In the Disciple Courtyard of the White Cloud Martial Arts Hall.
"Did I hear that right? Did he just say the Seven Stars Gang?" the short-haired female disciple asked in astonishnt.
"You heard right! The Seven Stars Gang!" a soft-featured male disciple exclaid, his face a mask of shock.
"Senior Brother, what’s the deal with the Seven Stars Gang? Are they really strong?" a pudgy, fair-skinned boy shuffled closer and asked, his face full of curiosity.
"’Strong’ is an understatent..." The soft-featured disciple shook his head.
"The Seven Stars Gang is filled with masters. For an ordinary gang, having a single Martial Artist at the Iron Skin Realm is already considered impressive.
"But the Seven Stars Gang? It’s said they have at least ten mbers at the Peak of the Iron Skin Realm alone! What’s more, of their six Elders, three are Force Integration Artists!
"And while the other three aren’t Force Integration Artists, they are grandmasters of esoteric disciplines like dicine and divination!
"As for their Gang Leader, Li Hanchuan, he was already the number one expert in Lin Yuan City twenty years ago!
"No one knows just how powerful he is now. Rumor has it he’s already surpassed Force Integration!"
"Surpassed Force Integration?!" the pudgy, fair-skinned boy exclaid.
The others all turned to look as well.
As far as they knew, the most powerful masters in the Jianghu were those who had achieved Force Integration.
They had never imagined there could be a Realm beyond it.
"That’s right... Rumor is that Li Hanchuan found an incomplete True Skill from sowhere, and that’s how he broke through to the realm above Force Integration!" the soft-featured disciple added in a hushed voice.
"A True Skill?!"
The disciples exchanged confused glances; none of them had ever heard the term before.
"A True Skill isn’t like our Qi Blood Martial Arts! It’s a discipline that allows one to beco a True Master! They say True Masters are like Immortals—soaring through the heavens, tunneling through the earth, capable of anything!"
Seeing he had everyone’s attention, the soft-featured disciple grew more animated as he spoke.
"Of course, I’ve never seen it myself. I heard it all from my cousin. His family is in Cangzhou, and the top-tier sects over there supposedly practice True Skills!" he continued.
"However, True Skills have extrely high requirents. Only those who have already achieved Force Integration are qualified to practice them, so it’s not sothing we can even dream of."
The soft-featured disciple sighed after he finished speaking.
His Root Bone was average; he had little hope of even reaching the Iron Skin Realm, let alone Force Integration.
The disciples were all visibly shocked to hear such things.
"In short, the Seven Stars Gang is full of masters and is the undisputed number one gang in Lin Yuan City! And they say the Seven Stars Gang not only has an abundance of Middle-Grade Exotic Beast at, but even a good amount of Top Grade Exotic Beast at!" the soft-featured disciple said, his face filled with yearning.
"In that case, Senior Brother Jiang is going to get his hands on a lot of good stuff by joining the Seven Stars Gang!" the pudgy, fair-skinned boy said with a look of envy.
"Exactly! But what’s strange is that the Seven Stars Gang never bothers with affiliations, so why would they invite this junior brother to be an Honored Guest Elder? Is there sothing special about him? You all started at the sa ti as him, do any of you know what’s going on?" the soft-featured disciple asked, puzzled.
"Senior Brother, all I know is that his fist techniques are exceptional, but his Qi Blood was a bit lacking. I don’t know anything beyond that," Zhang Xiong said with a wry smile.
’I knew Jiang Che was strong, but I never knew he was *this* strong!’
’Now even the Seven Stars Gang has extended an olive branch!’
’How could my family’s little pharmacy possibly compete with the Seven Stars Gang?’
’Ah... Forget it. I shouldn’t hold Junior Brother Jiang back. I’ll talk to him when he cos out.’
He couldn’t help but feel a pang of disappointnt.
The future he had envisioned just monts before—the two of them struggling and building a life together—had been shattered in an instant.
"I have sothing to do, I’m leaving!"
Gong Yulei suddenly shot a quick word at Lin Xue’er. His voice was cold and stiff, as if he were forcefully suppressing sothing.
Then, he strode away.
Lin Xue’er watched his retreating back and shook her head slightly.
Just then, Jiang Che walked out of the room.
