Rise from a Low-class Family to Martial Artist

Chapter 69: Chapter 65: Clear Wind Palm Achieves Great Success

Martial Arts Garden.

In the courtyard where he stayed yesterday.

After the battle with Guo Xuesong, Lin Chen did not continue with the arena matches but returned to the courtyard.

At this moment, his mind was somewhat complicated, for the first time, he did not start cultivating right away.

Standing in the courtyard, the evening breeze brushed his hair, yet it could not blow away his current state of mind.

The battle with that person ended as the opponent conceded, but those scenes flashed in his mind like a carousel.

At the end of the battle, even though the opponent’s moves were fierce, they could not hide his fatigue. His hands trembled slightly due to the decline of Qi Blood and exhaustion. And when he conceded defeat, his eyes were filled with unwillingness and desolation.

Instructor Yu once said that he could kill an eighty-year-old Grade-Entering Martial Artist with one punch.

This gave him a vague concept about the decline of Qi Blood in martial artists, but it was not until he personally faced such martial artists that he understood the cruelty of it.

Is there anyone in this world who does not grow old!

Now, in his prime, if he were to reach the decline of Qi Blood, watching his strength slipping away like sand through fingers, could he accept this helplessness?

Time seemed to freeze, and Lin Chen stood there quietly.

After ten breaths.

Lin Chen suddenly burst out laughing and slapped a nearby ginkgo tree.

”I’m being silly!”

In his youthful prime, why concern himself with thoughts of twilight years!

Now is the time to break through and conquer; as for the decline of Qi Blood, it is still far from him.

To avoid the decline of Qi Blood, he just needs to keep getting stronger, becoming ever stronger.

If not Entering the Grade can only hold out till forty, the Ninth Grade till fifty, then aim for the Eighth Grade, Seventh Grade, Sixth Grade...

Then keep climbing upwards!

As long as I increase my strength fast enough, the decline of Qi Blood won’t catch up.

With the Life Chart in hand!

As long as I acquire martial resources, there won’t be any problem with the decline of Qi Blood.

Clearing away these decadent thoughts, Lin Chen closed his eyes and began to review today’s battles in his mind, especially the last battle with Guo Xuesong, recalling the manner in which he executed the Clear Wind Palm.

Every detail, every violent gust of the Palm Wind, was magnified indefinitely in his mind.

The strong wind knows the strength of the grass.

The tough grass breeds vitality.

The Clear Wind Palm seems gentle like a spring breeze, but in fact contains vigorous vitality, breaking the strong and defeating the sharp effortlessly.

A few breaths later, Lin Chen once again practiced his palm under the moonlight.

Again and again.

The Palm Wind transformed from a whistle to a storm-like cutting sound, sharp and tearing, sending shivers to those who hear it.

Bang!

With a palm strike to a large tree nearby, the tree no longer just trembled, this time at the point of contact, the trunk had a clean break, as smooth as if cut by a knife.

The Palm Wind like a blade, sounding like a storm.

This is the sign of reaching Great Success in the Clear Wind Palm.

Tonight, the young man accompanied by the moon, strives to grasp the True Meaning of the palm technique.

...

...

The next morning.

”Panel!”

[Host: Lin Chen]

[Realm: Opening Acupoints Realm (4/24): (50/100)]

[Clear Wind Palm: Great Success (0/1)]

[Water Cloud Palm: Mastery (2/10)]

Seeing the data on the panel, Lin Chen fell into contemplation.

The realm here had increased by 15 points overnight, 5 points more than before.

Is this the bonus brought by reaching Great Success in the Clear Wind Palm?

Previously, with Small Success in Clear Wind Palm, his realm increased by 10 points in progress daily, but last night it increased by 15 points, and the only change over the past two days is the Clear Wind Palm achieving Great Success yesterday.

Cultivation Technique proficiency affects the speed of realm advancement.

Lin Chen had long realized this but didn’t expect the influence to be so significant.

