Fanatic!

Chapter 78 Taking Over the Industry and Expanding the Staff (Third Update)
Three days later, Li Dong's men withdrew from that half of the street.

In the past few days, Ah Fei has also recruited some henchmen. Although they haven't learned any new skills, they are quite strong and daring to fight.

No matter what kind of gang it is, they all need these low-level henchmen.

We can't let those new martial arts practitioners guard the place and collect protection money.

At the same time, Curry brought a person to Chen Wujun. He was probably in his early twenties, with neat short hair, a handsome appearance, and bright eyes.

His clothes were cheap, but he had a very muscular physique, and he didn't look like someone who practiced a new style of martial arts; his muscles were quite large.

The muscles look streamlined.

As soon as the other person entered, Chen Wujun looked them up and down, and then his eyes lit up.

He walks with a heavy gait, knees bent, back slightly hunched, and long arms hanging naturally, like a monkey...

'He's a practitioner of old-style martial arts; his movements look quite good... Interesting!'

"Brother Jun, what do you think of him?" Curry patted the young man on the shoulder, showing him off like he was presenting a treasure.

"This guy is pretty skilled. He took down several people in a fight, and he's quite strong."

Two weeks ago, this guy got into a fight with several pickpockets on Longjin Street. Even though the pickpockets pulled out knives, he still managed to knock them all to the ground.

Therefore, when he learned that Chen Wujun was recruiting, he specially led a group to inquire and found this guy.

A glint of shrewdness flashed in Chen Wujun's eyes, and hostility burst forth. The young man felt his scalp tingle, and his body lurched backward like a startled ape, arching his back.

He immediately realized that the other party was testing him, so he straightened up and looked Chen Wujun up and down.

The man in the chair looked younger than him, but he had a tortoise-shell back and crane-like posture, sharp eyes like a hawk, and a ruthless temperament. The moment he sat down, the phrase "hawk-like gaze and wolf-like look" popped into his mind.

"Not bad, what kind of boxing do you practice, and how many years have you been practicing?" Chen Wujun's sharp eyes softened as he smiled and spoke.

The way the opponent just shrank back and jumped showed that their skills were quite good; they were also an old-style martial artist who had practiced body tempering techniques.

"It's my family's Tongbei Quan, I've been practicing it since I was a child!" the young man said cautiously.

"Oh? You've been training since you were a child, that's quite a few years... and you're only now coming to the stronghold?"

"Yes."

"What did you do wrong?" Chen Wujun asked with amusement.

"To be frank, there are all sorts of people in the walled city, including a few illegal immigrants and fugitives."

"I haven't committed any crimes, I just came here illegally, I don't have legal status, I just want to make money," the young man said after a moment's hesitation.

"No criminal record... but you've killed someone?" Chen Wujun smiled. The young man had been startled by him and shrank back, revealing his murderous intent.

Chen Wujun felt that this young man was somewhat like himself in the past.

"Start from the bottom here, 3000 yuan a month, are you in?" Chen Wujun didn't press further.

Killing someone isn't a big deal.

Shark Nine had never asked himself this question before.

“Okay.” The young man immediately agreed.

"But you need to give me half a month's salary first."

"Give him 1500!" Chen Wujun smiled. "Curry, take this guy with you for now."

“Yes, Brother Jun.” Curry was overjoyed; he knew this man was quite skilled.

I brought several people with me to find him before, and I tested his skills, but we couldn't defeat him.

"What's your name?" Chen Wujun suddenly asked.

"Li Wei."

Chen Wujun nodded and had Curry take him away.

We'll test his skills again in a few days, and even if he's good at it, we'll have to start from the bottom.

He had connections with his senior, so didn't he start as a henchman?

It wasn't until the conflict with Li Dong, in which he killed more than a dozen people, that his senior sister paved the way for him, allowing him to lead people to provide support, and only then did he naturally rise to power.

In the past few days, besides Li Wei, he also recruited a new martial artist at the initial stage of the cultivation level, named Fa Zai, whose enhanced and reconstructed magnetic field has just exceeded 25%.

He had been recruited by Elephant, but he had been cheated on by Elephant's henchmen, so he was recruited by Ah Fei.

This guy, Fa Zai, like Li Wei from before, also had to start from the bottom, but his starting salary was 8000 yuan.

New martial artists in the initial stage receive 8000 coins before they rise to a higher level.

Chen Wujun is currently very popular in the stronghold. He has recruited more than a dozen people in just three days. Including Afei and his men, he has about 30 people under his command, including three new martial arts practitioners in the early stages of their training.

"Brother Jun, this is the situation on that half of the street." Afei walked over with a booklet in his hand.

"Half a street, with a total of 23 shops, 15 stalls, and 16 brothels..."

"How much can you earn each month?" Chen Wujun casually took the booklet and flipped through it.

“78,000!” Afei said.

Most of those shops were tailor shops, unlicensed clinics, appliance repair shops, dog meat shops, convenience stores, etc., earning 1000-2000 yuan a month.

Those grocery stores and noodle stalls, they make 500 a month.
A prostitute pays 200 yuan per week, which is 800 yuan per month.
Only one private dance hall and three private small to medium-sized gambling dens can generate more revenue.

Chen Wujun calculated that he earned 78,000 a month, and if he kept half, that would be 39,000, which wasn't even enough to support his henchmen.

He still had to rely on the dance halls and gambling dens he got from Li Dong to make money.

"What do you think of that gambling den and dance hall?" Chen Wujun asked.

“The gambling den can make a net profit of about 150,000 a month, and the dance hall used to make 60,000 to 70,000 a month, but Li Dong took everyone away. The most important thing about the dance hall is the girls.” Chen Wujun calculated that if the business could be restored to what it was before, he could make 110,000 to 120,000 a month.

