System Auto-Navigation in Progress

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Data Statistics:

Burst Strength: 98 KG

Instantaneous Speed: 11.4 S/100 meters

Physical Strength Grade has not reached measurable standards

Physical Toughness Grade has not reached measurable standards

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(▼Click to expand for more detailed data)

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Martial Skill Assessment: None

Realm Assessment: None

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Friendly Reminder: The martial path is fraught with hardships. Please keep working hard!

There was a great deal of data on the statistics panel, but only the first two figures held any meaning for Shen Qian at present.

"Not much improvement compared to last month. My strength increased by less than 2 KG, and my speed improved by 0.1 seconds... Slow. Too slow!"

Shen Qian clenched his fists and muttered, a flicker of gloom passing through his eyes for a second.

There was a most straightforward standard for advancing to martial artist.

149 KG of strength, and ten seconds in speed.

That was the threshold for the First Stage of Elementary Martial Artist.

Once strength and speed reached that standard, one could seek out the sensation of qi and attempt to use the revived spiritual energy between heaven and earth to cultivate their own vital energy.

Last year, the minimum admission line for all Martial Arts Universities in China's college entrance examinations had been 118 KG and eleven seconds.

Given his current situation, Shen Qian reaching that standard within four months was nothing but a fool's dream.

Speed, which seemed to offer the greatest hope, was in fact the furthest away. The further one progressed, the slower speed improved. There were plenty of people who had been stuck at 11.1 seconds for years without advancing an inch.

His talent could not be called abysmal, but it was also exceedingly... ordinary.

South of Jing City.

Several low buildings with more than half their plaster peeling away, together with a small garden, formed a residential complex. At its entrance stood an old signboard bearing the four large words: "Xingfu Residential Area."

Shen Qian's family lived here.

"Yo, Shen Qian, getting out of school this early today? Don't tell me you skipped class?" The old man who served as the complex's security guard while selling fruits and melons on the side grinned when he saw Shen Qian.

"Old Hu, smoke less. If you really get lung cancer, with that little salary of yours, I'm afraid you won't be able to hire a Mountain Sea Martial Artist to treat you. Then all you can do is wait for death!" Shen Qian clicked his tongue as he glanced at the overflowing ashtray on Old Hu's table.

"Bullshit! If I get sick, you think I need to pay out of pocket? I'm a martial artist who receives state subsidies!" Old Hu cursed as he puffed out clouds of smoke.

"To be honest, Old Hu, I actually admire you quite a bit," Shen Qian said sincerely.

"See? You brat finally believe me?" Old Hu propped his lame leg on the table and said smugly.

"You're the only one who can brag about the same awesome feat for over a decade."

"?"

Amid Old Hu's cordial greetings, Shen Qian swiped a bag of rotten apples and returned home, thoroughly satisfied.

"Mom, I'm back," Shen Qian called as he pushed open the door.

"Old Shen, your son's back!" Wang Xiaojuan poked her head out from the kitchen, a cleaver in hand as she chopped at something. Time had padded out her figure, leaving only faint traces of her youthful splendor in her features and brows.

"Huh? Dad's back too?" Shen Qian handed over the apples in his hand.

"Why are you taking Old Hu's things again?" Wang Xiaojuan complained.

"Come on, he couldn't sell these rotten ones anyway. The bag looks like a lot, but once you cut away what can't be eaten, there's only a few slices left. And I'm such a sweet talker, so he gave them to me for free." Shen Qian grinned.

Wang Xiaojuan shot Shen Qian a glare, took the apples, and went into the kitchen. Shen Qian's father, Shen Liang, emerged from the bedroom holding a roll of tape.

"That wind this morning was wicked enough to split the windows at home. Luckily, it isn't too serious. I'll seal them up with tape for now."

"Dad, did your factory shut down too?"

Shen Qian poured a glass of water and handed it over.

"Yeah. The factory's equipment was already old and worn out. The sudden power outage caused quite a few malfunctions. It'll probably take several days to fix them, so we can't resume work for now."

Shen Liang furrowed his brow, and a trace of worry flashed across his face.

"Come on, Dad. You're only a production team leader, so why worry about so much? Anyone who saw that expression would think you were the factory director!" Shen Qian consoled him.

"You brat, is that any way to talk?" Shen Liang did not react much, but Wang Xiaojuan, who was carrying dishes out, shot Shen Qian a fierce glare.

"Mom, what's the occasion? There's even Winter Melon Soup!" Catching the scent, Shen Qian sprang to his feet in surprise. He peeked into the kitchen again, then became even more astonished. "Damn, am I seeing things? Is that Bok Choy and Cucumber? Is it New Year's today?"

Shen Qian looked at the calendar. It was just an ordinary day. The way he looked at his parents immediately changed.

"Mom, you've changed. You only make two meat dishes, yet today you're being so extravagant. Could it be that you're finally going to confess your identities to me?"

"What identities?" Wang Xiaojuan froze.

"All the hardships of the past were just to temper me, while our family actually has tens of millions in assets? Or maybe I'm not really your biological son, and actually... Mom, if you want to talk, then talk. Why are you picking up the cleaver?"

Shen Liang gave Wang Xiaojuan a look. She returned to the kitchen, leaving only father and son in the living room.

Shen Qian seemed to realize something as well. He silently made Shen Liang a cup of tea, then sat down.

"We're having guests over later... But Xiaoqian, I still want to ask your opinion first."

"What kind of guests?"

"They're your dad's former colleagues from Lucheng. When we moved to Jing City, their family went to Chengdong."

Shen Liang explained briefly. Shen Qian paused, as if he understood something.

