Host? Hand It Over!

Southwest First Province, Jing City, Jingcheng Museum.

In the square before its gates, a banner for "Jingcheng No. 7 High School" had been hung up, and a group of senior-year students had gathered there.

"Ahhh, why do we have to get up at eight every day? I'm tired as a dog!"

"I heard it was even worse before the Cataclysm. Aside from morning study sessions, they even had evening study sessions. They couldn't go home until eleven or twelve every night..."

"Damn, so they spent the entire day at school? Thinking about it that way, getting out at five-thirty every day is actually pretty nice."

"Speaking of which, have you played ILLUSION's recent retro release, Perfect Girlfriend? That visual quality is insane!"

"Tram God of War is the absolute GOAT. Too bad game pods are so damn expensive—the helmet experience is always a little worse..."

"You get out at five-thirty so you can spend your time practicing martial arts, not playing those shameless VR games!"

Amid the heated discussion of several boys, a cool female voice suddenly cut in.

The boys who had been talking animatedly immediately lowered their flags and silenced their drums, obediently lining up.

"Shen Qian, why aren't you wearing your school uniform again?"

Shen Qian, who had been listening with great interest, had not expected that even hiding in a corner would get him caught in the crossfire. Looking at the high-ponytailed girl who had stopped in front of him, Shen Qian sighed softly. "Too expensive. Can't afford it."

"But when you borrowed money from me last month, you said you needed it to buy a school uniform."

"Did I?"

"You did." The girl somehow produced a small notebook, flipped it open, and said very seriously, "It was February 3rd, during the break between History of Huaxia and martial arts theory. You said you needed money to buy clothes, so I lent you all two hundred and eight yuan and fifty cents from my wallet. You even showed me your ripped armpit."

"Cough, cough..."

Shen Qian could no longer keep up the act. He had never imagined that someone would write such things down in a diary.

Looking into Ding Yi's clear eyes, Shen Qian could only answer honestly, "I forgot there was an event today."

"But the museum visit was announced last week, and I specifically mentioned it again in the class group last night."

"I'm poor. I can't afford a communication wristband."

"September 21st last year, beside the fitness testing machine at the martial arts hall, you said you needed to pay off your wristband installments. I took six hundred and fifty yuan from my New Year's gift money and lent it to you."

Ding Yi flipped through her little notebook and continued.

"...Hahaha, that's so embarrassing. Fine, I muted the class group. You know there's too much useless stuff in there. I was mainly afraid it would interfere with my studies."

"Then I'll message you privately next time."

Watching Ding Yi's retreating back, Shen Qian finally let out a sigh of relief.

Even facing his mother did not put him under that much pressure.

Without Ding Yi and her string of halos at Jingcheng No.7 High School—"I want to talk to Nuwa about her," "How can someone be this absurdly strong in both liberal arts and martial arts?" and "Her dad actually drives a Wuling"—Shen Qian became an unnoticed little speck in the crowd again. He quietly listened as the students around him spoke with shared pride about the huge news that Ding Yi had been confirmed for guaranteed admission to Northern Martial University.

Northern Martial University!

Even Shen Qian's perpetually indifferent face showed a flicker of emotion.

Northern Martial University in the north, Hua Martial University in the south.

Aside from Jiangzhong Military University, which was said to answer directly to the military and never recruit externally, Northern Martial University and Hua Martial University were already China's foremost martial arts institutions. Both ranked among the top ten martial arts schools on the entire planet.

How difficult was it to get into Northern Martial University?

Over the past three years, only two students from Jingcheng No.7 High School had been admitted to Northern Martial University. As for guaranteed admission, Ding Yi was the first since the school's founding.

"Students, today we'll be visiting the municipal museum. Some of you may have come here with your parents before, but the museum recently received a new batch of old artifacts, all from before the Cataclysm. I believe the vast majority of you have never seen them before..."

Class 109's homeroom teacher, Liu Simin, stood at the front of the group and loudly explained the itinerary for the day, while the students pretended sleepily to listen.

"By the way, Shen Qian, where are you planning to apply?" Amid the crowd, Shen Qian's best friend Wang Yangming suddenly nudged his arm and asked.

"Not sure yet. What about you?" Shen Qian answered casually.

"Me? Unless my old man suddenly pulls off some miracle and gets hold of a Special Effect Potion, I'll probably study medicine. Maybe Southwest Medical University or Southern Medical University."

Wang Yangming thought for a moment, then added, "You should seriously think about it too. There are less than four months until the college entrance exams. At this point, doesn't everyone already know what their situation is? I think it's time to make a choice."

Shen Qian raised his head. Through gaps along the city's edge, he could faintly see the ruined scorched earth in the distance. He fell silent for a while.

Liberal arts or martial arts?

This was the greatest question every senior-year student had to consider.

Or rather, it had never truly been a choice. If they had a choice, almost no one would study liberal arts.

On December 22nd, 2022 CE, an unimaginably massive comet had skimmed past Earth's atmosphere. Space-time descended into chaos, dimensions ruptured, and that day came to be known as Cataclysm Day.

Earthquakes, tsunamis, extreme cold, blazing heat... Nature displayed its might, and countless towns and cities became ruins.

But those were not the most terrifying things.

The most terrifying thing was that after that day, Earth had suddenly gained many creatures that should have existed only in legends.

It was as though the demons, monsters, ghosts, and spirits of myth had all become real overnight.

