"Today, one of the senior students at Hungry Tiger Martial Arts School broke through to Full Body Vital Energy Circulation. But because he was too old, he couldn't become a regular disciple. He had no choice but to leave the school, accept a wealthy household's offer, and become a high-ranking guard."
"It seems that when it comes to martial arts cultivation, the sooner you start, the better. Once you fall behind, the path upward closes, and you end up as a wealthy household's guard, trapped in some tiny county town for the rest of your life."
"In a world where the class system is rigid and the upper classes divide up all the resources, ordinary people without talent have no path to rise at all. Thank goodness I have a cheat."
"Teacher Yan said there'd be a big martial arts lecture today. I wonder what new information the authorities will reveal."
He casually loosened up his muscles and bones, glanced at his status panel, and sprang lightly off the bed. He put on his underwear, pulled on his school uniform, and went out the door.
Mystic Star Calendar, 2027, March 1. Monday.
The morning sun shone over every inch of Ji City.
Fifth High School, Ji City.
Jiang Shu arrived right at eight o'clock. Gentle music played over the campus speakers, followed by the voice of a school leader asking the homeroom teachers to organize their classes and lead the students to the sports field in an orderly fashion.
"Man, if only we had a big lecture like this every day. They go on for an hour or two, and today we're getting out of math and English altogether."
"Kid, you're still too young. You don't know that every gift of fate has long had its price secretly marked. Skip math today, skip English tomorrow, and your college entrance exam score will fall short by a point or two. Then you won't get into the university you want."
"Shut up. Damn it, you were shaking the bunk above me like crazy last night, and now you're putting on airs. Gifts of fate, your dream university—what university could you even get into? I think that X Academy of Sciences that someone on Hupu rated would suit you just fine. X University of Science and Technology faces west; it produces no phoenixes, only—"
"Huh, there's a college that good? Great, I'll put it down as my first choice!"
"???"
Students had already lined up outside the doors of every class on every floor of the teaching building. Jiang Shu reached the back door of his classroom, naturally took his place at the very end, and followed the line downstairs toward the sports field.
Before long, students from all three high school grades had gathered on the field.
After the flag-raising ceremony, as usual, a school leader walked up to the podium, tapped the microphone, and spoke in a solemn voice:
"Teachers and students, good morning! After a whole winter break and several days of settling back into school life, I'm sure you're all refreshed and ready to devote yourselves to your studies. I hope your grades will climb even higher and reach new heights."
"Our Xia Kingdom has always said that a scholar can calm the realm with his brush, while a warrior can secure it from horseback. It's been over three months since Xia Kingdom introduced the Horse Stance martial arts exercise. Our school has specially invited Mr. Zheng from Shengjing to explain the true secrets of martial arts to us."
"Now, let's give Mr. Zheng our warmest applause!"
Applause surged across the sports field like a rising tide.
A middle-aged man wearing a black jacket walked up to the flag-raising platform beneath the gaze of thousands of students.
"Hello, everyone. My name is Zheng Yanbo. It's my great honor to visit Fifth High School in Ji City today and tell you about martial arts in Xia Kingdom. Those of you with good sources of information probably already know that this isn't just happening here. Several other high schools are also holding special martial arts lectures today."
"Last November, Xia Kingdom officially added martial arts to the college entrance examination system. If you achieve minor mastery in Horse Stance and develop Qi and Blood Sensing, you can enter an undergraduate university without taking the entrance exam! If you achieve major mastery in Horse Stance and learn Qi and Blood Transportation, you can enter a top-tier university without taking the exam! As for perfect mastery in Horse Stance, with Full Body Vital Energy Circulation, you can enter an academy directly! That alone shows how seriously our Xia Kingdom takes martial arts."
"I know many students are still hesitating. You're wondering what you could study at university if you got in through martial arts, and whether society would recognize your degree after you graduated. In this age of online information and firearms, what purpose do martial arts really serve?"
"Well, today I'm going to tell you."
Zheng Yanbo paused and surveyed the crowd.
Just as he'd expected, hardly any of the students on the field were truly paying attention.
His eyesight was sharp enough to make out the state of every student below.
Some were looking around and chatting with each other. Some had their heads bowed or tilted back as they stared into space. Several students in the front rows even had their eyes closed, catching a little rest.
Perhaps only years later would they suddenly realize that on this seemingly ordinary morning, the wheels of fate had begun to turn.
"Martial arts will surpass every major taught at university! They're completely different from any other field of study. Right now, graduates from ordinary universities are already scrambling to send out résumés and find jobs. They're hoping to land a job paying a few thousand a month, work nine to five, and live a life whose end they can see from the start."
"Humanities, sciences, and engineering can do little to change their fates. Only martial arts can turn a fish into a dragon! It's the real deal!"
"Qi and Blood Sensing gives you the strength of three hundred jin. Qi and Blood Transportation gives you six hundred jin. Full Body Vital Energy Circulation gives you nine hundred jin. After the great circulation comes the true martial artist. Inner Strength surges through the body; a punch explodes through the air, and with a thousand jin of force, you can lift anything!"
"Clear Force! Hidden Force! Transformation Force!"
"These are the three realms of martial arts that Xia Kingdom has just announced. You don't need to know the differences between them. All you need to know is that even a Clear Force martial artist, the first realm, will hold a higher status than an ordinary civil servant! Travel by high-speed rail or plane, and it's all free! Every tourist attraction is open to them without charge!"
