Chapter 1: A “Last Letter”

My name is Liam York, an utterly ordinary member of society, with an ordinary family, living an ordinary life. If nothing unexpected happened, I would marry an ordinary, easy-to-please woman as my wife—the latter is especially important. My woman must be easy to satisfy, not asking for this or that. Of course, I’d occasionally splurge to give her a surprise.

Then, I’d continue living the life of an ordinary person, have a child, raise the child to be successful, just like everyone else, hoping my child would make me proud.

In this life, maybe there would be one or two moments of brilliance, but overall, I’m just an ordinary person, living an ordinary life.

Still, I think such days aren’t bad. Maybe it’s because I’m just an ordinary person. But then, something unexpected happened to me, an ordinary man, something my ordinary heart couldn’t bear.

That day, on a whim, I went to donate blood, only to be told there was something wrong with my blood. So I went to the hospital for a thorough checkup. When I looked at the test results, I didn’t know how to describe my feelings—maybe because my mind was completely blank.

I can’t remember the name of the disease; anyway, the scientific name is very long. It’s a very rare blood disorder, with fewer than a thousand cases worldwide. This is definitely not the kind of illness an ordinary person like me should get. People like me should just catch colds or fevers—ordinary little illnesses.

Heavens, you really think too highly of me.

This disease isn’t necessarily fatal. When it’s not active, I’m just like a normal person. But once it flares up, it’s life-threatening. Because it’s so rare, there are very few treatments, and the costs are far beyond what an ordinary person can afford.

Putting that aside, could my parents even handle this news?

So, I made a decision. I spent some time changing myself, making people think I had a heart set on wandering the world. After all, my name has the character “浪” (wanderer) in it—maybe I was destined to be a drifter.

At that time, I thought, if I could travel the world in my lifetime, it wouldn’t be a bad thing.

And three years ago—maybe it was three years, I don’t even know how much time has passed—I had another whim. I went alone, carrying some wilderness survival gear, and trekked deep into the uninhabited mountains.

Unfortunately—and also fortunately—I slipped and fell off a cliff.

Falling was, of course, unfortunate. The fortunate part was that there happened to be a pool of water at the bottom. But still, there was more misfortune: the bottom of the cliff was a valley with no exit.

Even so, luck was still with me. In that valley, I actually found a martial arts treasure trove. That’s right, you read that correctly, and I’m not mistaken—it was a martial arts treasure trove.

This treasure trove was all-encompassing. Not only were there martial arts manuals, but also many other things like traditional Chinese medicine, mechanics, the art of escape, and so on. Any skill you could imagine from a martial arts novel could be found here.

There’s one more thing—I think the person who left this martial arts trove must have been an outstanding educator. Because whether it was martial arts or other skills, there were beginner books with very detailed foundational knowledge.

Even someone like me, who knew nothing about martial arts or Chinese medicine, could slowly get started. As my knowledge deepened, I gradually became proficient. There were absolutely no obstacles to learning.

Of course, at first, I didn’t believe any of it was real. I thought someone was playing a joke. But since I was already terminally ill, I figured I might as well try anything—maybe it would cure me. So I practiced qigong, learned acupuncture, and so on.

Once I started, I couldn’t stop. I threw myself completely into this training. I don’t know how much time passed—how many years—but I finally mastered most of what was inside.

Well, I’m just an ordinary person, so naturally I didn’t bother with the things I wasn’t interested in. I only learned the cool, flashy skills, planning to make a splash in society once I got out.

Sigh, if it weren’t for the meteor that suddenly appeared out of nowhere and struck me with pinpoint accuracy, I believe that, with my now-invincible strength, my future would have been wonderful. I’d have money, women—whatever I wanted.

You’re asking if my illness was completely cured? I’m not really sure. I never went back to the hospital for a checkup. Anyway, I haven’t died in all these years, and judging by my pulse, I’m an absolutely strong and healthy man.

That’s about it for my last words.

Finally, I want to say: Bro, take care of our parents, and also that seventh great-uncle. Your little brother is off to another world.