C1 (1/2)

”101, 102, 103 …”

In an empty space in a small courtyard, a fifteen to sixteen year old boy had a determined and spirited look in his eyes. He was carrying a stone half the size of his body as he squatted on the ground.

As he was counting, his forehead was already covered with sweat. His face was also a little flushed from the weight exercise, and he was gasping for breath.

The young man's name was Ling Yan. Because his mother was weak and sickly, she died when Ling Yan was three years old.

His father was a soldier from the southern border, and he placed Ling Yan at his old friend's house, where the famous blacksmith Ye He lived. In the past, Ling Yan's father would go home every year to bring delicious food to Ling Yan, telling him stories about his life at the border.

Every time he heard this, Ling Yan would listen with great interest. Especially when he saw his father talking about how he would defeat the enemy, and how he would make a scene with a strong sense of warrior honor in his eyes, Ling Yan's tiny heart slowly gave birth to the desire to protect his country and his people like his father had.

However, ever since Ling Yan was ten years old, the borders of the South Heaven Kingdom had been in turmoil. Vicious beasts frequently appeared, and his father had never returned.

Facing the sympathy, pity, and even disdain from some of the adults in the town, Ling Yan had never cared about them before.

He believed that his father must still be alive, fighting bravely against enemies and vicious beasts. One day, his father would appear before him with his spear in hand. Then, he would rub his head and continue to tell him the story of the border.

As for him, during this time, he would wait for his father to come back so that his father could see his best self.

Because at the age of twelve, the martial arts talent test, Ling Yan, was a superior second-grade talent!

After the results of the test, the whole town seemed to have lost a lot of sound. The people behind Ling Yan, who had lost his mother and his father, who seemed to have been orphaned due to his disappearance, were now completely silent.

There were more than three thousand people in this small town. There were less than one hundred who had martial arts talent, and not a single person who had a grade two martial arts talent.

It was very difficult to become a martial artist. Even with the talent in martial arts, one might not be able to become a martial artist.

However, the higher the talent, the higher the chances of becoming a martial artist. Ling Yan had superior grade two martial arts talent.

This talent was even higher than his father's. Previously, there hadn't been any martial artists in this town other than Ling Yan's father. But now, this meant that Ling Yan would become the next martial artist in this town in the near future!

A martial artist was strong. Once they became a martial artist, they would be at the lowest level. They would be at the first level of the Mortal Nascent Soul Stage.

One person dealing with a few strong men wouldn't be a problem, and like this, those people who only had a taste of their own medicine naturally didn't dare to talk about Ling Yan at all, lest they offend Ling Yan's bad luck and get their revenge from him in the future.