At the entrance of Pearl Academy, a young man in casual blue attire stood expectantly, his gaze fixed on the academy gate. As the music signaling the end of classes played, the gates swung open, and a crowd of boys and girls burst out from within.
The young man watched the group rushing out of the academy, a trace of envy flashing in his eyes. He quickly concealed it, then began searching the crowd with his gaze.
Moments later, his eyes brightened. He hurried over to a long-haired girl in a purple floral dress and handed her a bouquet of flowers, saying, "Manna, this is for you."
The girl stopped. Her skin was fair and smooth, almost as if bathed in milk. When she looked up at the boy, her beauty instantly outshone everyone around her. Though 'a crane among chickens' might not fit, her mere presence made the other youths seem dull by comparison.
Even if her face still held some youthful innocence, her perfect figure was already taking shape. It was easy to imagine how dazzling she would become in a few years. Everyone at the academy knew her—Manna Zhen, the number one beauty of Pearl City.
Manna Zhen gazed at the boy who loved her so deeply, but did not accept the flowers. She remained silent for more than ten seconds before gently saying, "Joe Di, I just crossed into the Warrior Realm today. Soon, I'll be leaving Jade Nation. Take care of yourself. If fate allows, we'll meet again."
Joe Di's hand trembled, and the bouquet slipped from his grasp, scattering across the ground.
How could he not understand what Manna meant? He knew her martial talent would eventually take her away from Jade Nation—he just hadn't expected it to be so soon. In martial cultivation, as long as you enter the Warrior Realm before the age of twenty, you can leave Jade Nation for the Luyuan Empire.
He had just completed his sixteen-year-old martial test yesterday, and once again, he failed. Not only Manna Zhen, but likely everyone in Pearl City knew about it.
"I'm sorry!" Manna Zhen lowered her head and softly uttered the words, sighing inwardly before quickly walking away, leaving Joe Di behind.
She hadn't denied Joe Di a chance; she had waited for him. But after his third martial root test ended in failure, she knew. In fact, even if his third test had revealed a weak martial root, she wouldn't have left Jade Nation so soon.
...
Whether in Jade Nation or across the Yalen Continent, martial arts reign supreme. Though technology here is highly advanced, only those who practice martial cultivation hold true power. All scientific talent serves the martial path, and every nation's ruler is inevitably a martial arts master.
On the Yalen Continent, learning martial arts requires a martial root. Without one, or if it hasn't emerged, no matter how hard you try, you can only strengthen your body—you can never become a true martial cultivator.
The timing of a person's martial root emergence is unpredictable. There are several age milestones for testing: the first test happens before age five. If a martial root is detected then, it's usually considered exceptional.
If the first test shows no martial root, it's not the end—some people's martial roots appear at age twelve. If it still hasn't shown by twelve, there's a final test at sixteen.
If, by the age of sixteen, no martial root is found, it means martial cultivation is impossible. Throughout the Yalen Continent, there's no record of a martial root appearing after sixteen.
Joe Di had been extraordinarily bright since childhood, once hailed as Jade Nation's greatest prodigy. His father, Shawn Di, pinned all hopes for the family's martial legacy on him.
There's a saying: the greater the hope, the greater the disappointment. At his first test, Joe Di was found to have no martial root—which meant he couldn't pursue martial cultivation.
Watching his peers strive in martial arts, those who were once his equals gradually pulled ahead. Joe Di could only pour all his energy into studying, convinced his martial root would eventually emerge, just later than others.
Education in Jade Nation was more than just theory—it combined real-world technology with academic knowledge. By the age of twelve, Joe Di had learned in eight years what took others twenty or thirty, even designing a new type of flying machine.
Yet at twelve, during his second test, Joe Di still showed no martial root.
At that point, not only Joe Di, but even his father grew anxious. Joe Di completely lost interest in studying science and technology; he had only worked so hard to fill the time others spent on martial cultivation. Now, after two failed tests, how could he focus on learning?
Joe Di's father told him not to worry—there would be a third martial root test at sixteen.
But Joe Di was unwilling to keep waiting and gambling on luck. He began to study medicine.
On the Yalen Continent, scientific talent was worthless and held the lowest status, while the medical path was second only to martial cultivation. Achieving greatness in medicine could earn even more respect than an average martial artist.
Joe Di didn't study medicine because of its high status; he was worried that at his third test, he still wouldn't have a martial root.
Jade Nation's medical master, Arthur Xue, once said that the greatest medical grandmasters could enable even those without martial roots to cultivate. Joe Di studied medicine as a backup plan. If, at sixteen, he still had no martial root, he hoped to forge his own martial path through medicine.
He never told anyone about this idea, knowing it would only invite ridicule if spoken aloud.
A medical grandmaster who could help the rootless cultivate would be far more esteemed than the King of Jade Nation—such a figure might not even exist on the Yalen Continent. Arthur Xue's claim was considered mere legend.
The Di family was already immensely wealthy, and Shawn Di was Jade Nation's greatest war god and top general. Joe Di was his only son—what medical book could he possibly lack?
In four years, Joe Di had mastered nearly every medical text the Di family could obtain. He apprenticed under Jade Nation's great physicians—Arthur Xue, River Wan, Simon Fang, and others. With his natural brilliance, after just four years of study, his medical skills even surpassed those of his mentors.
At fifteen, Joe Di fell for a girl—the number one beauty of Pearl City, Manna Zhen.
The first time he saw Manna Zhen, Joe Di fell for her to his very core. Whether it was youthful infatuation or her overwhelming beauty, from that first glance, he could never forget her.
Joe Di never told his father the true reason he studied medicine, but he did confide his feelings for Manna Zhen, hoping his father would approach the Zhen family to propose marriage.
Though Shawn Di had six sons, five had died in service to the king, leaving only Joe Di. Even if Joe Di were lazy and unambitious, if his son fancied a girl, Shawn Di would personally seek her hand for him.
Shawn Di was Jade Nation's top general, commanding over seventy percent of the nation's army. He stood just below the king in status. For him to personally visit the Zhen family with a marriage proposal was a great honor.
In response, the Zhen family neither agreed nor refused, merely suggesting the children get to know each other first.
Manna Zhen, too, neither accepted nor rejected Joe Di's pursuit—she simply grew a little closer to him than to others.
In the blink of an eye, Joe Di turned sixteen. His fears became reality: at his third martial root test, he still had none.
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