Promise!

Chapter 57, Three Scriptures (Two in One)

After parting with Bi Kai and others, Zhuang Jin came to the Huangzi No. 7 Martial Arts Training Ground. This month he was in the Huangzi No. 7 Martial Arts Training Ground. Last month, it became a habit, so he came here in advance to check on his Kailuo Soup.

The maid who distributed the Kailuo Soup this month was not Chen Yun. Last month, she was the one who took over the tasks left by Ni Ying. This was a strange little maid: she was a head shorter than Zhuang Jin, with a petite figure and a face... tender and a little childish, with small canine teeth, so cute.

Zhuang Jin took a look, nodded slightly, and then looked away. After what happened with Ni Ying, there was no longer any ripple in his heart.

The maidservant had prepared the meridian-opening soup for the martial artists, and there was more than a bowl left. She gave it to Zhuang Jin and said, "My name is Yu Xiaoxiao. It's not the Xiao that means big or small, but the Xiao that means dawn. Master Zhuang, thank you for coming to watch over me today. Could you come earlier this month and help watch over me? I'll bring you apricot blossom cake in exchange. How about that?"

Zhuang Jin looked at the other person. He didn't expect that this young man could speak so directly. He quite appreciated his straightforward attitude and his willingness to exchange ideas. Besides, he was already focused on Kailuo Soup, so it was no big deal. He agreed, "Okay!"

"That's refreshing, you're such a nice guy!"

When Yu Xiaoxiao heard Zhuang Jin agree, she happily gave him a good person card and said, "Sister Yun said you are a good person, and Sister Lan and the others also said you are pretty. It turns out what they said is true. You are a pretty person with a good heart."

"Uh, thank you." Zhuang Jin felt a little embarrassed by the direct compliment. Although these were all true, the girl spoke very nicely.

Yu Xiaoxiao glanced around outside the martial arts training ground and added, "I also know that there's a martial artist named Xiong who's been coming here every morning for the past month, causing Sister Yun quite a bit of trouble. And let me tell you, Sister Yun's clearly refusing. That martial artist has absolutely no sense of self-awareness or propriety!"

"It's just that Sister Yun is kind-hearted and considerate of others' feelings. If it were me, I would have just scolded her and sent her away. Who doesn't know what a person like that is? You like someone, but you don't even ask if they like you back! Just think about whether you're worthy enough!"

Zhuang Jin looked at the petite maid. She was a little... sharp-tongued and spoke without mercy, but she also had a clear distinction between love and hate. After handing over the bowl, the other party said goodbye and left.

Then he asked the new batch of martial artists of this month to line up, introduce themselves and then began to teach.

After the past month, he has become very proficient: "The foundation of a warrior lies in his inner energy..."

After a brief explanation and a formulaic demonstration of the martial artist's power, leaving prints on a wooden board, which shocked many people, he began to teach the standing meditation.

Zhuang Jin finished the exercise once and asked, "Do you remember it?"

At this time, the following martial artists were secretly excited: "Here it comes! The martial artists will be selected to come on stage for individual instruction. It's almost here!"

Because the recruitment of martial artists has been going on for six or seven times, the details of many martial artists who failed the assessment and entered the Shen family to learn martial arts, as well as the personalities of the martial arts instructors, are no longer a secret. Some martial artists with sharp minds have even begun to compile booklets for sale, including the precautions for entering the Shen family to learn martial arts, the teaching methods and personalities of the martial arts instructors.

Therefore, some of the martial artists below know that teaching martial artists is different. Some teach standing meditation by just following a formula to practice together, while others will let people go on stage to practice and give individual guidance.

For example, Zhuang Jin, who is one of the better martial artists, will give individual guidance to martial artists. In terms of personality, he likes people who work hard and will give them more opportunities.

At this time, these martial artists who thought they had figured out Zhuang Jin's character were ready to wait for Zhuang Jin to ask, "Who is willing to come up and demonstrate?" and immediately raised their hands to take advantage of this opportunity. Especially when they thought about the other people's confusion, talk, and ridicule, while they were gaining benefits despite the ridicule and secret attacks, they became even more excited.

The reality is that Zhuang Jin asked, and before they could speak, he said directly: "I guess no one has memorized it yet? I will lead everyone to practice together."

Those martial artists who were ready to go, some even had their hands half-raised:???
This was an unexpected move that left them all dumbfounded.

"Last month, I asked someone to come on stage for a rehearsal, and they made me poop. So, why bother asking someone to come on stage and give me individual instructions? It's such a thankless task. Isn't it better to just do it easily?"

Zhuang Jin was pondering inwardly, when he suddenly noticed the strange reactions of a few martial artists. His mind turned slightly, and he seemed to understand something. He glanced at the martial artist who had his hand half-raised with a half-smile, and after the other party put his hand down in disappointment, he ignored the doubtful expressions on the faces of some of them and led all the martial artists to practice together.

