Chapter 55 Li Ang's Dream (Part 2)

【However, good times don't last.】

【Slowly, Dr. Li came less and less frequently.】

【From an unshakeable once a week, it became once every half a month, then once a month...】

【The last time he was seen was on an evening in late autumn, when the wind already carried a biting chill.】

【That day, Li Yeming came, and he had become very thin, practically skin and bones.】

【The black-rimmed glasses that once looked refined now hung before his sunken eye sockets.】

【They appeared exceptionally large, as if they could slip off at any moment.】

【His face was sallow, and his lips had no color.】

【But the silly smile on his face remained.】

【Only, his eyes held a few traces of unconcealable exhaustion and... reluctance.】

【He didn't perform examinations as usual; he just called the children to his side.】

【He stroked little Li Ang's head, his voice very soft.】

【"The doctor has to go on a long journey."】

【"In the future, I might... rarely be able to visit you."】

【"Where are you going?"】

【"To a very distant place."】

【"But don't worry, if one day, I, the doctor, can also become a Martial Artist, then I'll strike it rich!"】

【"By then, I'll buy lots and lots of food, toys, and picture books to send to you."】

【"That way, even if I'm not here, you won't be lonely..."】

【That was the last "story" he left for little Li Ang, and also his fantasy for his own life.】

【When he left that day, he specifically called out to little Li Ang.】

【He handed him a Martial Dao Common Sense Handbook whose cover was almost falling off.】

【"Little Li Ang, this book is for you."】

【"Remember, eat well, and... strive to live on."】

【Those were the last words he left for little Li Ang.】

【Later, he never came again.】

【The hospital also didn't send any new doctors.】

【Little Li Ang became increasingly withdrawn.】

【His only hobby each day was to hide in a corner, repeatedly poring over the old Martial Dao Common Sense Handbook.】

【Those dry texts and complex Meridian diagrams, which seemed like heavenly script to other children.】

【But for him, they became spiritual sustenance, his only connection to that warm figure.】

【Slowly, as he grew older, little Li Ang discovered that he seemed to possess a special talent.】

【He could remember texts he had read and words he had heard, and he had his own unique understanding of them.】

【Those obscure theories seemed to automatically form diagrams in his mind.】

【With this precocity, he stood out in the occasional public welfare classes held at the orphanage.】

【The teachers began to be surprised by his intelligence, started to pay attention to him, and his treatment gradually improved.】

【Li Ang ate better and used better things than his other companions.】

【Although he really wanted to share with his former companions, he slowly noticed that the way they looked at him had changed.】

【Jealousy, alienation, exclusion.】

【He was isolated.】

【When he was ten, a turning point arrived.】

【A wealthy Family took a liking to him and wanted to adopt him.】

【The director was very happy, as this meant a substantial "donation fee."】

【The day before he left, little Li Ang finally overheard the old director and a few caregivers chatting.】

【He learned the truth about the young doctor's departure all those years ago.】

【"You mean that Li Yeming? Ha, he died long ago."】

【"I heard he got an incurable disease, something called 'Qi and Blood Exhaustion Syndrome,' also commonly known as withered blood syndrome."】

【"That disease is deadly; once you get it, it's very hard to cure, unless a powerful expert is willing to expend their Origin to treat it."】

【"And I heard that Martial Artists don't get this disease at all."】

【"Moreover, it's originally very rare; only a very small number of ordinary people with weak bodies fall victim to it."】

【"What a pity, so young."】

【"If he had been a Martial Artist, he wouldn't have died so silently and unknown in a rented room."】

【"His body was only discovered after it started to smell..."】

【These words were like a sharp knife, piercing little Li Ang's heart.】

【Reshaping his Soul.】

【"He died... Dr. Li died..."】

【"Because he wasn't a Martial Artist... because he was poor... because he was weak..."】

【From that moment on, "becoming a Martial Artist" was no longer a dream, but an obsession.】

【A survival instinct carved into his bones, a desperate desire to fight against death and mediocrity.】

【"I must become a Martial Artist!"】

【"As long as I become a Martial Artist, I won't lack money!"】

【"As long as I become a Martial Artist, I won't get sick!"】

【"As long as I become a Martial Artist, I won't end up like Dr. Li."】

【"Dying so silently, rotting in a corner!"】

【However, fate played another trick on him.】

【The Family that adopted him absolutely could not accept Li Ang's desire to become a Martial Artist.】

【They were business people, and their purpose in adopting Li Ang was simple.】

【They merely wanted to Cultivate a loyal company manager for their own biological son, who was destined to practice martial arts in the future.】

【An obedient dog.】

【"Practice what martial arts? That's for young masters!"】

【"You just need to learn how to do accounts and how to serve people!"】

【His adoptive father's slap shattered little Li Ang's self-esteem and also woke him up.】

【Just as little Li Ang was on the verge of despair, preparing to reluctantly accept this reality, people from the Federal Government came knocking.】

【It turned out that his biological parents hadn't abandoned him.】

【Although they weren't Martial Artists, they were secret employees of the Federation.】

