Age of Evolution#

October: The northern land was already covered in heavy snow, the world blanketed in white.

At the end of the wilderness, a great city rose from the ground.

The city walls stood a hundred meters high and tens of meters thick, wide enough for two large trucks to race side by side.

Constructed entirely of reinforced concrete, the surroundings of the city wall for several kilometers were scattered with countless induction landmines. The walls were bristling with numerous metallic gun muzzles, pointing outward, both visible and hidden.

Even beneath the city walls, tens of meters down, were layers of concrete, while massive alloy gates, weighing hundreds of tons, sealed off the city, forming a fortress nearly impregnable by the sky, land, or underground defenses, armed to the teeth.

The city stretched for miles, the largest base city in northern Hua Xia. In the Gregorian calendar era, this place was known as Harbin. After the God Transformation era, it came to be called Ice City, developed and built after liberation to become a bridgehead in the war against mutated beasts, as well as a northern home where people could survive.

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Sixth High School was located in the North District of Ice City. Thousands of students were enrolled, and today was the senior class's last day of lessons before the final graduation exam.

The homeroom teacher of Class Three stood at the lectern, giving a lecture.

"Today is the last lesson I will teach you. The graduation exam is in three days. The cultural subjects will be in the morning, and the three-item physical ability test will be in the afternoon. This one day will determine your future fate. The results will be out on the same day, and there will be military representatives and various martial arts halls on site for recruitment. Whether you can catch the eye of those martial arts halls and whether you can make something of yourselves in the future depends on this. As your teacher, I wish you good luck."

After the teacher finished speaking, he turned to pack up his things and left the classroom. School was over.

The students filed out, but many of them didn't leave the campus immediately. They were fond of the school and wanted to make their last memories there.

Acquainted students gathered in small groups, saying their goodbyes and discussing the future.

"I'm so nervous about the graduation exam. I don't want to go to university; I want to become a Martial Artist. I'm not worried about the cultural subjects, but what about the physical tests? My punch isn't even at 150kg. No martial arts hall will want me."

"I've managed to hit the 200kg qualifying mark for my punch, which is the entry-level for a Second-level Warrior, but my average punch speed is only 4.5 per second, which isn't up to par. Do I have to become a conscript soldier?"

"A punch speed of 4.5 should still have room for improvement. As long as you pass the cultural subjects and your nerve reaction reaches the 0.1 qualifying line, you should still have a chance to enter a martial arts hall. Besides, joining the military might not be so bad—aren't there as many Martial Artists who come from the military as from the martial arts halls?"

"That's because the military has a larger base. And aren't all the real Strong Ones from the martial arts halls, like Gale, the number one Strong One in Hua Xia? His Gale Martial Arts Hall is the finest in the Hua Xia District. I dream of becoming a Gale Warrior."

"Forget about Gale, even Changfeng and Dragon Slayer aren't just any martial arts halls ordinary people can enter. In our class, probably only Ouyang Yu, Meng Dong, and Lin Zhen have a chance. They are indeed our class's top three."

"Ouyang Yu and Meng Dong are all right, but Lin Zhen? I'm afraid he's a bit lacking. I heard he offended Ouyang Yu because of our school beauty, An Ning. Ouyang Yu has vowed to block Lin Zhen from entering any martial arts hall."

"Really? Would martial arts halls actually listen to Ouyang Yu?" Someone was skeptical.

"Hard to say. Ouyang Yu's family is very powerful, and his father is an official in the Base City. Unless Lin Zhen performs extraordinarily, most martial arts halls will give face."

"Is that so? Then Lin Zhen's in danger. His scores are just a bit above the qualifying line. Hey! Where's Lin Zhen? Why isn't he here? I remember seeing him just a moment ago."

A few chattering boys looked around and saw a figure walking quickly away in the distance, indeed Lin Zhen.

His black eyes shimmered with light as Lin Zhen's pace was swift.

He had forgotten how long it had been since he had walked so fast. Though his body was still weak, his blood boiled, and he felt strength coursing through him.

Heaven had favored him so, that just as his lifespan was exhausted, a cosmic black hole phenomena occurred. Space collapsed, time reversed, and his soul actually returned to Earth, to the eve of his high school graduation.

In his past life, Lin Zhen was devoted to martial arts, hoping to one day change his own fate, to alter the fate of his family. But fate never truly favored him.

Although his talent was not bad, he wasn't a real genius. Born a commoner, with scarce resources, his martial arts career was incredibly hard, and nothing ever went smoothly.

He thought, if only he had no talent at all and been just an ordinary person, or if he could be a genius; for a Martial Artist like Lin Zhen from the lower ranks, it was too difficult to stand out. His life was crushed by countless geniuses, serving as a stepping stone for many. Though he was smart enough, his accomplishments were always limited.

Lin Zhen survived the end of the God Transformation era but lived in frustration. His desire to find value and care for his family had shattered. He lived long enough only because he could endure. Even as some geniuses died, he lived on, but this was not the life he wanted.

At the end of the God Transformation era, Earth underwent a second catastrophic change. Humanity began to move beyond Earth, migrating to the stars. Eventually, Lin Zhen, even in the cosmos, managed to break through the Mortal Realm and ascend to the Star Realm, surviving in the stars.

But that was just the start of another tragedy. Lin Zhen still lived at the bottom, oppressed by countless geniuses, with no hope for advancement.

It wasn't until another Realm breakthrough failed, and he was on the verge of death, that he finally understood: all his life, he had been overly cautious, placing safety above all else. Though he had lived long, he was never able to take the next step. This was not the way of a Martial Artist. He had gone down the wrong path from the start.

If he had the chance to do it all over again, he would seize every opportunity, use every resource, and strive to carve a path to the heavens.

Being a Martial Artist was, by nature, defying the heavens—one should not practice martial arts if they choose mediocrity!

These were Lin Zhen's epiphanies at the brink of death. He thought it was too late, that everything was over, that there would be no second chances.

But before he closed his eyes, he saw the heavens open up, the celestial tide reversing, space-time storms raging, and the cosmic black hole appeared!

He felt as if the black hole's energy was tearing his soul apart, but when he opened his eyes, he found himself in a high school classroom.

He was still Lin Zhen; he was still alive, with all his memories, back on Earth at the age he desired most.

Lin Zhen couldn't believe everything he saw when he walked out of the classroom.

But everything around him told him it was real. He had come back.

"The family I hadn't seen in so long, I'm back! The girl I liked, I'm back!"

He could not have any of the regrets from his past life in this one!