Long Wind

Martial artists.

In this world, the way of martial arts flourished.

Li Pin recalled a survey report on career planning for middle school students.

It showed that the most coveted aspiration for all students in Taibai was to become a Star Refiner and ascend to the extraordinary.

But this profession depended entirely on "aptitude" and had nothing to do with the vast majority.

Scratch that.

Setting aside Star Refiners, the most popular career among ordinary people was...

Debuting as a celebrity!?

That didn't fit either.

Excluding Star Refiners and celebrities who needed capital backing, the third most popular choice was—civil servant.

Taibai's civil service system was largely hereditary, and self-study exams were too difficult.

Also ruled out.

Beyond those three major professions, the top choice was martial artist.

Teachers, doctors, lawyers, and the like all fell behind.

Clearly, martial artists were still very popular.

"Martial arts serve as an auxiliary and supplement to Star Refiners. Even if trained to the extreme, the body remains mortal flesh, unable to withstand machine guns or artillery shells. Yet any Martial Saint standing at the peak enjoys a social status no less than that of an ordinary Star Refiner."

In the half-month since his arrival, Li Pin had come to understand this world.

For a martial artist like him, who pursued the limits of the human body, this was the best of times.

Martial arts flourished.

Embrace Dan grandmasters, nearly extinct on Blue Star, emerged one after another.

At the same time, it was also the worst of times.

The existence of Star Refiners loomed like an insurmountable mountain, keeping martial artists from ever standing at the world's pinnacle.

"For me, being reborn into another life is the greatest fortune. In my past life, I remained stuck at Hua Jin until death. In this life, let me see just how far I can go."

Li Pin's spirits soared.

He was completely unaffected by Jing Yunshan, Wang Gang, An Wanyi, or anyone else.

He headed to the dormitory, intending to pack his things and apply for a leave of absence.

"Old Li's here?"

In the dorm, his roommate Fang Yubai seemed to be waiting for him.

As a private university, the environment was decent, with four-person dormitories.

Of Li Pin's three roommates, two had a so-so relationship with him. Only Fang Yubai was warm-hearted and got along well with him...

No!

He had a good relationship with all three.

Good-looking, socially adept, and from a wealthy family, Fang Yubai was something of a campus celebrity at Hanyang University.

At that moment, he handed a document to Li Pin.

"Take a look."

"A Changfeng Martial Hall flyer?"

Li Pin glanced at him.

"Old Li, I know your character. I believe you definitely didn't molest An Wanyi. But you can't stop her swarm of protectors, including those from the martial arts department. If someone loses their temper and hits you... if you train in martial arts, even if you can't beat anyone, as long as you can run fast, you'll be safer."

Fang Yubai said, "My fourth uncle, Fang Lingjue, just opened a new martial hall and is recruiting. I got you a discount—just three thousand a month."

Afraid Li Pin might think the price was steep, he quickly added, "He's a martial arts instructor with an Associate Senior Title. Three thousand a month is definitely not too much."

"Associate Senior Title?"

Li Pin's eyes lit up. "Embrace Dan!?"

"That's right, certified by the Taibai Martial Arts Association."

Fang Yubai said.

The flourishing martial arts scene in this world wasn't just empty talk.

Martial artists had a clear professional qualification system.

Five levels: Junior, Assistant, Intermediate, Associate Senior, and Senior.

Above that was the Martial Saint, evaluated every two years by the Martial Arts Association.

Among them, Associate Senior corresponded to a martial arts master who had cultivated Dan Jin.

Dan Jin—in ancient times, such a person would have been no less than a general commanding an army.

Furthermore, the prefecture-level Martial Arts Association could pull some strings to get certified first and then Embrace Dan. The Taibai Martial Arts Association would never tolerate any fraud.

"So? Are you going?"

"I'm going."

Li Pin agreed without hesitation.

In his past life, Embrace Dan grandmasters had all but vanished.

Hua Jin was the pinnacle of martial arts back then.

He had neither a renowned master to guide him nor peers to exchange insights with, relying entirely on his own solitary training.

Now, having just gotten used to the identity of "Li Pin," he could already come into contact with an Embrace Dan master—how exhilarating was that?

"Then let's go."

Fang Yubai said, leading him straight to the school parking lot.

His family was well-off, and his parents had bought him a Lanma X5 during his college years.

That car cost over two hundred thousand, equivalent to many adults' ten years of income.

Li Pin had a very detached view of money, but he knew the saying: poverty for scholars, wealth for warriors.

If he had enough funds to buy medicinal supplements, he could shorten the time needed to recover to his Hua Jin peak.

Fang Yubai drove, and soon they left the school, merging into the traffic on the streets.

The Taibai region covered six million square kilometers. Thanks to sixty years of peaceful development after the World War, it was one of the few developed countries in the world, with a population of three hundred and four million.

However, since most of the area consisted of desolate mountains and wilderness fraught with danger, the population was largely concentrated in the southern region, covering less than a million square kilometers.

Take Canglong City, for example—it wasn't a core key city, yet it still had a population of three million, with nearly two million living in the urban area.

The roads were packed with endless traffic, and a single red light could cause a jam lasting three to five minutes.

While waiting at one red light, Fang Yubai couldn't help glancing at Li Pin. "I feel like you're... a bit different."

He added, "About half a month ago, I started getting that feeling."