【Three years after he was born, in order to carry out a top-secret mission, they had to hide their son in an orphanage.】

【And in the process of carrying out that mission, they sacrificed themselves, having been dead for six years.】

【It wasn't until recently, when government employees were sorting through old archives, that they discovered this little Li Ang tucked away in a corner.】

【The relics (relics) were simple: an old house in Longnan City, 100,000 yuan in pension (consolation money), and a precious opportunity.】

【The qualification to attend a Federal public school.】

【Little Li Ang didn't hesitate.】

【Because he was an orphan of a martyr, the Federal Government could become his guardian.】

【He refused his adoptive parents' pleas for him to stay.】

【He resolutely left that wealthy but suffocating home and returned to Longnan City.】

【He sold the old house, converting it into his first martial arts resources, and moved into a cheap, cramped rented room.】

【He began to study like a madman, and practice martial arts like an ascetic monk.】

【No talent? Then fill it with his life!】

【No resources? Then take out loans! Get injections! Overdraw his future!】

【He had to win! He had to climb up!】

【He had to become a superior person! He absolutely would not repeat Dr. Li's mistakes!】

【The dream shifted, and the scene changed.】

【You were admitted to Longnan No. 1 High School, and you became known throughout the school as "God Li."】

【Although you had no Family support, and could only live in a dilapidated rented room.】

【But with astonishing talent and a reckless ferocity, you carved out a bloody path.】

【You became Wu Changhe's most prized Disciple, and you became the respected gold medal teaching assistant of the entire school.】

【Your Realm advanced like a broken bamboo, even winning first place in the final joint examination.】

【You stood in the spotlight, enjoying flowers and applause.】

【However... just when you thought you could finally change your fate, Liu Xiyue appeared.】

【The scene in the dream began to distort, becoming dark and suggestive, the filter turning to a gloomy hue.】

【You watched the young girl arrive at school in a luxurious car.】

【You watched the cultivation resources she casually took out, top-tier goods that you couldn't afford even after several months as an assistant instructor.】

【You watched the Mountain-Sea Realm Family background standing behind her.】

【And the Origin Opening Realm, which was beyond your reach, with a broad, smooth road laid out beneath her feet.】

【An uncontrollable jealousy and resentment wildly grew in your heart.】

【"Why?"】

【The "you" in the dream looked at your calloused and scarred hands, then at Liu Xiyue's hands, which had never done manual labor.】

【"I only sleep four hours a day, training until I vomit blood, just to achieve what I have today."】

【"And her? She was born at the finish line! She doesn't need to fight desperately, doesn't need to curry favor."】

【"Even if she loses to me, she can return unscathed and continue to be the high and mighty Young Miss of an aristocratic Family!"】

【"Five million in pocket money? A Family-inherited Yuan Wu Dharma Gate? Innate abilities? Why is this world so unfair?!"】

【"If I had her resources... if I had her background..."】

【"I would be ten times stronger than I am now! I would be the most dazzling sun in the Federation!"】

【In the dream, the face of the spirited "Genius Li Ang" gradually twisted.】

【His eyes were bloodshot, filled with extreme resentment towards the unfairness of fate.】

【Just then, a seductive voice, as if from an abyss, perfectly whispered in your ear.】

【"Do you feel it too? This sickening injustice."】

【"You are clearly a rough gem, yet you are buried in the dust."】

【"While those mediocre talents are high above because of their birth."】

【"Do you want to change all of this?"】

【"Do you want to possess even more top-tier resources than that so-called aristocratic girl?"】

【"Do you want to fully realize your talent and trample everyone underfoot?"】

【"Go... child..."】

【"On the evening of December 13th, go to Changlin Park."】

【"Everything you desire is there."】

【"There is a... miracle that will allow you to no longer grovel for resources."】

...

【High above the Sea of Consciousness.】

【The true you watched all of this with indifference.】

【You looked at the virtual persona deliberately twisted by evil arts into being "cynical and eager to rise to power in one go."】

【A mocking cold smile curled at your lips.】

【"Quite interesting."】

【"Compared to exploiting childhood inferiority, leveraging the 'arrogance' and 'unwillingness' of a Genius is indeed more sophisticated."】

【"What they want is a knife that is ambitious, capable, but also easily controlled by desire."】

【"Unfortunately, you don't understand."】

【"My obsession has never been jealousy of Liu Xiyue's background."】

【"But rather... to live well and control my own destiny."】

【As the mental suggestion ended, the dream began to collapse.】

【You knew that the cult practitioners believed their goal had been achieved.】

【They were convinced that this "Genius," born poor and with lofty ambitions.】

【Had already swallowed this poisoned bait named "ambition."】

【The Restriction left by Grandmaster Zhao Zongtian shimmered with golden light.】

【Transforming the evil, highly aggressive mental suggestion left by this dream.】

【Into a softer, pale golden spiritual imprint remaining within the virtual persona.】

【The virtual persona quickly returned to its normal state.】

【Your consciousness returned to darkness.】