From a young age, they have been instilled with this concept.

When Liu Yuan entered the classroom, it was already packed with students, all buzzing with speculation about the day’s special training session.

"I heard this year’s special training will be brutal. I wonder if I’ll make the cut," a male student muttered, frowning.

"Yeah, only those who pass the selection get to enter the Origin Realm. If we miss this chance, our combat exams are basically doomed. The pressure’s killing me," a girl beside him sighed, her voice laced with worry.

Liu Yuan took her seat, her own nerves creeping in.

Sure, she had that ridiculously overpowered card, which had boosted her strength considerably, but her real combat experience was still lacking.

Just then, the classroom door swung open, and a tall, imposing man strode in.

Dressed in simple casual wear, his sharp gaze and steady steps marked him as a seasoned fighter.

"Quiet down, everyone."

The teacher clapped his hands, and the room fell silent instantly.

"Greetings. I’ll be your instructor for the ‘special training’ from now on. You can call me Teacher Li," he announced in a booming voice, instantly commanding everyone’s attention.

"The training is straightforward. For the first half, I’ll observe you for a month and select those qualified to enter the Origin Realm."

"Are you all ready?"

"We’re ready!"

Many answered in unison, their voices tinged with anticipation.

"Good. Then let’s head to the training grounds now." Teacher Li gestured for them to follow.

...

By the time they arrived at the training hall of the Sixth Institute, other classes had already set up several sparring platforms, with assistant instructors standing by to supervise and record scores.

Only their class seemed unprepared.

"Next, I’ll assess your abilities and appoint two students with the most combat experience as team leaders. The rest will be randomly assigned to their squads."

Teacher Li stood before the platforms, scanning each student.

"In a month, the entire winning team will advance to the Origin Realm!"

The moment he finished, the room erupted.

"Wait, what? They’re not just picking the top performers? They’re gonna lump us with deadweight?"

"I’m easily top six in this class. Are you saying I could get eliminated just by bad luck?"

"Top six? More like just sixth. Stop inflating your ego. Luck’s part of strength too. I think it’s fair."

"Says the guy ranked at the bottom. Of course you’d defend this—you’ve got nothing to lose. Fair? How is this fair?"

"Hold on, our class has 49 people. Random assignment means one team’s short a member, right?"

At the end of the day, they were still just a bunch of eighteen-year-olds, unable to hide their frustrations.

They were openly questioning the teacher’s decision right to his face.

Lucky for them, this was school, not the workplace—otherwise, the outspoken ones would’ve already been marked for retaliation.

Clearly, they hadn’t been hardened by life’s harsh lessons yet.

Since when did the world ever play fair?

Teacher Li roared, "Shut the hell up, all of you!"

Instantly, the room went dead silent.

Most students carried an innate fear of teachers—a natural debuff.

Sometimes, ignorance really was bliss.

Old Li had been a special training instructor for ten years, sending off ten batches of students. Half of them failed their combat exams and faded into ordinary society.

The other half? Almost all of them were now fighting for their lives in the Origin Realm. His phone still held over two hundred numbers that would never ring again.

When the nest is overturned, no egg remains unbroken...

If the Origin Realm ever breached their world, there’d be no nation, no home left to speak of...

It was only because those who bore the weight of battle shielded the younger generation so well...

That these kids could still afford to bicker over personal gains.

He spoke again, his tone cutting.

"Don’t blame me for being harsh."

"Those whining about fairness—go look in the mirror and ask yourselves what the hell you’ve even accomplished."

"Let me ask you: Where are we right now?"

"Jiangxia’s Sixth Institute."

"You think this is about individual strength?"

"What kind of garbage have your teachers been feeding you?"

"You all dream of solo-clearing the Origin Realm? Of being some lone hero?"

"If you’re so damn talented, why are you stuck here? Why haven’t the First or Second Institute come begging for you?"

"Let’s be real—in my eyes, most of you won’t even reach beyond Tier Five or Six."

"I’ll bet anything that in ten years, even a D-class rift would chew you up as cannon fodder. Your only shot at survival is sticking together."

"You think when you’re out there, you can just complain to command? ‘This squad sucks, give me a better one’?"

"Back in my day, if anyone dared say that crap on the frontlines, I’d slap them bloody in front of everyone and ask if they’d woken up yet."

"You!"

"What gives you the right!"

"To call your future teammates ‘deadweight’ before the teams are even formed?"

"If that’s your attitude, get the hell out now."

"People like you would turn traitor the moment things got tough."

The scathing tirade left the entire class speechless.

After venting, Teacher Li realized he’d lost his composure.

Even with his tempered mindset, he couldn’t stomach hearing comrades dismissed as burdens.

Teammates?

In the Origin Realm, they’re the ones you trust with your life—the ones who’ve got your back till the end.

But then again...

Hell, what did these kids know?

All they cared about was the combat exams.

Their entire lives, they’d been fed this idea that failing the exams meant their futures were over.

As if the sky would collapse.

How...

Absurd.

He took a breath, softening his tone.

"Let me put it this way. Seven years ago, I was teaching at the Sixth Institute too. There was a student named Su Qi—sound familiar?"

"He shot straight to Tier Four right out the gate, even awakened a rare talent. The First Institute tried recruiting him."

"Know what he said?"

"‘Today, Jiangxia’s students pride themselves on joining the First Institute. But one day, they’ll take pride in joining the Sixth.’"

"‘Because I, Su Qi, walked its halls.’"

"That same year, he dominated the combat exams at Tier Five peak—top of Jiangxia, unstoppable."

"He believed he was destiny’s chosen, a brilliance too blinding for his peers."

"And then?"

"Just as everyone expected a Stellar Realm prodigy to rise from nothing, fists shattering all limits... he ignored warnings, charged solo into a D-class rift, boasting he’d ‘decapitate the enemy leader.’"

"He came back drenched in blood, clutching an alien’s head—but the fire in him was gone."

"Later tests showed his foundation had been damaged in the rift. The recovery would’ve cost a fortune in resources. He never bounced back."

"Last I heard, he’s just some washed-up novelist, drifting through life."

"Such a prodigy ending up like this."

"You bunch of 'mediocrities' still fantasizing about heroism? Got a death wish or what?"

...

Liu Yuan was stunned.

It seemed...

Her brother had indeed graduated from the Six Institutes too?

The name Su Qi—it couldn’t be a coincidence, could it?

Back then, she was too young to understand these things, let alone care about them.

Who would’ve thought that the same brother who couldn’t take his eyes off her white silk-clad legs had such a past?

Was it even real?