1: In the God-forsaken era, everyone changes their job!

"Two hundred and ninety-nine."

"Three hundred."

"Three hundred and one."

"Three hundred and two."

...

Morning light streamed through the windowsill into the cramped room, where a handsome, shirtless youth was doing one-handed push-ups while sweating profusely.

He only stopped when a knock came from the doorway.

"Brother Yuan, Auntie is off to work. Breakfast is on the table, remember to eat it."

"Got it."

As the sound of the door closing echoed,

Jiang Yuan braced his hands against the floor, exerted force with his abdomen, back-flipped to his feet, and gently exhaled a breath of stale air.

He glanced at the watch on his left wrist and asked, "Xiao Hei, how long have I been working out?"

A cute black cat appeared on the watch, standing on two legs, and made an adorable sound,

"Master got up early today and worked out for 1 hour and 7 minutes, that is simply amazing, meow."

Jiang Yuan nodded slightly.

Waking up in the morning, he had practiced basic Martial Skills ten times, done ten sets of sit-ups with 100 reps per set, and three hundred one-handed push-ups with each of his left and right hands, taking a total of one hour.

This speed was quite decent.

"Open the panel," Jiang Yuan said softly.

[Character: Jiang Yuan]

[Race: Human Race.]

[Rank — Unranked]

[Age: 17]

[Stamina: 14]

[Strength: 12+1]

[Speed: 11]

[Spirit: 15]

[Cultivation Technique: Basic Martial Skill, Basic Breathing Technique, Basic Body-Forging Technique]

[Evaluation: Weaker than an ant]

"Sigh, the attribute panel is as rotten as ever."

Jiang Yuan sighed,

and glanced at the time on his watch.

"It is already this late?"

"Oh no, today is the day for Awakening and job advancement. I must not be late."

Spending three minutes hurriedly taking a bath, Jiang Yuan quickly finished his breakfast, headed out, and boarded the skytrain heading to school.

There were many people on the morning skytrain, and Jiang Yuan was lucky enough to grab a seat.

"Ha..."

Jiang Yuan yawned as he sat on the skytrain.

Suddenly, the view outside the window brightened as the skytrain passed a towering terminal building that reached into the clouds.

Jiang Yuan leaned against the window, looking out through the transparent glass, and murmured softly, "No matter how many times I see it, it is still so shocking..."

The field of vision before him was extremely vast; the skytrain was traveling high in the air, a hundred meters off the ground.

Below was a suburban residential area where single-family detached houses appeared very small, while giant buildings loomed straight ahead, resembling a steel forest formed by skyscrapers hundreds of meters tall. Skytrain tracks wove through this metropolitan steel jungle, and various flying vehicles streaked across the high altitude of the city trailing rays of light, presenting a strongly sci-fi scene.

At the center of the city stood a towering, gigantic bell tower whose top could not be seen.

Looking further towards the distant horizon, one could vaguely see a towering steel city wall shrouded in clouds and mist—being able to see it meant the weather was good.

"Welcome aboard Air Rail No. 51. Good morning, passengers of South River City. Today is another peaceful day," an AI-synthesized voice rang out from the broadcast.

"Broadcasting the morning news."

"Last night, a small-scale Vicious Beast tide broke out in the A-Rank abyss of Area 13 outside the city. It was suppressed by city-guard commander Qin Zhan and his men within half an hour, killing a Tier 6 Vicious Beast."

"There is news that Liu He, the principal of South River City First Martial Arts High School, has broken through to a Tier 7 Martial Artist and is expected to run for the next city lord."

"Regarding the recent abnormal phenomena in the East China Sea, authoritative institutions suspect that it is very likely caused by a King Rank Vicious Beast. Japan has sent envoys to Great Xia to discuss relevant details."

"A new Tier 7 abyss has been discovered outside Beijiang City, and the local Martial Artist Association is organizing Martial Artists to go pioneer it..."

"The annual Martial Dao College Entrance Examination will begin next month. This is a grand event for Great Xia. I wonder how many eye-catching, heaven-defying talents and dark horses will emerge in this generation. These students carry the earnest expectations of countless parents and have undergone day-and-night of grueling training just to enter their ideal martial arts university. No matter the result, here I want to say to them: strive for one more month, live up to your youth, live up to the Martial Dao..."

Listening to the broadcast and looking out the window, the thoughts of Jiang Yuan drifted away.

As someone who underwent Transmigration, he had been in this world for 17 years.

He could not tell whether he had transmigrated to another world or come to the future of his original world.

According to what was written in the history books.

Three hundred years ago, up until the year 2024, the historical trajectory was identical to the world Jiang Yuan originally came from, until the year 2025.

Everything changed.

That year, abyss planes suddenly descended all over the world, and endless Vicious Beasts poured out from them.

Dragon-like creatures a thousand meters long nested on the seabed, a hundred-thousand-meter-tall giant tree appeared on the northern side of the moon, hundred-meter-tall demonic wolves roared across the wilderness continent, and disaster followed wherever eerie demonic shadows walked... The human population was halved in the Great Catastrophe.

That year was also called Year One of the God-Forsaken Era.

Fortunately, a holographic game named Heavenly Dao descended and fused with the real world!

The world expanded a hundredfold, and in-game things like quests, dungeons, equipment, props, and potions appeared one after another.

Everyone obtained a digitized game interface, allowing them to gain experience points, high-tier Materials, and equipment through Cultivate and killing Vicious Beasts. Some people who awakened super-powerful talents quickly became powerhouses of the Human Race, embarking on the path to ascend to divinity, achieving evolution in life levels, and fighting against the abyss!

In the first hundred years of the God-Forsaken Era, powerhouses emerged continuously among humans, and people with various talents found their own professions. At the same time, under the unity of all mankind, technology developed rapidly, establishing a Martial Dao order that allowed ordinary people to also Cultivate and become stronger.

In the two hundredth year of the God-Forsaken Era, humanity gradually prospered, with powerhouses stepping into the semi-god Rank one after another. They opened up some low-risk abysses as leveling grounds, formed Martial Artist Associations at all levels and martial arts universities to Cultivate powerhouses, and began to suppress and counterattack the abyss...

And now, it was the 297th year of the God-Forsaken Era.

"Why are you so sleepy? Did you stay up late training last night?"

"Do not mention it. Last night I secretly logged into Star Domain using the account of my dad and watched a few female anchors practicing martial arts. Damn, that figure, tsk tsk, invincible."

"Really that awesome?!"

"Nonsense, did you not see my Qi even dropped?"

...

Two high school students in school uniforms nearby were chatting, talking enthusiastically about boundary-pushing female live streamers.

Jiang Yuan was not interested. All he was thinking about right now were matters regarding Awakening and job advancement.

In this lifetime, he was born into an ordinary family. His father, Jiang Damu, was a border sentinel, a Martial Practitioner, and a specialized warrior who was stationed at the city wall year-round without returning home. His mother, Tao Chunru, had awakened a healing-type talent, advanced to a physician, and worked as a nurse at the Beijiang City Third People's Hospital.

Currently, he was living under the roof of his aunt in South River City, living together with the family of his aunt, and his cousin was a high school freshman.

It could be said that apart from his identity as someone who underwent Transmigration and memories from the womb, Jiang Yuan had not the slightest difference from ordinary youths at the bottom of society. He had no Golden Finger like in novels, no family background, and nothing except for a handsome face dubbed the school hunk.

In this dangerous, terrifying, yet magnificent era, only by Awakening powerful talents and professions did one have the qualification to become a powerhouse and change their fate.

"Martial Arts High School Station has arrived."