I have a martial arts panel.

The next day.

In the morning, Tao Qingping and Xu Ning both made their beds.

"Let's go eat!"

Tao Qingping once again asked Xu Ning to go to the public kitchen.

Tao Qingping didn't get a good night's sleep because she didn't eat dinner last night.

Xu Ning felt a little better, but she still felt hungry.

"Xu Ning."

Xu Ning and Tao Qingping had just stepped out when they encountered other members of Tao Family Village.

Everyone took the initiative to greet Xu Ning.

Xu Ning responded politely to all of them.

Xu Ning's popularity is largely due to yesterday's conflict.

During yesterday's brawl, almost every person from Taojiazhuang noticed Xu Ning appearing beside them. Xu Ning would kick or punch them, and regardless of whether it was actually lethal, just seeing a comrade-in-arms appear beside them was enough to evoke goodwill.

Furthermore, after the conflict ended, everyone saw Tao Qingyuan take the initiative to approach Xu Ning, which also subtly enhanced Xu Ning's status in everyone's hearts.

"You bastard!"

Upon arriving at the public kitchen, Xu Ning and his group encountered people from Tan Family Village.

Enemies meeting are bound to be filled with hatred.

However, since they had already been warned, neither side engaged in further conflict.

Xu Ning didn't come for lunch yesterday; this was her first time coming to the public kitchen.

Xu Ning first took a look around and found that the food here was surprisingly good.

The meat here is served in large bowls; you can take as much as you want, there's no limit.

This is breakfast, and it's already so lavish.

Xu Ning took a flatbread, a plate of pork leg, and a bowl of congee.

He found Tao Qingping and sat down with him. Just as he sat down, Tao Qingyuan also arrived and sat down next to Xu Ning.

"Look at the way those people from Tanjiazhuang are looking at us, they wish they could eat us alive."

Tao Qingping lowered his voice.

"Don't you want to eat them too?"

Xu Ning replied with a smile.

"The people from Songjiazhuang arrived yesterday evening." Tao Qingyuan stuffed a piece of biscuit into his mouth. "Now, apart from a few new members from villages outside the county town, I reckon everyone has arrived."

Xu Ning looked around and found that the communal kitchen was already quite crowded.

Everyone was selectively gathering together; they were clearly sticking together.

"Tao Jin, sit here."

While they were eating, Tao Qingyuan suddenly called out.

Xu Ning looked up and saw Tao Jin and three girls carrying trays, but they hadn't found a seat yet.

Tao Qingyuan called out, and Tao Jin and the others came over.

Xu Ning and Tao Qingping squeezed together a few seats, and the group finally sat down.

Only four women from Taojiazhuang passed the Black Armor Guard's test this time.

After taking their seats, the group nodded to each other briefly and then began to eat.

After Tao Jin took her seat, she sat between Xu Ning and Tao Qingyuan.

Tao Jin silently drank her porridge, neither looking up nor speaking.

"This person..."

Xu Ning always felt that Tao Jin was a very sensitive person, and also a bit arrogant.

Unlike Tao Qingyuan, she was the kind of person whose arrogance was written all over her face.

However, Tao Jin is the granddaughter of the Tao clan chief, so Xu Ning still had to be polite on the surface, but deep down he didn't want to get close to her.

While we were eating, suddenly someone shouted from the entrance of the communal kitchen.

"Listen up, everyone!"

Xu Ning and the others turned around and found that the person who had spoken was the short, stocky, black-armored guard who had been in charge before.

He shouted, "After everyone has eaten, gather at the camp's drill ground. Commander Wei is going to give you a speech."

After saying that, the short, stocky guard in black armor turned and left.

"They all arrived pretty quickly..."

Once Commander Wei finishes his address, everyone will probably begin to perform their duties.

Because of this notice, no one had any appetite.

After taking a few bites, everyone hurriedly went to the training ground.

Nobody wants to leave a belated impression when meeting their superior for the first time.

When they arrived at the drill ground, there were already quite a few people there.

Along the way, people came from all directions, clearly indicating that all the new recruits in the camp had been notified.

"Line up!"

