"Yan Luo is right!" Jiang Nian looked at Luo Feng, speaking with earnest sincerity, "Luo Feng, your rate of progress is astonishingly fast. Among all those at our Yian District Limit Martial Arts School, you are undoubtedly the quickest to improve right now! You joined the Limit Martial Arts School at sixteen, and now at eighteen, your physical fitness already meets the standards of a Martial Artist. If you were to attend university, wasting four years pouring your energy into academics, that would be the ultimate squandering of your natural gifts!"

"You must understand, the years between sixteen and thirty are when improvement comes fastest; the older one gets, the harder it is to advance," Jiang Nian stated seriously.

Four years of university—those are indeed the four years when a Martial Artist's cultivation can accelerate to its peak.

To waste this crucial period on cultural education would be seen as a grave offense in the eyes of a Martial Artist.

"Uh..." Luo Feng felt somewhat bewildered.

Good heavens, perhaps his failure in the university entrance exam wasn't such a terrible thing after all.

"Luo Feng, once you officially become a Martial Artist, why don't you join our Limit Martial Arts School?" Jiang Nian smiled. "If you become a Martial Artist under us, our school will allocate a detached villa for you in one of the finest locations. Of course, you won't be permitted to sell this villa. Furthermore, you'll receive a base salary of twenty thousand Huaxia Dollars monthly."

"A detached villa? A base salary of twenty thousand?" Luo Feng sucked in a sharp breath.

Twenty thousand wasn't much, but a detached villa was utterly extravagant.

Currently, Huaxia had only six major Human Bases, corresponding to six major cities. Land was incredibly precious, and detached villas incurred massive luxury taxes. Ordinary commodity housing already cost tens of thousands to over a hundred thousand Huaxia Dollars per square meter, forcing the vast majority of the common populace into public rental housing.

With standard commodity housing being so costly, villas, townhouses, and ultra-large luxury estates easily commanded hundreds of thousands of Huaxia Dollars per square meter.

In this era, the state strictly regulated detached villas; wealth alone couldn't secure one. One needed wealth, power, and exceptional status. Moreover, one had to pay the exorbitant luxury tax—the price per square meter for an average detached villa certainly exceeded a million Huaxia Dollars.

"Even a small detached villa, say three hundred square meters, would be worth two to three hundred million," Luo Feng felt his breath catch. "Even if I can't sell it, having one's family live in a detached villa—that's what makes life truly worthwhile."

Two to three hundred million—what did that concept mean?

It was likely more than the entire net worth of Zhang Haobai's father, a wealthy man.

"Luo Feng, the benefits provided by our Limit Martial Arts School are not much different from those offered by joining a national special department," Jiang Nian chuckled. "Martial Artists in national departments receive base salaries, residential privileges, and the only real difference is that they possess a 'license to kill,' allowing them to decide to execute ordinary citizens temporarily based on the situation. Of course, they dare not act recklessly; they still must report the details of the incident to their superiors afterward."

"License to kill?" Luo Feng had heard whispers of this; Martial Artists in the national special departments indeed held the authority to execute people on the spot.

"However, our Limit Martial Arts School also has its privileges. If any ordinary person offends you, you can report it to the school. Once the school verifies the claim, we can instruct the Jiangnan City Security Bureau to take that person away directly," Jiang Nian smiled faintly. "Join our school, and you gain wealth, status—everything! You can pursue the limits of humanity and the limits of the Martial Dao with complete peace of mind!"

Jiang Nian pointed to Yan Luo beside him: "My young brother here, Yan Luo, recently hunted a monster and earned nearly a hundred million Earth Dollars, which converts to over three hundred million Huaxia Dollars. With your talent, if you work hard, reaching Yan Luo's level in the future is not impossible."

Luo Feng was completely stunned.

Heavens...

Earning that much from hunting a single monster? What level of monster must he have killed?

"Luo Feng, work hard. Your talent is truly exceptional; do not let it go to waste," Jiang Nian said, smiling as he patted Luo Feng's shoulder.

"Kid, don't slack off. I believe you have the potential to become a Wargod-level Martial Artist someday. Then, you'll have money, status, and beautiful women—everything!" Yan Luo smiled slightly. "When that day comes, I'd be very happy to hunt monsters out with you. Haha..." With that, Jiang Nian and Yan Luo, the two Martial Artists, departed with laughter.

Luo Feng stood in the training hall, his mind in turmoil.

Whether it was Instructor Jiang Nian or the mysterious red-haired youth Yan Luo, Luo Feng sensed an undercurrent of unrestrained freedom! An aura of arrogance! in their conversation.

"Unrestrained, arrogant?" A smile gradually spread across Luo Feng's face. "Yes, a man in this world should venture forth with spirit, to carve out an achievement! The world's strongest martial artist once said that a soldier unwilling to be a general is not a good soldier, and one unwilling to be the world's strongest martial artist has no Martial Heart to begin with!"

"What meaning is there in living a life bound by caution?"

"I must achieve something earth-shattering!"