The crowd stopped talking, but their eyes kept drifting toward him, seemingly of their own accord.
"Senior Brother Jiang, congratulations!" Lin Xue’er suddenly walked over, a smile on her face.
Jiang Che was taken aback for a mont. ’Has Lin Xue’er had a change of heart?’
He wasn’t blind; he’d seen and heard her and Gong Yulei mocking him on countless occasions.
But since they were all fellow disciples, he didn’t hold it against them.
That didn’t an, however, that he was going to be friendly toward them.
"Thanks." Jiang Che nodded and continued on his way.
Lin Xue’er bit her lip, then hurried to catch up.
"Senior Brother Jiang, there’s a gathering in a few days. All the participants are disciples from the city’s various Martial Arts Halls who have broken through to the Stone Skin Realm. Are you going? I can sign you up!"
"Thanks, but no thanks." Jiang Che said without breaking his stride.
"Senior Brother Jiang, you just broke through to the Stone Skin Realm. You must have a lot of questions about your training. Attending gatherings like this can be very helpful," Lin Xue’er persisted.
Jiang Che stopped and turned to face Lin Xue’er.
Her face lit up. "You’ll go?"
Jiang Che shook his head and said,
"Junior Sister Lin, the true Martial Dao isn’t improved through social gatherings that are no better than children playing house. The only way to truly break through is to constantly engage in real combat and push yourself to your absolute limits. You should attend fewer of those events yourself. The only power that truly belongs to you is your own; everything else is ultimately aningless."
With that, he turned and walked away.
Lin Xue’er stood frozen on the spot.
’Playing house? He called the gathering "playing house"? Who does he think he is?!’
She stared at Jiang Che’s retreating back for a long ti, her expression one of utter disbelief.
’A re Early-stage Stone Skin Realm disciple who got a stroke of dumb luck dares to lecture **?!’
The more she thought about it, the angrier she beca, and her face instantly flushed crimson.
’That bastard! And I was trying to be nice to him!’
She clenched her fists, whipped her head around, and stord off.
Watching Lin Xue’er storm off in a huff, Zhang Xiong sighed and said to Jiang Che,
"You really managed to tick her off. Now she and her friends are going to hate you even more."
Jiang Che shook his head and said,
"If they hate , they hate . What has it got to do with ?"
"That’s you for you. Always so level-headed," Zhang Xiong chuckled. "Oh, right, I haven’t congratulated you yet! Now that you’re affiliated with the Seven Stars Gang, your future is limitless!"
"It’s not a big deal. I’m just an affiliate; it’s not like I’ve actually joined the Seven Stars Gang," Jiang Che said.
"Give a break! As far as I know, getting an affiliate position is even rarer than becoming a full mber!" Zhang Xiong sighed.
"What matters is your own strength. These factions aren’t that important. No matter how strong the gang is, if you’re weak, you’ll still run into trouble when it cos. No one is willing to stick their neck out for a weakling," Jiang Che said earnestly.
He truly believed this.
The Seven Stars Gang valued him only because they saw his great potential and believed he could beco a valuable asset in the future.
If his progress stalled and his strength stagnated, they would likely abandon him in a heartbeat.
Zhang Xiong nodded. He felt that Jiang Che made a good point, and it only reinforced his belief that Jiang Che was different from everyone else.
’Sigh... The more outstanding Jiang Che becos, the more I realize I can’t hold him back.’
At this thought, Zhang Xiong said,
"By the way, you’re probably going to be very busy from now on, right? If you don’t have ti, you can forget about the job here. Don’t feel like you have to force yourself for my sake."
He smiled after saying this, but he looked a little dejected.
"I’m sorry..." Jiang Che said.
"Don’t worry about it. It’s only natural. I’d do the sa if I were in your shoes," Zhang Xiong said, trying his best to act as if he didn’t mind.
"I ant to say, would it be possible to get an advance on the Middle-Grade Exotic Beast at? I’m in desperate need of it lately," Jiang Che said with a smile.
"It’s fine, I don’t... Wait, what did you just say?" Zhang Xiong asked, dumbfounded.
"I asked if I could get an advance on the Exotic Beast at," Jiang Che repeated.
"Yes! Of course, you can!"
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