Thirty Years on the East Bank, Thirty Years on the West-in Just Three Months, Luo Feng Fell to an Ordinary Person!

"135 kg. Performance rating: very poor."

Jiangnan Base City, main urban district.

Inside a Dojo of Limits.

A cold, electronically synthesized voice came from the Punch Strength Tester's speaker.

It wasn't loud, but it scraped mercilessly across Luo Feng's heart like a dull knife.

He slowly drew back his right fist from the punching target.

His knuckles were slightly white from the force he had exerted, and the muscles in his arm were still trembling faintly beyond his control.

Luo Feng stared fixedly at the number, his vision growing blurry.

His throat felt as though it were blocked by a wad of waterlogged cotton, heavy and choking.

Even his breath carried the metallic tang of rust.

He blinked hard, but his eyes reddened all the same.

How could he accept this?!

Just three months ago, he had still been a martial artist.

He had gone outside the Base City with the members of the Fire Hammer Squad to hunt monsters.

But now...

"Sigh."

A heavy sigh came from beside him.

At some point, Chief Instructor Jiang Nian had walked over to the tester.

The resolute-faced middle-aged man's brows were tightly knitted.

He looked at Luo Feng with a complicated expression. There was regret and puzzlement in his eyes, but more than anything, a deep sense of helplessness.

He reached out, seemingly intending to pat Luo Feng on the shoulder.

But halfway there, he slowly lowered his hand again.

"Luo Feng, Luo Feng."

Jiang Nian's voice was a little hoarse:

"In the more than ten years since I became a martial artist, this is the first time I've seen a case like yours."

He paused, his gaze passing over the glaring 135 on the screen, as though the number stung him too.

"You passed the martial artist assessment in July this year. Your results were outstanding, and your martial artist file rated you excellent."

"At the end of August, you went to County 0201 with the Fire Hammer Squad for practical combat training."

"Back then, everyone thought our Yi'an District had produced an extraordinary martial artist."

"But after you came back?"

Jiang Nian's voice grew low.

"Your strength, speed, and reactions got worse by the day."

"The dojo gave you three comprehensive physical examinations, using the most advanced equipment and bringing in the best doctors."

"And the result?"

"All your physiological indicators were normal. No internal or external injuries, no warning signs whatsoever!"

"You simply fell from a martial artist to an ordinary person."

Jiang Nian's tone was full of disbelief and frustration.

"At first, you could barely maintain a Warrior Level standard."

"After a month, you fell to around the Quasi-Martial Artist threshold."

"And now..."

He shook his head and said no more.

Jiang Nian glanced at the Punch Strength Tester.

135 kilograms was a decent number for an ordinary adult man.

But among the major dojos, it was the bottom of the bottom!

Never mind comparing it to real martial artists who could fight monsters and protect the Base City!

That was the difference between heaven and earth!

Jiang Nian took a deep breath, as though what he was about to say was especially difficult:

"Luo Feng, I know you're hurting. I feel wronged on your behalf too."

"But rules are rules. The benefits martial artists receive are bought with their lives and supported by the responsibilities they bear."

"The monsters outside the Base City are eyeing us like tigers stalking their prey. Every resource has to go to the people who can protect this city."

"Your situation is too unusual, too bizarre."

"I reported it to the upper management of the Dojo of Limits, as my duties required."

"After discussing it, the upper management reached a final decision."

Jiang Nian spoke clearly, word by word:

"We'll give you another month, Luo Feng. Just one month."

"If your physical condition still hasn't recovered after that month..."

"Then your martial artist qualification and all associated benefits will be officially revoked."

"Your family will also have to, in accordance with the rules, leave the villa for martial artists' families in Mingyue Residential Area..."

Jiang Nian paused, seemingly unable to bear it, but he said it anyway.

"And move back to your original residence."

Hearing this, Luo Feng felt his ears buzzing, his mind somewhat dazed.

The detached villa with a small courtyard in Mingyue Residential Area had been assigned to him by the Dojo of Limits after he became a martial artist.

Because of that villa, his parents had smiled much more.

His father no longer had to work several jobs a day to support the whole family, either.

Now, all of it was going to disappear!

Luo Feng opened his mouth. His throat was painfully dry, and after a long while, he finally squeezed out a hoarse voice through his teeth:

"Mm. I understand."

"I have something to do, so I'll be going, Instructor Jiang."

Luo Feng lowered his head, avoiding Jiang Nian's complicated gaze.

He turned and walked toward the dojo's exit.

Luo Feng's steps were somewhat unsteady, making almost no sound on the polished floor.

Under the bright lights of the hall, his retreating figure looked somewhat thin and hunched.

He looked nothing like an eighteen-year-old who should have been brimming with youthful vigor.

Jiang Nian stood where he was, watching Luo Feng's retreating figure. He let out another long sigh and shook his head.

He had already done everything he could.

For the rest, it would be up to the young man's own fortune.

Outside the dojo, the streets of the main urban district were as bustling and lively as ever.

Streams of maglev vehicles glided silently along elevated tracks. Neon signs had already lit up, flashing with all kinds of dazzling colors.

Smartly dressed pedestrians hurried by, while cheerful music and the aroma of food drifted from the shops along the street.

In the distance, the Base City's statue of a renowned martial artist, hundreds of meters tall, cast an enormous shadow in the afterglow of the setting sun.

It silently guarded this last thriving place of humanity.

All of this had once set Luo Feng's blood boiling.

It had made him feel the responsibility on his shoulders, made him feel he was one of its guardians.

But now, all he felt was the cold and alienation of not belonging.

He walked slowly along the sidewalk.

He was heading back to the hundred-yuan hotel where he was staying temporarily, which cost only a hundred yuan a day.

Three months.

Luo Feng walked like the living dead, a voice murmuring in his heart, full of despair.

From the first time he had felt unable to exert his strength smoothly during training, when the force of his punches against the sandbag had inexplicably weakened...

To now, standing before the tester and scoring that humiliating 135 kg, it had been three whole months!

At first, the change had been slight, and he had thought he was overtired.

He had increased his training and his nutritional intake, only for his strength to drain away even faster.

Luo Feng had panicked. He hadn't dared tell his family, afraid they would worry, and even more afraid that the expectation in their eyes would go out.

He had secretly searched every piece of information and every martial artist case he could find.

Luo Feng recalled that training trip to County 0201 over and over.

Every detail, every battle, every monster he had come into contact with.

As for anything unusual, there was only one night when he had been keeping watch.

He had suddenly felt an aurora streak across the night sky.

Apart from that, there had been nothing unusual.

Could it have been that light?

Whatever the case, Luo Feng's strength, speed, and nerve reactions-the foundations of a martial artist-

Were all slowly deteriorating.

He could only watch helplessly as he fell from a much-admired martial artist prodigy,

Slipping down step by step, past Warrior Level and past the Quasi-Martial Artist threshold,

Until he finally fell to a state where he was worse off than even an ordinary dojo trainee.