Only After Knowing Deep Despair Does One Understand the Preciousness of Hope

In the year 2086, Hua Nation, Yu Prefecture.

Bay City Martial Arts High School.

Yang Sheng got a serving of tofu and cabbage from the cafeteria window, took four steamed buns, then sat in a corner and wolfed them down.

An old-fashioned radio in the center of the cafeteria was broadcasting the day's news.

"Recently, the Starship Federation passed the Martial Arts Administration Resolution, establishing the consensus principle of Class-Divided Cultivation. Forty-five nations voted in favor, while Hua Nation abstained..."

Listening to the news, Yang Sheng used the last half of his steamed bun to soak up the vegetable gravy and swallowed it in one bite.

Dark clouds blanketed the sky outside. Yang Sheng put away his tray and hurried back to the training room in the teaching building.

"Class monitor, are you still sparring with me at seven tonight?" Yang Sheng called out respectfully.

"You don't need to call me class monitor anymore."

The short-haired man in a training uniform did not even look up as he punched the wooden dummy again and again.

"I just received word that Yu Prefecture will become a pilot region for Class-Divided Cultivation. From now on, martial arts will only be open to children from families with cultivation resources."

"You don't need to come anymore."

That short sentence struck Yang Sheng like a bolt from the blue, leaving him dizzy and disoriented.

"Class monitor, you're joking, right? I just heard on the news that Hua Nation abstained from the Martial Arts Administration Resolution. Besides, I got into martial arts high school through the entrance exam..."

Though he said that, Yang Sheng had heard rumors two years ago that other countries had already implemented Class-Divided Cultivation.

Thirty years ago, resources had been consolidated to establish the Starship Federation. From then on, the world began dividing people into registries. Some who controlled absolute martial arts resources were classified under the Upper Registry, while more ordinary people were placed under the Lower Registry.

Yang Sheng was from a poor Lower Registry household.

Class monitor Li Yan stopped moving.

"You did enter martial arts high school through the exam, but after three years here, you should understand that you don't have the qualifications to attend a Martial Arts University."

"This is also the homeroom teacher's decision. As a pilot among pilots, Bay City Martial Arts High School needs to deliver outstanding results to the higher-ups this year. He hopes you'll withdraw voluntarily."

Yang Sheng looked up in disbelief.

"So that's why?"

He had thought that as long as he worked hard, then harder, then harder still, he would earn the school's recognition. He had never imagined that, from beginning to end, the school had viewed him as nothing more than dead weight.

"Class monitor, could you talk to the homeroom teacher again? I work hard every day. I've been your sparring partner since my first year and have trained with you for three years. Even if I have no merit, I've put in the effort. If I drop out, all of it will have been for nothing."

"I only hope to attend a Martial Arts University. Even if I still have to be your sparring partner after getting there, I'm willing."

Yang Sheng was nearly desperate.

He knew very well that martial arts high school students appeared infinitely glamorous to outsiders.

But in reality, the divide was severe. Within the same class, only student officials appointed by the homeroom teacher could learn genuine cultivation techniques.

Students like them could only learn basic techniques. The reason he had willingly served as Li Yan's sparring partner was precisely because he could learn martial arts cultivation techniques through sparring.

For cultivation, he had acted as Li Yan's human punching bag every day.

Over the past three years, Li Yan had kicked his leg broken once, broken two of his ribs, and even once entered a Bloodrage state and put Yang Sheng in a rear naked choke, nearly killing him!

Even so, Yang Sheng had continued to work without complaint, all for that tiny bit of martial arts cultivation technique resources.

Because in this world, only by attending a Martial Arts University could one escape the restrictions of one's registry.

Yang Sheng had gritted his teeth and endured for more than a thousand days and nights for this sliver of hope. Now that hope was finally within sight, Li Yan's single sentence had shattered it completely, turning hope into despair.

"Was I not clear enough?"

Li Yan's gaze was cold.

