Luoying City, First High School.
Inside the Class 7, Grade 2 classroom,
"Li Qingshan, you want to join the Martial Arts Class too?"
A startled voice rang out. Several nearby students looked up at the sound, their gazes converging on the figure by the window.
Brilliant sunlight streamed in from outside, falling upon the young man bent over his writing. Against the golden glow, the contours of his profile gleamed brightly.
Li Qingshan paused his pen, turned toward the student who had spoken, and chuckled.
"The Martial Arts Class doesn't have any entry requirements. Why can't I join?"
The speaker froze. Though the other students wore strange expressions, they turned their attention back to the application forms in their hands, wavering in indecision.
A sonic boom exploded through the sky outside.
Yet no one in the classroom reacted, as though they had long grown accustomed to it.
Only Li Qingshan looked up through the window.
A ring of white vapor lingered in midair as a black humanoid mecha, its entire body reflecting metallic light, sped away into the distance.
Sky Patrolers, under the Wuyi Province Patrol Bureau, patrolled above every city each day.
Grown accustomed to it? That's a mecha!
Li Qingshan rubbed the application form in his hand, his expression unfathomable.
Two years had passed since he transmigrated, yet his understanding of this world before him was still full of contradictions.
The Interstellar Era... the Crimson Rainbow Starfield... Ziying Star...
Starry Sky warships... mechas... Martial Artists...
Astral Beasts... Evil God Cultists... Corruption...
These were nothing more than pale lines of text in textbooks.
That was right. Even in the Interstellar Era, schools on Ziying Star still used paper textbooks.
After living here for two years, he had not even seen a single flying car.
The most science-fiction-like object Li Qingshan could touch was merely the Communicator on his wrist, which could create Projections.
Only the mechas that occasionally flew through the sky, along with the martial arts cultivation he practiced every day, reminded him that this was the Interstellar Era.
Mechas!
Martial Artists!
The only two manifestations of those pale lines of text in the textbooks!
"How could I miss such a dazzling Interstellar Era?"
Li Qingshan smiled faintly and continued filling out the application form.
At the podium, the homeroom teacher adjusted his glasses, his expression complicated.
Every three years, this scene repeated itself, but how could the road of martial arts possibly be so easy to walk?
"Students, while the Martial Arts Class has no entry requirements, I still need to remind you all of something."
"Even if you truly enter the Martial Arts Class, those who can go to New Continent are as rare as phoenix feathers and qilin horns."
"Even setting talent aside, Nutrient Solution alone is not cheap. I hope everyone will consider this carefully."
His deep voice was like a basin of cold water splashed down upon them. Most of the students sighed helplessly and set down their application forms.
Even several students who were in the middle of filling theirs out clenched their pens, struggle appearing on their faces before they finally stopped writing unwillingly.
The homeroom teacher's words were cruel, but they were not wrong.
Ziying Star was divided into two continents, New Continent and Old Continent. The continent they were on was Old Continent.
New Continent was the true center of this planet. Only by entering New Continent would they have the chance to come into contact with the vast and boundless Interstellar Era.
New Continent and Old Continent were separated by a vast ocean, but it was not an impassable gulf.
Talent was the ticket to New Continent!
However, the selection for talent had begun long ago.
Of all the students present, from elementary school through middle school, one or two classmates around them had basically been sent to New Continent every year.
As for those who still remained here, they were undoubtedly the enormous denominator left behind after the selection.
Entering the Senior Martial Arts Class and testing into a Martial Arts University in New Continent could be said to be their final chance to enter New Continent.
But rather than calling it an opportunity, it was more like an unreachable dream.
In Wuyi Province, where Luoying City was located, only a handful of students managed to test into New Continent Martial Arts University each year.
As the students' moods sank, the classroom grew increasingly quiet, with only several rustling sounds standing out sharply.
The students unconsciously turned their heads, their gazes gathering on the three people who had yet to stop writing.
"Jia Jiang, Zhao Hongzhou... huh? Li Qingshan is joining the Martial Arts Class too?"
At that moment, nearly every gaze fell upon Li Qingshan.
"No, why does Li Qingshan think he can apply for the Martial Arts Class?"
"Exactly. Jia Jiang's family owns a logistics company, so he can squander money however he wants. Zhao Hongzhou's family circumstances are average, but he's grown bigger and stronger over the past two years, so it's perfectly normal for him to take a shot. But Li Qingshan..."
The boy speaking hesitated and stopped. Someone immediately picked up the conversation beside him.
"What's so hard to say? Isn't he from the Public Rearing Center? Mentioning 'public rearing' now isn't discrimination."
