Chen Lie

Galactic Calendar 7364, Blue Star, East River Province, Changdong City.

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

"Students, although this set of Skyshattering Fist I demonstrated is only a D-rank martial art, its power is no less than that of an ordinary C-rank martial art.

"Once you master it, the speed at which your qi-blood increases will be at least one and a half times what it is now. I hope you'll practice diligently afterward. If there's anything you don't understand, you can ask me privately."

After the man in the center finished demonstrating the powerful fist technique, he withdrew his fists and looked around at the students. Seeing that nearly all of them were listening with rapt attention, he nodded in satisfaction.

Suddenly, he spotted someone standing motionlessly in a daze. His brows immediately furrowed as he shouted, "Chen Lie!"

"There's only one martial arts instruction class a week, and everyone else is listening carefully, afraid of missing even a little. Yet you're zoning out in class.

"Has your qi-blood value even broken 1 yet? There are only a little over two hundred days until the college entrance exam. With your current qi-blood value, if you still don't work hard, I'm afraid you won't even get into the worst martial arts university in the province.

"If you fail to get into a martial arts university, you'll become one of the lowest ranks of society the moment you leave school. Can you really face your parents after they've scrimped and saved, spending so much to send you to the martial arts program?"

The dazed Chen Lie suddenly snapped awake. When he focused his eyes, shock surged through his heart. "Zhao Feng?"

"Wasn't I organizing books in the library of the Tai'a Star Province Martial Arts Institute? How did I suddenly end up here? And Blue Star was destroyed fifty years ago during a beast tide. Zhao Feng should have been dead for fifty years too. Even if he were alive, he couldn't possibly be this young!"

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

Chen Lie's face was filled with disbelief.

In his previous life, he had been an ordinary high school martial arts student in Changdong City, East River Province, one of Blue Star's eighty-nine provinces.

His family had been relatively well-off by Blue Star's standards. His parents were in the prime of their lives, and he had a younger sister three years his junior with outstanding martial arts talent.

When he was twenty-three, his family suffered a drastic change. His parents and younger sister all perished in that calamity.

As for him, he had been hunted by powerful enemies, forced to hide and flee like a rat in the gutter for more than a decade. In the end, with no other choice, he left Blue Star and his homeland, struggling desperately to survive among the stars for over fifty years.

Benefiting from a martial arts environment far superior to Blue Star's, coupled with efforts hundreds and thousands of times greater than those of ordinary people, Chen Lie's martial arts cultivation eventually reached the realm of a ninth-rank grandmaster.

A ninth-rank grandmaster was naturally among the very strongest on Blue Star, but in Tai'a Star Province, where martial arts civilization was highly developed, he could only be considered part of the lower class.

Chen Lie had thought he could only spend the rest of his life in mediocrity in Tai'a Star Province. Who would have thought that when he opened his eyes, he would return to the youth he had longed for day and night?

Seeing that Chen Lie remained silent, Zhao Feng assumed his rebuke had worked. He immediately shook his head and said, "Considering that you're usually fairly diligent in your training, I'll let it go this time.

"If you dare zone out during martial arts instruction again, bring your parents to see me immediately.

"I hope everyone will take this as a warning. Class dismissed!"

After saying that, Zhao Feng left the training grounds.

The surrounding students all glanced at Chen Lie before dispersing.

At that moment, a student with curly hair walked over to Chen Lie.

"Chen Lie, what's wrong with you? Haven't you been waiting three or four days for this Skyshattering Fist instruction class? How could you still zone out during class?"

"Wang Hui?"

The moment Chen Lie saw the curly-haired youth before him, memories from his previous life flooded back.

Wang Hui had been his childhood friend. The two had shared more than a decade of friendship.

When Chen Lie had been hunted until there was nowhere to run, barely able to afford food, Wang Hui had secretly helped him out several times.

Under the intense manhunt of those powerful enemies, Wang Hui had still repeatedly aided him. He had been risking the destruction of his entire family.

