Chen Yan

According to Wang Yi's understanding, to become a true Martial Artist, one had to reach the level of a Quasi-Warrior.

As everyone knew, below Martial Artists were Martial Arts School Students, divided by strength standards into Beginner Students, Intermediate Students, and Advanced Students.

The standard for Beginner Students: a punching force of 300 kilograms and a speed of 18 meters per second;

The standard for Intermediate Students: a punching force of 500 kilograms and a speed of 20 meters per second;

The standard for Advanced Students: a punching force of 700 kilograms and a speed of 22 meters per second;

The standard for Quasi-Warriors: a punching force of 900 kilograms and a speed of 25 meters per second.

For an Advanced Student to become a Martial Artist,

they needed to pass two assessments—the first was the Warrior Physical Fitness Assessment, also known as the Quasi-Warrior Assessment. Once they passed, it meant their physical fitness had reached the standard required to become a Martial Artist.

At that point, they were already considered a Quasi-Warrior.

The second assessment was the Warrior Combat Assessment.

Physical fitness alone did not qualify one to become a Martial Artist. Only by passing real combat against monsters could one earn the title of Martial Artist.

Afterward, Wang Yi went to the track beside the Training Hall, activated the testing equipment, and tested his speed. Sure enough, it was only "22.9 m/s."

To pass the Quasi-Warrior Assessment, punching force, speed, and Neural Reaction Speed all had to meet the standard.

Clearly, Wang Yi still had some way to go.

Wang Yi was not in a very good mood.

My current strength should be about the same as Luo Feng, the original protagonist in the historical timeline, at this point. Back then, he was about as strong as I am now. It was said that he would need to wait until university before reaching the physical fitness level of a Quasi-Warrior. With my current rate of improvement and circumstances, I'll probably have to wait until then as well.

Wang Yi suddenly grew agitated.

The ignorant knew no fear.

For Wang Yi, who knew the original plot, there were also many worries that ordinary people did not have.

In the future, Earth would face many disasters.

What he feared was some accident occurring in the future, causing events not to follow their original course. If that happened, he and the people around him would face annihilation alongside all humanity.

Sometimes, knowing too much was not a good thing.

It was like seeing an extremely powerful typhoon approaching from afar. Even knowing that hiding indoors would keep one safe, one still could not help but worry.

After leaving the martial arts school, the night had grown even darker and heavier, like Wang Yi's stifled mood.

Before long, Wang Yi returned to where he lived, Guangyuan Residential Area, a neighborhood made up of many Apartment Buildings. It was a government-built low-rent housing complex. Wang Yi's home was here, in the place where he had lived for eighteen years.

"Brother Wang Yi!"

Just as he entered the residential area, Wang Yi heard someone calling him.

He turned around and saw several girls standing not far away. One of them, a short-haired girl in a short-sleeved shirt and long pants, looked delighted.

Wang Yi was slightly taken aback when he saw her, then smiled. "Xiao Yan."

The short-haired girl had a slightly round face and delicate features. Her fair cheeks carried the youthful air unique to girls her age. After whispering a few words to her companions, she ran over with flushed cheeks amid their soft laughter, her eyes bright with joy as she looked at the boy before her.

"Brother Wang Yi, did you just get back?"

Wang Yi smiled as well. "I just came back from the martial arts school. What about you?" He glanced at the girls still standing in the distance watching them.

Xiao Yan blinked. "I just got back from doing part-time work with my classmates too. How about we head back together? I have a few questions I wanted to ask you, Brother Wang Yi."

These days, life was even harder for the poor. Poor children grew up early, and many teenagers went out to take odd jobs.

Before Wang Yi became an Advanced Martial Arts Student, he often went out to take odd jobs with people his age from the neighborhood, earning a little money to help support the household.

But after Wang Yi became an Advanced Martial Arts Student, he rarely went anymore. After all, the money from odd jobs was far less than what he earned tutoring a little rich lady.

"Alright." Wang Yi did not refuse. After all, Xiao Yan was an old acquaintance he had known for a long time.

In the low-rent housing complex where Wang Yi lived, although everyone was poor, their relationships were quite good. Xiao Yan's family also lived nearby. The two had gone out to work together before and were close. In Wang Yi's eyes, Chen Yan was like an adorable little sister.

The young man and woman walked together through the old residential area. Whenever they met someone they knew along the way, they warmly exchanged greetings.

"Hey, isn't that Xiao Yi?"

"Hello, Uncle Li."

"Xiao Yi, you're back."

"Yes, Aunt Chen."

"Isn't that Xiao Yan? Heading back with Xiao Yi again?"

Xiao Yan's cheeks flushed slightly.

It was not as if Wang Yi failed to notice the girl's expression beside him, but he pretended not to see it.

People in this era were still quite open-minded about romance. At eighteen, one was considered an adult and could marry. It was also common for high school students to date and start families after graduation. Yet Wang Yi had never been intimate with any girl.

In the eyes of outsiders, Wang Yi had good grades, was an Advanced Martial Arts Student, often earned money as a tutor to help support his family, and had a face that made women unable to look away... honestly, many people found it strange that Wang Yi had never dated anyone.

Only Wang Yi knew why.

As they walked, Xiao Yan suddenly remembered something and said, "Oh, right, Brother Wang Yi. When I went out earlier, I think I saw your eldest uncle coming over."

Wang Yi stopped, his brows knitting slightly. He raised his head and looked at the Apartment Building before him, towering like a massive square concrete pillar. His home was there.

"Brother Wang Yi, I'll head home first." Chen Yan spoke with some reluctance.

"Hmm. See you."

As Chen Yan walked home, she ran into her female classmates again.

They seemed to have been waiting for her.

"Well, Xiao Yan? Any progress?" The girls gathered around her and asked curiously.

When women got nosy, they were full of initiative.

They all knew that Chen Yan had always liked Wang Yi from the neighborhood.

"Why are you asking so much? If you want a man, go find one yourselves." Chen Yan, who had looked like a cute girl next door in front of Wang Yi, planted her hands on her hips aggressively. Her little canine teeth showed as she looked like an angry little tiger.

Girls of this age in this era mostly started looking for someone they liked early on, and they did not shy away from such things.

"Oh my, our little tiger is angry. Don't tell me she still has her first kiss?"

"Xiao Yan, don't be shy. We're all adults, we understand."

The girls teasingly joked around with their friend, making Chen Yan puff up her cheeks and reach out to tickle them.

But... a shadow of worry surfaced in Chen Yan's heart. Brother Wang Yi was so outstanding—did she really stand a chance?

More than once, she had seen Wang Yi return very late in a luxury car, with a very beautiful girl of exceptional temperament inside. She had heard that girl was Wang Yi's tutoring student.

And besides that, who knew whether there were other girls eyeing Brother Wang Yi like tigers?

At that moment, the girl whose first love had not even begun was filled with a powerful sense of crisis.