Galactic Calendar.
Year 225, December 28th.
Hua Country.
Bluestone Third Middle School.
Under the scorching sun, a group of high school students in matching uniforms was gathered on an athletic field.
Today was the final physical body level test of the semester for the seniors of Bluestone Third Middle School.
All sorts of instruments were set up across the spacious athletic field.
Under the watchful eyes of the supervising teachers, all the students of Senior Class 21 lined up in front of the various instruments to be tested.
Class 21 wasn't large, with only about forty-some students.
The school had originally planned for only twenty classes.
The extra Class 21, naturally, was for those who hadn't met the admission standards but got in through various means.
Some had used the power of money, while others relied on connections.
Li Wen belonged to the former group.
His family had tightened their belts to scrape together fifty thousand Huaxia Coins, just to get him into the county's third public high school.
"Li Wen!"
"Comprehensive Physical Body Level: 6.0."
A mechanical voice announced the results of a lean boy who had just finished his physical body level test.
'Only a 6.0?' Hearing the mechanical voice, Li Wen's expression dimmed.
He had been training hard every single day, but as time went on, the gap between him and the top-ranked students in his class only grew wider.
If this continued, forget about getting into a prestigious university; he probably wouldn't even make it into the lowest-ranked ones.
In previous years, the minimum requirement to even apply to a Martial Dao university was a Physical Body Level of 7.0. In other words, he didn't even qualify to apply.
Was he really destined to follow the path of a scholar, just as his name, Wen, suggested?
For a moment, the earnest and hopeful gazes of his parents surfaced in Li Wen's mind.
With his middle school grades, he never would have been able to get into the Martial Dao class at the Third Middle School. It was only through the money his parents had saved by scrimping and saving that he'd gotten in.
He had thought that as long as he worked hard, he could definitely make something of himself.
But after two and a half years, he had been forced to recognize one thing: some things required far more than just hard work.
To efficiently develop one's physical body, all sorts of nourishing supplements were essential, and that required a lot of money.
The school did distribute these supplements for free, but the supply was limited. Furthermore, they weren't distributed equally but were allocated based on rankings.
Thus, falling behind once meant falling behind forever.
It wasn't that the school was unwilling to give out more; at the end of the day, resources were simply limited.
Good steel, naturally, had to be used on the blade's edge.
This wasn't an ordinary world; it was one fraught with all kinds of dangers.
Demon Beasts ran rampant, and humanity was on the decline.
Limited resources, naturally, had to be funneled toward those with talent.
What made Li Wen so unwilling to give up was the alternative. If he didn't pursue the Martial Dao, his grades in liberal arts were simply not enough, especially given how astronomically competitive the field had become.
He would most likely spend the rest of his life just scraping by at the bottom of society.
Just like his parents, who worked themselves to the bone just to make ends meet.
...
RING RING RING~
In the blink of an eye, it was the end of the school day.
Li Wen slung his backpack over his shoulder and walked out of the school gate, a solitary figure.
Aside from him, basically everyone else in Class 21 came from a family that was either rich or powerful.
This put Li Wen in stark contrast with his classmates, making him a complete outsider.
For the past two and a half years, he had been almost entirely on his own.
He took out his student card, swiped it at the front of the bus, and then found a seat in the corner.
The bus passed stop after stop. Li Wen didn't get off until the last one, exiting through the rear door.
By then, the surroundings had completely changed. Dilapidated old buildings were everywhere.
Li Wen walked with practiced familiarity to one of the buildings and, head down, began the step-by-step climb up the dark stairwell.
For a remote, run-down building like this, an elevator was an impossibility.
In the cramped stairwell, Li Wen would occasionally run into others going up or down.
Having lived here for so many years, they all basically knew each other. Exchanging greetings along the way, Li Wen stopped on the 15th floor.
Apartment 1503. This was the home where he had lived for seventeen... no, to be precise, nearly eighteen years.
Because today was his eighteenth birthday.
Taking out his key, he opened the door and entered the apartment.
The living room wasn't large, only about twenty-something square meters.
Facing him was a bookshelf, on which various items were placed.
Behind the bookshelf was a fabric sofa. Though old, it was still very clean and tidy.
Opposite the sofa was a table, and on it sat an exquisitely packaged cake.
Through the transparent cake box, he could easily see the "18"-shaped candle stuck in the cake.
"Ah Wen, you're back?" Hearing the door open, his mother, Wang Juan, came out wearing an apron and holding a spatula.
"Mom!" Li Wen pulled his gaze away from the cake. Looking at the woman before him, whose hair was already streaked with gray, he felt a sting in his nose. "You really didn't have to buy a cake."
"A cake doesn't cost much. Today is your eighteenth birthday, Ah Wen. It means that after today, you're an adult."
His mother, Wang Juan, waved the spatula in her hand. "Go take a shower first. The food is almost ready. I made your favorite, braised lion's head meatballs."
"Okay!" Li Wen swallowed the words he was about to say and nodded forcefully.
He put down his backpack and headed for the bathroom.
The afternoon's physical test had left his clothes soaked with sweat. Although they had dried, they still felt uncomfortable clinging to his skin.
After stripping off his clothes, Li Wen adjusted the water to a comfortable temperature and let the droplets spray down on him.
The warm water quickly enveloped him, running down his lightly defined torso.
He closed his eyes, tilted his head up, and quietly enjoyed the feeling of the warm water on his face. This was the most relaxing moment of his day.
By the time Li Wen finished washing up and came out, Wang Juan had already finished cooking.
Four dishes and a soup were laid out on the living room table.
Right in the center was Li Wen's favorite, the braised lion's head meatballs.
The tempting aroma wafted over, making Li Wen's mouth water.
"Ah Wen, you should eat while it's hot. Your dad just told me he'll probably be another ten minutes or so," Wang Juan said, handing a bowl and chopsticks to Li Wen.
"I'm not in a hurry. Let's wait for Dad to get back and eat together." Li Wen took the bowl and chopsticks, then placed them back on the table.
"Then at least have a meatball while you wait. They won't be as good when they get cold." As she spoke, Wang Juan placed a braised lion's head meatball into his bowl.
"Okay, thanks, Mom." The afternoon's test had already exhausted him, and with his favorite food in front of him, he was too famished to insist further.
About ten minutes later, his father, Li Hong, returned home. The exhaustion was clear in his eyes, but he still wore a broad smile. "Ah Wen, happy birthday!"
After speaking, he handed a gift box he was carrying to Li Wen.
"Thanks, Dad!" Li Wen quickly stood up to accept the gift box from Li Hong.
...
After dinner, the family of three sat gathered together.
The cake box had been removed, and his father, Li Hong, picked up a lighter and lit the birthday candle.
"Ah Wen, hurry and make a wish~" Wang Juan said with a happy smile after turning off the living room lights and sitting down.
"Mhm~" Li Wen nodded and closed his eyes.
Just as the thought of his wish began to form, he felt the world spin as countless memories flooded into his mind out of thin air.
The memories formed a series of images, depicting the eighteen years of another Li Wen.
After eighteen years, he had finally awakened the memories of his past life.
'So, I've lived through another eighteen years...' Li Wen murmured to himself in his heart.
It all happened in an instant. The time from when the memories appeared to when Li Wen fully accepted them was but a flash.
To his parents, it looked as if Li Wen had only just closed his eyes for a few seconds.
But when Li Wen opened his eyes, he was stunned, because rows of text had appeared before him:
[Name: Li Wen]
[Age: 18]
[Profession: To be unlocked]