Chapter 2

Northern Base City is a rectangular city stretching for a hundred miles in length and eighty miles in width. The North District occupies a fifth of the city’s area but accommodates half of the city’s population, serving as a typical civilian area.

In the valuable land of Base City, rich people live in single-story houses, while the poor live in high-rise buildings. In order to make full use of space, the residential buildings in the civilian area are all squared and several dozen stories high, densely built, with each family living in a cramped space.

Despite the crowded conditions, people would not leave Base City, because outside the tall city walls lies a world where monsters roam, a forbidden zone for ordinary people. Only powerful martial artists can survive out there.

Lin Zhen walks through an alley, and with his past memories, quickly finds his family’s apartment building in the residential complex.

“This building has thirty floors. In order to save electricity and space, there are no elevators. The higher the floor, the poorer the inhabitants. My family lives on the twenty-eighth floor.”

“At this time, my father Lin Liye should be home. He usually sells breakfast downstairs in the apartment complex, and now he might be at home preparing soy milk and baozi for tomorrow.”

“My mother should be doing needlework. She doesn’t have a job and relies on her needlework products to earn a little living. Their income is low and pitiful, and they spend it all to support me to go to school.”

Lin Zhen enters the dim corridor and takes one step at a time towards the twenty-eighth floor.

“In my last life, to make my parents move out of the poverty-stricken district, I studied martial arts desperately. After graduating from high school and achieving the required score, Ouyang Yu obstructed my progress. Only after joining Blue Sky Martial Arts Hall and enduring half a year of delays, did I become an official student. A year later, my parents finally left this residential area. By then, they had already developed health problems due to overwork and never fully recovered.”

“This time, I will make sure the outcome would be different….”

As Lin Zhen contemplates, he has already arrived at their doorstep.

Haven’t seen his parents for a long time, Lin Zhen’s mood is somewhat agitated.

However, he quickly stabilizes his emotions. After all, he has lived a long life and has experienced a lot of big events. His mental age is quite large, and he won’t lose emotional control.

He reaches into his pocket and takes out an ancient-looking key.

“This anti-theft door is said to be a leftover from the time of the Common Era, and can only be used to defend against average people. Anyone with a little lock-picking skill can open it. It’s only suitable for use in the poverty-stricken districts. Wealthier families have long been using high-tech sensor doors developed by the science and technology department of the city.”

Inserting the key into the lock and opening the door, Lin Zhen is greeted by the aroma of food.

In the narrow room, his father Lin Liye is using an old-fashioned soy milk machine to press soy milk. This ancient-looking machine represents hope to the family. Without it, Lin Zhen would have had difficulty even completing his basic education.

His mother is cooking on a gas stove, with a carp stew simmering deliciously in the pot. Lin Zhen knows that this fish was obtained in exchange for his mother’s embroidery products, and his parents can’t bear to eat it themselves.

“Dad, Mom, I’m back.” Lin Zhen tries to show a smile.

“Our son is back. Hurry and wash your hands, your mother is cooking fish, and dinner will be ready soon.” Lin Liye greets his son with a smile. Their child represents hope for their family. Although Lin Liye wishes that Lin Zhen would become a science researcher in the military, he knows that his son wants to become a Martial Artist.

His mother Li Qin even comes over and helps Lin Zhen take off his coat, “You must be tired. Get some rest. Your exams are coming up. Don’t put too much pressure on yourself. We’re doing fine at home.”

“Don’t worry, Mom and Dad, I’m fine. The exams are just a small matter for me.”

Lin Zhen quickly returns to normal, takes off his shoes and enters the room with a smile. He wants to help his parents with some chores, but they insist that he doesn’t have to lift a finger and recommend him to clean up first.

Their home is only forty square meters. The living room, kitchen, and his parents’ room are essentially the same room, with a small separate bathroom and bedroom, which is Lin Zhen’s private space.

Back in his familiar tiny room, Lin Zhen lies down on the hard bed, and the corners of his mouth twitch. Although martial artists have experienced all kinds of hardships, this kind of bed is something he hasn’t slept on for a long time and is quite unaccustomed to.

It’s still a while before dinner, so the first thing Lin Zhen does is to assess his own situation.

Lin Zhen remembers his specific condition when he graduated from high school. His academic performance was good, and the current subjects did not pose any difficulty. He had memorized the history of the Common Era and grasped the major events that occurred after the start of the God Transformation Day and the God Transformation Calendar, so nothing could stump Lin Zhen.

As for the knowledge of Mutated Beasts, Lin Zhen’s understanding is clearer than anyone else’s.

The main thing is the physical data. There are strict standards for recruiting students in the martial arts schools after high school graduation.

The three physical examination items include punch strength, punch speed, and nerve reflex. The qualified standard for punch strength is 200 kg. This is the admission line, and anyone below this standard is considered unqualified.

For punch speed, at least five punches per second at no less than 80% of the maximum strength are required to be considered adequate.

In other words, if your punch strength is 200 kg, you need to deliver five punches per second at no less than 160 kg to be considered passing. These are considered effective punches.

As for nerve reflex, it is the ability to dodge attacks in 0.1 seconds, which is the qualified line. Anyone who fails to react within this time is considered unqualified.

When recruiting disciples, martial arts schools use these three criteria as basic requirements. Once they meet the standards, the students will generally be accepted into the martial arts schools. Academic performance is only supplementary, although of course, too little knowledge is not ideal.

If a student’s performance in one item is below the standard but excels in another item, they may still be recruited.

Lin Zhen remembers that his left hand punch is currenadministratorly 206 kg, his right-hand punch is 232 kg, punch speed is 5.3/s, and nerve reflex is 0.096. All are just barely passing.

This is the reason why, although he has met the standards, his progress was not highly valued by the martial arts schools and allowed Ouyang Yu to successfully obstruct him. If he had been talented enough, Ouyang Yu’s scheming would have been of no use.

“To change my fate, I must make a difference during this graduation examination and not let Ouyang Yu succeed.”

“I have three days. In three days, I must improve my strength, at least to the point where the martial arts schools no longer pay attention to Ouyang Yu. This is the most basic requirement.”

“As for Ouyang Yu, I’ll keep you company this time.”

“And also… An Ning.”