No money for martial arts university? Slay your way through the border to the top martial arts schoo

Lin Feng got up before dawn.

He moved very gently, trying not to wake Xiaoyu.

The simple luggage had already been packed—two sets of clothes, an old watch left by my father, and a family portrait drawn by my younger sister when she was in elementary school.

On the coffee table in the living room, he placed the only three thousand yuan he had left.

This was his savings from working at the martial arts school for more than half a year. He originally intended to keep it to pay tuition, but now he gave it all to Xiaoyu.

There was a note under the money:

Eat well, don't skimp. I'll be back soon.

Lin Feng stared at the note for a long time, but in the end, he didn't write anything more.

Some things are harder to say than to say them out loud.

He picked up his backpack and gently closed the door.

The motion-activated lights in the hallway had been broken for a long time, leaving it pitch black.

Lin Feng groped his way downstairs, and just as he reached the first floor, he suddenly heard footsteps behind him.

"elder brother!"

Xiaoyu stood at the top of the stairs in her pajamas, her eyes swollen and red.

Lin Feng was stunned: "Xiao Yu, why are you awake?"

"I didn't sleep at all." Xiaoyu came downstairs, her voice choked with emotion. "Do you think I don't know what the North is?"

Lin Feng opened his mouth, but didn't know what to say.

Xiaoyu suddenly rushed over and hugged him tightly: "I don't want you to go, I really don't want you to go."

"Little Rain..."

"I can skip school, I can go to work, we can support ourselves together." Xiaoyu's tears fell uncontrollably. "Please, don't go."

Lin Feng hugged her tightly, his throat tightening.

He wanted to say something to comfort her, but in the end he just patted her on the back: "Silly girl, I promise you, I will come back alive."

Xiaoyu cried even harder.

Lin Feng hardened his heart, pushed her away, and turned to leave.

He dared not turn back, afraid he would regret it.

As I stepped out of the community gate, a blue light suddenly flashed before my eyes.

[New Player Quest: Arrive at the Seventh Northern Defense Line]

[Reward: 10 Martial Arts Points]

Lin Feng took a deep breath and quickened his pace.

The meeting point is at a military airport on the outskirts of the city.

As dawn broke, more than thirty people had already gathered.

Most of them were young people aged eighteen to twenty, their faces filled with trepidation and unease.

Lin Feng found a corner to stand in and looked around at the people.

The most conspicuous one was a bald, burly man, 1.9 meters tall, with arms thicker than an average person's thigh.

He was loudly boasting, "I'm a ninth-level Martial Apprentice! I came to the Northern Territory to break through to the Martial Artist realm! Once I become a Martial Artist, I'll go back and join the Martial Arts Association, with a starting salary of ten thousand yuan a month!"

The other recruits around were stunned.

Lin Feng pursed his lips and didn't say anything.

A ninth-level martial arts apprentice is indeed not weak, but in the Northern Territory, it's hard to say whether that's enough.

In the corner, there was a thin young man, huddled at the edge of the crowd, his eyes frighteningly empty.

Lin Feng noticed that his hands were shaking so much that he could barely stand.

"That kid's name is Li Ming," someone suddenly said from the side.

Lin Feng turned his head. The speaker was a man in his thirties with a scar on his face, who looked like someone not to be trifled with.

"My name is Wang Tie, a veteran." The man took out a cigarette. "Judging from your appearance, this must be your first time in the Northern Border, right?"

Raymond Lam nodded: "Yes."

"That kid's a first-timer too," Wang Tie pointed at Li Ming. "But he didn't come voluntarily; his family forced him. He owes a lot of money to loan sharks and can't pay it back, so he has no choice but to come to the Northern Frontier to risk his life."

Lin Feng frowned: "Forced into it?"

"The North is desperately short of manpower." Wang Tie exhaled a puff of smoke. "Once you sign the contract, no matter why you came, you have to go to the battlefield. If you die, you'll still get your 200,000 taels of silver as compensation; if you survive, you can take the money and leave."

Lin Feng remained silent.

At that moment, a military transport vehicle drove up.

The vehicle door opened, and an officer in combat uniform jumped out, shouting expressionlessly, "Everyone get on board! We're leaving in ten minutes!"

The new recruits hurriedly squeezed onto the vehicle.

Lin Feng followed the crowd onto the bus and found a window seat.

The bald, burly man, Zhao Gang, sat opposite him, still bragging to the person next to him.

