Rise from a Low-class Family to Martial Artist

Chapter 66: Chapter 62: Martial Arts Garden’s Attention

Lin Chen and Fu Ang’s battle attracted the attention of quite a few martial artists present.

A fight at the level of Opening the Four Acupoints didn’t mean much here.

But if it was someone of the same realm defeating a disciple of the Mountain Shaking Martial Arts Hall, especially one who had cultivated the Iron Bone Skill to the level of mastery, then that was certainly noteworthy.

”Since when did the Clear Wind Martial Arts Hall produce such a formidable disciple?”

”Judging by his palm technique, the Clear Wind Palm is likely at Small Success. He shouldn’t be a new batch of students, right?”

”Hmm, the possibility of him being an older student is high. If it is an older student, then it’s hard to guess. In the previous batch or the one before that, Clear Wind Martial Arts Hall had several disciples like this.”

Below the stage, many began to speculate about Lin Chen’s identity, but like before, none of the onlookers thought Lin Chen could be from the new batch of students.

Crouched in another corner, two figures whispered to each other.

”Senior Brother Lv, who do you think the person on stage is from our martial arts hall?”

”He must be a senior brother from the previous batch. We currently have three people in our batch who have opened the Four Acupoints. The Clear Wind Palm of the other two junior brothers hasn’t even reached mastery, which clearly doesn’t fit.”

Lv Shuyu shook his head, doubting that the senior brother on the platform belonged to his batch.

The four senior brothers stronger than him had all opened the Five and Six Acupoints already, which didn’t match the realm. The realm of the two junior brothers who fit was incompatible with the proficiency in Clear Wind Palm.

Below the third platform, several masked martial artists also took note of Lin Chen’s situation.

”This person’s Clear Wind Palm is close to Small Success, but alas... he is an older student.”

”Senior Brother Qi means he hopes the opponent is from our batch of new students?”

”Clear Wind Palm at Small Success would make the matchups interesting. Otherwise, the bout at the beginning of next month would be too dull.”

”Senior Brother Qi, are you about to break through to Seven Acupoints?”

The man beside them heard his brother’s words, his pupils filled with shock.

At the Martial Arts Hall contest early next month, everyone was eager for a good result. Yet Senior Brother Qi said ”dull,” which only meant one thing: Senior Brother Qi was likely about to break through to Seven Acupoints.

Instructor had also deduced that at the beginning of the month, a few students might reach Seven Acupoints. Seven Acupoints meant a secure place in the top ten, and so far, the Eight Great Martial Arts Halls only had one who had stepped into Seven Acupoints.

Jiang Qing from Jingshui Martial Arts Hall!

Qi Shan smiled slightly but didn’t answer.

If not for wanting to test his skills in actual combat with other martial artists at the Martial Arts Garden platform, he could have entered Seven Acupoints long ago.

He was holding back, hardly consuming Rare Bird Meat, all for the purpose of sparring at the Sixth Acupoint against those martial artists with high cultivation technique adeptness at the third platform, enhancing his own strength.

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After defeating Fu Ang, several masked students took to the stage, but unfortunately, their cultivation techniques weren’t proficient enough, with the strongest barely reaching mastery.

Lin Chen felt a bit disappointed; the opponents he hoped for weren’t these Martial Arts Hall students, but the martial artists who had left the halls with extremely high technique proficiency.

Perhaps, only until the end of the month would he encounter these individuals.

No longer attempting to get on the stage, Lin Chen glanced at the third platform, where only martial artists who had opened the Five and Six Acupoints could ascend.

Two masked men were presently engaged in combat, one from Iron Blood Martial Arts Hall and the other from Mantis Martial Arts Hall, both Six Acupoints martial artists.

However, the battle started quickly and ended just as fast.

The Mantis Martial Arts Hall man didn’t last even three moves before losing.

Lin Chen’s eyes narrowed slightly—not because the Mantis Martial Arts Hall man was weak, but the Iron Blood Martial Arts Hall counterpart was very strong.

The opponent’s punches echoed like cannon blasts, its ferocity formidable. Lin Chen estimated that even if someone from Mountain Shaking Martial Arts Hall went up, they wouldn’t be able to withstand it.

”This person’s identity is clear—Fei Hong from Iron Blood Martial Arts Hall, the Young Manor Master of Fei Family Manor, currently the only one in Iron Blood Martial Arts Hall who has opened six acupoints and mastered the Iron Collapse Fist.”

”Mastering the Iron Collapse Fist, I reckon the cost can’t be under five hundred taels.”

”He’s the Young Manor Master of Fei Family Manor; his father was once a Ninth-Grade Martial Artist, though now his Qi Blood has declined, and his brother was the champion of the annual Martial Arts Hall contest previously.”

”For us, struggling on the Martial Path for over ten years is merely their starting point.”

”Brother, be open-minded. What kind of family background do we have compared to theirs? Why should you surpass the decades of effort of the Fei family in one generation? Was your father a Grade-Entering Martial Artist? Did your grandfather manage the largest butcher shop in our county?”

Three successive questions brought collective silence!

Among the onlookers, some were envious, some sighed quietly, and some analyzed rationally.

Hearing the rational analysis, Lin Chen quite agreed. Why transcend generations’ worth of effort in a single generation?

Typically, for someone like him emerging from a village, opening acupoints already meant changing one’s fate—earning money to nurture the next generation, giving them a chance to reach the Refining Viscera Realm, then fostering a third generation.

Building wealth in three generations was already considerable.

Talents that emerge rapidly in one generation are still the minority.

Fei Hong stood on the third platform, with no Martial Arts Hall students willing to get up there. An Iron Collapse Fist at mastery meant none could withstand it.

Lin Chen wanted to give it a try, but unfortunately, having opened only four acupoints, he wasn’t qualified to ascend this platform.

