Promise!

Chapter 17, Breakthrough

Another two days passed, and it was November 16th, the sixteenth day that Zhuang Jin and others had entered the Shen family to learn martial arts.

When it was almost time for lunch in the morning, Ping Yongfeng came over. Xiong Lei nodded to Zhuang Jin and said, "Master Ping, I have also broken through the bottleneck of being a warrior."

As he spoke, he picked up a piece of wood and pressed it to leave a palm print.

"Great, you became a formal warrior in sixteen days, not bad, not bad!" Another formal warrior appeared, and this was the reward of five cents of silver. Ping Yongfeng was in a very good mood and patted Xiong Lei's shoulder encouragingly.

After Xiang Qichen the day before yesterday, Xiong Lei appeared today. Naturally, the other martial artists in the martial arts training ground were greatly stimulated, but today's excitement was far from over. During lunch, news came that two people in other martial arts training grounds had broken through the bottleneck and become official martial artists!

Three official warriors emerged in one day!
Even Zhuang Jin felt a little agitated after hearing it, and he adjusted himself to calm down, not to mention the other martial artists, whose eyes were almost red with tears.

Although half a month has passed, more than 90% of the warriors have not yet completed the first step of controlling the qi and blood, and many people don't even have a clue. But as a human being, there is always a sense of luck, and they still have a glimmer of hope in their hearts. Maybe Ping Yongfeng's experience is wrong, or maybe they are special, and they will make rapid progress in the next few days, complete the first step of controlling the qi and blood, and then break through the bottleneck in a few days and become formal warriors.

The few martial artists who had some idea about controlling their qi and blood but could never grasp it secretly regretted not practicing self-discipline like Zhuang Jin from the first day, otherwise they might have succeeded before the half-month deadline.

……

After lunch, Xiong Lei returned to the dormitory to move his bedding and went to the formal warriors.

The martial arts students in the same dormitory all came back to be present, and they could hardly hide their envy and jealousy, and said congratulations with a stern face.

Even Bi Kai said sourly: "Xiong Lei, I didn't expect you to be one step ahead of me. However, I will soon break through the bottleneck and catch up with you."

The truth is: Unlike Xiang Qichen and the two other warriors in the martial arts training ground, Xiong Lei lives with him in the same dormitory day and night. It is a great stimulation for them to have such a roommate who succeeds one day and changes his destiny forever.

Qian Wende from Room 1, Wu in the next dormitory also came over. This guy didn't care at all about the strange looks from others who secretly looked down on him and thought he had come from another dormitory to curry favor with them. He congratulated him warmly and kept saying congratulations. Xiong Lei, who was a little concerned about the other party's estrangement in recent days and no longer sharing news about the special class, soon stopped caring and called him "Dezi" again.

After a short chat, Xiong Lei came to the door carrying his bedding, said goodbye to his roommates, and finally looked at Zhuang Jin: "Jinzi, I believe you can become a formal warrior. Stay, I'll wait for you over there."

"Okay, then I'll take your kind words, Brother Xiong." Zhuang Jin smiled and waved, bidding farewell to Xiong Lei.

When the other martial artists saw this scene, they said nothing, but they were somewhat sarcastic in their hearts: Since the first day when Zhuang Jin took the initiative to go on stage to receive instructions, and the incident caused by Hou Yong, there has been no other movement. Now half a month has passed, and there is no news about Zhuang Jin controlling the qi and blood. He still wants to become a formal martial artist. What a joke!

Zhuang Jin naturally didn't care about what these people thought. After sending Xiong Lei away, he went to the martial arts training ground to practice more.

...Perhaps the stimulation of training three times a day was too great, and after lunch and dinner that day, more martial artists came to the training ground to practice, even surpassing the number of people who came during the formal training time in the morning and afternoon.

Among these people, Zhuang Jin even saw Bi Kai. Apparently, the success of Xiong Lei and two other martial artists in other martial arts training grounds today made the other party a little anxious.

Xiong Lei went to the place where the formal warriors were, and he was the only one left. He was not affected and found a corner to practice standing meditation. When the training ground was about to close, he still felt that he was a little bit away from controlling his qi and blood. He did not get anxious and left to return to the dormitory.

When I returned to the dormitory and walked in, I heard Bi Kai saying, "Xiong Lei was just lucky. He was a little faster than me. My martial arts bottleneck is only a little bit gone. Even if I can't make it tomorrow, it will be the day after tomorrow at the latest."

Unlike the usual flattery and compliments, the smiles on the faces of the martial arts students in the same dormitory today were a little forced. It was really a stimulation for them to be a martial artist three times a day. Now they saw Bi Kai showing off, their mentality was unbalanced, and they could hardly suppress their jealousy. They did not curse because they still had a trace of rationality.

Especially Wang Rui, with his back to the crowd and his face, which was not reachable by the light of the oil lamp, had an expression of jealousy that was a little distorted.

Zhuang Jin watched this scene and shook his head inwardly. If he was quick, then so be it. Why bother to tell others about it, tease them, and make them jealous? Just to show off and satisfy himself? What was the point?
If he were Bi Kai, he would never do such a thing and would just make a fortune in silence.

However, this was someone else's business, and Zhuang Jin would not care. He did not say anything, but quietly went to wash up and go to bed, lying in bed to review the knowledge of meridians and acupoints.

……

The day after Xiong Lei moved out, November 17th, was also the 17th day that Zhuang Jin and others entered the Shen family to learn martial arts.

That night, a full moon hung high in the sky, and the bright moonlight cast a shadow on the ground like mercury, covering the green tiles and eaves and the ground of the martial arts training ground with a layer of silver light.

There were many martial artists who came to practice extra tonight, but as time went on, they left one after another. When the training ground was about to close, only Zhuang Jin was left.

Zhuang Jin didn't notice the people coming and going in the martial arts training ground. He was concentrating on practicing the standing meditation, as if he had lost his perception of the outside world. At this time, when he practiced this set of Black Evil standing meditation, there seemed to be an inexplicable charm in each move. As he practiced the standing meditation, the qi and blood in his body flowed, and he finally gradually grasped something. Strands of inexplicable qi gathered and turned into a wisp of something that transcended qi and blood, and was mysterious and profound.

The first wisp of internal energy...it's done!
Zhuang Jin felt that the first step of controlling the Qi and blood and refining the internal energy was completed. He mobilized this condensed internal energy in one go and directed it to the meridians, ready to experience the feeling of breaking through the bottleneck of a warrior.

If it were any other martial artist, after controlling the Qi and blood, they wanted to guide the internal energy through the meridians, they would probably need time to become familiar with it. However, his focused study every afternoon and review in bed every night had already made him thoroughly familiar with the knowledge of meridians and acupoints. He had even rehearsed it in his mind countless times. At this moment, this ray of internal energy was accurately guided to the Shaoyang Meridian of the Hand, but he did not sense any bottleneck. This ray of internal energy entered the Shaoyang Meridian of the Hand without any hindrance, completing a cycle in the first meridian.

"What's going on? Why haven't I felt the bottleneck? But I do possess the ability to achieve the second step of breaking through the bottleneck: completing the circulation of internal energy through the first meridian!" Zhuang Jin frowned slightly, pondered for a moment, and with a flick of his toes, a wooden board came into his hand, and he pressed lightly on it.

……

(End of this chapter)