"What era do you think this is? Still competing with Martial Arts? It's all about guns now! Guns!"
Inside a dated, traditional-style hall.
A middle-aged man flashed the silver handgun tucked at his waist.
Wang Xiao looked up, a hint of resignation in his eyes.
"Uncle, can I have a little more time to think about it?"
The middle-aged man's brow furrowed.
"When your aunt and I came before, you said you needed to think it over. How long are you going to keep thinking?"
"Xiao, you need to understand, the ones trying to acquire your Martial Arts Hall are the Tianhe Group."
"They're the largest construction conglomerate in our city. They have several Tier Three Life forms working for them. You can't afford to mess with them."
"I won't lie to you. The Tianhe Group contacted my captain on the enforcement team, and he personally put pressure on me to come here. Just do your uncle this favor, won't you? Hurry up and sign the transfer agreement."
Wang Xiao sighed.
"Uncle, I don't want to make things difficult for you, but I've lived in this Martial Arts Hall my whole life. If I sell it, where will I go?"
The middle-aged man looked at him with disappointment.
"Didn't the Tianhe Group offer two million? That's more than enough to buy a fully furnished apartment in the city."
Wang Xiao rubbed his temples.
"Sigh... I'll think about it some more."
The middle-aged man shook his head in resignation.
"There you go again. Why are you so stubborn? Let me tell you, the Tianhe Group is playing nice for now. Once their patience runs out, they won't be so courteous. When that happens, you might not even get the two million."
"Three days. You have three days to give me a definitive answer."
He rose to his feet and added a final reminder.
"Xiao, you just graduated from college. You don't know how cruel the world can be. The Tianhe Group isn't an entity you can afford to offend. Take your uncle's advice and sell this dump of a Martial Arts Hall while you can. I'm doing this for your own good. I wouldn't hurt you."
Wang Xiao stood up to see him out.
"Okay, Uncle. Take care."
The middle-aged man waved a dismissive hand.
"Don't see me out. Just think carefully about this over the next few days."
As Wang Xiao watched his uncle's retreating figure, his expression slowly darkened.
'To hell with that!'
'For my own good? For my own good, he'd have me sell the Martial Arts Hall for a pittance?!'
'This Martial Arts Hall is over 240 square meters and it's right in Dachang City.'
'It may not be in the city center, but if I were to sell, I could get at least three million for it.'
'The Tianhe Group knocked more than a million off the price. They're just bullying an orphan with no one to back him up, trying to snatch away my entire inheritance!'
'And my own uncle, a member of the enforcement team, is helping them instead of me.'
'Some relative he is...'
'Forget it. I can't really blame him. The Tianhe Group is a massive corporation. What can one lowly enforcement officer do against them?'
Wang Xiao pinched the bridge of his nose, his head aching.
This Martial Arts Hall was his grandfather's life's work. He couldn't bear to see it ruined on his watch.
'But in this day and age, is there any point to practicing Martial Arts?!'
This era was known as the Great Cosmic Era.
Following a meteor shower a century ago, Earth underwent a heaven-and-earth-shattering transformation.
Not only did the planet's surface area expand more than tenfold, but humanity also triggered several technological revolutions by excavating a variety of mysterious, unknown materials from within the meteorites.
A decade ago, humanity had already ventured beyond the Solar System, truly entering the vast, boundless Cosmos.
Moreover, humanity itself had mutated after being irradiated by the meteor shower.
Every human, upon reaching the age of fifteen, would unlock their Genetic Lock, undergo a Life Transition, and obtain Extraordinary Power.
However, for most people, it was merely an increase in strength. Only a small minority awakened superpowers.
Of course, other lifeforms on Earth mutated as well.
Some had grown to become terrifying beings comparable to the Ancient Divine-Demons of legend.
There were Golden-Winged Rocs with thousand-meter wingspans that could ignore intercontinental missiles and reach ten times the speed of sound.
There were giant pythons tens of thousands of meters long that could withstand high-tech Weapons like nuclear bombs and swallow over a hundred thousand people in a single gulp!
Titan King Kongs and Deep Sea Giant Kuns had become humanity's worst nightmares.
Fortunately, humanity had deployed high-tech High-Energy Barriers around its cities to fend off these monsters.
After decades of bloody warfare, the monsters were driven back into designated regions, and the world was divided into war zones.
To this day, many people still have to venture into the war zones each year to battle these beasts.
Wang Xiao's parents had been killed in action during one of those wars.
Of course, while fighting monsters carried the risk of death, it also offered tangible rewards.
