“Isn’t One-Punch Man’s showing seriously invincible? Who could take one punch from him?”
“Kakarot could eat that bald guy in one bite.”
“Ultraman is the strongest. One beam can destroy a planet, and he can travel through space.”
“DC Superman is the one. He can blow out a star with one breath and casually drag a dozen planets. Do you even understand the multiverse?”
The summer wind blew in from outside the classroom. After the dull math class ended, the boys, who had been repressed for so long, were, as always, most heatedly discussing the issue of combat power.
Power comparisons within the same work, power comparisons between different works.
They quoted sources and hunted for settings and scenes; even a single drop of sweat during a battle could become evidence in an argument over strength. They argued with endless relish.
“Childish.”
Jiang Si, passing by, gave a cold laugh. “You’re all high school students, and you’re still watching this stuff?”
One bespectacled boy, who had been arguing with his classmates until his face was flushed, immediately slapped the desk, sending books tumbling all over the floor. “Then what do you watch that isn’t childish?”
Jiang Si said nothing. He simply returned to his seat and pulled out a thick book. The large characters on its cover were especially dazzling.
Shrouding the Heavens!
“Ye Fan, Emperor Ye, is the strongest.”
A burst of laughter rang out.
Naturally, there was no shortage of mockery either.
Jiang Si did not bother arguing with this group of frogs at the bottom of a well.
Ultraman? Superman? How could the light of fireflies vie with the bright moon?
While they were still arguing over who was stronger, webnovel protagonists had long since stood alone across all eternity.
Multiverses? Parallel worlds? Webnovel protagonists had long since proven the Dao once and for all, reversed effect into cause, and made time and space into a closed loop.
Not only was it a crushing disparity in combat power like Trisolarans versus primitive men, the gap in realm was even more terrifying.
No matter how much he said, this bunch of children would never understand.
A dull school, boring classmates, and teachers who understood nothing.
To Jiang Si, he had long since grown sick of everything here.
If he could become an existence like a webnovel protagonist, surely he would be able to break free from everything before his eyes.
He had always been searching for the extraordinary powers of this world.
Qigong, magic, superpowers—anything would do.
Any extraordinary ability that could be found in the city would eventually be able to pivot into cultivation anyway.
As long as he could cultivate immortality, he could step onto the Great Dao, attain eternal life, and reign supreme through the ages!
And yet there was nothing.
This world was utterly ordinary, devoid of any extraordinary power. Following rumors of such powers only led to disappointment and deception, again and again.
Since that was the case, Jiang Si no longer clung to it.
All paths of the Great Dao led to the same destination. Since there were no extraordinary powers, he would take the clumsy method of proving the Dao through strength. As long as he tempered his physical body to the extreme, there would come a day when he could break through his limits and glimpse the Great Dao.
Thus, Jiang Si was constantly tempering himself at all times. Even during class, he would keep squeezing a grip strengthener beneath his desk.
During lunch break, he would go running, do push-ups, and pull-ups.
For more than five years, he had never slacked off.
Exercise alone was naturally not enough. What webnovel protagonist ever emerged from cultivating bitterly behind closed doors? They all transformed amid real combat and slaughter!
So, in order to train in actual combat, he also often challenged the nearby thugs.
From being beaten black and blue in one-on-one fights at the very beginning, to now being able to handle two or three thugs ganging up on him without falling behind.
He could clearly feel his own transformation.
Stories might be false, but their principles had never been lies.
Jiang Si had not neglected his studies either. What webnovel protagonist did not know a little physics and chemistry? At critical moments, they could even recite ancient poetry and prose backward.
These were all basic skills. It was just that his energy was limited in the end, so he only studied useful knowledge. As for things like English that were of no use, he was a complete mess.
He was a little biased in his subjects, but his grades in class could still be considered above average—not good enough for the teachers to take special notice, and not bad enough for people to mock him by saying webnovels had affected his studies.
It was already the afternoon classes to begin with, and before long, school was about to end.
When Jiang Si rose to leave and passed by the classmates who had just been arguing over combat power, the few who had been whispering instantly fell silent.