"Class-Divided Cultivation is the trend of the times. Only those in the Upper Registry who possess resources can sense Star Source, become martial artists, and fight the alien races."

"Those in the Lower Registry should act like those in the Lower Registry. I remember you're from a poor household. You should return to your hometown and farm, instead of thinking about going to university here."

"Besides, I don't like training on the same floor as a lowborn Lower Registry wretch. It disgusts me."

Those words were like a heavy hammer smashing into Yang Sheng's heart.

He felt that his pleading had been ridiculous. So Li Yan had never regarded him as a classmate.

His only value here had been as a human punching bag. Now that he was about to lose that value, he was being kicked aside like trash.

Li Yan sneered.

"I hope you recognize the situation. If you withdraw on your own, you can still leave with some dignity. Don't make me help you keep that dignity. At the Martial Arts Entrance Exam one month from now, I'll personally stop every Lower Registry wretch who overestimates himself. If you insist on taking it, come and try."

As Li Yan's words fell, Yang Sheng's heart sank lower and lower.

Li Yan's family was a branch of the Li family of Yu Prefecture. Though it was a collateral branch, it still held considerable influence in Bay City.

The Bay City Li Group behind him controlled one-third of Bay City's real estate and one-quarter of its medicinal herb resources.

It was also one of the seven directors of Bay City Martial Arts High School.

Its web of connections spread throughout Bay City like a giant net, covering Lower Registry people like them, people without backgrounds or resources.

When he had first enrolled three years ago, the gap between him and Li Yan had not been large.

But over the past three years, Li Yan had cultivated martial arts techniques and used all kinds of precious medicines. He had already pulled two realms ahead of Yang Sheng.

Children of Upper Registry families were born with people to lift them up. Even with ordinary talent, they could still achieve something.

Poor Lower Registry citizens could only struggle forward step by step on their own.

Throughout his three years of high school, Yang Sheng had never relaxed for even a moment.

After serving as Li Yan's sparring partner, he would drag his injured body through after-school hours, studying martial arts cultivation techniques.

Even when the moon was bright and the stars sparse, he would practice silently at home.

Even with such effort, he had only grasped a few superficial scraps.

All martial arts high school students could take the Martial Arts Entrance Exam. On the surface, it seemed fair.

But how were Lower Registry students like them supposed to compete on the same stage as Upper Registry students?

"But you'd better be prepared. There's no guarantee of survival in the Martial Arts Entrance Exam. I'll personally beat you to death with my fists."

That sentence was like the final judge's hammer falling, leaving Yang Sheng utterly despondent.

A thunderclap exploded in the sky.

Yang Sheng walked out of the teaching building as fine raindrops began to fall. The students around him all hid in the building to escape the rain.

Only Yang Sheng walked against the flow of people toward the school gates.

The noise around him gradually faded from his ears, leaving only Li Yan's final warning in his mind.

"I'll personally beat you to death with my fists..."

Yang Sheng raised his head. Rain poured down in torrents.

"I have no chance of getting into a Martial Arts University anymore..."

All the effort he had once made seemed to turn into bubbles at that moment, crashing heavily to the ground.

Treated as filth not worth mentioning, it mixed with the rainwater and flowed into the sewers.

Pedestrians hurried along the road. Yang Sheng walked through the rain, and when he looked up again, he realized he had somehow arrived at his home.

Poor Lower Registry households did not qualify to buy homes in the city.

Yang Sheng and his father rented a place in Bay City's urban village.

Looking at the familiar old wooden door, Yang Sheng slowly came back to himself.

He wiped the rainwater from his hair, then patted his face with his hands.

He forced out a smile.

"Dad, I'm home."

When he pushed open the door, Father Yang was setting a pot of porridge on the table.

"Xiao Sheng, you're back. Sit down quickly. I finished work early tonight, so I made two extra dishes."

Father Yang was a truck driver. Every night, he finished work at eight and came home to cook, always making a little extra as Yang Sheng's late-night meal.