If he continued at this pace, perhaps he would have a chance to unlock the Six Acupoints before the martial arts competition.

”Clear Wind Palm from Great Success to Perfection, the progress bar only has 1 point, indicating that after reaching Great Success, merely practicing it is useless and requires either a sudden enlightenment or being stuck there forever.”

[Clear Wind Palm: Great Success (0/1)]

...

...

”Looking for Great Success-level opponents?”

Hearing Lin Chen had changed the challenge requirements, Yan He’an was slightly open-mouthed, so Lin Chen managed to practice the Clear Wind Palm to Great Success just last night?

Only a few days have passed?

This time, the Gale Martial Arts Hall is likely to lose face.

Yan He’an could imagine when Lin Chen showcases the Great Success Clear Wind Palm in the martial arts hall competition, what expressions the Hall Master and instructors of the Clear Wind Martial Arts Hall would have.

No, he must be present during this martial arts hall competition this year to witness it.

”It might be hard to find martial artists who have reached Great Success.” Yan He’an retracted his thoughts, looked at Lin Chen, and explained: ”Since Young Master Lin has reached Great Success, if you need to improve your combat skills, why not head to the arena.”

After achieving Great Success in Cultivation Technique, sparring is already useless.

Reaching from Great Success to Perfection, this final step relies solely on comprehension.

”Mm.” Lin Chen nodded, clasping his hands to the other party: ”Thank you, Senior, for taking care of me these past few days.”

Yan He’an watched Lin Chen leave with a smile, then turned and headed to the backyard.

”Elder, there are matters to report.”

In the same courtyard, the woman listened to Yan He’an’s report, her eyes filled with intrigue as she stroked a jade pendant in her hand.

After a moment, the woman lifted her gaze: ”Put him on the observation list!”

Yan He’an’s pupils shrank; it seemed Lin Chen had caught the Elder’s attention. Being on the observation list meant having a protective talisman.

...

...

Martial Arts Garden arena!

Lin Chen watched for a while but had no intention of stepping onto the platform.

The second platform had now become a venue for those wearing masks.

Almost everyone on the stage wore masks, but none of them had mastered their cultivation techniques, making it unnecessary to challenge them.

It was the fourth platform, however, that caught his attention.

On the fourth platform, a senior sister wearing a mask was using the Water Cloud Palm to fight against an Eight Acupoints martial artist, and she didn’t seem to be at a disadvantage.

”Wearing a mask, Seven Acupoints... Could it be Senior Sister Jiang?”

The older batch of students didn’t need to wear masks, and among their new batch at Jingshui Martial Arts Hall, only Senior Sister Jiang had reached the Seven Acupoints.

The dance of the palm wind and the persistent sound of rippling water waves indicated that the Water Cloud Palm had reached Small Success.

”Senior Sister Jiang really doesn’t give others much of a chance.”

With Seven Acupoints opened and the Water Cloud Palm at Small Success, Lin Chen could imagine how many students would feel despair during the martial arts competition at the beginning of next month.

After thirty moves, the opponent conceded defeat.

Seeing Senior Sister Jiang step down from the platform and sit quietly without any intention of challenging further, Lin Chen prepared to leave. Now that his Clear Wind Palm had reached Great Success, it was more important to elevate his realm; there was no need to return to the Martial Arts Garden for now.

...

...

Jingshui Martial Arts Hall.

”The Clear Wind Palm has reached Great Success?”

Kong Yinglei was somewhat numb; she felt there was no need to be shocked anymore.

”Disciple’s luck is good,” Lin Chen said modestly.

”Luck?” Kong Yinglei sneered slightly: ”Don’t imitate your senior sisters... or the hall master. There’s no such thing as luck in the Martial Path, especially regarding cultivation techniques.”

Lin Chen blinked and didn’t respond.

”Breaking through to Great Success, there’s a reward of fifty taels of silver from the martial hall. You can collect it at the Martial Arts Pavilion later.”

”Fifty taels?”