Public rearing was a product of the continually declining birth rate in the Interstellar Era.
At the Public Rearing Center, every child came from the Federation Embryo Bank, with no father and no mother.
Before the age of fifteen, they all received unified education at the Public Rearing Center.
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After turning fifteen, everyone faced a choice.
They could continue accepting the Public Rearing Center's arrangements until they began work, while signing an employment contract of at least ten years.
Or they could leave the Public Rearing Center and fend for themselves.
Basically every class in the school had two or three students who had come from the Public Rearing Center. It was not uncommon.
As soon as those words fell, the surrounding students relaxed and continued.
"With a Publicly Supported Background, school meals, accommodation, and tuition may all be free, but they won't cover the Nutrient Solution needed for cultivation. Li Qingshan has no parents to help him. How does he dare?"
"Not necessarily. I heard that after he left the Public Rearing Center, he started working part-time before even entering Grade 1 of high school, and he doesn't live at school either."
"Tch, how much can he earn from a part-time job? His monthly salary probably isn't even enough for one bottle of Nutrient Solution."
"Yeah. If Li Qingshan had talent, he would have been sent to New Continent while he was still at the Public Rearing Center. Why would he have ended up at our school?"
"No talent and no family support—why bother?"
Quite a few students began shaking their heads and sighing, looking as though they were pointing out mountains and rivers.
When the vast majority had given up, abandoning the Martial Arts Class became the "wise" choice.
And Li Qingshan's circumstances were worse than everyone else's, yet he still insisted on going his own way. Naturally, that was foolishness among foolishness.
"Li Qingshan..."
At the podium, the homeroom teacher frowned but did not say much.
His earlier cold water had only been meant to prevent too many students from draining their families' savings and still accomplishing nothing.
The Senior Martial Arts Class was, after all, a policy set by the Federation—a ticket to New Continent.
Though the chance was slim, he could not forcefully stop them.
At most, he'll waste a little time. He probably left the Public Rearing Center just so he could apply for the Martial Arts Class, right?
The thought flashed through the homeroom teacher's mind. He shook his head and gave up on trying to persuade him.
Without family support and without sufficient resources to sustain him, even if Li Qingshan entered the Martial Arts Class, he would not last long.
The clamor by his ears grew deafening. Li Qingshan frowned slightly, and his pen halted.
"Hm? Did he come around? Is he giving up?"
"Definitely. After hearing our analysis, no matter how stubborn he is, he should give up."
Many students beamed with satisfaction, relieved that they had finally talked a stubborn classmate out of his "unwise" actions.
Several students who had filled out half their applications before giving up even walked over to Li Qingshan together.
They looked at the application form in Li Qingshan's hand, the corners of their mouths curling upward.
Very good. Though everything that needed filling out had been completed, he had not signed it yet.
That was right. They had all given up, so why should Li Qingshan persist?
"Li Qingshan, choosing to give up is the right choice. There's nothing to regret."
Someone reached out and patted Li Qingshan's shoulder lightly, speaking with earnest gravity.
"We're all the same. We understand you."
"Brother Shan, don't listen to them. Let's go to the Martial Arts Class and give it everything we've got."
A booming voice rang out. After submitting his application form, Zhao Hongzhou walked over.
"Zhao Hongzhou, if you don't understand, don't spout nonsense!"
"Exactly. You still have family assets, so you can take a shot. Li Qingshan doesn't even have parents—what can he use to fight for it?"
"What, can you pay for his Nutrient Solution?"
For a moment, the crowd was fired up, as though Zhao Hongzhou's single sentence had stirred up public outrage.
"You all..."
Though Zhao Hongzhou was tall and broad, he was still childish at heart. Faced with everyone's accusations, he did not know what to do.
"I never noticed before that you all cared about me so much."
Li Qingshan let out a derisive laugh, turning to look around and finding quite a few people staring at him.
More precisely, they were staring at the application form in his hand.
It was as though they were waiting for him to crumple that sheet of paper and merge with the dust.
Thinking about it, it was rather amusing.
He had previously been busy with part-time work and was practically invisible in class. He was not particularly familiar with his classmates either.
Only Zhao Hongzhou, because they occasionally worked part-time together, had a relatively good relationship with him.
Who would have thought that today, because of a single sheet of paper, he would unexpectedly become the entire class's "focus"?
"What the fuck do you know!"
Li Qingshan chuckled and raised his pen to sign his name.
A phantom light screen that only he could see unfolded before his eyes.
[Li Qingshan] [Realm: Body Forging 9/100] ... ...
Behind the light screen were face after face.
Shock, furrowed brows, regret...
What a panorama of all living beings!
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