Early the next morning, on the top floor of the Limit Martial Hall building.
"Dad, I'll be back this afternoon. There's no need to see me off!" Yang Zheng waved at his father, Wang Jiu. He was only going for a test required by the martial hall's regulations. It wouldn't take long at all.
"You little brat, who said I was seeing you off?" Wang Jiu chided with a laugh, then nodded to Zheng Cangli.
"Let's go!"
Zheng Cangli nodded with a smile and led Yang Zheng toward the nearby landing pad.
A flying-saucer-shaped fighter with a deep-blue hull was parked on the pad.
The two quickly boarded. The hatch closed, and the fighter swiftly rose into the air.
Beep!
Signal identification: passed.
Only then did the deep-blue saucer-shaped fighter fly beyond the city's defense system and head northeast.
Had it tried to leave without passing signal identification, laser beams would have pierced it in an instant.
"A fighter aircraft..."
Inside the cabin, Yang Zheng looked through the window at the clouds sweeping past. Ever since the Great Nirvana, humanity's position as the dominant force on the planet had been overturned by the monster hordes in an instant.
Of the sea, land, and air, humanity could only huddle in scattered corners of the land. Only powerful warriors and the base cities had kept these last sanctuaries of civilization safe.
The oceans had been completely occupied by sea monsters. As for the skies, humanity had only managed to build passenger aircraft capable of flying through them by using technology unearthed from various Ancient Civilization Ruins and all sorts of precious construction materials.
As a result, large passenger aircraft were exceedingly rare worldwide, and every one of them cost an outrageous amount to build and maintain.
Ordinary people, and even weaker warriors, couldn't afford a single ride on such luxurious aircraft.
"By the way, Uncle Zheng, could you tell me about my father?" Yang Zheng gathered his thoughts and looked at Zheng Cangli, who was resting beside him with his eyes closed.
Throughout his childhood, his parents had never mentioned this subject, but as he grew older, Yang Zheng had gradually noticed something was off.
Especially now that he had awakened his memories of his previous life, the more he thought about it, the more he suspected that his adoptive father had been through some clichéd drama.
"You..." Zheng Cangli hesitated slightly. "Well, even if I don't tell you, you'll find out soon enough once you show your talent this time!"
"Your father's original name was Wang Yanming. He's the second son of the current head of the Wang Family in Kyoto City. Back then..."
Zheng Cangli recounted everything he knew. The whole affair involving Wang Jiu wasn't complicated, but Yang Zheng's expression kept shifting as he listened. This...
What a cliché!
The Wang Family of Kyoto City, which Wang Jiu had been born into, was one of the HR Alliance's nine core families.
The cause was simple: an arranged marriage between powerful families. They had even resorted to trying to eliminate Wang Jiu's first love, Yang Rong. Wang Jiu had stopped them in time and crippled the mastermind.
Then, in a fit of rage, he had left the Wang Family. Not only had he changed his own name, but he had even refused to let his children bear his surname.
"Wang Yanzhao..."
Yang Zheng's gaze flickered. He committed the mastermind's name to memory. Since the man had considered eliminating his mother, Yang Zheng couldn't let him off lightly.
In this world, as long as someone was still alive, what did being crippled matter? There were plenty of treasures that could regenerate limbs. A powerful family like the Wang Family could easily restore him.
"Whew..."
Yang Zheng set those thoughts aside and mentally rehearsed the saber techniques of the Nine-Layered Thunder Blade. After his test the previous morning, Zheng Cangli had given him the complete Nine-Layered Thunder Blade manual.
[Perfect Level movement technique] (22%) [Nine-Layered Thunder Blade, fourth layer] (37%)
With just one afternoon of practice, he had advanced the fourth layer of the Thunder Blade to 37%. If he could master it before the Trial Tower assessment ended, that would be ideal.
The Trial Tower...
That was a good place to practice his saber techniques.
About ten minutes later, the deep-blue saucer-shaped fighter streaked through the sky like a ray of light. After passing signal identification, it entered the airspace above Kyoto Base City.
Yang Zheng didn't know the fighter's specifications, but judging by the distance and travel time, it had to be capable of at least three times the speed of sound.
"Kyoto Base City!"
Once the saucer-shaped fighter entered the base city, it slowed down. Yang Zheng gazed at the dense cluster of high-rises below and the faintly visible streams of cars.
Kyoto Base City covered the largest area of any city in Huaxia Country, had the most residents, and was its political center. On the surface, though, it didn't look much different from Northwest Base City.
Soon, the fighter entered the central urban area and flew into an enormous building complex, slowly landing on a lawn.
Whoosh!
The hatch opened.
Yang Zheng and Zheng Cangli jumped down. Before they could take in their surroundings, a hearty voice rang out.
"Haha, Old Zheng, that's not fair! You came in person without telling me beforehand. I only heard about it after your fighter had already entered the base city!"
A burly man strode over and eagerly spread his arms, giving Zheng Cangli a bear hug.
"Wine Brute, cut it out. I have urgent business today. I didn't come here just to drink with you!"
The corner of Zheng Cangli's mouth twitched, and he shoved the man away. Had he known, he would have taken the train instead. It would have been a little more trouble, but far better than getting tangled up with this Wine Brute.
"Brute, this is Yang Zheng, a genius from our Northwest Base City. He's here to take the Trial Tower assessment!"
Zheng Cangli introduced them. "Yang Zheng, this is the supervisor of the Basic Training Camp's Kyoto Base City branch. He oversees the entire camp. You can call him Uncle Wine... Uncle Brute!"
"Yang Zheng? Is he Second Wang's son?"
The burly man rubbed his chin, then greeted Yang Zheng with easy familiarity. "Kid, I've known your dad for decades too. If you ever need anything here in Kyoto Base City, just come to me!"
"Wine Brute!" Zheng Cangli's expression darkened. "Stop dragging your feet. Yang Zheng still has an assessment to take!"
"Right, right, the assessment!" Wine Brute smacked his forehead and beckoned them over. "Follow me. I'll take you to jump the queue."
Wine Brute led them into an old-fashioned building in the Training Camp. Although its exterior looked classical, the interior was thoroughly high-tech, with alloy flooring throughout.
Besides its headquarters in Hongning Base City, the Basic Training Camp had branches at the headquarters of the world's major powers, as well as in each of the five great nations.
The differences between the branches and headquarters were merely in less tangible aspects, such as instructors and atmosphere. As for their facilities, they were
almost identical, with all the equipment they ought to have.
"You've come too early. Normally, the Trial Space is only idle for that one hour between noon and one. But since you're special, Old Zheng, you get to use the back door."
Wine Brute spoke as he led them into the elevator, paying no heed to Zheng Cangli's increasingly dark expression beside him.
Yang Zheng was beginning to understand. Not only did this burly man love drinking, but he also seemed to be quite a chatterbox.
Before you continue