As for Jiang Si, who was obsessed with webnovels and disliked interacting with others, although many of the students in class found him displeasing, no one dared provoke him.
After all, he really could fight.
When everyone said they wanted to become Superman or Ultraman, they were just saying it, indulging in a fantasy.
Only this blockhead Jiang Si was serious when he said he wanted to become a webnovel protagonist and cultivate immortality. After all, everyone could see him risking his life training every day.
No one was willing to get close to such a weirdo.
Of course, there were exceptions.
For example, Lu Ya, a girl from the class next door.
This girl, whose family was well-off, whose grades were outstanding, and whose looks were stunning, just so happened to be close to the unpopular Jiang Si.
Every time school ended, she would come looking for him, ignore the many strange gazes around them, follow behind Jiang Si, and go home with him.
She would even take new novels from her schoolbag and hand them to Jiang Si.
The two of them would not take the main road either. Once they left the school gate, they would walk into a small path with few people and soon disappear from sight.
If Lu Ya had not been somewhat popular at school, and if the teachers had not favored her, rumors would probably have been flying everywhere long ago.
In truth, however, there was indeed nothing shameful between the two of them.
Jiang Si had merely helped her in passing when he challenged some thugs back then, and afterward, he had asked her to help him borrow some novels to read.
As for Lu Ya, it was also hard for her to regard this classmate before her, who was always talking mysteriously and was so obsessive he seemed a little insane, as a romantic partner.
“Even if you read every webnovel there is, you still won’t be able to become a protagonist, you know.”
She simply wanted to remind him every time, hoping he would not sink so deeply into obsession.
To this, Jiang Si only replied without even raising his head, “Do not disturb my Dao heart.”
Lu Ya, long since used to it, merely hugged her schoolbag and continued nagging from the side.
“The college entrance exam is coming up soon. Auntie also said that during this period, you should put webnovels aside for now and review properly. With your grades, as long as you put in a little effort, getting into a first-tier university won’t be hard. If you get into the same university as me, I can still keep helping you find novels in the future.”
“I have my own plans.”
“Your plan is to keep things as they are, all the way into university, and even into society?” Lu Ya looked at him earnestly. “You can’t possibly live like this your whole life, can you?”
“Why not?”
“You’ll regret it.”
Jiang Si stuffed the book Lu Ya had handed him back to her, then turned and left. “Fate is wrought by Heaven; defeat is destined.”
In order to know what he was always muttering about so mysteriously, Lu Ya had read no small number of novels herself, so she naturally knew what the next line of that verse was.
The Immortal Venerable may regret, but I do not!
She hugged her schoolbag and immediately stomped her foot. “Why won’t you listen to advice?”
Just as she was about to chase after him, a small truck crashed through the wall beside them with a thunderous bang!
The alley was already narrow to begin with. With this small truck suddenly forcing its way in, it directly filled the entire road!
Then, without slowing in the slightest, it charged toward the two of them. There was nowhere to dodge.
“Jiang Si!”
The youth raised his head and looked at the dazed driver. Yet instead of yielding in the slightest, he walked forward to meet it head-on!
With one kick, he sent a large stone beside him under the wheels. The small truck jolted and slowed slightly. Jiang Si met it with a front kick, and his leg bone snapped on the spot.
And yet he truly did make that small truck pause for an instant.
Immediately after, his whole body slammed into it, knocking the front of the vehicle askew, but also dragging himself in with it.
The front of the truck pinned him against the wall, grinding him along the way.
In the end, it came to a forced stop right in front of Lu Ya.
The stunned Lu Ya plopped down onto the ground, then stood up again, at a complete loss as she looked at the youth whose clothes had been torn to shreds by the scraping, half his body bathed in fresh blood. He swayed unsteadily, yet still forced himself to stand.
The driver on the other side also climbed out of the truck with his face covered in blood and frantically made a phone call. Lu Ya’s eyes reddened all at once.
“You… you idiot. Why didn’t you run…?”
The originally quiet alley gradually became noisy. His vision slowly blurred until he could see nothing clearly, but before Jiang Si collapsed to the ground, he still put on a disdainful sneer.
“Me, avoid its edge?!”