Most of the countless civilians in the Holy Light Empire had their life paths set in stone.
A civilian child would usually enter a local primary academy at the age of six or seven to study literature and train in martial arts. On one hand, they needed to master knowledge in mathematics, science, literature, and politics; on the other, they had to cultivate physical techniques and combat skills.
Primary academies followed an eight-year program. Eight years were enough to reveal a person's talent, intelligence, and ability.
If they showed talent in martial arts, they would naturally enter the martial department of a middle school for further study. Three years later, once they passed the martial arts examination for higher academies and obtained professional certification, their future would undoubtedly be bright.
Those without talent for martial arts but with sufficiently high intelligence could also specialize in civil studies, and their future employment prospects would likewise be highly promising.
If they succeeded in neither literature nor martial arts, they could only enter society early and take up exhausting, low-status work, or risk heading to newly discovered planets to clear wilderness and open up new lands.
The Empire did not support idlers. In this vast nation, everyone could find their place.
The person Wang Chen had descended into this time—Lu Yuan—had some talent in martial arts and was exceptionally diligent. He had therefore prepared to take next month's martial arts examination for higher academies.
His childhood sweetheart, Mu Yu, studied in the literary department. Her grades at Third Middle School were slightly below average, and she had almost no hope of getting into a higher academy's civil program.
Then Mu Yu got together with a repeater from their school—the very Zhang Zhaocheng who had fought Lu Yuan on the arena earlier.
This Senior