Fortunately, Awakened Ones had also appeared among humanity.

The sudden revival of spiritual energy and the precarious conditions of survival brought forth a group of pioneers among humanity. Little by little, they rebuilt humanity's homeland and revived human civilization.

After centuries of exploration, the cultivation system of martial arts had fully taken shape. Becoming a powerful martial artist was everyone's aspiration.

But even though spiritual energy was now abundant and this was an age of universal cultivation, it did not mean everyone could walk this path.

It required talent. It required resources.

And Shen Qian had neither of those things...

The most rational choice was to give up physical training from now on, focus entirely on liberal arts, enter a better liberal arts university with higher academic scores, and seek a stable desk job after graduation to support a family.

A statue stood in the museum lobby, belonging to Marquis of Jingcheng, Gao Wenyuan.

"Marquis of Jingcheng" was not an official post, but a title. Its meaning came from ancient China before the Cataclysm, yet it was recognized by the World Martial Arts Association.

At least, with the knowledge possessed by these senior-year students, they could not imagine what heights one had to reach to receive such a title.

Of all the martial artists who had left Jing City over the years, only Gao Wenyuan had received a title.

This was Shen Qian's first time entering the municipal museum. The thirty-yuan admission fee in the past had made him overlook this place completely.

"Sure enough, when you don't have to spend money, this place looks much more pleasing to the eye." An ancient, mysterious aura truly seemed to wash over him, and Shen Qian could not help sighing.

"Who said we didn't spend money? Didn't everyone pay fifteen yuan?" Wang Yangming asked in confusion beside him.

Shen Qian froze, then sighed softly and said nothing more.

"Jingcheng Museum was established in 2079. It covers an area of six thousand square meters and contains thirteen different exhibition halls..."

"Students, look over here. This is the fossil of a creature called a dinosaur. Dinosaurs lived two hundred million years ago, and their appearance is somewhat similar to the Dragon-like Beasts among today's demonic beasts..."

"This is an exhibition hall related to Pioneer Martial Artists. Look at this stone. It is said that King of Jiangling, one of the leading figures among the pioneer martial artists, once used it for seated meditation. He created China's first martial arts cultivation technique available for the public to practice..."

The young female tour guide gave her explanations with great effort, and the atmosphere remained lively. Soon, everyone arrived at the seventh exhibition hall.

"Students, this exhibition hall displays the achievements of human civilization before the Cataclysm. Don't underestimate these civilizations. Because martial arts emerged, humanity's research speed in everyday technology has actually slowed down. But humans from that era devoted themselves wholeheartedly to studying technology and invented many practical things..."

"Shen Qian, what do you think this thing is?" Wang Yangming pointed at a white sticker covered in black lines inside a frame on the wall.

Shen Qian shook his head in confusion. Together with several students nearby, he studied those mysterious tadpole-like patterns, trying to figure something out.

"QR Code?" One student glanced at the description beside it and rubbed his chin. "Could it be some kind of cultivation manual? Maybe you need a specific method to decrypt it?"

"Could be. It says here it was used for collecting payments, so I guess you had to pay a fee to learn the corresponding secret manual." Another boy guessed.

The moment Shen Qian heard it might involve money, he immediately lost interest in the mysterious image-text. He wandered over to an area marked "Electronic Products."

"After restoration by some researchers, part of the electronic products here can be used again. Students can try operating them, but be careful not to damage them!"

Hearing the tour guide's words, Shen Qian immediately became somewhat interested.

Ding Yi and several other female students were studying something in front of a laptop. Shen Qian casually picked up a phone connected to a charging cable from the display rack beside them.

There was no explanation of the phone model, and its exterior was heavily worn. Shen Qian only saw two small words.

"Hongmeng?"

The phone had no password. After unlocking it, Shen Qian looked through it casually. Unfortunately, most of its apps no longer worked. Only two things could still be opened normally. One was a game called Honor of Kings, but its interface was too ancient and its controls too simple. Shen Qian tried it briefly before decisively tapping the X.

The other seemed to be some sort of installation package. Shen Qian tapped it casually, and before he could react, a heap of notifications popped up.

Risk Warning: You are installing an application from an unknown source. Continuing installation indicates that you agree to assume full responsibility for any device damage or data loss that may result from using this application.

This application has been infected with a virus and will automatically be added to the mobile security control center. Immediate uninstallation is recommended...

Failed to automatically add this application to the security control center...

A suitable host has been detected. System starting...

Beep beep, danger warning. The phone has been infected with an unknown virus!

Amid the dizzying and incomprehensible stream of messages, something strange seemed to flash past. Shen Qian only felt a sudden stabbing pain in his palm. Before he could react, the next instant—

Boom!

A powerful blast wave sent Shen Qian flying.

"Ah!"

Accompanied by the crowd's screams, every pane of glass in the museum shattered beneath the blast wave's impact.

The invisible wave did not stop. In the blink of an eye, it swept across all of Jing City.

Bzzzz!

Every electrical device in the city was paralyzed in an instant.

The sound of ice and snow melting rang out. The invisible yet tangible protective barrier shrouding Jing City broke apart inch by inch.

Violent wind and sand flooded into Jing City's outskirts from beyond its borders almost instantly. The clouds dispersed, and three suns abruptly appeared in the sky. The temperature across Jing City's surface began to rise rapidly, while faint howls from outside the city drifted closer and closer...