Chen Lie

The year 7364 of the Galactic Calendar, Blue Star, Dongchuan Province, Changdong City.

Inside the drill ground of a provincial key high school, more than fifty teenage boys and girls surrounded a sturdy man in his early forties.

"Class, the Void-Breaking Fist I just demonstrated is only a D-Rank Martial Art, but its power is hardly any weaker than that of an ordinary C-Rank Martial Art.

"Once you've mastered it, your Blood Qi will improve at least one and a half times faster than it does now. I hope you'll practice diligently after class. If there's anything you don't understand, you can ask me privately."

The man in the middle finished demonstrating the powerful fist technique, lowered his fists, and looked around at the students. Seeing that nearly all of them were listening intently, he nodded with satisfaction.

Suddenly, he noticed one person standing motionless and staring into space as if in a daze. He furrowed his brows and shouted, "Chen Lie!"

"Your school's Martial Arts instruction class is held only once a week. Everyone else is listening carefully, afraid they'll miss even a single thing. And you're here spacing out during class.

"Has your Blood Qi Value even broken 1 yet? There are only a little over two hundred days left until the college entrance exams. With your current Blood Qi Value, if you don't work harder, you probably won't even get into the worst Martial Arts university in the province.

"If you can't get into a Martial Arts university, you'll end up at the bottom of society the moment you leave school. How can you face your parents, who've scrimped and saved to pay the enormous expenses of sending you to the Martial Arts Department?"

Chen Lie, still looking dazed, suddenly snapped back to his senses. He took a closer look, and his heart jolted in shock. "Zhao Feng?"

"Wasn't I sorting books in the Scripture Library of the Taia Star Province Martial Arts Academy? How did I suddenly end up here? Besides, Blue Star was destroyed in an Exotic Beast tide fifty years ago. Zhao Feng should have been dead for fifty years. Even if he were still alive, he couldn't possibly be this young!"

"Could it be... that I've been reborn?"

Chen Lie's face was full of disbelief.

In his previous life, he had been an ordinary high school Martial Arts Student in Changdong City, Dongchuan Province, one of Blue Star's eighty-nine provinces.

His family had been well-off, even wealthy by Blue Star standards. His parents had been in their prime, and he had a younger sister, three years his junior, who had exceptional Martial Arts talent.

When he was twenty-three, disaster struck his family. His parents and sister had all perished in the upheaval.

As for Chen Lie, he had been hunted by powerful enemies, hiding and fleeing for more than a decade like a rat in a drain. In the end, with no other choice, he had left Blue Star and his home behind, struggling to survive in the starry expanse for more than fifty years.

Thanks to the Martial Arts environment in the interstellar worlds, which far surpassed Blue Star's, and to the fact that Chen Lie had worked hundreds or even thousands of times harder than the average person, his Martial Arts cultivation had eventually reached the realm of a Ninth-Order Grandmaster.

A Ninth-Order Grandmaster was naturally among the strongest on Blue Star. But in the highly advanced Martial Arts civilization of Taia Star Province, he could only be considered part of the lowest tier.

Chen Lie had thought he would spend the rest of his life in obscurity in Taia Star Province. Who could have guessed that when he opened his eyes, he would find himself back in the youth he had longed for so deeply?

Seeing that Chen Lie said nothing, Zhao Feng assumed his reprimand had gotten through to him. He shook his head and said, "Since you usually practice hard, I'll let it slide this time.

"If you dare to space out during Martial Arts instruction class again, I'll have your parents come in immediately.

"I hope the rest of you will learn from this. Class dismissed!"

After speaking, Zhao Feng left the drill ground.

The students nearby glanced at Chen Lie, then dispersed.

Just then, a curly-haired student walked over to Chen Lie.

"Chen Lie, what's gotten into you? You'd been waiting three or four days for this Void-Breaking Fist lesson. How could you still space out during class?"

"Wang Hui?"

At the sight of the curly-haired boy, memories from Chen Lie's previous life came flooding back.

Wang Hui had been his childhood friend. They had known each other for more than a decade.

When Chen Lie had been hunted in his previous life, with nowhere left to run and barely enough to eat, Wang Hui had secretly helped him out several times.

