Nowadays, martial arts techniques are everywhere on Earth, with countless real and fake ones flooding the internet. You can even download the Shaolin Seventy-Two Ultimate Skills and Wudang internal breathing methods online. Since none of them can actually be practiced, regardless of authenticity, people just treat them as knockoffs.

It wasn’t until a year later, when Earth’s spiritual energy increased, that all kinds of martial arts techniques became popular again. By then, you could forget about downloading them online. Every major sect guarded their own techniques jealously, only recruiting the most talented disciples.

At that time, even getting into the worst sect was no easy feat. As for entering a martial arts academy, that was even more difficult.

Those who had collected martial arts techniques from the major sects early on had only two choices: first, join a sect; second, you were not allowed to pass on or even practice the techniques you had collected. Otherwise, you could die without even knowing how it happened. In fact, many people who had collected martial arts techniques from the major sects mysteriously disappeared, even if they hadn’t leaked anything.

……

“Xiao Bu, you want to drop out?” Zane Quinn subconsciously put down the glass of beer in his hand, looking at Blake Langley in shock.

Blake Langley nodded. “Yes, I plan to drop out and go make some money.”

Zane Quinn waved his hands anxiously. “Xiao Bu, do you know what dropping out means? Medical students are in high demand now—anyone graduating from a medical school is a hot commodity for major hospitals. You’re already a senior, just stick it out for another year and it’ll be much easier to find a job than now. What kind of money can you make if you leave now? Besides, besides…”

Zane Quinn stammered “besides” for a long time but couldn’t come up with anything else. Blake Langley patted Zane Quinn on the shoulder. “Chief, I’ve made up my mind. I’ll leave after this meal.”

Of course, Blake Langley wouldn’t waste time staying at school. In his previous life, he was admitted to the youth class of a medical school, studied for five years, and then practiced medicine for a decade or two. His medical talent was already astonishing, and after the nuclear war, he spent almost every day performing surgeries and saving lives. His medical skills had reached a level few could surpass.

But so what? No matter how skilled he was, he was still just working himself to the bone for others, barely scraping by with Evan Sutton, hoping to survive. In the end, he was even drowned at sea because of his medical background. Maybe if he hadn’t studied medicine, he wouldn’t have survived until the nuclear war broke out.

Seeing that Blake Langley was really going to drop out, Zane Quinn could only sigh and stop trying to persuade him. Thinking that his best buddy was leaving and that he’d be alone at school with no one to talk to, Zane Quinn felt a bit down.

In the end, both of them drank until they were a little tipsy before helping each other back to school.

Chapter 4: The Strange Man

“Where’s Blake Langley?” Early the next morning, as soon as she arrived in the classroom, the first thing Evan Sutton did was look for Blake Langley.

In the past, Blake Langley was no different from any other classmate in her eyes. But ever since she went to look for Blake Langley yesterday, she’d felt a strange sensation, as if she and Blake Langley were husband and wife, even though the idea was utterly absurd.

It would be one thing if it was just a weird feeling, but last night, her dreams were filled with Blake Langley. She saw herself and Blake Langley relying on each other in a not-so-big city. She saw herself stricken with a terrible illness, and Blake Langley frantically performing surgeries day and night to earn money for her treatment…

She saw Blake Langley, only in his thirties, worn out like a man in his sixties or seventies. Maybe before her illness was cured, Blake Langley would have already died of exhaustion on the operating table. In the end, she couldn’t take it anymore, struggled to get up, and rushed out of the protective city…

What was the protective city? Why were she and Blake Langley hiding inside it? What were they being protected from?

Evan Sutton struggled in her sleep, unable to understand.

Even though it was a bit chilly in early autumn, Evan Sutton woke up drenched in cold sweat, unable to fall back asleep for the rest of the night. She and Blake Langley had never had any real interaction before; if it had been any other classmate yesterday, she would have comforted them as class monitor just the same. But the dream was so terrifying, so real it was indistinguishable from reality.

So when she got to class today, the first thing she did was look for Blake Langley, even though she didn’t know why.

The classmates who arrived early all looked at Evan Sutton in surprise—why was she looking for Blake Langley first thing in the morning?

At the door, the counselor’s voice came: “Blake Langley has dropped out. I was just about to ask what happened.”

Blake Langley dropped out? The whole class was shocked. It’s so hard to get into medical school these days, and Blake Langley had such good grades—why would he drop out? Was it because of the humiliation from Dean Sykes yesterday? If so, wasn’t Blake Langley being a bit too fragile?

Evan Sutton was stunned for a while before saying, “Even if he wants to drop out, it should take some time to process the paperwork. Where is he?”

The counselor rubbed his forehead. “I don’t know what’s going on either. He just sent me a message saying he was dropping out, didn’t ask to process any paperwork, and when I tried to call him back, his phone was already turned off.”