liu Heishuis!”

The technique’s power delighted him. “But ‘Iron Sand Palm’ feels too plain. Since it’s cultivated by thrusting into sand…”

As he renamed it, the Progress Panel updated:

【Martial Arts: Iron Thread Fist (Perfected 1%) | Iron Sand Palm (Perfected 1%)】

Su Chen smiled. In this chaotic world, he’d finally forged a means of survival.

“Now… time to wash up and sleep.”

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end