Henry Clark’s eyes widened.

“Not happy? Then fire me.”

After Grace Thompson finished speaking, he couldn’t be bothered to waste more words and turned to leave.

“You…”

Henry Clark’s face instantly flushed red.

He was the dignified Director of Academic Affairs, a social elite with a yearly salary of a hundred thousand, and yet he was humiliated by a poor student who hadn’t even left campus!?

But if he fired him now…

If he couldn’t take it and jumped into the lake to die at school, the responsibility would be huge.

“He won’t be smug for long. Once the heat dies down, I’ll find an excuse to fire him directly. He’s already a junior—there won’t be time to continue his studies, and he won’t even have a college diploma. He’s destined to struggle at the bottom of society for the rest of his life, just a laborer.”

Samuel Reed wore a look of contempt.

With his status, dealing with an ordinary student with no power or influence was as easy as crushing an ant.

……

On the way back to the dorm, people kept pointing at Grace Thompson.

Charlotte Foster’s older sister, Olivia Foster, was a hot celebrity at Xingdian Entertainment. Even though Charlotte Foster hadn’t debuted yet, she was already extremely popular at Hanyang University.

The talented beauty.

A perfect blend of intelligence and looks.

The incident of Grace Thompson offending Charlotte Foster had been the talk of the campus for half a month.

Once the school’s punishment was announced, he’d never recover.

Condemned by all, destroyed without illness.

The violence of public opinion—someone without a strong mind might not be able to withstand it.

“They’re sure that an ordinary person like me can’t stir up any trouble.”

Grace Thompson hurried to the dorm.

In theory, that was true.

An ordinary person facing the network of relationships and power in a university would be easily crushed, with no chance to fight back.

“Grace Thompson” was an ordinary person.

But he was not.

Chapter 2: Changfeng

Martial artist.

In this world, martial arts flourished.

Grace Thompson remembered reading a survey on future career planning for high school students.

All the students in Taibai most aspired to become Star Refiners and step into the extraordinary.

But that career depended entirely on “aptitude” and had nothing to do with the vast majority.

Not counting that.

Setting aside Star Refiners, the most popular career among ordinary people was…

Becoming a celebrity!?

That didn’t fit.

Excluding Star Refiners and celebrities who needed capital to support them, the third most popular was—civil servant.

Civil service in Taibai was basically semi-hereditary, and passing the exam was too difficult.

Excluded as well.

Aside from those three, the top-ranked career was martial artist.

Teachers, doctors, lawyers, and so on all came after.

Clearly, martial artists were still highly sought after.

“Martial arts, as an auxiliary and supplement to Star Refiners, even though the ultimate level is still a mortal body and can’t withstand machine guns or artillery, any Martial Saint standing at the peak enjoys a social status no less than an ordinary Star Refiner.”

Over the past half month, Grace Thompson had already learned about this world.

For someone like him, who pursued the limits of the human body, this was the best era.

Martial arts flourished.

Grandmasters who had all but disappeared on Blue Star were everywhere.

At the same time, it was also the worst era.

The existence of Star Refiners was like an insurmountable mountain, making it impossible for martial artists to stand at the very top of the world.

“For me, being able to live again is the greatest fortune. In my previous life, I never got past the ‘Hua Jin’ stage. In this life, let me see just how far I can go.”

Grace Thompson was full of spirit.

He was completely unaffected by Samuel Reed, Henry Clark, Charlotte Foster, and the others.

He returned to the dorm, planning to pack up and apply for a leave of absence.

“Old Li, you’re back?”

In the dorm, his roommate Benjamin Sullivan seemed to be waiting for him.

As a private university, the environment was good, with four-person dorms.

Of Grace Thompson’s three roommates, he only got along well with Benjamin Sullivan, who was warm-hearted…

No!

He actually got along well with all three.

Handsome, sociable, and from a wealthy family, he was something of a celebrity at Hanyang University.

At this moment, he handed him a document.

“Take a look.”

“Changfeng Martial Arts School flyer?”

Grace Thompson glanced at him.

“Old Li, I know your character. I believe you absolutely didn’t harass Charlotte Foster, but there are too many people trying to protect her, including some from the martial arts department. If someone loses their mind and attacks you… You’ve trained in martial arts—not saying you have to win, but as long as you can run a bit faster, you’ll be safer.”

Benjamin Sullivan said, “My fourth uncle, James Sullivan, just opened a martial arts school and is recruiting. I got you a discount—only three thousand a month.”

Worried that Grace Thompson would think the price was high, he quickly added, “He’s a martial artist with an associate senior title. Three thousand a month is definitely not much.”

“Associate senior title?”

Grace Thompson’s eyes lit up. “Bao Dan!?”

“Right, certified by the Taibai Martial Arts Association.”

Benjamin Sullivan replied.

The flourishing of martial arts in this world was no empty talk.

Martial artists had clear professional qualification certifications.

There were five levels: junior, assistant, intermediate, associate senior, and senior.

Above that, there was the Martial Saint, evaluated every two years by the Martial Arts Association.

Among them, associate senior corresponded to a martial arts master who had achieved Dan Jin.

Dan Jin—in ancient times, such a person would be a general commanding armies.