”Would Senior Brother Qi go up?”

”Among the new batch of Martial Arts Hall disciples, Fei Hong is invincible at Six Acupoints, and even I wouldn’t be his match if I went up. But Fei Hong’s breakthrough to Six Acupoints has been less than a week, and it’s uncertain he’ll reach Seven Acupoints by early next month. The gap in realm is enough to suppress him.”

Qi Shan shook his head slightly; his junior brother truly lacked perception—Fei Hong was clearly unbeatable at Six Acupoints. Why would he go up and humiliate himself?

Seeing no one taking the stage, Fei Hong directly removed his mask and shook his head with disappointment. The meaning was clear—the martial artists below were a great letdown to him.

There are indeed martial artists in the audience who can defeat Fei Hong, those who have trained for several years or even longer, martial artists whose cultivation techniques have reached the Small Success stage with Six Acupoints, confident in defeating Fei Hong.

However, there is no need for this, as the Fei Family Manor behind Fei Hong still makes them wary.

Seeing Fei Hong step down from the arena, Lin Chen also knew that there might be no more exciting battles to watch, so he prepared to leave.

”Wait, young brother.”

Just as Lin Chen turned to leave, he found that the referee had arrived by his side at some point.

Lin Chen paused, puzzled as to why the referee had stopped him.

”What is the purpose of the young brother participating in the arena?” the referee asked with a smile.

”Senior, I don’t understand what you mean?”

”Those who participate in the arena typically have three purposes: one is to fight against others to enhance real combat skills, the second is attracted by the rewards on the arena podium, and the third is to enjoy the satisfaction of defeating others, but I don’t think you are the third type.”

Enjoy the satisfaction of defeating others?

Lin Chen glanced at the referee, understanding that the referee was putting it mildly. The so-called enjoyment of victory is basically bullying the weaker ones.

Those who graduated from martial arts halls or have never entered one, would compete on the first and second arenas, many of them carrying the intent to bully the martial arts hall students.

Just like when Hall Master Kong led new students to face old ones, the mindset of those old students was the same.

Taking advantage of their age in martial arts, they first bully these promising martial artists, or else once the opponents grow up, there won’t be this opportunity.

Lin Chen answered honestly, ”Junior wants to improve real combat skills.”

”To improve strength, one needs suitable opponents. I observed your Clear Wind Palm should have reached the Small Success stage.”

”Yes,” Lin Chen nodded, not denying it.

”Martial artists with Four Acupoints and cultivation techniques at the Small Success stage are not many in Poyang County, only about thirty or so, and meeting them is not easy,” Yan He’an replied with a smile.

Four Acupoints, Small Success!

These two conditions eliminate many martial artists, and martial artists with opened acupoints don’t come to the Martial Arts Garden every day.

Martial artists below Ten Acupoints mostly are busy earning money and only come to the Martial Arts Garden during free time.

”What does the senior mean?”

”For such situations as yours, the Martial Arts Garden has a solution: add an incentive to the arena podium. If the young brother wants, he can choose to offer an incentive, and the winner can take the incentive. The Martial Arts Garden will notify the martial artists who meet the criteria, and if those martial artists are interested, they will come to compete with the young brother on the arena.”

Listening to Yan He’an’s explanation, Lin Chen somewhat understood. It means letting him pay.

Martial artists in Poyang County have no time to accompany him for real combat, but if he pays, these martial artists will be interested.

As long as they defeat him, they can take away the incentive.

If they lose, there’s no loss, just a practice session.

”What kind of incentive?”

”For martial artists with Four Acupoints, generally five taels of silver is enough. If the young brother has confidence in himself, he can offer more incentives to attract more martial artists to come and challenge.”

Five taels of silver?

Lin Chen’s mouth twitched a bit, isn’t this asking for his life?

”There is a rule in the Martial Arts Garden, for all martial artists initiating an incentive challenge for the first time, the Martial Arts Garden can provide this amount of money. However, the applicant must disclose personal information to the Martial Arts Garden.”

The referee looked at Lin Chen with a smile, and Lin Chen fell into contemplation.

Back when he received his identity badge from the Martial Arts Garden, they didn’t register any information, so Junior Brother Zhao said the Martial Arts Garden doesn’t care about martial artists like them.

Thinking about the genius regulations Hall Master Zeng mentioned, Lin Chen had a suspicion in his mind that the Martial Arts Garden, like the Military Affairs Department, doesn’t disregard them, but only considers real genius martial artists worthy of attention.

This senior stopping him indicates that he might have caught the Martial Arts Garden’s attention.

But what exactly is the Martial Arts Garden?

Will exposing all his information to the Martial Arts Garden bring risk to himself?

One must be cautious of others!

What if the entity behind the Martial Arts Garden is meant to discover genius martial artists and secretly destroy them?

Don’t say it’s persecution paranoia.

Although this possibility is small, it cannot be ignored.

Before, no one was unfortunate, because they weren’t talented enough.

If he reaches their standards with his Life Chart and title later on?

”Young brother, the Martial Arts Garden ensures the confidentiality of all martial artists’ identities. Without the martial artist’s consent, even if the Director of the Martial Affairs Office and the County Magistrate come personally, they cannot know the martial artist’s real identity.”

Lin Chen thought for a moment and ultimately decided to accept.

He realized that if the Martial Arts Garden has intentions toward genius martial artists, can he really hide?

In martial arts hall battles, the Martial Affairs Office, responsible for martial artist education, would love to use him as a positive example for publicity, and the Martial Arts Garden would know anyway.

Being cautious of others is not wrong, but it shouldn’t prevent him from taking opportunities.

”Thank you, senior. Junior is willing to initiate an incentive challenge, but junior has one request, could the competition be held at night?”