At noon, the young man returns to his cottage.

The first thing he does is check on the young woman.

Her breathing is steady—calm.

He exhales in quiet relief.

She’s still alive.

If she had died, trouble might’ve come knocking.

Not from the government—they wouldn’t bother him.

He didn’t harm her.

He simply found her and did what he could to save her with the limited supplies he had.

Even if she died, no blame would legally fall on him.

But that wasn’t the problem.

The problem was the watch on her wrist.

A sleek, modern piece of tech—

The latest model from SafePro.

This wasn’t just any smartwatch.

This was part of a limited run—only 100,000 were ever produced.

It may sound like a lot, but every single unit was bought by the world’s wealthiest 5%.

It had become a symbol—

A quiet division between the ultra-rich and the super-rich.

The young man sighs and murmurs,

“In this world… the gap between rich and poor is even wider than on Earth.”

And there are only two paths left to close that gap—

Education.

And martial arts.

And he, Merin, walks both.

Merin, after dying on Earth, was reborn in this world twenty-one years ago.

He was born into a middle-class family—nothing remarkable.

But by the age of two, he had already begun to understand the truth of the world around him.

The locals called it the Origin World.

Unlike Earth, which had seven continents, this world had only one—

A single supercontinent, vast and sprawling.

The planet itself was twice the size of Earth, yet its human population was just 30% of Earth’s.

Humans here lived only on the western coastline, huddled around the ocean.

And they did not live freely.

They lived in fortified cities—walled, armed, and heavily controlled.

These cities were ranked in tiers: Fortified City, Super City, and at the top, Star City.

Each city was governed not by politicians, but by money.

The City Council of each city was formed from the twenty-four richest corporations based there.

The council was structured into three layers:

The full twenty-four acted as Ordinary Councillors.

The top twelve wealthiest among them became the Senate Members.

And the top six—the elite among elites—became the Cabinet Councillors.

All cities, regardless of rank, belonged to a larger body: the Human Federation.

This federation had a central parliament, where each city sent one representative.

But their votes weren’t equal.

Representatives from Fortified Cities had one vote.

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From Super Cities—two votes.

And from Star Cities—three votes.

The representative with the most votes became Head of Parliament.

The second highest—Deputy Head.

The third Speaker of the Parliament.

Together, these three appointed the leaders of the Six Core Ministries:

Finance, Internal Armed Forces, External Armed Forces, Science and Technology, City Affairs, and Law.

This was the power structure of the Origin World—

A world where wealth was law, and strength was freedom.

And Merin, born into its middle tier, had chosen to climb both pillars.

Knowledge.

And power.

Even though the technology of Origin World humans rivalled that of Earth—

They were far from the top of the food chain.

Among the threats that towered over humanity, one of the greatest was the giant beasts.

These creatures resembled ordinary animals, but were at least twice—sometimes ten times—the size.

Their thick hides rendered them nearly immune to low-calibre firearms.

Even inferior-ranked giant beasts couldn’t be killed by standard bullets.

At minimum, armour-piercing rounds fired from high-power rifles—like anti-materiel snipers—were required to take one down.

Giant beasts were categorised into five terrifying ranks:

Inferior, Colossal, Titanic, Armoured Behemoth, and at the peak—Cataclysmic Titan.

Rumours whispered of beasts even larger than the Cataclysmic class, called “Mega.”

But no one had ever seen one.

Not because they didn’t exist—

But because most of the continent remained a mystery.

A thick, unnatural mist veiled the sky above the central and eastern parts of the supercontinent.

This mist blocked all satellite signals and visual scans.

Only the western edge—where human cities clustered—was clear.

Everything beyond that border…

Was unknown.

Before the rise of advanced technology, humanity had only one weapon against the giant beasts—

Martial arts.

Martial cultivation was once the foundation of human survival.

It was divided into five realms: Body Forging, Qi Condensation, True Energy, Unification, and finally, the King Kong Realm.

Each realm represented not just strength, but the ability to stand against the monstrous might of the wild.

A martial artist at the peak—Kingkong Realm—was strong enough to battle a Titanic giant beast.

