Beginning With Humiliation

On Earth, in the year 3025, Jiangnan City's Third High School.

At the alloy stake array on the edge of the sports field, dull thuds echoed incessantly. Students, surrounded by halos of pale white Spiritual Energy, moved with the wind, leaving indentations of varying depths on the specially made stakes with their punches and kicks.

"Hah!" With a clear shout, a tall, sturdy boy's right fist suddenly glowed crimson before smashing into the alloy stake before him.

"Buzz—" The stake vibrated violently, and a bright red number flashed on the display screen at the top: 998 kilograms!

"Wow! Senior Zhang Kuang is amazing!"

"Almost a thousand kilograms, that's already the strength of a Quasi-Martial Artist, right?"

"Brother Kuang's Blazing Fist seems to have reached the introductory level. As expected of the number one genius in our Third High!"

The crowd erupted in gasps, and many girls looked at the tall boy with eyes full of admiration.

Zhang Kuang reveled in the surrounding compliments, arrogantly retracting his fist. His gaze, however, swept past the crowd and landed on a solitary figure in the corner.

"Hey, Lin Feng, why are you hiding so far away? Come over and let everyone feast their eyes!" A playful smirk tugged at Zhang Kuang's lips. "You 'theory genius,' you wouldn't be afraid to even touch the stake, would you?"

Laughter erupted.

All eyes instantly focused on the thin teenager leaning against the corner wall, wearing a faded school uniform.

Lin Feng lowered his head, his black hair obscuring his eyes, his lips pressed tightly together, his hands clenched at his sides.

Three years had passed since the Spiritual Energy Resurgence, and the world had entered a high-martial era. The old order had collapsed, and Martial Artists had become the elite. Yet, during the first Spiritual Energy tide, he had been diagnosed with "Blocked Meridians," rendering him unable to absorb Spiritual Energy effectively. He was, without a doubt, a "martial arts trash."

No matter how good his academic scores were or how deeply he understood martial arts theory, in this new era where strength reigned supreme, he was a joke.

"Brother Kuang is talking to you, are you deaf?" A sycophant quickly stepped forward and shoved Lin Feng hard.

Lin Feng, caught off guard, stumbled a few steps and nearly fell, drawing even more mockery from the crowd.

"Forget it, Zhang Kuang, don't make things difficult for him," a clear female voice rang out.

Lin Feng looked up and saw Liu Feifei, who used to study with him in the library and discuss martial arts theory. She was now standing beside Zhang Kuang, gently pulling his arm. She wore a brand-new dress today, which emanated faint Spiritual Energy fluctuations, making her look even more radiant and captivating.

Seeing Lin Feng look over, Liu Feifei's eyes flickered. She slightly turned her head and whispered, "Lin Feng, we... we should break up."

Although he had a premonition, Lin Feng's heart felt as if it had been pricked by a needle.

Liu Feifei continued, her voice not loud but clearly audible to everyone, "In this era, just having theory isn't enough. Zhang Kuang... he's about to become a formal Martial Artist. We are not people of the same world anymore."

"Did you hear that? Feifei said you're not from the same world!" Zhang Kuang proudly slung an arm around Liu Feifei's shoulder, looking at Lin Feng provocatively. "Trash should know their place, don't try to be a toad lusting after swan meat! Next month is the national Martial Artist unified examination. I advise you to give up early and find a factory to screw bolts. Maybe you can still contribute to the federation, haha!"

The harsh words were like cold knives, and the gazes cast upon him held pity, contempt, and, most of all, indifferent detachment.

Lin Feng gritted his teeth, a metallic, sweet taste filling his mouth. He hated this era, and even more, he hated his own powerlessness.

After school, a light rain began to fall.

Lin Feng walked on the wet, cold street without an umbrella, lost in thought. On the giant holographic screens lining the street, promotional videos of frontline Martial Artists battling ferocious Yao Beasts were playing, drawing the attention of passersby who exclaimed in awe.

Strength, dignity, future... everything was out of reach for him because of the word "strength."

He returned to his cramped, narrow, ten-square-meter public rental housing. The house was desolate. His parents had unfortunately perished during the first large-scale Yao Beast attack on the city three years ago, leaving him only this room and a meager pension.

He collapsed onto the bed, exhausted, a suffocating feeling in his chest. The scenes from the sports field that day replayed endlessly in his mind—Zhang Kuang's arrogant face, Liu Feifei's resolute eyes, and the jarring sounds of mockery from the surroundings.

"Why... why me..." he muttered, his right hand unconsciously clutching the dark green jade pendant he had worn since childhood. It was the only memento his parents had left him, its touch smooth and warm.

Just as his emotions hit rock bottom, filled with unwillingness and indignation, a sudden change occurred!

The jade pendant inexplicably became scorching hot. A wave of heat surged out from it, rushing into his body along the meridians of his palm!

"Ah!" Lin Feng cried out in pain, feeling as if all his meridians were burning, or being pierced by countless steel needles.