Lucheng was a small city with a population of less than two hundred thousand. More than ten years ago, a disaster had reduced the entire city to ruins, merging it into the scorched earth.

There had been no clear official report regarding that disaster, and the internet was full of conflicting accounts. Shen Liang's family had been moved away by government personnel before Lucheng was destroyed.

Shen Qian had searched online before. One explanation, with over tens of thousands of likes, had left a deep impression on him.

The poster claimed that he had been among the last batch of people evacuated from Lucheng. He had personally seen the entire city swallowed in one bite by a creature that resembled a snake.

Most people scoffed at such a claim. Even in this age of revived spiritual energy, where mythological creatures were not unheard of, how enormous would a creature capable of swallowing an entire city in one bite have to be?

It would probably have turned the whole Earth upside down. There was no way there could have been no other reports whatsoever.

Shen Qian did not know the truth, but he did know that although those who had moved to Jing City had all started from scratch, their later fortunes had varied greatly.

Anyone who could live in Chengdong was definitely far better off than those living in Chengnan, second only to Chengbei and Chengzhong.

"They're here to handle my matter?" Having pieced it together, Shen Qian asked directly.

Shen Liang nodded and hesitated before speaking. "Dad knows you've always dreamed of becoming a martial artist, but our family's circumstances are too poor. Your mom and I have let you down..."

"Stop, stop. Old Shen, don't pull this on me. My tear threshold is high—you can't move me!" Sensing something wrong, Shen Qian immediately interrupted him.

Shen Liang smiled and continued, "In any case, with your current grades, getting into a Martial Arts University isn't very realistic. And as for those self-funded Martial Arts Universities, we truly can't afford them. I've thought it over and over, and there might be one path left... enlist in the military!"

"Enlist in the military?" Shen Qian nodded. He had actually vaguely guessed it already.

Enlisting did not mean one would definitely become a Military Martial Artist. It only meant there was still a slight chance.

But in the military, competition would be far crueler than on a campus. No one could say what price that chance would demand before it could be seized.

"Your mom and I had a huge fight over this. She doesn't agree with you joining the army, but I know you. If we don't give you even a sliver of a chance, and just send you to an ordinary university to become an ordinary person, muddling through your whole life like your dad... you won't be willing to accept it."

Shen Qian opened his mouth, wanting to argue, but could not say anything.

Seeing Shen Qian remain silent, Shen Liang nodded and patted his shoulder. "All right, Dad understands. When Uncle Zhao comes over later, be sharp. Of course, it's not like asking him guarantees anything, so there's no need to wrong yourself too much..."

Zhao Guangzhi and his son Zhao Xin stayed in Shen Qian's home for less than an hour before leaving.

Before they left, Shen Liang stuffed a bag into Zhao Guangzhi's hands. Shen Qian knew it contained twenty thousand yuan, money that had originally been set aside for Shen Qian's first-year tuition.

However, if Shen Qian could not get into a Martial Arts University and only attended a liberal arts university, the tuition would cost just one-tenth as much. So Shen Liang gave the twenty thousand to Zhao Guangzhi to grease the wheels.

According to Zhao Guangzhi, twenty thousand was far from enough to guarantee entry into a military unit with relatively good benefits. But for the sake of their years of friendship, he would help give it a try.

Although Zhao Guangzhi and his son Zhao Xin, who had barely spoken throughout, seemed fairly polite, a sense of looking down from the bone still slipped through unintentionally.

The clearest sign was the apples on the coffee table. They had not taken a single bite.

Shen Qian could understand. Shen Liang and Zhao Guangzhi might once have been close friends, but as times changed, people changed too. It was already good enough that he was willing to help.

It was just that...

Seeing his father, whose expressions rarely changed much, laughing heartily tonight, and seeing his mother, whose stamina was not that good, constantly busying herself.

In the end...

It still hurt.

Shen Qian clenched his knuckles until they turned white.

"Mom, it's time to take your medicine."

Now that everything was done, Shen Qian saw Wang Xiaojuan's face turn somewhat pale and quickly took out the specially made pills to feed her.

During the evacuation from Lucheng, an accident had occurred along the way, exposing Wang Xiaojuan, an entirely ordinary person, to the external environment of the scorched earth. Her body had suffered irreversible damage, and her organs had failed to varying degrees.

The illness would not kill her, but it was troublesome. She needed to take a large amount of medicine to maintain her condition, while the cost of a complete cure was astronomical.

After helping Wang Xiaojuan lie down and greeting Shen Liang, Shen Qian returned to his own room.

For some reason, Shen Qian was especially exhausted today as well. It had only just grown dark, but Shen Qian, who had merely intended to lie down for a while, quickly fell asleep.

Time passed, until a mechanical voice sounded in Shen Qian's mind:

"System loading complete. The system has begun operation."

"Acquiring timeline and spatial coordinates..."

"Reading physical laws..."

"Acquiring technological information and martial arts cultivation charts..."

"Detecting host's physical attributes..."

"Compared horizontally with peers of the same age, the host's aptitude is D-Class. Stored resources are unrated. Immediate improvement is urgently needed..."

"Host detected entering deep sleep. The system is automatically activating idle mode."

"Generating map data, range: 500 km²..."

"Sorting through the host's usable connections and related resources..."

"Generating mission objective..."

"Mission objective generated. System auto-navigation in progress..."

"Ding!"

Accompanied by a pleasant notification sound, Shen Qian, who had already fallen asleep, suddenly opened his eyes and sat up in bed.

My ID card is still being reissued, so the contract signing is stuck. If you like it, please bookmark it first!