Promise!

Chapter 40, Standing Up

Just when Zhuang Jin made a breakthrough, Xiong Lei and others gathered around to congratulate him.

On the other side, Xiang Qichen looked at Zhuang Jin who was surrounded by the crowd, and then looked at himself who was alone, feeling neglected. He also thought of how Qian Wende used to call him "Boss", but now it turned into "Brother Xiang".

"Isn't it just to see Zhuang Jin's breakthrough, to flatter him, to lick his ass? And even chipping in to celebrate? Wasn't it the same time at the end of last month when he couldn't afford to eat out, and I paid for it, and he kept calling me the boss!"

'besides,'

Xiang Qichen looked at Xiong Lei, Jiao Kun and others who were surrounding Zhuang Jin, and felt as if they were laughing at him: So what if you, Xiang Qichen, are the first to become a formal warrior? Now it’s Zhuang Jin who is the first to break through the Second Sutra Realm!
"Can you please keep your voice down? Are you going to let me practice martial arts?"

Xiang Qichen's sudden outburst made the lively atmosphere here suddenly quiet. Everyone looked over, not understanding what was wrong with him.

Seeing everyone's puzzled looks, he knew that his anger was a little inexplicable, but he couldn't say what he was thinking. Feeling embarrassed and ashamed, he said nothing and turned back to the quiet room.

Just looking at the back, he looks a bit embarrassed.

"What's wrong, boss?" Xiong Lei scratched his head.

"Who knows?" Qian Wende said this with a smile, but his eyes were narrowed.

Jiao Kun likes to have fun and doesn't care about the nature of these things. He just took a look at them out of curiosity and didn't think about it too much. Wu Hao worked hard, but he was a little dull and also a little confused.

There were only Lin Hong and Bi Kai. The former seemed to be lost in thought, while the latter felt that the scene just now was inexplicably familiar. He subconsciously touched his neck, which seemed to still be aching slightly.

Zhuang Jin glanced at Xiang Qichen who entered the quiet room, frowned slightly, and understood in an instant.

Xiang Qichen, when others were not better than him and he thought he was the best in terms of qualifications, he was still quite magnanimous, at most a little condescending; but when people around him surpassed him, he suddenly found out that he was not the best, and the things he had always been proud of were nothing but a joke, and he no longer felt superior, and that sense of imbalance turned into jealousy.

"I never thought that just by breaking through the second meridian first, Xiang Qichen's defense would be so broken." To be honest, if it weren't for the possibility of receiving an extra monthly salary, Zhuang Jin might not have revealed it in advance.

"Never mind. As I said before, I won't deliberately do anything, nor will I deliberately not do anything. I will just act at my own pace and according to my own advantages and disadvantages... As for Xiang Qichen, we are not on the same path to begin with, so why should I care?"

"There's just one thing: learn from Bi Kai's mistakes and be more cautious recently."

Now that Zhuang Jin has broken through to the second sutra, as long as he pays attention, it is impossible for him to repeat what happened to Bi Kai like Wang Rui did - the so-called "one sutra, one mountain", "realm first, martial arts later" and other sayings are no joke!

It was only after Zhuang Jin broke through the Second Sutra that he truly and deeply felt the gap between them. Let's put it this way, as long as none of the other seven people in the dormitory broke through the Second Sutra, even if some of them had mastered the Black Evil Palm, even if they all rushed forward, as long as they were not trapped in a special narrow terrain, he could rely on his more powerful and condensed internal energy, the strengthening and blessing it brought, and his reaction, speed, and strength far exceeding theirs, to defeat them one by one with flying kites!

"If no one provokes me, I won't take the initiative to cause trouble, but if someone really does do something unreasonable, don't blame me for being cruel and ruthless." His eyes were deep.

……

Zhuang Jin's breakthrough to the second level of sutra stimulated other people in the dormitory. They all felt a sense of urgency and worked harder this afternoon. Even Jiao Kun was no exception. However, compared with others, the stimulation was slightly weaker for him, but it was better than nothing.

The most special one was Xiang Qichen. He didn't even have dinner with them in the evening. Lin Hong said that he saw the other party leave first and didn't respond when he called him.

After dinner, they practiced more. Today, Qian Wende went directly with Zhuang Jin and the others. However, Xiong Lei went back to rest for a while before going there. Jiao Kun usually did not practice more at night. The strange thing was that Xiang Qichen did not rest for a while before going to the training ground tonight.