At eighteen, the age when one's core values begin to solidify, meeting Instructor Jiang Nian and the mysterious Martial Artist Yan Luo completely transformed Luo Feng's thinking.

"Venture forth!"

"The world's strongest, 'Hong,' and the world's second strongest, 'Thunder God,' established the Limit Martial Arts School and the Thunder God Martial Arts School respectively. Even the five major powers treat them as equals. If they could achieve it... can a third person not do the same?" Luo Feng walked toward the exit of the training hall with a smile.

A man with a dream should chase it!

Youth is capital!

Youth signifies limitless potential for the future! Everything requires his own effort, his own struggle!

××××××

June 28th, morning, the sky was clear and bright.

Luo Feng and Wei Wen were walking toward Yian District No. 3 High School; today was the day they would receive their graduation certificates and university application forms.

"A-Feng, you really got me through the 'Aspirant Martial Artist Assessment'?" Wei Wen exclaimed in disbelief.

"Yeah, on July 1st, I'm heading to the headquarters of the Limit Martial Arts School in Yangzhou City—the Limit Gathering Hall—to take the Aspirant Martial Artist Assessment," Luo Feng replied with a smile.

The school was just ahead.

Luo Feng looked at the campus before him, observing the few students scattered around, feeling a shift in his perspective: "Hmm? I used to see myself as one of them, but now, I feel like we are people from two different worlds. They go to university, work hard afterward, marry, and have children."

"But my path is different from theirs." Luo Feng and Wei Wen entered the school and headed toward their respective classrooms.

Walking down the hallway of the teaching building.

"Senior Brother."

"Senior Brother Luo Feng," some other third-year students greeted Luo Feng enthusiastically.

"I heard Luo Feng fainted in the examination hall during the college entrance exam."

"What a shame, to faint right in the exam room." Some people who saw Luo Feng from a distance whispered their discussions.

Luo Feng's physical fitness had reached the level of a Martial Artist; his hearing was excellent, and he clearly caught the students' chatter from afar.

High School Year 3, Class 5—this was Luo Feng's class.

"Luo Feng is here."

"Brother Luo," many other classmates were already present, greeting him warmly.

Luo Feng nodded with a smile.

Most of these old classmates had good relationships with Luo Feng, though some were slightly displeased with him. While outwardly warm, some classmates in the corner were whispering amongst themselves: "Luo Feng's grades were so good, and he was an advanced student at the Martial Arts School. Who would have thought he'd stumble so badly in the exam, fainting in the hall. Truly bad luck."

"That's fate; who can he blame?"

In the past, Luo Feng was the pride of the class!

Academically excellent and powerful in combat, now that this genius had suffered such a major setback, these ordinary students naturally felt a surge of schadenfreude! Although they were on good terms with Luo Feng, people are just like that. When they see someone formerly excellent suddenly fall, they feel an inner relief, thinking—So this is your day too!

"Graduation certificates are being distributed! Graduation certificates and university application forms, everyone come and collect them!" Three class cadres walked onto the podium carrying the certificates and forms.

"Wang Yin."

"Liu Xialong."

The class cadres called out names one by one, handing out the graduation certificates and application forms.

"Luo Feng!" As this name was called, the classroom immediately fell silent, almost every eye fixed on Luo Feng.

Everyone knew Luo Feng had fainted during the college entrance exam.

And as for Luo Feng's exam score, his ID number and exam registration number were not secrets; some students had already checked, knowing his score was only four points short of the undergraduate admission line.

"Luo Feng." The class monitor, Qu Lin, handed the graduation certificate and the application form to Luo Feng.

"A-Feng, A-Feng, let's go," Wei Wen stood waiting at the classroom door.

"Wait for me." Luo Feng applied slight force, and Chī chī—he crumpled the application form into a ball and tossed it casually. The crumpled form landed directly in the trash bin.

The previously noisy classroom went dead quiet!

All the classmates froze. This was the official application form for university selection; who would dare to throw it away?

Suddenly, a girl with freckles exclaimed in astonishment, "Luo Feng, why did you throw away the application form? Aren't you going to choose a university?"

"Why would Luo Feng settle for a vocational college? He must be repeating the year to test again next year," arguments immediately erupted.

Wei Wen, standing by the door, couldn't help but glare: "Vocational college? Repeating the year? You guys really think highly of yourselves. A-Feng is about to take the 'Aspirant Martial Artist Assessment'; what kind of useless vocational college does he need, or repeating the year for?"

"Say less, let's go."

Luo Feng pulled Wei Wen, and the two left together.

The students remaining in the classroom immediately erupted in clamor. What? Aspirant Martial Artist Assessment?

"Luo Feng is taking the Aspirant Martial Artist Assessment? Seriously? Could he really be that formidable?"

"Wei Wen is probably just bragging. Luo Feng only became an advanced student last year; how could he possibly be ready for the Aspirant Martial Artist Assessment this year?"

Subconsciously, these students were unwilling to believe that Luo Feng had reached the physical standards required for a Martial Artist.

A Martial Artist... that was an existence beyond their comprehension.

————