His vision went black as countless chaotic, shimmering runes flooded his mind like a tide, the intense information flow almost bursting his consciousness.

Just as he thought he was going to die, the pain receded like a tide.

A cold, mechanical voice, yet carrying an ancient, vast aura, directly sounded in the depths of his consciousness:

[Detected host's strong unwillingness and desire for knowledge, meeting binding conditions...]

[Energy absorption complete... Core rune activated...]

[Myriad Laws Return to Origin System, activation successful!]

[Scanning host's physical condition... Scan complete.]

[Welcome, my Master.]

Lin Feng suddenly sat up in bed, gasping for air, his forehead covered in cold sweat. He looked at the jade pendant in his hand with disbelief, only to find it had lost all its luster. Cracks covered its surface, and with a gust of wind, it crumbled into dust, flowing through his fingers.

In its place, a light blue, semi-transparent, technologically advanced screen floated directly in front of his field of vision.

The left side of the screen displayed a three-dimensional model of his entire body, with several lines of data listed beside it:

[Host: Lin Feng]

[Realm: Martial Novice (Early Stage)]

[Strength: 75kg]

[Agility: 8m/s]

[Constitution: Weak (Blocked Meridians)]

[Spiritual Power: 25 (Exceeds Normal)]

The right side was divided into several columns: [Cultivation Method], [Martial Skill], [Deduction], [Analysis], [Inventory].

"Sys... System?" Lin Feng's heart pounded. As a youth of the new era, he had naturally read web novels and knew what this meant. In his despair, he grasped at the only straw!

He tried to focus his thoughts on the [Cultivation Method] tab.

The light screen switched, displaying only a few lines of information:

[Cultivation Method Mastered: Basic Body Tempering Technique (Incomplete Version, Mastery: 32%, Evaluation: Full of flaws, inefficient)]

[Deductible/Optimizable Cultivation Method: None (Requires complete comprehension first)]

Basic Body Tempering Technique. This was the most common cultivation method publicly taught by the Federation to lay the foundation for martial arts. Almost all students practiced this. Due to his meridian issues, Lin Feng found even this most basic technique incredibly difficult to cultivate.

"Complete comprehension?" Lin Feng's mind raced, his gaze fixed intently on the line for Basic Body Tempering Technique.

[Perform deep comprehension on Basic Body Tempering Technique (Incomplete Version)?]

"Yes!"

Buzz!

A cool stream of air instantly enveloped his brain. Every movement detail of the Basic Body Tempering Technique, every circulation route of each breath of energy, even the errors and omissions caused by version transmission, were presented with perfect clarity in his understanding.

Those previously obscure and difficult points, which even teachers couldn't explain clearly, were now as simple and obvious as 1+1=2.

In just a few breaths, the information on the light screen refreshed:

[Cultivation Method: Basic Body Tempering Technique (Perfect Version)]

[Mastery: 100%]

[Evaluation: Returned to simplicity, reached the theoretical limit of this technique, cultivation efficiency increased by 500%]

"Perfect Version... 500% efficiency increase?!" Lin Feng gasped, suppressing the immense joy in his heart. He knew his fate had completely changed from this moment on!

Without any hesitation, he immediately leaped off the bed. In the confines of his small room, he struck the starting pose for the Basic Body Tempering Technique.

This time, his movements were fluid and natural, as if perfected over ages!

As he executed the movements, he clearly felt the spiritual energy particles in the surrounding air, which usually paid him no mind, become exceptionally active. They rushed into his limbs and body one after another!

His previously stagnant and blocked meridians, under the scouring of the pure spiritual energy, actually emitted faint "crackling" sounds, like ice thawing in a river, gradually becoming unobstructed!

A sense of power unlike anything he had ever felt began to generate and spread within him.

He could feel his muscles trembling slightly, his bones singing with joy, and every cell greedily absorbing energy.

When he finished the set of movements, Lin Feng slowly retracted his stance and exhaled a long breath of turbid air. He opened his eyes, and an unprecedented sharpness flashed within them.

He walked to the old scale and simple strength testing device by the wall. Lin Feng took a deep breath and, without using any technique, simply punched the testing pad.

Bang!

125kg!

The numbers on the display made Lin Feng's breathing quicken. Previously, his punching power had only reached about 80kg at most! Just one session of cultivating the perfect version had increased his strength by nearly 50kg!

He looked up at the still gloomy sky outside the window. Raindrops traced streaks down the glass, but they could no longer make his heart feel the slightest chill.

In his mind, Zhang Kuang's humiliation, Liu Feifei's betrayal, his classmates' mockery... scene after scene flashed by again.

But in his heart, there was no longer inferiority or anger, only a cold calm and a flame that was ready to erupt.

Lin Feng gently clenched his fist, his knuckles emitting a crisp sound. He murmured in a low voice, his words carrying an unshakeable resolve:

"Zhang Kuang, Liu Feifei... and everyone who looked down on me."

"You wait."

"Everything I've lost, I will take back with my own hands, tenfold, a hundredfold!"

"This era will eventually have a place for Lin Feng!"