Promise!

Chapter 43, Assessment
Time flies, and the last four or five days of this month have passed in a flash, and it is December 30th.

Because this day is not only the end of the month but also the end of the year, the assessment will be held in the morning and the afternoon will be a holiday.

That morning, the assessment was conducted by martial arts instructor Tang Wentao and two three-marked servants from the General Affairs Department named Liu and Zhou.

"It's a pity that the time is too short. If I had three more days of this full dedication, I would have probably sensed the bottleneck of the Black Evil Palm. If I could then use the Golden Finger martial arts, I would have been able to break through directly."

Zhuang Jin sighed secretly. He had tried his best these past few days but still couldn't master the Black Evil Palm.

Although he had started thinking about it a long time ago, there was still a gap between hands-on practice and actual operation. Another point was that although his comprehension was much higher than that of other people in the dormitory, he was not at the level where he could achieve the same level as others in a month of practice by working hard for four or five days.

In fact, this progress is already extremely fast. If other people in the dormitory knew that Zhuang Jin could reach the bottleneck of martial arts in just seven or eight days, their jaws would probably drop in shock.

There is not much to say about Zhuang Jin's evaluation. The only thing worth mentioning is the 'Glass Realm Testing Puppet', which is indeed magical. Zhuang Jin put his palm on the puppet's back and circulated his internal energy. The two meridians of the Hand Shaoyang Meridian and the Hand Shaoyin Meridian inside the puppet lit up slightly, synchronously displaying Zhuang Jin's progress in cultivation.

"Zhuang Jin, break through the Second Sutra Realm and be promoted to Second Mark Servant."

Martial Master Liu gave Zhuang Jin a certificate: "Later, you can use this to go to the General Affairs Department to be promoted to a Second-Mark Servant. You will receive Second-Mark Servant uniforms and a new waist badge. Corresponding benefits will also be available. Starting next month, you will receive the basic monthly salary of a Second-Mark Servant."

Finally, he announced the most important reward: "Reward Zhuang Jin with a mission of his choice for April!"

As soon as he finished speaking, other people in the dormitory gave him envious looks.

Afterwards, Lin Hong and Bi Kai took the stage one after another and demonstrated the entry-level Black Evil Palm, and were rewarded with a self-selected task for March.

And then? Nothing.

Below the stage, Xiang Qichen lowered his head, his face flushed with embarrassment. Yes, he failed to break through the second level, nor could he master the Black Evil Palm.

He was arrogant and chose the path of cultivation realm, but was stuck at the bottleneck of the second realm. After the incident with Zhuang Jin that night, he became even more restless and irritable, and tried all kinds of methods in desperation. He started practicing martial arts in the past few days, hoping to master the Black Evil Palm, or to apply what he had learned to other situations and break through the bottleneck of the second realm.

But it was obvious that he still hadn't broken through the Second Sutra, and it was impossible to get started with the Black Evil Palm in just a few days. In other words, he hadn't achieved either the Second Sutra or the introductory martial arts skills, and could only choose the tasks for one month.

Tang Wentao looked at Xiang Qichen and sighed softly. If this student had focused on martial arts, he would most likely have been able to master the Black Evil Palm, but unfortunately he was too arrogant and chose the realm of cultivation.

As for the remaining four people in the dormitory.

Xiong Lei's comprehension was somewhat poor, and he chose the martial arts route, but he also failed to get started;

Jiao Kun's comprehension and talent were all good, but after starting to eat meat, he was a bit inconsistent and didn't master the Black Evil Palm, which was not surprising.

As for Qian Wende, his aptitude and understanding were only okay, but he also lacked some effort and failed to get started either.

Wu Hao works hard, but he lacks talent and understanding.

Zhuang Jin looked at the other people in the dormitory, thinking about the order of those who had broken through to become official warriors in the first month, and then thinking about the evaluation results at this moment, he sighed in his heart: "When the tide recedes, you will know who is swimming naked. Who has given their all this month, and how much they have given, is clearly shown in this evaluation!"

……

After Tang Wentao and the two martial arts assessment masters left, it was time for the eight people in the dormitory to disperse.

Today is the end of the month and the last day of the year. We have a day off in the afternoon and will go home. We will definitely not stay in the dormitory at night. We will start taking over our duties tomorrow and go our separate ways, so it is even more impossible for us to stay in the same dormitory.

Even Zhuang Jin will not sleep in this dormitory tonight. He has just passed the assessment and will later take the certificate to the General Affairs Department to be promoted to a second-level servant. From now on, he can live in a single dormitory!

At this time, Xiang Qichen walked towards Zhuang Jin, opened his mouth with difficulty, and said, "Jin...Zhuang Jin, what happened that day was caused by me..."

Ever since the incident that night, he had been essentially isolated in the dormitory: Zhuang Jin, Bi Kai, and Lin Hong would ignore him; Qian Wende would definitely not pay any attention to him since he had beaten him and gone to Zhuang Jin; Jiao Kun also kept his distance from him because he had caused him to offend Zhuang Jin; Wu Hao didn't stay away from him, but he was a hard worker who devoted himself to martial arts training and didn't talk much, except to say hello at most; only Xiong Lei could barely say a few words.