Now, with his three gambling dens, a dance hall, and the money from this half-street, he can earn about 280,000 to 290,000 a month.

However, maintaining a henchman costs 120,000 to 130,000.

After a month, I only have 150,000 to 160,000 left, which is just enough for me to practice martial arts.

With four stakes and eyes, we now need more than twenty magnetic field crystals a month, costing over ten thousand yuan.

Moreover, the three gambling dens are the main part of his business. Recently, because Li Dong also gives rebates, business has been worse than before. He needs to hurry up and think of a solution.

"I understand. First, summon the people from the dance hall. I'll figure out a way to deal with the gambling den."

"By the way, I'd like to find a teacher. Can you help me think of where to look?" Chen Wujun said, remembering what Shark Nine had told him last time.

"Teacher? What kind of teacher? Martial arts training or..." A-Fei looked bewildered. Brother Jun and Sister Shark were from the same school, so why would they need a teacher?

"A private tutor, teaching Chinese, math and stuff! How many times have I told you before, the most important thing when you're out there doing things is to use your brain! How can you use your brain if you don't study?" Chen Wujun slapped A Fei on the back of the head.

"Go and find out, remember, it has to be a woman, she doesn't have to be pretty, the important thing is that she can teach people, understand?"

"Understood! I'll have someone inquire about it!" A-Fei replied immediately.

Chen Wujun considered asking his cousin for help in finding someone, since she was a high achiever with a master's degree in psychology and knew many other high achievers.

However, he couldn't let his cousin know about this, so he had to ask Afei to find out.

……

A day later, Chen Wujun came to the warehouse, walked around the wooden stakes, and then jumped down from them.

He had cultivated his energy and spirit to the highest level in the previous betting battles, and after winning another betting battle, his vision and mindset improved significantly, and his own strength made considerable progress.

Walking on these wooden stakes now has no effect.

Chen Wujun stood there pondering. He thought that if he stuck some sharp knives under the wooden stake, they would pierce through it as soon as it fell in, or if he poured a layer of oil on the stake, the effect would be better.

After thinking for a moment, he went to the weapon rack and took out two short-handled hook sickles.

When my master was explaining the Swimming Dragon Palm technique, he mentioned that the weapon used in this technique is a hook and sickle. The hook, lock, cut, and stab are exactly the fighting methods of the Swimming Dragon Palm.

The Dragon Palm technique involves a flat palm thrust followed by a hooking motion, while the Hidden Elbow technique also involves hooking and slicing.

Chen Wujun took the hook and sickle and practiced it on the ground, gaining some understanding.

He has now mastered the advanced level of the Dragon Palm technique and has a deep understanding of it. Therefore, he does not need his master to teach him. He can figure out most of its uses by practicing with the hook and sickle a couple of times.

A moment later, Zhou Qing entered through the warehouse door.

"Demonstrate the palm technique once and let me see."

"Yes, master."

Chen Wujun put the hook sickle back on the shelf, and then practiced the Swimming Dragon Palm once.

The Swimming Dragon Palm moves with graceful opening and closing, combining strength and gentleness. However, in Chen Wujun's hands, it was transformed into a powerful and fierce stance, exuding a murderous aura that threatened to kill anyone who stood in his way.

Zhou Qing's eyelids twitched several times as he watched.

He felt that this palm technique didn't seem to be taught by him.

However, Zhou Qing had seen countless martial artists, all sorts of them, so he didn't offer much of a comment.

He simply said, "Your skill has reached the upper level of body tempering, and you have your own unique techniques."

"If you want to take it a step further, you need to refine your Qi."

Upon hearing this, Chen Wujun immediately became interested. "Master, what is Qi cultivation, and how is it done?"

“As I told you before, the old techniques were divided into Ming Jin, An Jin, and Hua Jin before the war... but after the war, they were combined with new techniques and evolved into body tempering, Qi refining, and the realm of transformation, which correspond one by one with the original old techniques, but are not the same.”

"After all, since humans discovered and used magnetic crystals, the development has been completely different."

"For example, the original hidden strength, the mind and intention are in harmony, and the intention and qi are in harmony. It is usually hidden in the body and is released through the body when needed. It sounds very mysterious, but in reality it is just hiding the strength in the body and releasing penetrating force. When a master of hidden strength punches someone, the outside is fine, but the inside has been injured. Just like the spiral force I showed you before, it has a similar effect."

Chen Wujun nodded thoughtfully.

His master had indeed demonstrated the spiraling force to him before. He struck a pillar with his palm, and the front of the pillar was fine, but the back shattered.

"The key to hidden strength is to concentrate one's mind and intention into a single force," Zhou Qing continued.

"With the application of magnetic crystals and the development of new techniques, the cultivation of Qi has changed, becoming clearer and more visible."

Zhou Qing paused here, leaving the audience in suspense, and instead said to Chen Wujun, "Stretch out your hand, and I'll let you feel it."

Chen Wujun stretched out his hand, and Zhou Qing's finger touched the back of Chen Wujun's hand.

Chen Wujun suddenly felt as if thorns were piercing the back of his hand, causing him to instinctively jerk his hand.

"This is the hidden strength from before."

Then Zhou Qing pointed at the back of Chen Wujun's hand.

Chen Wujun also felt as if thorns were being pierced into him, but at the same time, his palms went numb, as if they were no longer under his control.

"This is Qi cultivation."

Do you know the difference?

Chen Wujun carefully recalled the feeling on the back of his hand just now, especially when Zhou Qing pressed on the back of his hand for the second time, his hand went numb and almost couldn't be controlled by him.

This is combined with some analysis of new techniques in "Cold Steel" that I read before.

Chen Wujun suddenly realized:
"Master, it's bioelectricity!"

(End of this chapter)