"Between life and death lies great terror. Narrowly escaping death always brings some changes."

Li Pin said with a smile.

As a Hua Jin peak martial artist who had been doing recovery training for half a month, it was only natural that his words, actions, and mental state would be different.

"Yeah, some people even have an epiphany overnight. Looks like I don't need to talk you into anything anymore."

Fang Yubai replied with a smile.

He accepted that explanation.

The reason he was so eager to take Li Pin to see his uncle wasn't just that they had a good relationship—it was mainly because he'd noticed the changes in Li Pin over the past half month.

A way to build a good connection.

Half an hour later, the Lanma X5 drove into the underground parking lot of an office building.

They parked, took the elevator, and went straight to the sixth floor.

The first thing they saw was the sign for Changfeng Martial Hall.

A couplet hung beside it.

Riding the wind and breaking waves, there will come a time; hoisting the sail straight into the vast sea.

The horizontal scroll read: Heaven rewards diligence.

As Li Pin was sizing up the front of Changfeng Martial Hall, a tall, slender woman in a fitted skirt approached them. "Hello, welcome... Are you here for martial arts or fitness? We have a new seasonal package—would you like to hear about it?"

Just then, another woman, still retaining some charm despite her age, hurried over. "Young Master Fang is here."

She then said to the first woman, "This is Young Master Fang. You can go attend to your other business."

"Manager Su, where's my uncle?"

"He's in the meditation room. I'll take you there."

The woman called Manager Su led them past a screen and through the training equipment room.

Changfeng Martial Hall was spacious, with brand-new, complete equipment and a faint smell of recent renovations, though it was already fading.

A few people were training inside.

Not far away, on a fighting platform covering over a hundred square meters, two people were sparring.

Li Pin took a closer look.

Both of them seemed to have developed inner force?

He had to admit, martial arts in this world were indeed thriving.

Outside the meditation room, Manager Su knocked on the door. Only when a voice from inside said "Enter" did she push the door open.

Inside, a man who still looked imposing even while sitting was calmly reviewing some documents.

Li Pin could clearly discern the explosive power contained in the muscles straining against his shirt.

And his height was probably no less than six-foot-three.

Yet such a powerfully built man brought him no pressure or threat at all.

This...

This was indeed Embrace Dan!

True Embrace Dan!

The state of embracing qi into a dan, perfectly rounded and unified.

"Little Bai's here."

Fang Lingjue looked up.

"Uncle, can you not call me Little Bai? Makes me sound like a pet dog..."

Fang Yubai looked helpless.

Before he could finish, he saw Fang Lingjue's gaze had already landed on Li Pin.

Li Pin had not yet reached Embrace Dan, unable to fully contain all his essence and energy. Just standing there, he naturally exuded a spirited vigor.

An ordinary person would only think the young man looked energetic, but to Fang Lingjue, a master of Embrace Dan...

"Little Bai, when did you meet such a young expert in Jin training?"

"Jin training?"

Fang Yubai was stunned. Then his eyes flew wide as he stared at Li Pin beside him, his voice full of surprise: "You've trained out Jin!?"

Li Pin nodded.

A thousand gold could not buy that single sound.

Jin training was Ming Jin, hard Jin—fists that struck with wind and thunder.

For an ordinary person to train out Jin, practicing through the coldest winter days and hottest summer days would take eight to ten years. Slack off a little, and it wouldn't be strange to spend half a lifetime lingering at the threshold of Jin training.

Jin training required insight. Though martial arts flourished in this world, without a master's guidance at this step, wasting three to five years was perfectly normal.

"We agreed to work together after graduation, be wage slaves of the era, and you go and quietly train out Jin to become a martial artist?"

Fang Yubai was quite frustrated.

Li Pin gave him a speechless look.

"You work? Wage slave? Aren't you going to inherit your family's few hundred million in assets?"

"That's my dad's money. What does it have to do with me?"

Fang Yubai said, then glanced at his fourth uncle: "I was planning to have you train martial arts with Fourth Uncle. Now that you've trained out Jin, just get a martial artist certification and you can become a coach directly."

"How long have you been training?"

Fang Lingjue took the tea that Manager Su had brought for him, Li Pin, and Fang Yubai, and asked.

"I've been training for a long time. During college, the pressure was high, so I stopped on and off for a while. I just picked it back up recently."

Li Pin said.

He also took the tea Manager Su handed him and said thanks.

"Recently? Half a month ago?"

Fang Yubai quickly thought of something.

Li Pin nodded.

Fang Lingjue was intrigued.

Stopped on and off for so long, and picked it back up in half a month?

He knew there was an old saying in the martial arts circle: before reaching Embrace Dan, skip practice for one day and your hands and feet slow down, skip two days and you lose half, skip three days and you're a layman.

Li Pin had recovered his Jin in half a month...

Not bad talent.

"I'll find someone to spar with you?"

Fang Lingjue said.

"Sure."

"Shanhu."

Fang Lingjue called out.

Soon, a woman in form-fitting clothes with a ponytail, looking sunny and healthy, walked in.

"Master, you called?"

"Come, you and..."

Fang Lingjue paused.

"Li Pin."

Li Pin said calmly.

Every martial artist had their pride.

If he hadn't trained out Jin, even with Fang Yubai's introduction, this Embrace Dan master probably wouldn't have bothered to remember his name.

"Alright, Li Pin, you two have a go."