Xiang Qichen had brought this upon himself, completely losing his dignity as the dorm boss. He felt immense regret. At the same time, the thought of Zhuang Jin's breakthrough to the Second Element and his aptitude filled him with a faint fear. He'd been thinking about apologizing for the past few days, but Zhuang Jin was always in a rush, completely absorbed in his martial arts. Even the brief moments they'd met, such as for meals and sleep, were often missed out due to his pride. But today was his last chance, and he finally spoke.

"People should have pride, but they should not be arrogant. Xiang Qichen is really... Even after apologizing, he still won't even call me 'Brother Zhuang'?"

Zhuang Jin glanced at the man and said calmly, "You should thank Xiong Lei."

He didn't say anything more and walked away.

When Xiang Qichen heard this, he knew that if he didn't provoke Zhuang Jin in the future, he probably wouldn't be held accountable. At this moment, he felt relieved and fortunate, as if a huge stone had been lifted from his body.

But then, he felt humiliated by his own relief. He secretly clenched his fists and bit his lip, hating himself for not working hard enough. He hated himself for taking a short break after lunch and dinner every day before the incident that night. If not, maybe he could have broken through to the Second Sutra! He was determined to catch up with Zhuang Jin one day! Definitely!
Not long after walking, he met Jiao Kun again: "Brother Zhuang, that night..."

"It's okay, I know." Zhuang Jin understood that Jiao Kun was worried that he would hold a grudge, but he was a man who clearly distinguished between gratitude and resentment, so he would not get involved.

What's more, the real enemies in his mind at this stage are Zhuang Yutang, Zhuang Yuyong, and Xiang Qichen, the main culprit in the dormitory turmoil. As long as they behave themselves and don't cause trouble in the future, he won't bother to bring up the past, let alone Jiao Kun.

After Jiao Kun, it was Xiong Lei who made the invitation: "Jinzi, my father asked you to come over for dinner today."

"No need. Please thank Uncle Xiong for what happened on the registration day." Zhuang Jin said coldly.

Xiong Lei looked at Zhuang Jin's aloof appearance, while he was talking normally with Bi Kai and others. He suddenly felt a sense of loss and didn't understand why things had become like this between him and Zhuang Jin?

Zhuang Jin talked with Bi Kai, Lin Hong, Qian Wende, Wu Hao and others for a while, and after they said goodbye and went back, he turned around and went to the General Affairs Department.

……

At noon that day, the sky was clear and the air was fresh. The bright sunshine penetrated the layers of clouds and shone warmly on the streets and alleys, making the eaves and green tiles of the roofs glow with a faint white light. In the boundless clear sky above, a hawk circled for a moment and flew away into the distance.

Xiong Lei walked out of the outer courtyard of the Shen family and followed his father Xiong Dadan who came to greet him. The father held his son in his arms and walked home.

Xiong Dadan asked about the test results and said, "Did Zhuang Jin break through to the second level? That's incredible! Didn't I ask you to invite him to dinner?"

"He's not coming." Xiong Lei relayed Zhuang Jin's words.

"Oh?" Xiong Dadan narrowed his eyes, loosened his arms around his son, and his expression suddenly became serious: "Leizi, what happened in your dormitory these days? Tell me everything."

Xiong Lei started talking from the time he registered as a martial artist and entered the outer courtyard of the Shen family, and continued talking about becoming a formal warrior and the various things that happened in the dormitory this month.

As Xiong Dadan listened, his expression grew increasingly gloomy and unfriendly, until Xiong Lei mentioned the incident that happened the night Zhuang Jin made his breakthrough. He stopped Zhuang Jin... and finally couldn't help but kick Xiong Lei.

However, after Xiong Lei became a formal warrior, he condensed his internal energy to strengthen his body, and his physique was quite strong. The recoil of this kick made Xiong Dadan stagger, and he couldn't help but become even more angry.

"Dad, why did you kick me?"

"Why would I kick you?"

Xiong Dadan looked at Xiong Lei, who was still confused, and his already dark red face became even redder. He, who was listening, understood everything, but his silly son actually didn't understand anything at all?

He looked at his son and suddenly thought, why the hell does this kid look so much like the pigs he kills every day? Same strong hands and feet, same simple mind!
"You're as dumb as a pig. It's fine if you're treated like a fool, but you get involved in everything and use your friendship to clean up other people's messes... You have a fucking pig-head! I'm pretty smart, so how could I give birth to a fool like you?"

Xiong Dadan grew angrier and angrier as he spoke. He swung his palm, which was as big as a palm leaf fan, and Bangbang slapped Xiong Lei a few more times. However, his hand hurt from the slaps, so he grabbed Xiong Lei's ear and said, "Get out of here! I won't eat lunch. Damn it! I don't believe I can't cure your stinky habit of trying to smooth things over!"

"Oh, Dad, it hurts!" Xiong Lei was pulled by the ear and dragged away in the sun.

……

(End of this chapter)