For martial artists, food was important.

On the table were a plate of eggplant fried in lard, a plate of shredded potatoes, coarse flour steamed buns, and porridge.

Every morning at three or four, Father Yang would get up and go to the market to haul vegetables. The suppliers would throw away vegetables with poor appearances.

At times like that, Father Yang would bring all those unwanted vegetables home.

Though the vegetables did not look good, they were fresh enough.

Yang Sheng sat at the table, picked up a coarse flour steamed bun, and took a bite. It tasted like wax.

At this time in the past, he would have finished sparring with Li Yan and begun his own extra training.

Even after dinner, he would always return home starving, and everything tasted delicious.

But today, he was heartbroken and had no appetite at all.

He did not want his father to notice, so he still took large bites of the steamed bun and washed them down with porridge.

Father Yang peeled an egg and placed it in Yang Sheng's bowl.

"There's only one month left before the Martial Arts Entrance Exam. Once it's over, Xiao Sheng will be a Martial Arts University student."

Yang Sheng lowered his head into his bowl. "Mm."

"How have things been at school these past few days? Has your technique improved?"

Father Yang asked expectantly.

"Everything's good. My classmates take good care of me, and the homeroom teacher approves of me too. If everything goes smoothly, I should be able to get into a Martial Arts University."

Yang Sheng lifted his head with a smile on his face. He had repeated that relaxed, confident tone for three years.

Over those three years, he had never let his father worry about him.

Even if his father noticed his injuries, he would say they had been accidents caused by becoming too absorbed in training.

He did not want his father to see his sorrow. His father already worked hard enough, and Yang Sheng could not bear to make his heart suffer even more.

Hearing this, Father Yang immediately beamed with joy.

Even his lumbar spine, badly worn down from years of driving, straightened a little.

Back in their hometown, Yang Sheng was the only student who had tested into Bay City Martial Arts High School.

He was the pride of everyone back home.

"I have faith in you. If you perform well this time, you might even have a shot at an undergraduate martial arts program. But don't put too much pressure on yourself. You need to know how to adjust."

Yang Sheng knew that, in his father's eyes, he was a genius who had entered Bay City Martial Arts High School.

His future was boundless.

Just yesterday, he himself had thought so too.

But now, he knew that with only one month left, everything was over.

"Dad, don't worry. I'll definitely perform well and strive for an undergraduate martial arts program. Once I graduate, I'll be qualified to enlist. Maybe I'll even be selected for the Starship Corps and go to the moon to fight alien races. Then one month of my salary will equal a whole year of your work. I'll buy you a big house and take you to fancy restaurants."

The house father and son rented was fifty square meters. After it had been divided into two bedrooms, the kitchen and living room were crammed together.

To use the toilet, they had to go to the public restroom across the street.

Moving into a bigger home had always been Yang Sheng's wish.

"As long as you're safe, healthy, and make something of yourself, Dad will be satisfied. That'll give me strength to work."

Hearing his father's words, Yang Sheng's nose stung.

He did not want his father to know that the beautiful life they had hoped for in the future had already been destroyed.

Perhaps Li Yan was right. Perhaps what he was supposed to do in the future was return to his hometown and farm.

But Yang Sheng knew clearly that when his father had taken him out of the village,

their farmland had already been reclaimed. That was the price poor Lower Registry citizens paid for leaving.

Behind him was no road of retreat, only a bottomless abyss.

Yang Sheng's heart began to pound.

It was as though boundless fury surged from within it.

Why! Why could a single sentence from Li Yan decide my fate!

Accompanied by towering rage,

a line of text appeared in his mind.

[Martial God Soul]

[For every punch practiced, gain the equivalent of a hundred punches!]

[Martial arts cultivation will never regress. Every bit of hard training will be corrected by the Martial God Soul onto the most accurate path, accumulating without end, breaking through limits, forever without end!]