But even then, defeating one required immense sacrifice.

To bring down an Armoured Behemoth, countless King Kong martial artists had to lay down their lives.

And against a Cataclysmic Titan, even thousands would not be enough.

Not that humanity could gather so many in one place.

Because the path of martial cultivation was narrow—

Out of every 10 people, perhaps 1 could reach the Body Forging Realm.

Out of 100, just 1 might step into Qi Condensation.

For every 1,000, only a single True Energy practitioner.

1 in 10,000 reached Unification.

And only 1 in 100,000 ever touched the King Kong Realm.

It took time.

At least twenty years of relentless dedication for an ordinary person to reach the peak.

But in those same twenty years—

Humanity could manufacture hundreds of energy-fission missiles.

Weapons capable of injuring—sometimes even killing—Cataclysmic Titans.

So, when the first missile successfully pierced the hide of an Armoured Behemoth—

The world changed.

Martial arts began to fade.

Cities redirected their budgets.

Families pushed children toward science and engineering instead of cultivation.

But even as the art withered, it never died.

Because for the poor, for those born without wealth or influence—

Martial arts remained the only path to cross the divide.

The only way to rise.

And Merin—he had risen.

He was now a Unification Realm martial artist.

He had broken through only a few months ago, just before graduation.

When his results were announced, he was selected by the prestigious Karst Crystal Research Institute.

But with three months of free time before joining, he chose not to rest.

He left the safety of Fortified Terrilyn City and ventured deep into the Yellowstone Forest.

There, he hunted Inferior and Colossal Beasts to temper his strength—

Sharpening both body and mind.

Now, only a month remained before he would return to Terrilyn.

His train was scheduled a week before his start date at the Karst Crystal Research Institute in Nova Super City.

Karst Crystals—

The lifeblood of the Origin World.

Unlike Earth, this world had no oil beneath its soil.

Instead, it had Karst Crystal veins.

They powered everything—technology, cultivation, and even the beasts themselves.

All advanced tech in this world, whether civilian or military, was built around Karst Crystals.

Without them, progress would crumble.

Merin sighs and steps out of the cottage.

It’s time to hunt.

He glances around the quiet clearing that surrounds his home.

Then turns toward the narrow dirt path winding into the trees.

His cottage stands on the outskirts of Greenview Martial Town.

Greenview isn’t just a town—it’s a martial force.

Founded by cultivators, it was built right at the edge of the Yellowstone Forest.

There are no walls around it—only rotating patrols of martial artists who guard its borders.

Every cottage is spaced far apart, offering solitude and silence to those who need it.

Merin had rented his, knowing full well—

Living alone outside a city, without protection, was usually a death wish.

But Merin wasn’t just anyone.

He had come here to grow stronger.

Merin walks along the dirt path, boots pressing softly into the soil.

When the trail ends, he pauses—

Eyes fixed on the dense wall of trees ahead.

Beyond this point lies the true forest—

Outside the perimeter of Greenview Town.

The zone where giant beasts roam.

But this close to the town, only Inferior beasts are likely to appear.

And to a Unification Realm martial artist like Merin, they pose no real threat.

A cultivator of his level stands equal to a Colossal-class beast.

He exhales slowly and closes his eyes.

In that stillness, he spreads his biological field—

An advanced perception technique developed through cultivation and science.

It stretches outward, brushing across the earth.

Every footfall. Every tremor. Every shift in pressure.

Giant beasts are massive—

Their movement leaves deep, rhythmic vibrations across the ground.

A moment later, Merin senses one.

A faint tremor, nearby.

Not too far—maybe five hundred meters into the trees.

From the strength of the pulse, he identifies it as an Inferior-class beast.

But he can’t yet tell if it’s Low, Intermediate, or High within that rank.

Each realm of beasts is split into three sub-levels—

And a high-ranking inferior beast can still pose a danger to ordinary cultivators.

But not to him.

Merin opens his eyes.

Without hesitation, he strides toward the vibration’s source.

Whatever rank it is—

It won’t matter.

He can handle any of them.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep