Home

Northern Base City was a rectangle a hundred li long and eighty li wide. The North District accounted for one-fifth of the city's area, yet housed half its population. It was a typical civilian district.

In the land-starved Base City, those who lived in single-story homes were rich, while those in high-rises were poor. To make full use of space, the civilian district was packed with neat, square buildings dozens of stories tall. Every family lived in a cramped space.

No matter how crowded it was, people would not leave Base City. Beyond its towering walls lay a world overrun by monsters, a forbidden zone for ordinary people. Only powerful Martial Artists could survive outside.

Lin Zhen passed through an alley and, following his memories, quickly found the apartment building where his family lived.

This building is thirty stories tall. To save electricity and space, it does not even have an elevator. The higher up you live, the poorer you are. My family lives on the twenty-eighth floor.

Dad, Lin Liye, should be back by now. He usually sells breakfast downstairs in the neighborhood, and he is probably at home preparing tomorrow's soy milk and steamed buns.

Mom should be doing handicrafts. She has no job and can only earn a little living money each day from her embroidery. Her income is pitifully low. Everything they earned went toward my education.

Lin Zhen entered the dim stairwell and climbed step by step toward the twenty-eighth floor.

In my previous life, I practiced martial arts desperately so I could move my parents out of this slum. Although my graduation exam scores met the standard, Ouyang Yu sabotaged me. After joining Azure Sky Martial Hall, I was delayed for half a year before becoming an official student. It took another year before I could move my parents out of this neighborhood. By then, years of hard work had already left them with lasting illnesses, and they never fully recovered.

This time, the outcome will not be the same.

Lost in thought, Lin Zhen had already arrived at his door.

He had not seen his parents for a very, very long time, and Lin Zhen felt somewhat stirred.

Still, he quickly calmed himself. He had lived a long life before, and his mental age was truly too old. He had also witnessed too many grand scenes to lose control of his emotions.

He felt around in his pocket and pulled out an antique-looking key.

This kind of security door was supposedly a product from the Anno Domini Era. It could only guard against ordinary people. Anyone with even a little lockpicking skill could open it. It was only suitable for slums. Wealthy families had long since started using advanced sensor doors developed by the Base City Science and Technology Department.

He inserted the key into the lock and opened the door, and the aroma of food washed over him.

In the cramped little home, his father, Lin Liye, was making soy milk with an old-fashioned soy milk machine. To Lin Zhen, the machine was ancient beyond belief, but it was this family's hope. Without it, Lin Zhen likely would not even have been able to complete his basic education.

His mother was cooking at a gas stove. A carp simmered fragrantly in the pot, but Lin Zhen knew that even this fish had been traded for with his mother's embroidery. His parents had been unwilling to eat it themselves.

"Dad, Mom, I'm back." Lin Zhen forced a smile.

"My son is back. Hurry and wash your hands. Your mom stewed fish, and dinner will be ready soon." Lin Liye greeted his son with a smile. His son was their family's hope. Although Lin Liye hoped more that Lin Zhen would become a military researcher, he knew his son wanted to become a Martial Artist.

His mother, Li Qin, came over as well and took off Lin Zhen's outer coat for him. "You must be tired. Get some rest. The exam is coming up soon, so do not put too much pressure on yourself. The family can still get by."

"Don't worry, Dad, Mom. I'm fine. The exam is nothing to me."

Lin Zhen quickly returned to normal. Smiling, he took off his shoes and entered the room, wanting to help his parents with their work, but they refused to let him do anything and told him to tidy himself up first.

The home was only forty square meters. The living room, kitchen, and his parents' bedroom were essentially one room. There was also a small bathroom and a tiny partitioned bedroom, which was Lin Zhen's private space.

Back in his long-missed little nest, Lin Zhen lay down on the hard plank bed and curled his lips. Although Martial Artists had endured every kind of hardship, he truly had not slept on a bed like this for far too long and found it somewhat unfamiliar.

There was still a while before dinner, so the first thing Lin Zhen did was assess his own condition.

Lin Zhen still remembered his exact situation when he graduated from high school. His Cultural Class grades had been good, and the current Cultural Class was not difficult either. There was historical knowledge, including the history of the Anno Domini Era, followed by God Transformation Day and the major events that occurred after the God Transformation Calendar began. It was all rote memorization, nothing Lin Zhen could not handle.

Then there was knowledge about Mutated Beasts, which Lin Zhen understood better than anyone.

Most importantly, there were the physical statistics. When high school graduates applied to the major Martial Halls, there were strict standards for admitting students.

The three physical statistics were punch strength, punch speed, and Neural Reaction. The passing standard for punch strength was 200 kg. That was the admission line; anything below it was unqualified.

For punch speed, one had to throw no fewer than five punches per second at no less than eighty percent of one's maximum strength to pass.

If your punch strength was 200 kg, then you had to throw five punches of no less than 160 kg within one second to reach the passing line. Those counted as effective punches.

Neural Reaction referred to the evasive movement one could make when under attack. The passing line was 0.1 seconds. Anyone who failed to react within that time was unqualified.

Martial Halls recruited disciples based on these three fundamental standards. If all of them met the mark, a Martial Hall would generally accept you. Cultural Class was only supplementary, though one could not be too ignorant either.

If one category fell short but another was exceptionally outstanding, there was still a chance of being accepted.

Lin Zhen remembered that his left-hand punch strength was currently 206 kg, his right-hand punch strength was 232 kg, his punch speed was 5.3 per second, and his Neural Reaction was 0.096. He had barely passed in every category.

Precisely because of that, despite meeting the standards, he had not received much attention from the Martial Halls, allowing Ouyang Yu's interference to succeed. If he had been talented enough, then no matter how Ouyang Yu tried to interfere, it would have been useless.

If I want to change my fate, I have to accomplish something in this graduation exam. I cannot let Ouyang Yu have his way again.

There are still three days left. Within three days, I must improve my strength. At the very least, I need to reach a level where the Martial Halls will not bow to Ouyang Yu. That is the most basic requirement.

As for Ouyang Yu, this time, I'll have some fun with you.

And An Ning.