Li Ming huddled in the last row, as if he were melting into the seat.

The car started.

The city outside the window gradually receded into the distance, replaced by a desolate Gobi Desert.

The sky was overcast and not a ray of sunlight could be seen.

The car was quiet, with only the roar of the engine.

After driving for about two hours, the convoy suddenly stopped.

The escorting officer jumped out of the driver's seat, his face grim: "Everyone stay inside the vehicle! No one is allowed to get out!"

"What's wrong?" Zhao Gang asked, peeking out.

The officer ignored him and quickly spoke a few words into the walkie-talkie.

Looking out the car window, Lin Feng saw that three kilometers ahead, the sky looked as if something had torn a hole in it.

The crack was irregularly shaped, and its edges shimmered with an eerie purple light.

Inside the crack, you could vaguely see something wriggling.

"Holy crap, that's a crack?" Zhao Gang's voice changed.

The car erupted in chaos.

"F-level rift fluctuation, need to detour." The officer returned to the vehicle. "All of you, stay put and don't move."

The convoy began to turn around.

Lin Feng stared at the crack, his heart pounding.

This was the first time he had ever seen a spatial rift with his own eyes, and it was far more terrifying than what he had seen in the news.

That sense of oppression could be felt even from several kilometers away.

The convoy took a long detour and drove for another three hours before finally arriving at its destination.

The seventh line of defense in the North.

The moment the car door opened, all the new recruits gasped.

Before me stood an alloy city wall tens of meters high, its surface covered with claw marks and impact dents.

Bloodstains remain in some places.

The air was filled with an indescribable stench of decay.

Every hundred meters along the city wall stood a watchtower, guarded by heavily armed soldiers, their eyes as blank as those of the dead.

"Get out of the vehicle!" the officer roared.

The new recruits jumped off the vehicle one after another and stood in several crooked rows.

The moment Lin Feng landed, he felt a sticky sensation under his feet.

He looked down and saw a pool of blood on the ground that hadn't dried yet.

"All of you, stand up straight!"

A voice came from ahead.

Lin Feng looked up and saw a one-armed middle-aged man walking over.

He was wearing a tattered military uniform, his right arm severed at the shoulder, the empty sleeve swaying in the wind.

The man walked to the front of the group, coldly scanning everyone: "My name is Chen Lie, and I'm your instructor."

"See this arm of mine?" Chen Lie raised his severed arm. "It was torn off by a C-level alien beast three months ago. I used to be a Martial Master, and I spent five years in the Northern Territory, but I still lost an arm in the end."

He paused, his voice growing colder: "So don't fucking think you're so great. Here, martial arts apprentices aren't even cannon fodder."

Zhao Gang's face turned pale instantly.

"Now let's talk about the rules." Chen Lie pulled out a list. "The recruit training period is seven days. After seven days, everyone will be sent to the front lines. Each person will be issued a standard-issue longsword and three healing pills. If you die, the 200,000 yuan compensation will be sent to your family."

Li Ming collapsed to the ground.

"Stand up!" Chen Lie kicked him. "You're not afraid of death, so why are you afraid of standing?"

Li Ming shakily got up, tears welling up in his eyes.

Chen Lie continued, "The rules in the North are simple: living is victory, dying is deserved. Nobody will pity you, nobody will save you. If you want to live, you fucking fight for it!"

After saying that, he turned and left: "Come with me, we'll assign you a dormitory."

The new recruits followed Chen Lie toward the camp.

As Lin Feng passed by an open space, he saw more than a dozen wooden boxes on the ground.

The box was covered with a white cloth, but the outline of a person was clearly visible under the cloth.

"They just died yesterday." Wang Tie walked beside Lin Feng, his tone flat. "An E-level rift erupted, and thirteen people died."

Lin Feng didn't say anything.

The dormitory was a row of simple prefabricated houses, with four people living in each room.

Chen Lie stood at the door and called out, "Lin Feng, Barracks 12."

Lin Feng pushed open the door.

There were already two people inside, and one bed was empty, with dark red bloodstains still remaining on the bed frame.

"Hey! What a coincidence!" One of them looked up at him and recognized him as Wang Tie, whom he had met on the bus earlier. The other person was Li Ming, who had been forced to come by his family.

Lin Feng nodded and placed his backpack on the empty bed.

"None of the last group who stayed here have come back," Wang Tie said expressionlessly. "You're lucky; at least your bed is still clean."

