The Assessment

What living creature had great strength and would make a suitable sacrifice?

The first thing Cheng Sheng thought of was Dongni, the gray elephant tethered at the entrance to the boxing gym.

Ah, if only he could take Dongni home.

Thinking of the rewards he might obtain by sacrificing Dongni, Cheng Sheng practically salivated...

Unfortunately, that was impossible.

I can't just find another sparrow to fob them off with for the next sacrifice...

Cheng Sheng gestured to Badan that he was going for a drink, then walked out of the muddy training ground, thinking as he went.

The initial sacrifice comes with a hidden bonus. Whether it's the Abyss or the demons, they're especially lenient with a sorcerer performing the ritual for the first time...

But if I keep fobbing them off like that, I could easily narrow the road ahead of me...

A sacrifice was like setting up a stall. At the grand opening-the initial sacrifice-everyone happily came over to show their support, unconcerned with the quality of the goods. After all, it was the first time.

But if, the second and third times... the stall kept offering worthless junk, and the owner dreamed every time of betting small to win big and duping some sucker, then sooner or later, no one would come by anymore.

Once his reputation went bad, obtaining good things from the Abyss in exchange would become very difficult.

I need a proper, respectable sacrifice.

Cheng Sheng found an old tire to sit on, picked up the water bottle beside him, and drank in great gulps.

There were two large vats by the training ground, filled with clean water for the students to help themselves. But too many people drank from them, and it had been raining a lot lately. Cheng Sheng worried that rainwater running into the vats would breed parasites, so he never drank the water in them.

Actually, a crocodile would be pretty good.

Cheng Sheng glanced toward the depths of the martial arts gym.

Crocodiles were very strong. An adult crocodile's bite force was said to reach over 1,500 kilograms, nearly forty times that of an ordinary adult.

And crocodiles were the totem of the Black Killing Boxing Gym. If he sacrificed one, it might even give a certain boost to his Black Killing Style martial arts.

An adult crocodile costs around five thousand Nan Currency on the market. If a villager caught one themselves, it would be a little cheaper, but it still wouldn't be less than four thousand Nan Currency...

Money was a major problem for Cheng Sheng now. The initial sacrifice ritual had nearly exhausted all his "savings," and his pockets were empty. With the major exams over, he no longer had a steady income of spending money. In another couple of days, he would barely be able to afford his daily fare to and from martial arts practice, let alone lunch.

Even if I ask my parents for money, I can't ask for as much as five thousand. I'll still have to ask them for the next term's tuition at the gym... I need to find a way to earn money myself.

But how could an eighteen-year-old who had failed the major exams earn money?

Get a summer job at a milk tea shop?

Or work part-time as a tour guide at his parents' travel agency?

Cheng Sheng was a little troubled.

"If I'd known, I wouldn't have come today..."

As he was thinking, Song Cai, practically a mud man from head to toe, walked over with a woeful expression.

Song Cai, who hadn't been seen for more than ten days, had taken it into his head for some reason to accompany him to class at the gym today, and had even stayed until the afternoon.

Judging by his appearance, he had clearly been treated like a toy and trampled during sparring.

There had been a downpour yesterday, and the ground was extremely wet and slippery today. Those who persisted in attending the combat class under these conditions were mostly students who were genuinely interested in fighting and already had some foundation.

It would have been strange if someone like Song Cai, who fished for three days and dried his nets for two, hadn't gotten beaten up. Whoever had been matched with a noob like him for combat practice was probably even more frustrated, and naturally hadn't gone easy on him.

"Give me a drink."

Song Cai sat down beside him and reached for his water bottle.

Cheng Sheng dodged with a look of disgust. "Go wash up first."

He had expected Song Cai to grab it, but surprisingly, he was unusually well-behaved today. He actually went off to scrape the mud from his face and hands and rinse them clean before coming back.

Cheng Sheng handed him the bottle, his eyes full of suspicion. Song Cai took a sip, then put it down. Lowering his head, he hesitated before speaking. "A... A Sheng..."

"Don't tell me you're trying to borrow money from me?"

"How did you know?!"

Song Cai jerked his head up, his face full of surprise.

"So that really is it!"

Cheng Sheng stood up and looked at Song Cai with an expression that said he didn't know what to say. "Have you gone mad? How many times did you go in ten days? And now you're asking me for a loan... Do I look like I have money?"

He didn't have to ask to guess where Song Cai had spent his money. In the few days since they had last met, his close friend had already degenerated into a seasoned whoremonger.

"What kind of person do you take me for?"

Song Cai grew a little anxious, but the next moment his gaze shifted away again. He stammered, "It's A Yu's birthday next week. She... she told me she wants a new phone..."

"You're actually dating her now?"

Cheng Sheng was utterly speechless. He shook his head and sat down. "You're not even as good as a whoremonger."

"A Yu isn't the kind of person you think she is!"

Seeing his reaction, Song Cai hurried to explain. "She's a good girl! She's actually had it really hard. Those people from the Red Ba Gang forced her..."

Cheng Sheng couldn't be bothered arguing with Song Cai. He considered telling Song Cai's parents about the matter directly later.

Song Cai was clearly being played. If Cheng Sheng woke him up to it now, it wouldn't be too late.

Just then, a deep, resonant voice came from outside the training ground.

"Everyone, stop for a moment."

At the sound of that voice, Song Cai, who had been chattering beside him, immediately shut up. The people sparring on the training ground also stopped, and everyone looked in the same direction.

A tall, straight-backed man stood there, stern as an iron tower. It was Songpa.

It was Songpa's turn to instruct today, and the students who had come to class were far more professional than usual.

Cheng Sheng stood up and listened to Songpa along with everyone else.

"I have an announcement."

Songpa swept his gaze over the crowd and spoke calmly. "Next week, the gym will hold an assessment for formal disciples. Anyone interested can come to me to sign up.

"If you have friends who didn't come to class, please pass the word along to them in private.

"All right, that's it for today's training. Class dismissed."

With that, Songpa turned and left. The crowd immediately erupted, and nearly everyone began discussing it excitedly.

An assessment for formal disciples of the Black Killing Boxing Gym?

It was the first time Cheng Sheng had heard of it, and a strange look came into his eyes.

"A Sheng."

Dark-skinned and sturdy, with a blue cord tied around his head, Badan came over to speak to Cheng Sheng. "Are you going to sign up?"

Cheng Sheng didn't answer immediately. Instead, he asked, "What's the formal disciple assessment? Do you know?"

"Although the Black Killing Boxing Gym offers classes that anyone can attend as long as they pay, it's still a traditional martial arts school. Every so often, it takes in fresh blood.

"Only by passing the assessment and becoming their formal disciple can you be considered a true Black Kill disciple."

Badan had been attending classes at the gym for a long time and knew far more about it than Cheng Sheng. As he explained, a look of longing appeared on his dark, honest face. "What we're learning now is just the most basic stuff in fighting. To put it bluntly, you could learn much the same thing at any martial arts gym.

"But it's different once you become a formal disciple. You get a chance to learn the fighting secrets at the true core of the Black Killing Style and officially go from an amateur fighting enthusiast to a professional boxer.

"And once you become a formal disciple, you don't have to pay tuition anymore. The gym even gives you a monthly allowance. You don't have to worry about anything; all you have to do every day is focus on practicing martial arts..."