The Gap Between Reality and Ideals

"Tell him to wait for me on the lawn east of the residential complex." A cool, pleasant voice came through the video call. Naturally, Wang Yi could not see her face from this angle, but a beautiful visage had already surfaced in his mind.

Only after the security guards at the entrance contacted the resident for confirmation did they allow Wang Yi inside.

Wang Yi walked in and arrived at the lawn on the eastern side, dotted with flowers and trees. After waiting quietly for a while, he saw a young girl in a tracksuit with a ponytail walking over. She was very beautiful, with a slender figure, but her expression was somewhat cold, giving off an air that strangers should keep their distance. There was also a reserved arrogance about her.

Judging from her appearance, she was probably around Wang Yi's age, one of his peers.

"I feel like there was something wrong with the Body Movement I practiced yesterday." She spoke directly as soon as she approached.

"Let me see." Wang Yi did not waste words either.

After nearly a year of knowing each other, they had come to understand each other's personalities fairly well.

Whoosh!

Wang Yi stepped forward and suddenly chopped out with a punch. His fist shot out like a cannonball, even carrying the sound of tearing air.

The ponytailed girl's gaze sharpened, and her body instantly sprang backward as if fitted with springs.

Wang Yi followed close behind with another slanting kick, aiming for the girl's opening. His target was her stomach, and he seemed utterly merciless.

After only a few exchanges, just as the girl was finding it hard to breathe and could barely endure any longer, Wang Yi suddenly stopped.

The strands of hair on the ponytailed girl's forehead had become slightly disheveled. A faint flush colored her jade-like face, and her breathing was a little hurried, giving her a delicate and alluring appearance.

Wang Yi remained unmoved by the sight before him and said calmly, "There were several mistakes in your movements just now..."

An hour of tutoring quickly passed.

By the time Wang Yi left the villa complex, it was already past six, and the sky had turned dark.

The streetlights along the road had already lit up, casting a hazy glow.

Wang Yi walked alone through the streets and alleys, suddenly feeling lonely.

"I've been doing this tutoring job for nearly a year. It'll probably be ending soon." Wang Yi felt a little wistful.

Wang Yi's family circumstances were not very good. His parents were both ordinary people with very low monthly wages. On top of the expenses for Wang Yi's schooling and training, their already difficult household finances had been burdened even further. Watching his parents work from dawn until night every day without a moment of rest, Wang Yi did not feel good about it.

Fortunately, after officially obtaining the qualifications of an Advanced Martial Arts Student a year ago, he had found a tutoring job through the kind female classmate who knew about his situation, via one of her friends. The work involved guiding the other party in practicing Body Movement and other things... The pay was 150 per hour, five days a week, with Saturdays and Sundays depending on the situation. Usually, he taught for one or two hours at a time. Altogether, he could earn around 4,500 to 6,000 a month. The income was high and the work easy. If Wang Yi had not been an Advanced Martial Arts Student, he never would have found such a generous job.

"An Advanced Martial Arts Student alone can earn this much, let alone a Martial Artist above that. Unfortunately, I'm still far from meeting the standards of a Quasi-Warrior." Wang Yi felt heavy-hearted.

As a transmigrator who knew the plot of the original novel, he might not remember every detail clearly, but he still knew the general storyline. He was especially familiar with the Earth arc at the beginning of Swallowed Star.

Unfortunately, even though he knew it, he lacked the ability to change anything.

The reason Luo Feng could achieve that level in the original novel was, first, because he was the protagonist, born with the protagonist's halo. Second, because he himself was a Peerless Genius. He awakened Mental Power at eighteen and possessed the greatest Mental Master talent on Earth. After that, he advanced at breakneck speed, encountered extraordinary opportunities, and reached the peak of Earth in just a few short years... How could Wang Yi, who had worked desperately for more than ten years just to earn the qualifications of an Advanced Martial Arts Student, possibly compare to that kind of strength?

There was simply no comparison.

Sometimes, Wang Yi even wanted to give up. Maybe it would be fine to live out an ordinary life like this.

But whenever he thought about how he had been fortunate enough to transmigrate into this world, knew full well what would happen in its future history, yet could not play any role at all and could only watch helplessly, he felt deeply unwilling.

In his previous life, he had worked very hard and still ended up an ordinary person. Was he going to repeat the path of his past life now and remain an ordinary person?

Wang Yi clenched his fists, took a deep breath, and looked toward the distant sky where white clouds drifted leisurely.

Beside the busy street, a young man stood alone for a long time without moving, gazing up at the sky. Yet no one knew what he was thinking.

Wang Yi did not choose to go home. Instead, he came to the district Martial Arts School.

The Limit Martial Arts School, the largest Martial Arts School on Earth, had been founded by the world's strongest man, Hong.

Beep! Wang Yi swiped his student card at the main entrance and entered the Martial Arts School grounds.

Along the way, whenever other students saw the Advanced Student badge on Wang Yi's chest, those who were not Advanced Students, regardless of gender or age, would stop and reveal respectful expressions, greeting Wang Yi one after another.

"Senior Brother!"

"Hello, Senior Brother!"

Some who knew Wang Yi directly called him "Senior Brother Wang."

Within the Martial Arts School, students were divided into Beginner Students, Intermediate Students, and Advanced Students. There was no need to mention Beginner Students, as they were the most numerous. There were also several thousand Intermediate Students, while the entire district Martial Arts School had only a little over a hundred Advanced Students in total.

For Wang Yi to become an Advanced Student through his own efforts despite his ordinary family background was indeed impressive, and he had earned the respect of many people in the Martial Arts School.

Inside the Martial Arts School grounds stood three enormous silver-white buildings, shaped like three spaceships.

The three giant buildings were the Beginner Student Teaching Building, the Intermediate Student Teaching Building, and the Advanced Student Teaching Building.

The first and second floors of the Advanced Student Teaching Building were both large teaching halls.

However, Wang Yi went directly to the third floor. Only Advanced Students were qualified to come up here.

On the third floor was a large Training Hall, a full hundred meters long and wide. At this moment, there were already more than a dozen people here.

"Wang Yi!"

"Haha, you came too, kid."

"Little Yi Yi, want to go out for a drink with your big sister later? My treat."

The people exercising or chatting and resting in the large Training Hall saw Wang Yi appear and warmly greeted him.

A few young women with good looks and shapely figures even teased him openly.

According to the Martial Arts School's rules, one could only become a Martial Arts School Student and begin training at sixteen. After turning thirty, one was forbidden from continuing to study at the Martial Arts School and taking up teaching resources.

Everyone before him was in their twenties, but Wang Yi was only eighteen!

Although he was not as formidable as Luo Feng, who could take on three opponents alone, his strength was still quite impressive.

Especially among the five Advanced Students at his high school, Wang Yi was probably truly the strongest one.

Young and full of potential, these Advanced Students valued Wang Yi greatly and were happy to build good relations with him.

Wang Yi smiled and greeted these acquaintances as well. As for the teasing from those women, his expression remained calm and unchanged.

After greeting them, Wang Yi walked straight to the two Punch Force Testers placed side by side in a corner of the Training Hall. He turned on the equipment, then stood before the Punching Target, took a deep breath, calmed his heart, sensed his body's condition, mobilized the strength of every muscle, clenched his fist fiercely, lowered himself into a diving stance, and suddenly threw a punch!

Bang!!

Wang Yi's right fist whistled through the air and struck the black Punching Target heavily.

The Punching Target trembled slightly, and then a number appeared on the screen beside it—

789kg

Wang Yi looked at the number and slowly withdrew his fist, but his heart was filled with disappointment.

"There's no time left."