Lin Feng looked at the bloodstains on the bed board but didn't reply.

It's dinnertime.

The food in the canteen was surprisingly good, with braised pork, stewed chicken, stir-fried vegetables, and unlimited rice.

This food is absolutely top-notch in the city!

Zhao Gang sat down with his plate, staring at the table full of dishes for a long time before exclaiming, "It's so good?"

"We don't need to save money on the dead." Wang Tie picked up a piece of meat. "I'll make sure you're well-fed before you go."

Zhao Gang's chopsticks stopped in mid-air.

Lin Feng finished his meal silently without saying a word.

Back in the dorm, everyone else quickly fell asleep.

Lin Feng was the only one lying on the bed, staring blankly at the ceiling.

In my mind, the system panel floated silently.

[Host: Lin Feng]

【Spirit: 10】

[Level: Martial Apprentice, Fifth Stage (35/50)]

[Technique: Basic Body Strengthening Technique (1/10)]

[Martial Arts Skills: None]

[Talent: None]

[Martial arts points: 10]

Lin Feng focused his attention and tried to invest his martial arts points into his technique to see the effect.

[Would you like to consume 1 Martial Arts Point to upgrade the Basic Body Tempering Technique?]

"Yes."

Instantly, a surge of heat erupted from his dantian and flowed throughout his body along his meridians.

Lin Feng felt as if his body had been pricked by countless needles, a tingling sensation mixed with stinging pain.

A few seconds later, the heat dissipated.

[Basic Body Strengthening Techniques (2/10)]

[Remaining Martial Arts Points: 9]

Lin Feng clenched his fist and could clearly feel his strength increase.

He then invested the remaining 9 martial arts points into his cultivation level.

[Realm Advancement: Martial Apprentice Level 5 (44/50)]

[Remaining Martial Arts Points: 0]

Their strength has increased again.

Lin Feng took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

With the system, his chances of survival in the North will be much greater.

But how long he can survive depends on tomorrow's training.

Three o'clock in the morning.

A piercing alarm suddenly sounded.

Lin Feng woke up instantly, and before he could react, the dormitory door was kicked open.

"Everyone assemble!" Chen Lie roared from the doorway. "The F-level rift has opened prematurely! Everyone, get to the city wall immediately!"

The new recruits scrambled out of their beds and hurriedly dressed.

Zhao Gang grabbed his longsword, his hands trembling violently: "So soon to the battlefield?"

"Enough talk, let's go!" Chen Lie turned and ran.

Lin Feng rushed out of the dormitory with the crowd and ran wildly towards the city wall.

In the night sky, a huge crack appeared once again in the distance.

The crack was much larger than it appeared during the day, and the purple light illuminated almost half the sky.

Countless dark figures are emerging from the crack.

Lin Feng rushed up the city wall and saw a real mythical beast for the first time.

A dark, swarming herd of beasts surged forward, led by an armored demon wolf, its body covered in metallic scales.

There were even larger creatures behind them, hidden in the darkness, only their enormous outlines visible.

The heavy machine guns on the city wall began to roar, their firelight illuminating the night sky.

"Listen up, recruits!" Chen Lie stood at the edge of the city wall, pointing below. "Your mission is to clear out the remaining F-level alien beasts! No retreating! Anyone who retreats will be killed on the spot!"

No sooner had the words left his mouth than an armored wolf suddenly leaped onto the city wall.

Its speed was astonishing; it slapped a nearby recruit on the head with one claw.

boom!

His head exploded like a watermelon, splattering blood and brain matter all over Lin Feng's face.

Lin Feng was stunned.

That new recruit, I was just eating with him in the mess hall.

"What are you standing there for! Kill!" Chen Lie roared.

Lin Feng instinctively swung his knife to block, the blade striking the armored wolf's forepaws, sparks flying.

The immense force made his hands go numb, and he staggered back several steps.

The armored wolf pounced again.

Lin Feng gritted his teeth, dodged to the side, and slashed at its neck with a backhand.

This time, the angle was tricky; the blade cut into the gaps in the scales, and blood gushed out.

The armored wolf let out a miserable howl and collapsed to the ground, convulsing.

[Slaying an F-rank alien beast: Ironclad Demon Wolf]

[Gain 1 Martial Arts Points]

Lin Feng, panting heavily, looked at the corpse on the ground.

This is the North.

There is no third way: to kill or to be killed.