Just like last month, after one stick of incense had passed, he left.

……

It was in the outer courtyard of the Shen family that Yu Xiaoxiao and Zhuang Jin talked about Xiong Lei.

In the north of the city, in a house on the street where Xiong Lei was working this month.

Xiong Lei saw a martial artist who had just started learning martial arts last month come to a meeting. Uninformed, he sat on a chair and was kicked to the ground by another veteran martial artist. He rolled on his back like a toad, looking utterly miserable. Even so, the veteran martial artist pointed at his nose and cursed, "Why don't you take a piss and look in the mirror? You think you can sit on this chair? Bah!"

"Don't you think the chairs in the front look newer and better? The age, quality, and order of these chairs represent one's status and the amount of benefits allocated to them."

An old warrior who looked to be in his fifties or sixties, with wrinkles on his face from the work of a knife and an axe, and wearing a gray robe with patterns, looked at Xiong Lei and taught him, "This is the first lesson I'm teaching you: everyone wants good things, but it depends on whether you have the strength, qualifications, and whether you are worthy of them!"

This man is Old Chen. Today, Xiong Lei assigned him here. Xiong Dabing brought his son here and met him in the team of their street.

Old Chen was one of the regular customers of Xiong Dadan's meat stall. Xiong Dadan was a generous and magnanimous person, so he naturally wanted to make friends with this kind of warrior and had some ties with him. When they met today by chance, Xiong Dadan gave Old Chen some money and asked him to take care of his son and give him some advice. That's how it happened.

Xiong Lei subconsciously wanted to speak up to stop the fight, but he held back because he remembered his father's instructions. However, he still said to Old Chen, "Uncle Chen, we are all in the same team. Even if you are sitting in the wrong seat, just tell me. There is no need to bully me like this!"

"Not really? Haha! You're still young!"

Old Chen paused, then asked, "I saw you were about to speak. Why? You want to meddle in other people's business? I'm telling you, shut up! This is the second lesson I'm teaching you: people who meddle in other people's business die quickly!"

Seeing Xiong Lei's innocent and confused expression, he sighed softly inwardly, thinking to himself, 'It's not easy to take Xiong Dadan's money.' After thinking for a moment, he said, "Leizi, let me ask you a question. If there is a conflict between me and the team, and I am not in the right, what will you do? Will you stand on my side, or on the other side, or will you stand aside and mediate?"

He knew how to do this. Xiong Lei felt a dull pain in his ears and immediately said, "Stand on Uncle Chen's side."

"That's right, you have some brains. This is the third lesson I'm teaching you. You have to know where you stand. People say you should side with what's right, not your relatives, but the truth is: you should side with your relatives, not with what's right!"

Old Chen said earnestly, "Remember these principles I taught you. At least, you won't offend others without knowing why, and die without knowing how."

Xiong Lei listened, not quite understanding what was said. He scratched his head and felt a little itchy on his scalp.

...At the beginning of a new month, Zhuang Jin, like last month, taught for one stick of incense in the morning and afternoon, and left at the appointed time. He focused his main energy on improving his cultivation level, which lasted for about five hours every day, and an extra hour in the evening to practice martial arts.

Oh, there was a small episode in the first few days. Zhuang Jin discovered that whenever he came in the morning or afternoon, some martial artists would come up to him and try their best to perform. Maybe they saw that the hard-working martial artist who was selected last month for guidance wanted to follow his example?
The key point is that the acting is so poor that it is unbearable to watch.

Zhuang Jin ignored these martial artists who were like male peacocks with their tails spread out. Instead, he picked out two other martial artists who he liked and gave them individual instructions on stage to wash his eyes. He continued to teach the other martial artists the same way. This disappointed the martial artists who tried hard to perform and made them feel extremely resentful. It was not until they gradually mastered the standing meditation after a few days that they stopped.

After that, there is nothing more to say.

When life becomes regular, time flies by like a white horse passing by. In a blink of an eye, half a month has passed.

The time came to February 23rd.

That morning, Zhuang Jin led a group of martial artists in practicing Zhuang Gong twice. Suddenly, one of them raised his hand and said, "Master Zhuang, I've broken through to become a formal martial artist."

After saying this, he picked up a piece of wood and left his mark on it.

"Ok!"

Zhuang Jin nodded and looked. This was one of the people who had flirted in front of him at the beginning of the month. His name seemed to be Zhou Chao. However, now that he had broken through to become a formal warrior, he suddenly felt that this person was much more pleasing to the eye. After all, he had helped him complete the minimum target for this month!

"Move your bedding to the official warriors, and then register at the General Affairs Department!"