The most important of these was the opportunity to raise one's Life Tier.
The Earth Federation now divides human life into nine Tiers.
Even the most ordinary Tier One Life form possessed a Fist Power of one ton and could reach speeds of 30 m/s.
In an environment like this, practicing Martial Arts really did seem rather pointless.
Take Wang Xiao himself. He had practiced Martial Arts with his grandfather since childhood.
He had trained through the harshest winters and hottest summers, yet in the end, he still couldn't stop a single specialized bullet.
This was also why, despite his best efforts, the Martial Arts Hall was on the brink of closure.
'Who in their right mind practices Martial Arts these days?'
'No matter how flashy the techniques, they could never compete with the absolute power granted by a Life Transition!'
'Brute force shatters all techniques. That's an immutable truth.'
With a sigh, Wang Xiao returned to the main hall. He looked at the three memorial portraits hanging in the center, took out three sticks of incense, and bowed before them.
The portrait in the middle was his grandfather's.
On either side were the portraits of his parents.
This was another reason he was so reluctant to sell the Martial Arts Hall.
The place held too many memories of his grandfather and parents. If he sold it, he would lose the only connection he had left.
"Sigh... Grandpa, you used to say that the Martial Arts could lead to Divine Communication. But where is the 'divine'? I can't see it."
"Your Martial Arts Hall, your life's work, is about to be stolen from me. Can't you tell me what to do?!"
Wang Xiao stared at the cold, lifeless portraits, his voice filled with despair.
He wasn't an idiot; he knew full well how powerful the Tianhe Group was.
Even with them lowballing him like this, he would probably have to give in and sell.
Otherwise, just as his uncle had said, he might not even get the two million.
"Grandpa, since you're not talking, let's just use our old method to decide..."
From a drawer in the altar table, Wang Xiao pulled out a comic book.
The comic book was filled with wuxia and xianxia stories.
Wang Xiao had lost count of how many times he'd read it growing up, but he was still captivated by the stories every time he flipped through its pages.
It was the very reason he had persevered with his Martial Arts training.
'Relying on breaking a Genetic Lock to achieve a Life Transition... how could that be as compelling as using Martial Arts and Immortal Techniques to cultivate the body and temper the spirit, growing stronger step by step?'
"I'll flip to a random page. If it's an odd number, I'll sell the Martial Arts Hall. If it's an even number... I'll..."
"...flip again."
Wang Xiao knew that no matter what page he landed on, he would probably have to sell the Martial Arts Hall anyway.
He was just doing this to give himself some peace of mind.
He took a deep breath and flipped through the comic. The images blurred past until the pages came to rest on page thirty-six.
This chapter told the story of a Sword Cultivator descending from his mountain to save the world.
"An even number. I guess that means I have to flip again."
Wang Xiao was about to flip through the comic again.
However, just at that moment, the comic book suddenly burst forth with a golden glow that only he could see.
The golden light flickered and coalesced into a line of text.
[Achievement Unlocked: Read 10,000 Times. Spirit Seal Engraving... Engraving Successful. The Book of Space-Time is now open.]
The next moment...
Wang Xiao could only watch as the comic book in his hands flew into his mind.
He froze, completely stunned.
「After a long moment.」
His eyes finally moved, then began to shine with a brilliant light.
'To travel through space and time, to experience a thousand different lives... Wonderful.'
From the information that had flooded his mind, Wang Xiao quickly understood the function of the Book of Space-Time.
In short, it allowed him to travel through space and time, entering other worlds to experience different lives.
However, it would only be his consciousness traveling, not his physical body.
'That's still incredible. The Book of Space-Time came from the comic book... does that mean I can enter the worlds of Martial Arts and even the Immortal Dao within its pages?'
'If so, any Martial Arts or Immortal Techniques I learn there could be brought back to the Real World. That would be an invaluable treasure!'
'Besides, the Book of Space-Time also mentioned that the method of travel isn't fixed. After enough trips, I might even be able to travel physically.'
Wang Xiao's spirits soared. He could feel the Book of Space-Time glowing faintly in his mind.
Right now, the Book of Space-Time was ready to let him make his first trip.
'Then what am I waiting for? Let's go!'
Wang Xiao didn't hesitate.
This Book of Space-Time was his only chance to save the Martial Arts Hall and change his life.
He had to seize it!
VMMMM!
The Book of Space-Time instantly flashed with a soft golden light, enveloping Wang Xiao's consciousness and pulling it across time and space into the unknown.