The Final List

"Haha, that's right. If it's goodbye, then goodbye. The next one will be better," Wang Mo said with a laugh. He glanced at He Jiyu beside him and, seeing that he said nothing, dropped the subject.

The three went upstairs and entered a private room.

They were all martial artists in their golden years, and they still had aspirations in martial arts, so they naturally paid close attention to their diets. After ordering a high-energy nutritional set meal, they didn't order anything else.

For Fang Yu and Wang Mo, who they ate with mattered more than what they ate.

The three chatted about their first and second years. Fang Yu and Wang Mo did most of the talking, while He Jiyu mostly listened... As time passed, he gradually relaxed and casually asked about Ye Zhiyin again.

"Actually, you already know roughly what happened."

"It was at a social event with the freshmen at the start of our second year," Fang Yu said. "She was the host, and that's how we met. She was lively and had a great personality, though she liked having fun a little too much... We met at a few more events afterward and got to know each other better. Then she started asking me out a lot."

"Yeah." Wang Mo nodded. "There were plenty of events in our first two years."

At martial arts junior colleges, students focused primarily on martial arts cultivation.

But after generations of practical experience and follow-up studies by schools and society as a whole, it had long been discovered that managing students in a strictly military fashion and pressuring them to cultivate could easily cause widespread psychological problems and make them more prone to developing twisted mindsets.

That was especially true for martial artists.

They possessed formidable strength and astonishing destructive power. If their minds became twisted, they could easily cause irreparable harm... So, many years ago, even martial arts universities and junior colleges had begun organizing all sorts of social activities for their students.

As for instruction, students were also given more time to cultivate on their own.

From a martial arts perspective,

tempering one's martial heart also required experiencing and seeing enough to make one's inner self fuller and stronger. Only then could one travel farther on the martial path.

"When a woman pursues a man, only a thin veil stands between them. Weren't you tempted?" Wang Mo joked.

"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't tempted at all." Fang Yu smiled. "But we wanted different things, so I turned her down a few times... She probably understood how I felt, and we got in touch less often after that."

"Neither of us ever actually said it outright. We'd say hello if we happened to run into each other at school... Lao Mo, you went a little too far just now," Fang Yu said, shaking his head.

If they had said it outright back then, it would have meant something different.

"Don't blame me. I thought she was the one who turned you down, and I wanted to stand up for you." Wang Mo spread his hands. "At our age, who could turn down a pretty girl throwing herself at him? Only a cultivation fanatic like you."

"Take my dad, for example."

"He was worried I was young and might get set up and swindled out of my money. To break my illusions about girls, he took me to a hostess karaoke club himself after I got into junior college," Wang Mo said. "And now, as a result, I don't believe in love at all anymore."

Fang Yu was taken aback.

A hostess karaoke club? He had only heard of them and had never been to one.

Fang Yu still believed in love, though he was more certain of one thing: he had to hold his fate in his own hands... Martial arts were what mattered most to him right now.

In this era, even ordinary people could live past a hundred, and the statutory retirement age was seventy-five.

Powerful martial artists lived even longer.

Marriage? There was no need to think about it so early.

As for martial arts cultivation, training before thirty was far more efficient than training afterward... Especially during the golden years, one year of hard training was worth five or even ten years later on.

"Old Fang, Lao Mo." He Jiyu suddenly spoke, his voice subdued. "Do you think I made the wrong choice back then? Should I not have gotten married so early?"

Fang Yu and Wang Mo exchanged a glance.

They had talked for so long... but really, much of it had been for He Jiyu's benefit.

They had been roommates for three years and got along well enough, so they were fairly familiar with He Jiyu's situation.

"It wasn't a matter of right or wrong," Fang Yu said. "Getting married and having kids early has its advantages too... Maybe by the time your kids go to college, we still won't be married. It'll save you trouble later on, too."

He Jiyu listened without saying anything else.

"Old He."

"After this meal, there's no telling when we'll see each other again," Wang Mo said seriously. "Have you run into some kind of trouble?"

"If you have, just say so. We'll do what we can to help," Wang Mo said.

"I wouldn't quite call it trouble." He Jiyu shook his head. "It's just that being married is a lot more complicated than I imagined. You know Liu Ying was pregnant and had the kids."