"Yes, Master Zhuang!"

Zhou Chao excitedly agreed and turned to leave. When he reached the entrance to the martial arts training ground, he suddenly stopped, mustered up the courage to turn around, and shouted to Zhuang Jin, "Master Zhuang, I became a formal martial artist because of my own aptitude. If you hadn't guided me, I wouldn't be grateful to you!"

What he meant was that his becoming a formal warrior had nothing to do with Zhuang Jin.

There's a deeper meaning: You mentored the other two martial artists individually, but not me. Now I'm a full-fledged martial artist, but they haven't. You're embarrassed, aren't you? Furthermore, he's already a full-fledged martial artist, at the First Sutra level, while you, as his teacher, are only at the Second Sutra level. Seeing his genius, Zhuang Jin... do you regret it?
When saying this, Zhou Chao indeed had a kind of refreshing feeling in his heart similar to "Thirty years in the east, thirty years in the west, don't bully the young and poor".

When the other martial artists heard this, they all looked towards Zhou Chao, and then towards Zhuang Jin. Although they didn't dare to make any small movements or comments, most of them had expressions of watching the fun.

To be honest, there were only two people whom Zhuang Jin had instructed individually, and most of them were taught by the same professor. It was impossible for them to say that they didn't feel unhappy or even resentful. Now, many of them even admired, respected and envied Zhou Chao's actions.

Zhuang Jin looked at Zhou Chao and nodded: "Oh, okay."

Did he need Zhou Chao's gratitude? Helping him meet his targets was enough.

As for the other person saying this, would he feel that it challenges his authority and feels offensive?
Zhuang Jin is not a petty person, and no one has slandered him. He has indeed never given Zhou Chao any individual guidance. If he doesn't want to thank you, then don't thank him!

He was also clear that he only had to work for an incense stick of time every morning and afternoon to complete his basic duties and then leave. He really didn't take this job too seriously. What others said was also true. He was still tolerant and would not think that others were disobedient and deserved death if they slightly disagreed or contradicted him!

After Zhou Chao finished speaking, he stared at Zhuang Jin's expression. He thought Zhuang Jin would be angry, broken, furious, or something like that... Of course, he didn't think Zhuang Jin would attack him.

But he didn't see anything, as if he had finally managed to come up with a powerful move, but it didn't cause any harm to the opponent. He wanted to say something, but when he met Zhuang Jin's pair of extremely calm eyes, as deep as an ancient well, he subconsciously felt guilty and avoided them. He forgot the words that were on the tip of his tongue, turned around and hurried away, looking a little embarrassed.

Zhuang Jin looked at Zhou Chao's back, shook his head slightly, and sighed in his heart: "It's great to be young, so... cute!"

Maybe Zhou Chao thought he was brave and challenging authority, but in his eyes, he was just a silly and adorable young man.

Mentally mature adults will never show their thoughts on their faces. Even if they want to fight to the death, they can still greet each other with a smile when necessary... especially when they are not as strong as them.

Let’s put it this way, if Zhuang Jin is really a vengeful and grudge-bearing person, Zhou Chao’s actions will cause him big trouble and he will pay a heavy price for it.

"Perhaps you think that breaking through to the level of a Formal Warrior means you have great talent and will soar to the sky from now on? But the truth is, becoming a Formal Warrior, or even reaching that level, is just another beginning."

"If this kind of character doesn't grow up in the future, reality will teach him a lesson," Zhuang Jin thought to himself.

After Zhou Chao left, Zhuang Jin continued teaching and left after one stick of incense.

He really didn't care about the farce that happened this morning and was not affected by it at all. He was even in a pretty good mood today because he had been practicing hard for more than a month and the Three Sutras realm was already in sight.

……

That evening.

After practicing during the day, Zhuang Jin felt that he was still a little short of perfection, so he did not practice martial arts as usual, but continued to refine the Black Yuan Powder, preparing to make a breakthrough in the three classics today.

In the quiet room, he silently practiced meditation, and his internal energy circulated and condensed in the meridians.

Finally, a slight swelling feeling came from the two meridians. This familiar feeling made Zhuang Jin realize that he had completed the accumulation of his second meridian realm!
"Break through the three classics, right now!"

Zhuang Jin took a deep breath and mobilized his internal energy to go towards the third meridian, the Hand Taiyang Meridian. There was no obstruction or stagnation. For others, it would take a lot of effort to break through the bottleneck, but he did not feel it. He passed through it directly and his internal energy entered the third meridian.

Following the route of the meditation method, the internal energy circulates through the three meridians of the hand Shaoyang meridian, the hand Shaoyin meridian, and the hand Taiyang meridian, and is quickly purified and condensed, finally entering a new level.

The realm of the three classics...is achieved!
……

(End of this chapter)