Around Tao Qingyuan, all twenty people from Taojiazhuang had gathered together.

He directed everyone to line up in formation.

Not only Taojiazhuang, but also Songjiazhuang, Tanjiazhuang, and even some newcomers from other clans, have formed their own small groups and banded together.

"Come closer, everyone!"

The black-armored guard in charge reappeared.

He pointed to the distinct gaps between the various groups, gesturing for everyone to move closer.

"When Commander Wei arrives, everyone better behave yourselves. Anyone who whispers during his reprimand will be punished!"

Although no one knew who this person was, they all subconsciously obeyed him because of his commanding tone.

Soon, a squad of black-armored guards entered the training ground.

After they took their positions, everyone fell silent.

Then, a middle-aged man dressed in white entered, accompanied by several other people.

He was thin and had half-white hair; from his appearance alone, he looked very refined.

Among the people surrounding him, besides the short, stocky black-armored guard from before, Xu Ning also saw Xia Yuanxing.

They all followed closely behind the middle-aged man in the white shirt, their faces respectful.

Everyone knew in their hearts that this middle-aged man in white should be Wei Changqing, the leader of the Black Armor Guards in Kangyun County.

"I am Wei Changqing of the Black Armor Guard."

Wei Changqing stood on the stands in front of the drill ground.

From this vantage point, you can see the expressions on everyone's faces below.

Today, I have three things to say.

"First of all, I want to congratulate you on passing the Black Armor Guard's assessment. I hope that in the days to come, you will all perform your duties diligently, cultivate yourselves hard, and become the backbone of our Black Armor Guard and Kangyun County."

Wei Changqing's tone was gentle, but everyone in the vast training ground could hear him.

"The second matter concerns the allocation of resources for you newcomers."

"Our resource allocation is determined based on the level of assessment we received previously."

"Among you, sixty people received gray cards, thirty received blue cards, and ten received yellow cards."

"In addition to their monthly stipend, new recruits with gray badges receive an extra two hundred taels of silver per month; new recruits with blue badges receive an extra two hundred taels of silver plus a swallowtail flower; and new recruits with yellow badges receive an extra two hundred taels of silver per month plus a Green Willow Pill."

After Wei Changqing finished speaking, the newlyweds below all had different expressions.

Those who received gray cards all looked somewhat unwilling. As the lowest-ranking newcomers, their treatment was half that of those with blue cards, and even more so that of those with yellow cards.

Those who received the green medal felt both fortunate and regretful.

Only those who received yellow cards had faint smiles on their faces.

Xu Ning didn't react much to this; he was just curious about the Green Willow Pill that the yellow-card rookie was rewarded with.

Xu Ning had heard of Qingliudan from Guo Ye.

It is a kind of elixir with the same effects as the swallowtail flower, which can strengthen the body for those who practice internal martial arts.

However, pills are the essence of spiritual herbs, and they are expensive and difficult to refine. A single Green Willow Pill is worth five hundred taels of silver, the same price as those precious spiritual herbs.

Therefore, the effects of the pills are better, and the medicinal effects are more easily absorbed after taking them.

An ordinary person can only achieve a maximum utilization rate of 20% of the medicinal efficacy when brewing elixirs, while pills can potentially reach over 50%.

Only someone like Xu Ning, who possesses a martial arts panel, can absorb all the energy from the elixir and then transform it into an improvement in internal or external skills through different advancement mechanisms.

For someone who has just begun practicing internal energy cultivation, even brewing and drinking ten swallowtail flowers might not be enough to break through to the Strength Refinement Realm, but Xu Ning only needs the energy from one swallowtail flower to achieve an improvement.

This is not simply due to the amount of energy absorbed, but rather to the unique advancement mechanism of the martial arts panel.

Therefore, Xu Ning was simply curious about how much energy was contained in the Green Willow Pill.

"I'll come and see Tao Qingyuan when he receives the Green Willow Pill reward..."

Xu Ning was making plans in his mind.

Seeing the different expressions on the newlyweds' faces, Wei Changqing smiled.

"Although the rewards differ depending on the assessment level, the assessment level is not static."

Wei Changqing said, "If you are good enough, your assessment level can be improved later."