Who Am I? Where Am I? (Upper)

Dazed, the world spinning, utterly disoriented, not knowing north from south.

His consciousness felt as if it were shrouded in a deep, dark mist.

In a daze.

He seemed to hear something by his ears, a sharp, sarcastic remark...

"With your background, just obediently be a nobody!"

He seemed to see something before his eyes, a vicious taunt...

"I think you're clueless about your own limits. Do you really think you can become someone of high status?"

Faintly, scenes like dreamlike bubbles flashed in the darkness, as if someone were speaking to him. Though the image was completely blurry, the voice seemed to rise from the deepest part of his heart. So clear, so vivid, he could hear every subtle trace of mockery and disdain.

"Talking about striving upwards, not everyone is qualified. Learning, cultivating, these are things people like you can't even dream of. Don't think I'm talking nonsense, what else do you know besides the common basic Essence Cultivation Technique?"

"With your wealth, buying a basic boxing technique is already the limit. Yes, I admit you've mastered basic boxing techniques, but what good is mastering basic boxing techniques to an excellent level? With just basic boxing techniques, you can't even get into the lowest-level Combat Club. Even if you did, you'd just be throwing money away, not earning a single Star Yuan."

"Even setting aside Strength Arts, you have no prospects in Heart Arts cultivation. Look at this, do you know what this is? This is an Auxiliary Cultivation Manual! Never heard of it, have you? Envious? Of course, with your financial means, you can't even get your hands on my lowest-level Auxiliary Cultivation Manual. Without an Auxiliary Cultivation Manual, how many lifetimes will it take you to cultivate the first level of the Six Fundamental Mind Arts?"

"The Minor Provincial Examination is not far off. Can you afford Body Nourishing Essence Food? How long will it take you to achieve Condensing Essence into a Ball? Can you get an Auxiliary Cultivation Manual? How long will it take you to cultivate at least two of the Six Fundamental Mind Arts to the second level? I doubt you can even qualify for one. Without qualification, you won't even have the right to participate in the Minor Provincial Examination."

"If the Minor Provincial Examination fails, you won't be able to continue your studies. Do you have any other path to take?"

"If Strength Arts are no good, where can you join a good gang? If Heart Arts are no good, where can you get into a big corporation? If good gangs and big corporations don't want you, where will you find resources? In twenty, thirty years, others might have soared to success, while you'll just be wallowing in the dust."

"However, you can't really blame yourself for this; you have to blame fate."

"It's not just you; everyone's background matters. Take Young Master Shen, for example. Perhaps he's had Body Nourishing Essence Food for every meal since childhood, with Scholars guiding him daily, and Auxiliary Cultivation Manuals filling his entire bookshelf. Things others can't even imagine in their dreams. As for me, I'm not much better than you. But unlike you, I know how to read the room and know when to bow down."

"If I hadn't wholeheartedly served Brother Chong, I wouldn't have had access to Auxiliary Cultivation Manuals with my own abilities. And people like you, who grew up in an orphanage, are even less fortunate. It has nothing to do with how hard you try; the orphanage simply can't provide you with any support."

"The orphanage director sends a few people over every year, seemingly giving you a little hope, a path. But I'm telling you, without resource support, this so-called path of yours has been a dead end from the very beginning—a path to poverty and ruin."

"If your fate is not good, then don't talk about integrity or dignity. If you're stubborn and tough, you'll only end up with your head smashed and bones broken."

"If you were born into a wealthy family, this would be called striving for progress. But you're not, so you're just being reckless and ungrateful."

"And those who are ungrateful rarely meet a good end..."

Then, he seemed to see a provocation, an unfair fight, which eventually escalated into a beating. He saw himself fighting with all his might, but ultimately, his cultivation was too low, and he was severely humiliated.

Pain and humiliation coexisted, unwillingness and despair arrived together.

The voices faded, the images disappeared, and his consciousness seemed to return to that darkness. But at the very bottom of the darkness, there was a flame, expanding like an explosion.

Anger, anger, anger at his own situation.

Anger, anger, anger at the mockery and ridicule.

But the most infuriating thing wasn't what those people said; it was that even he, deep down, couldn't deny that the person was... right.

His background was indeed poor. Let alone support in cultivation, even simply surviving required him to fight with all his might. How could someone like him compete with those from good backgrounds? How could he stand before that person and tell him with pride that there's always a way out, that anything is possible through effort?

The Minor Provincial Examination is not far off. It seems I really can't do it...

But... but... but...

I still...

Unwilling—!!

A colossal rage exploded like the creation of heaven and earth, instantly tearing through the mist and darkness shrouding his consciousness. His consciousness regained control of his body, and with a sudden opening of his eyes, light rushed towards him. He pushed off with his legs and sprang to his feet. His eyes wide with disbelief, a surge of injustice erupted from his heart, rushing up his throat. Unable to bear it any longer, a long roar burst forth.

"Ah—!!"

Clang, crash, a mess of sounds, then silence.

Light entered his eyes, his pupils adjusting to the incoming light, quickly clarifying the dazzling scene. As his roar ended, the scene before him also became clear. Upon seeing everything before him, Shi Tiexin froze.

This was not any place he had imagined.

He thought that when he woke up, he would be in his dilapidated room, or perhaps a kind person would have taken him to the hospital, or maybe he would have been left unnoticed in a garbage can in a back alley. The garbage can was the most likely scenario, as he had no money for medical insurance and wouldn't have automatic medical services responding.

But the scene before him was wrong.

Extremely wrong.

So wrong that Shi Tiexin, who had just been shouting and filled with righteous indignation, was instantly dumbfounded.

—This was a bright room, filled with neatly arranged wooden desks. The desks had peculiar styles, with four wooden legs and two table holes, quite ancient in design, like props from dramas depicting the early eras and the great development of the central star.

Behind the desks sat young men and women, two to a table, sharing the same style of ancient wooden bench. Though he saw them for the first time, words like "classmate" and "desk mate" immediately surfaced in his mind, and he felt no sense of unfamiliarity, as if he had long been accustomed to such a life.

Were these people students?

Some information flashed through his mind again, and Shi Tiexin immediately understood. These people were indeed students, but they weren't called students here; they were called "High School Students."

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