Zhuang Jin, Bi Kai, Wu Hao, and Lin Hong who have been with them recently, there is no need to go into details according to their usual pace.

...In the evening, when Zhuang Jin and others came back from the martial arts training ground, they saw Xiang Qichen and Jiao Kun in the dormitory, who had packed some wine and snacks from outside and were drinking and talking.

Xiang Qichen was in a bad mood today and was clearly tipsy. "I'm telling you, when we were martial artists, who was Zhuang Jin? Back then, he and I were in the same training ground, and I was the first one to control the Qi and blood! I was also the first one to become a full-fledged martial artist! Who did Ping Yongfeng value the most back then? It was still me! Xiang Qichen!"

"Brother Xiang, Jinzi and the others are back." Jiao Kun didn't drink much and was still very sober. When he saw Zhuang Jin and the others, his face was quite embarrassed and he whispered to Xiang Qichen.

"What do you mean Brother Xiang? Call me Boss! Don't be like that lapdog Qian Wende!"

Xiang Qichen said this, and then said: "So what if they are back? Even if that brat Zhuang Jin was standing here, I would still say this!"

As he spoke, he took another sip of wine, then turned to look at the door and shouted to Zhuang Jin, "Jinzi, I was just talking about you. Come, come and have a drink with me!"

"No." Zhuang Jin glanced at Xiang Qichen indifferently and turned around.

"You don't even dare to drink, and you're just a sissy. I look down on people like that." Xiang Qichen cursed while half drunk.

Zhuang Jin stopped.

"Okay, Xiang... Boss, you're drunk today, so let's just stop here!" Jiao Kun felt extremely embarrassed to hear people saying bad things in front of him, and he felt as if his face was burning. At this time, he still had some sense and hurried to persuade him, while also explaining that Xiang Qichen was drunk, to comfort Zhuang Jin.

"I'm not drunk!" Xiang Qichen didn't appreciate it. He waved his hand and said, "Kunzi, when you were a martial artist, you were in a different training ground, so you didn't know! I was in the same training ground as Zhuang Jin, so I know!"

"Do you know what that kid was before he came here? He was a beggar! Hahaha, do you know what a beggar was? There's nothing you can do about it. People who come from a beggar background are just like that. You can't respect them..."

Zhuang Jin's face turned slightly cold and he turned around.

Bi Kai also had a grim expression on his face. Zhuang Jin was his savior, and they had been coordinating their actions together over the past month, forming a small group... Xiang Qichen scolding Zhuang Jin at this moment made him feel as if he had been insulted. Out of both conscience and gratitude, he could not stay out of this. He secretly clenched his fists and followed Zhuang Jin half a step behind.

Obviously, if Zhuang Jin wanted to take action, he would not just watch.

"Brother Xiang!" Jiao Kun was so embarrassed that he almost wanted to find a hole to crawl into, and secretly pinched Xiang Qichen.

This made Xiang Qichen wake up a little. He looked at Jiao Kun, then at Zhuang Jin and the others, realizing the current situation. He felt a little embarrassed, but he was half drunk, and in this dazed state, he cared most about his reputation. So he still stiffened his neck and said, "Am I wrong? Zhuang Jin was born a beggar. Last month..."

Zhuang Jin narrowed his eyes and was about to step forward, but at this moment another person rushed out even faster.

Snapped!
Qian Wende slapped Xiang Qichen in the face: "Xiang Qichen, I misjudged you. How could you say that about Brother Zhuang?!"

Xiang Qichen was stunned and subconsciously covered his beaten face.

The others were also confused and looked at Qian Wende. You know, before today, Qian Wende always called Xiang Qichen "Boss" and was very friendly, like a lackey. On the contrary, his relationship with Zhuang Jin was not very good. The two even had a conflict over changing bunks. Oh, and it was Xiang Qichen who mediated at that time...

I really can't believe that Qian Wende would protect Zhuang Jin so much at this time!
Zhuang Jin had already seen through Qian Wende completely in the afternoon, and now he understood his logic: he just thought that Qian Wende had more potential than Xiang Qichen, and was more worthy of investment and friendship, but he was not very close to Qian Wende, and even the other party's proposal to treat him to a celebration was declined. Therefore, he took this opportunity to use Xiang Qichen as a stepping stone to show his loyalty and take sides!
As we all know, taking sides is always the best opportunity to build closer relationships.

……

(End of this chapter)