Fang Yu and Wang Mo both nodded.

The three roommates had made very different choices when it came to relationships. Wang Mo had gone through one girlfriend after another, while Fang Yu had focused on martial arts cultivation.

He Jiyu had gotten a girlfriend in the second semester of his first year and fallen deeply in love.

In their third year, his girlfriend got pregnant with twins, and they got married... The children were born in the second semester of their third year. The full-month celebration had been held in Wuling City, and Fang Yu and Wang Mo had made a point of attending.

"Originally, I didn't think getting married and having kids was a big deal."

"My plan was that my parents and Liu Ying's parents were all still fairly young, so they could help out," He Jiyu said. "There are childcare robots to help look after the kids now, too... But after the children were born, things turned out completely different from what I'd imagined."

"With two children... Even though the first government subsidy was generous, a hundred thousand star coins per child, Liu Ying has high standards for the children, and all kinds of expenses add up."

"We also have to prepare to buy a home. If we take out a loan, the payments will put us under a lot of pressure too."

"None of our parents are fully retired yet. Besides, I have a younger brother, and she has an older brother and a younger sister. Our parents still have to work, and childcare robots can't completely replace people yet... Liu Ying is looking after the kids full-time now." He Jiyu shook his head. "There's a lot of financial pressure. In short, everything's a mess."

"It's completely different from what I imagined back then."

Fang Yu and Wang Mo exchanged a glance.

They had known a little about He Jiyu's situation and that things didn't seem to be going smoothly, but they hadn't expected him to be in this kind of trouble.

"The main thing is..."

"My life level isn't even fifteen yet, so it's hard to find a decent job," He Jiyu said quietly. "There are too many martial arts junior college students now. If your skill level isn't high enough, you can't even get an assistant instructor job at an ordinary martial arts school."

Fang Yu understood a little better.

There were relatively few martial arts junior college students compared to academic junior college students or even academic undergraduates... But without substantial martial arts achievements, it wasn't easy to find a high-paying job either.

Level fifteen was a hurdle for most martial arts junior college students.

Even if they awakened an Astral Aspect, martial arts junior college students almost always awakened a Lower Astral Aspect. Without buying medicine to aid their cultivation... reaching level fifteen by the end of their third year was no easy feat.

Fang Yu had managed it.

For one thing, his family's investment was more than the vast majority of people could match. He also had an innate divine ability and extraordinary talent for technique. After reaching Subtlety, his body tempering became far more efficient than it had been before.

Finally, Fang Yu was sufficiently devoted to martial arts.

Taking potions and treasures wouldn't automatically send one's life level soaring... Heavenly materials and earthly treasures that could directly improve someone without any effort were incredibly rare. Their prices were measured in hundreds of millions, and only the super-rich could afford them.

Ordinary potions and treasures, even those worth over a million, such as the Ice Heart Marrow-Cleansing Fruit, required the user to train hard to achieve the greatest effect.

Martial arts cultivation could be very enjoyable as one made progress again and again.

It was also very painful.

Enjoyment and pain didn't conflict... In this era, there were too many temptations.

Sex and romance, good food, projection games, the repeated exhaustion that came from pushing one's body to its limits, mental laziness... Overcoming all of them was actually extremely difficult.

It required absolute self-discipline and focus.

Focus was a talent in itself.

That was also why Fang Yu believed there was more to Wang Mo than met the eye... Without a certain amount of determination and perseverance in cultivation, spending money alone wouldn't have been enough for Wang Mo to reach level twenty so quickly.

Most martial arts junior college students continued cultivating after graduation, reaching level fifteen before their golden years ended at twenty-five... Even without spending any more money, they had to put in a great deal of time and effort.

In He Jiyu's situation, it was clearly unrealistic to expect him to devote even more time to cultivation.

"Old He."

"We were roommates, so I won't say too much," Wang Mo said. "A friend of mine recently started a company, and he's short of people. I'll give you his contact information in a bit, and I'll tell him about your situation... Go give it a try."

"Do you think I can do it?" He Jiyu hesitated.

His instinct was to refuse... But when he thought of his wife's call just now, he held back.