"As for work, if they want a job, they can apply to any high school in Xia Kingdom, and they'll definitely be hired as Martial Arts teachers!"
Zheng Yanbo spoke at an unhurried pace. These details had not yet been announced to the public.
As soon as he revealed them, the students below erupted in an uproar.
The students took it well enough. They hadn't entered the working world yet and didn't realize how difficult it was to get a tenured teaching job. What amazed them most were the status and benefits. Free travel and sightseeing hit the mark with their restless hearts.
The teachers, however, saw much further. Martial arts had been added to the college entrance examination; martial artists would outrank civil servants; they could walk into any high school and become Martial Arts teachers; and now there was this grand, high-profile campaign promoting martial arts.
Every last detail showed that the authorities in Xia Kingdom valued martial arts far more than the teachers had imagined.
Martial arts wasn't something the authorities had promoted on a whim!
A single fallen leaf told of autumn across the world.
Yan Dehou pushed up his glasses and couldn't help glancing at Jiang Shu, standing at the end of the line.
Meanwhile, up on the flag-raising platform, Zheng Yanbo's voice continued, each word deliberate.
His final announcement crashed onto the field like a bomb:
"But even this isn't enough! It still falls far short of proving how seriously our Xia Kingdom takes martial arts!"
"From this moment on, Clear Force martial artists will officially receive the National Martial Cultivation Stipend."
"No need to work. Ten thousand a month!"
"Ten thousand a month—who could resist that? As long as you become a martial artist, the country pays to support you. From today on, nobody's stopping me from practicing martial arts. I said it, and even Jesus can't stop me!"
"You're the kind of person who's too timid to dream big. The first realm gets ten thousand a month, sure. What about the second and third realms? Though, if you think about it, martial arts must be hard to cultivate. I bet not even one of the senior-year Martial Arts Students has achieved Qi and Blood Sensing yet. But that's no problem. The seniors are already old; the future belongs to us first-years!"
"This lecture is obviously meant to promote martial arts to us first-years. Seniors have their entrance exams, and second-years are already up to their ears in studying. The ones in the middle are us first-years! We have the most time and energy. We've hit the jackpot, brothers. Once we get back, every one of you had better start practicing your stance!"
"You're all swaggering now, but when you start holding the stance, you'll be fighting for your lives. Martial arts, stance training—go ahead and try the Horse Stance. You'll stand there without saying a peep."
"The seniors really got the short end of the stick. If they switch to the Martial Arts track now, they'll have less than four months to practice before the exams. We first-years have two and a half years to go."
"Two and a half years of martial arts practice. No need to worry about any other exams. And after graduation, no job—just a stipend of ten thousand a month."
The lecture ended, and the students began to leave.
The first-years were the most excited, linking arms and talking among themselves. Quite a few had already decided to switch to the Martial Arts track. In their eyes, Martial Arts Students had always had the easiest time of anyone at school.
They'd thought Martial Arts Students had it easy now but would have a bleak future.
But who would've guessed that, with one new policy, the Martial Arts track would become the hottest ticket around?
You could say that once you became a martial artist, even a degree from a top-tier university wasn't worth trading for it.
Senior Year, Class Eight.
Jiang Shu's class.
Homeroom teacher Yan Dehou walked up to the podium. He looked over the classroom, now packed with students, cleared his throat, and said, "The lecture just ended, and I'm sure everyone has plenty to discuss. We'll skip this period for now. Stay in the classroom and do as you like."
"Keep your voices down so you don't disturb anyone who's studying. The next class will go ahead as usual. If you want to switch to the Martial Arts track, come to my office after class."
With that, Yan Dehou left the classroom and closed the door behind him.
In an instant, the classroom came alive again.
Conversations sprang up all over, one after another like bamboo shoots after rain.
"Jiang Shu, why are you back this time?" Xu Shuhui turned around, swinging her ponytail, and asked with curiosity written all over her face. "Are you staying in class to study, or going home again in a bit?"
When Teacher Yan had told them a few days ago that Jiang Shu was taking a leave of absence, she'd been quite surprised.
After all, as Jiang Shu's desk mate, she thought she knew him well enough.
His grades were nothing special, but he was a really decent person. Unlike the other boys in class, he didn't make vulgar jokes about girls. When he had a spare moment, he'd do little things to help out, like tidying up the trash corner in the classroom.
She'd always imagined that someone like him would go through school as usual, take the college entrance exam, and, if he was lucky, get into an ordinary university and begin his college life.
Taking a leave of absence had been completely beyond what she'd expected.
"I'll head home in a bit."
Jiang Shu sat in his chair and glanced at the books on the desk, none of them his. His brows knitted slightly.
Even though he'd prepared himself, seeing it with his own eyes still felt like too much.
He'd left in a hurry last time and hadn't returned to the classroom.
After breaking free of his In-Utero Mystery and deciding to practice martial arts, he'd devoted himself to martial arts alone and stopped pursuing anything else.
But the things in his desk held the memories of his high school years in this life.
The notes he'd worked hard on during class.
The doodles he'd drawn to relax.
The random lines he'd written when he was in a bad mood.
What lay in that desk wasn't just books and test papers.
It held every last moment of his high school years in this life.
But now...
"Jiang Shu, I've put my books in your desk already, so don't go rummaging through them. I threw your books in the corner. You're on leave anyway, so you won't need the books or the desk."
Before you continue