Helping him again and again while powerful enemies were hunting him was a risk that could have cost Wang Hui his entire family.

Chen Lie looked at Wang Hui and shook his head. "It's nothing. Something just came to mind."

"Were you thinking about Lu Qingchan? She's a top student in the Elite Class, not someone an Ordinary Class Martial Arts Student like us can compare with."

Lu Qingchan? The name sounded familiar.

Chen Lie shook his head, pushing aside the countless thoughts crowding his mind.

"Come on, let's go eat!"

When Chen Lie didn't answer, Wang Hui assumed he had guessed right, so he stopped asking, slung an arm around Chen Lie's neck, and headed with him to the school cafeteria.

After a simple meal in the cafeteria, Chen Lie and Wang Hui returned to the classroom.

All morning, Chen Lie familiarized himself with the school grounds. After all, the last time he had attended classes here had been decades ago.

The afternoon was devoted to theory. As soon as the bell rang, Ren Hongguang, the instructor for the Martial Arts class, walked into the classroom and began his lecture.

"The path of Martial Arts demands perseverance, the ability to keep going through every setback, and a refusal to give up. Talent is important, of course, but hard work matters even more..."

After a long, tedious speech, Instructor Ren Hongguang composed himself and said, "Last year, the entrance requirement for an ordinary Martial Arts university was a Blood Qi Value of 5.3 Ka. For a key university, it was 11.5 Ka. This year, the cutoff may well rise by another 0.1.

"Yet there are only three students in our class whose Blood Qi Value has broken 1. The college entrance exams are already close. To be honest, I can't even imagine how poor our admission rate will be this year. You're the worst class I've ever taught!"

As he spoke, Ren Hongguang smacked the desk in front of him.

"I know breaking 1 in Blood Qi Value is difficult. Before your Blood Qi Value reaches 1, you can't use supplements or medicinal fluids that raise it. You can only rely on your own desperate training. But what I'm saying is, if you're willing to put in twelve times the effort, you'll reap twelve times the rewards. I've been through the same stage you're at now."

After speaking, Ren Hongguang looked around the classroom. His gaze eventually settled on a boy in the front row. "Fang Hang, your Blood Qi Value had already broken 1 at last month's test. Have you checked it at home these past few days? What is it now?"

The student named Fang Hang immediately stood up and replied, "I checked two days ago. My Blood Qi Value has now reached 1.93 Ka."

After speaking, he glanced back at the other students, his face full of pride.

Hearing Fang Hang's answer, the students in the classroom were stunned.

"Oh my god, Fang Hang had only just broken 1 in Blood Qi Value last month, and now he's already at 1.93 Ka. He's gained 0.9 in less than a month. That's way too fast!"

"That's normal. Once your Blood Qi Value reaches 1 Ka, your body's functions improve, and you can take a bottle of basic Blood Essence Fluid. A bottle of Blood Essence Fluid can raise your Blood Qi by about 0.4 to 0.6 Ka.

"Fang Hang's family is so rich, they must have prepared the Blood Essence Fluid ages ago. Add in all the expensive supplements, and it's no surprise he gained 0.9 Ka in a month."

"Does that mean Fang Hang will soon break 3 in Blood Qi Value and get into the Elite Class?"

"It's not that easy. Although you can use outside supplements and medicinal fluids to raise your Blood Qi Value after it breaks 1, you can only take those supplements at set times and in limited amounts. If you overuse them, your body won't be able to absorb and process them, and you'll damage it.

"Besides, Fang Hang's Blood Qi Value has risen so much all at once. He must have taken a lot of supplements, so he'll need to train for a while to absorb and process them."

"Man, why can't you use Blood Essence Fluid when your Blood Qi Value is below 1? If someone with a Blood Qi Value of 0.9 could use it, that'd be great. I'd get my dad to buy me a bottle too."

"If your Blood Qi Value is below 1, your body can't break down the medicinal effects of Blood Essence Fluid. Wasting it would be the least of your worries. If it causes hidden damage to your body, breaking through to become a Martial Artist later will be ten times harder than it is for other people."

Ren Hongguang ignored the students' chatter. He waved at Fang Hang and said, "Good. Keep training hard during this period. With your Blood Qi Value rising so quickly, getting into a key university is well within reach. Sit down!"