Lin Chen was somewhat surprised; he now realized the joy of being a top student in his previous life.

Being a top student means not only not spending money but also bringing money home. The school rewards were higher than the annual salary of an average worker.

Unfortunately, martial arts continuously require money.

”Don’t think it’s too little; the martial hall never expected a student could practice a technique to Great Success in such a short time. The set reward is twenty taels for Small Success within three months and fifty taels for Great Success within six months.”

Kong Yinglei saw Lin Chen’s surprise and thought Lin Chen felt the silver reward was too little.

In terms of progress, Lin Chen reaching Great Success in such a short time only earned thirty more taels than Small Success, which is a bit less, but the problem is that the martial hall hadn’t set a reward policy for achieving Great Success in three months.

There’s no point in creating a reward that no one can achieve.

A student reaching Great Success within half a year can still emerge every few years.

This time, Jiang Qing was predicted by her and her senior sister to achieve Great Success in Water Cloud Palm within half a year. But the reason Jiang Qing came to Jingshui Martial Arts Hall was to select a technique that best suited her, aiming for Perfect Technique within half a year.

Jiang Qing, like Lin Chen, was on the path of the genius protocol.

This was something her senior sister privately told her after Lin Chen left last time.

”Hall Master Kong, the disciple is very satisfied with this reward.” Lin Chen knew Hall Master Kong misunderstood him, explained briefly, then continued to ask: ”The disciple has two questions in his heart after practicing until now.”

”Speak.”

”After the disciple’s Clear Wind Palm reached Mastery, then Small Success, and then Great Success, the disciple felt that as the cultivation technique’s proficiency improved, the speed of Qi Blood circulation in the body also accelerated.”

”Your feeling is not wrong.”

Kong Yinglei nodded: ”The proficiency of martial arts techniques indeed helps with realm breakthroughs, especially in the early stages, where the help is extremely significant.”

”Eight acupoints on the upper body, eight acupoints on the lower body, the higher the technique’s proficiency, the faster the breakthrough time under the same expenditure.”

Seeing Lin Chen’s puzzled expression, Kong Yinglei realized that she hadn’t explained much about the Opening Acupoints Realm to Lin Chen.

This was her oversight!

In fact, as students capable of cultivating essence qi within a year, their family backgrounds weren’t generally poor, so they would have elders of the Opening Acupoints Realm, and they would be well-informed about many aspects of the Opening Acupoints Realm before entering the martial hall.

She forgot Lin Chen was just the son of ordinary fishermen, and it seemed Instructor Yu hadn’t told Lin Chen much before leaving.

”The human body has twenty-four acupoints, twelve on the upper body and twelve on the lower body. For those practicing palm or fist techniques, the first to break through are the upper eight acupoints, whereas places like the Gale Martial Arts Hall that focus on leg techniques begin with the lower eight acupoints.”

”When you’re practicing Clear Wind Palm or Water Cloud Palm, your Qi Blood circulates and impacts the upper body’s eight acupoints. The more proficient the technique, the faster the Qi Blood circulates, speeding up the impact on the acupoints.”

Lin Chen nodded to show understanding, then asked again: ”I am a bit puzzled, isn’t it true that all martial hall disciples can first practice the technique and then slowly advance in realm? This way, wouldn’t it be possible to spend less money?”

”Not everyone is like you, able to hold off on eating beef for months in the Martial Hall.”

Kong Yinglei had reviewed the martial hall report submitted to the Martial Affairs Office regarding Lin Chen’s martial arts progress, which mentioned that Lin Chen delayed eating beef until after three months.

Lin Chen chuckled awkwardly; he had been thinking sloppily.

The students in the Martial Hall all knew that eating beef later could save money, but few could endure, let alone these martial hall students from well-off families.

”Most students from regular families have average comprehension in martial arts techniques.”

Students like Lin Chen hadn’t appeared in Poyang County for decades.

PS: Release two Chapters at once, and next week will release two Chapters simultaneously at midnight, making it more engaging to follow and catch up.