Enlightenment: Attaining the Dao at Age 8

[However, as you approach adulthood, your Qi and Blood Value is a paltry 3.1, a far cry from the 10 points required to become an official Martial Artist.]

[Age 18: The highly anticipated Martial Arts Examination begins, but you collapse from overexertion and malnutrition before the test even starts, landing you straight in the hospital.]

[Although you still manage to participate in the assessment, the results are, unsurprisingly, unsatisfactory.]

[You are deeply dejected after your failure but choose not to repeat the year, as your family can no longer bear the enormous expense of studying the Martial Dao.]

[Age 20: You sign up for an expeditionary force from a Big Planet. Thanks to your relatively outstanding physical condition, you luckily pass the physical examination and interview!]

[You are ecstatic, feeling you finally have a new chance to change your destiny, to escape this dull and barren planet for the dazzling center of the universe...]

[To this end, you ignore your parents’ pleas and your sister’s warnings, resolutely choosing to follow the Interstellar Expeditionary Army to the cosmic frontier for training.]

[Age 30: The interstellar journey is long, and opportunity always comes with risk. You follow the warships of the Interstellar Expeditionary Army across the vast Star Sea, arriving in a completely unfamiliar Star Realm!]

[The long interstellar voyage has eroded your Will and snuffed out the excitement you felt when you first entered space. Now, gazing at the dark, deep cosmos before you, you suddenly begin to feel homesick.]

[Age 32: The long interstellar voyage finally ends. You are left on an enormous planet, one even colder and more desolate than your homeworld.]

[The Interstellar Expeditionary Army issues you some mining equipment. Only then do you realize this isn’t some so-called Expeditionary Army at all, but an interstellar slave ship operating under its guise.]

[Age 35: You are dragged to a barren planet on the edge of the Star Sea and begin a miserable life of unending darkness deep underground. These three years are more agonizing than the past thirty.]

[Age 36: Due to prolonged work in an extreme environment without effective medical treatment, your organs are failing severely. In your thirties, you look as old as someone in their seventies or eighties. Meanwhile, you and your colleagues discover that this group masquerading as the Expeditionary Army seems to be prospecting for something all over the underground...]

[Only then do you finally realize that your life had already ended on the day you failed to get into a Martial Arts School at eighteen. It was only your wishful thinking and unwillingness to accept it that delayed the burial until you were in your thirties.]

[Age 38: The Expeditionary Army seems to have made a startling discovery on this planet. In just a few short months, you witness more high-end aircraft taking off and landing at the Interstellar Dock than you had seen in the past three years. Many important figures are involved.]

[Age 40: The Expeditionary Army brings in more people, and the planet’s prospecting intensifies. Your job shifts from mining to prospecting. You are now certain that a treasure is buried deep within the planet’s core!]

[The idea of finding the treasure to escape your suffering crosses your mind, but you are riddled with disease and your days are numbered.]

[Age 41: You die from various complications caused by organ failure. What should have been an ordinary life became a tragedy because of a single choice, one that can be called neither right nor wrong!]

Looking at the predestined fate displayed on his retina, Li Chang’an didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

Compared to his previous few lives, this one seemed remarkably uneventful.

Or perhaps, it simply illustrated just how small and insignificant an ordinary person with no background was in an era set against the backdrop of the Star Sea.

For someone from the original owner’s family, the only ways to leave their home planet and seek a future in the Star Sea were to either get into a good Martial Arts School or, shockingly, get on an interstellar slave transport ship.

In an era like this, class stratification was even more extreme. Strictly speaking, the lower and upper classes could no longer even be considered the same species.

’The Martial Arts College Entrance Exam...’

’The Human Race of this world is already exploring the sea of stars. Correspondingly, their exploration of the Martial Dao shouldn’t be too shallow. I hope the top-tier Martial Artists in this world can reach the Star-Destroying Level. Otherwise, it would be a bit of a letdown.’

’Besides that, the mysterious Interstellar Expeditionary Army from the predestined fate doesn’t seem as simple as it appears on the surface.’

’I mean, what era is this? Star Sea technology is so advanced, with tons of cheap and efficient AI work-bots available.’

’Yet these guys still go out of their way to a remote, barren planet to abduct people for mining.’

’What kind of ore could possibly require human miners?’

’If I get a chance later, I should look into it.’

’I’ll see what they’re really up to!’

With this in mind, Li Chang’an took a deep breath and said slowly, ”Mark, begin a new round of Rebirth!”

This would be the seventh Rebirth Li Chang’an had initiated.

In his previous Rebirths, Li Chang’an’s scores had never been lower than S-Level, and he was very confident this time as well.

If he could just get a few more S-Level or higher rewards, then the Gu Family and the Cao Family would have to think twice before trying anything against him.

...

Lion’s Fang Star, Designation 4-7007.

Ben Morse City, Third Martial Arts Middle School, Stadium Martial Arts Training Center.

Li Chang’an woke from a dream. He opened his eyes and glanced around, only to realize that he had, at some point, entered the Rebirth World.

The first sixteen years of the original owner’s memories churned in his mind like boiling water, slowly fusing with Li Chang’an’s own, yet it caused him no pain.

This sensation, like an awakening of memories and a transformation of personality, was a first for Li Chang’an since he began his Rebirths, and it made everything around him feel new and fascinating.

It was a massive activity field, designed specifically for Martial Dao cultivation.

Hundreds of students were seated in neat rows, looking as small as a colony of ants on a soccer field.

Not far from where the students were looking, a middle-aged man—muscular, nearly two meters tall, and covered in gruesome scars—was explaining something using a high-tech screen and his own demonstrations.

”To become a qualified Martial Artist, you must first have a sufficient understanding of your own body! You must be familiar with every muscle, every internal organ, and use scientific methods to train them. Only then can you unleash an unimaginably terrifying power!”

As he spoke, the middle-aged man continued to demonstrate his points to the students below the stage.

Beside him, a futuristic holographic screen broke down and analyzed his movements, simultaneously transmitting all the information to the tech chips implanted in the students’ brains.

After finishing his explanation, the middle-aged man on the stage spoke as usual, ”Alright, in addition to the theory lesson, we also have a practical combat class today...”

As he spoke, the middle-aged man beckoned to a handsome young man in the audience who had a slightly unruly air about him. ”Wang Lu, get up here!”

Hearing the teacher’s words, the young man named Wang Lu couldn’t help but flash a confident smile, leaping lightly onto the stage.

Wang Lu’s arrival on stage immediately sparked a commotion and discussion among the students. One male student couldn’t help but grumble under his breath, ”Wang Lu again. Teacher Wu is way too good to him, always making him the demonstrator for practical combat class!”

A swooning girl nearby heard the complaint, rolled her eyes, and retorted, ”Well, who else has a high Qi and Blood Value and has mastered the combat techniques as well as Wang Lu? If you’ve got the guts, go up and challenge him. I guarantee Teacher Wu will see you in a new light if you can beat Wang Lu!”

...