"Give it a try first. If you don't think it's suitable, that's fine too." Wang Mo put on an easygoing manner. "All right, it's almost time. Fang Yu and I will head to the martial arts building first. You'll still be in Wuling City, so let's get together again when we get the chance."

"Okay." He Jiyu saw Fang Yu and Wang Mo out of the private room.

He watched them go downstairs.

He took a deep breath.

He Jiyu took out his phone and called the number pinned at the top. The call connected three seconds later, and he smiled. "Honey, how are the kids? Are they both okay? Have they been eating and sleeping well? I'll be back this afternoon. About finding a job... Don't worry. We're all good brothers. They offered to help before I even asked. Don't worry, the pay won't be low."

"Mm, go eat first..." He Jiyu ended the call with a smile.

He put away his phone.

The smile faded from his face.

Honey, you've had a hard time being with me.

If I hadn't started dating back then... Even if I hadn't gotten married and had kids, things would be much better now, wouldn't they? All sorts of thoughts surfaced in He Jiyu's mind. If I'd devoted more energy to martial arts cultivation, even though I couldn't have had a chance at a guaranteed place in a martial arts undergraduate program like Old Fang and Lao Mo...

At least I wouldn't be struggling to find a decent job and need Lao Mo's help, He Jiyu thought.

His talent for technique was nowhere near Fang Yu's.

Still, it was fairly good among the junior college students in their year... If he had worked hard enough and devoted himself fully to cultivation, reaching life level fifteen shouldn't have been difficult.

But the everyday demands of life had entangled him and changed everything.

No wonder.

When I used to read history books, advisers would offer their lords the best, middle, and worst plans, and the lords would often choose the middle or worst one. I thought those lords were all fools. He Jiyu sighed inwardly. Old Fang and Lao Mo both tried to advise me back then... Didn't I choose the worst plan too?

As a friend,

if life hadn't forced him into a corner, how could he have been willing to swallow his pride and tell his two brothers about his troubles?

He hadn't wanted to ask them for help. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been sending out résumés.

He Jiyu understood... From today onward, he and his two roommates would be on two completely different paths in life. They were still pursuing martial arts, striving to become stronger.

He, on the other hand, would have to keep facing the monster called "life."

As they walked along,

"Fang Yu, I used to blame my dad for shattering all my illusions about love," Wang Mo said, shaking his head. "After seeing Old He today, I suddenly don't blame him anymore."

"Don't be too pessimistic." Fang Yu shook his head. "Marriage and children bring a lot of pain, but there's happiness in them too... Like my dad said, after my mom went missing on the Primordial Star, he could never have come out of that darkness if it hadn't been for the three of us."

"That's true." Wang Mo recalled, "My mom also said that having me was the thing she regretted least."

"Lao Mo."

"What about the job you recommended to Old He?" Fang Yu asked.

"Don't worry, it's not at my dad's company." Wang Mo smiled. "It's a company run by a relative of mine. I'll call again myself and explain everything clearly... Old He never asks for help unless he's in trouble. I won't put him in an awkward position."

"Besides,"

"I've only made a few friends in my three years at junior college... I don't want to lose one of them completely," Wang Mo said with a sigh.

At two in the afternoon,

not long after Fang Yu and Wang Mo returned to the first-floor lobby of the martial arts building, once most of the people had gathered,

the names of the ten students on the second list for guaranteed admission and the seventy students eligible for the practical combat assessment appeared on the big screen at the same time.

"I made it."

"Yes! Tenth place. Just made it."

"I didn't get picked after all. I'll have to wait for the practical combat assessment in September... I've never been to the Primordial Star before."

"Damn! I didn't even make the practical combat assessment list? Am I really that bad?" The lobby erupted in discussion, some delighted and others disappointed.

The most excited were naturally the ten students who had secured guaranteed admission.

The other seventy students taking the practical combat assessment at least still had hope... The most disappointed were those who hadn't even made the assessment list.

"Old Fang, I'm on the guaranteed admission list." Wang Mo was delighted at first, but then he frowned. "Wait, that's not right! Old Fang, how come you weren't selected?"

"Your name isn't even on the practical combat assessment list."

"What's going on?"