Chen Lie looked at Wang Hui, shook his head, and said, "Nothing. I just remembered something."

"Thinking about Lu Qingchan? She's a top student in the elite class, not someone ordinary-class martial arts students like us can compare to."

Lu Qingchan? What a familiar name.

Chen Lie shook his head, casting aside the countless thoughts in his mind.

"Come on, let's eat!"

When Chen Lie said nothing, Wang Hui assumed he had guessed correctly and stopped asking. He slung an arm around Chen Lie's shoulders and headed to the school cafeteria with him.

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

Throughout the morning, Chen Lie familiarized himself with the school environment. After all, the last time he had attended class here had been decades ago.

The afternoon was for theory class. As soon as the bell rang, Ren Hongguang, the martial arts class instructor, entered the classroom and began teaching.

"The path of martial arts lies in perseverance, in refusing to yield despite repeated setbacks, in never giving up. Talent is important, but hard work is even more important..."

After a bout of dry and tedious talk, Ren Hongguang's expression turned serious as he said, "Last year, the college entrance admission cutoff for ordinary martial arts universities was a qi-blood value of 5.3 cards, while the cutoff for key universities was 11.5 cards. This year, they may very well increase by another 0.1.

"Yet only three students in our class have a qi-blood value above 1. With the college entrance exam so close, to be honest, I don't even dare imagine how poor this year's admission rate will be. You truly are the worst class I've ever taught!"

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

"I know that breaking 1 in qi-blood value is difficult. Before your qi-blood value breaks 1, you can't use supplements or medicinal liquids that increase qi-blood. You can only rely on desperate training. But what I want to say is that as long as you're willing to put in twelve parts effort, you'll definitely gain twelve parts reward, because I was once at the same stage you are now."

After Ren Hongguang finished speaking, he swept his gaze over the students in the classroom before finally settling on a male student in the front row. "Fang Hang, during last month's qi-blood test, your qi-blood value had already broken 1 card. Have you tested your qi-blood at home these past few days? What's your qi-blood value now?"

The student named Fang Hang immediately stood and replied, "I tested it two days ago. My qi-blood value has now reached 1.93 cards."

After saying that, he turned to glance at the other students, his face full of pride.

Upon hearing Fang Hang's answer, the students in the classroom were immediately stunned.

"My god, Fang Hang had only just broken 1 in qi-blood value last month, and now he's already at 1.93 cards. It hasn't even been a month, yet his qi-blood has increased by 0.9. That's way too fast, isn't it?"

"That's normal. Once your qi-blood value reaches 1 card, your physical functions improve, and you can take a bottle of basic qi-blood essence. One bottle can increase qi-blood by roughly 0.4 to 0.6 cards.

"Fang Hang's family is so rich that they must have prepared qi-blood essence for him long ago. Along with all sorts of expensive supplements, it's not strange at all for his qi-blood to increase by 0.9 cards in a month."

"Then doesn't that mean Fang Hang's qi-blood will soon break 3 and he'll enter the elite class?"

"How could it be that easy? Although you can use external supplements and medicinal liquids to increase qi-blood after breaking 1, those supplements can only be used at set intervals and in set amounts. If abused, your body won't be able to absorb and digest them, which will damage it.

"Besides, Fang Hang's qi-blood increased so much at once. He must have taken a large amount of supplements, so he'll need a period of training to digest and absorb them."

"Sigh, why can't people with qi-blood values below 1 use qi-blood essence? If someone with 0.9 qi-blood could use it, I'd ask my dad to buy me a bottle too."

"If your qi-blood value is below 1, your body's functions can't break down the medicinal power of qi-blood essence. Wasting it would be the least of your problems. If it leaves hidden damage in your body, breaking through to become a martial artist later will be ten times harder than for ordinary people."

Ren Hongguang ignored the students' chatter. Instead, he waved Fang Hang back down and said, "Not bad. Keep training hard during this period. With the progress of your qi-blood value, you have a good chance of getting into a key university. Sit down!"