Rise from a Low-class Family to Martial Artist

Chapter 81: Chapter 77: Cruel Rules

Martial Affairs Office!

This was Lin Chen’s second time stepping into this place.

The last time, Instructor Yu brought him to the Martial Affairs Office to find the wife of the master, seeking justice.

Unfortunately, the Instructor was not in the town. If he were, knowing that I perfected the Clear Wind Palm would bring him comfort.

This time, under the guidance of Instructor Shen, Lin Chen went directly to the Martial Arts Arena within the Martial Affairs Office.

The arena was as vast as two soccer fields from the previous world.

Students from various martial arts halls stood in distinct areas of the arena, clearly demarcated.

The appearance of Lin Chen and his group caught the attention of students from other martial arts halls.

In the arena full of young people, the appearance of female students from the Jingshui Martial Arts Hall itself was captivating, and being the only male student of Jingshui Martial Arts Hall, Lin Chen attracted even more attention.

”Since when does Jingshui Martial Arts Hall have male disciples?”

”If I had known that Jingshui Martial Arts Hall also took male disciples, I would have chosen Jingshui Martial Arts Hall back then.”

Other students from different martial arts halls looked at Lin Chen with a variety of expressions.

There was envy, jealousy, and even disdain.

”Only those without aspirations in the martial path would join Jingshui Martial Arts Hall, a gentle land, a tomb for martial artists.”

”Senior Brother Zheng, not everyone has lofty ambitions in the martial path like you; many join the martial arts halls just to break through to Opening the Acupoints and then rely on connections from the martial halls to secure a post at the Government Office.”

”Perhaps you don’t know, this male disciple from Jingshui Martial Arts Hall is called Lin Chen, hailing from a countryside town. It’s said he originally joined Clear Wind Martial Arts Hall, but the quota for the Opening Acupoints Pill at Clear Wind Martial Arts Hall was full, so he ended up at Jingshui Martial Arts Hall... there’s no need for me to elaborate on the inside story.”

Hearing this, many students nearby suddenly realized, understanding quite quickly given their decent backgrounds.

He was rejected by Clear Wind Martial Arts Hall and had no choice but to go to Jingshui Martial Arts Hall in the end.

As for why Jingshui Martial Arts Hall would make an exception to accept him?

Only the higher-ups of Jingshui Martial Arts Hall know.

Ignoring the looks from the surrounding people, Lin Chen stood in the area belonging to Jingshui Martial Arts Hall, directing his gaze towards another entrance.

Several burly students, led by an equally stout instructor, stepped into the arena.

The people from Mountain Shaking Martial Arts Hall had arrived.

Lin Chen’s gaze fell on Fu Ang from Mountain Shaking Martial Arts Hall, who still appeared as arrogant as ever, standing at the forefront of the queue.

Fu Ang is the second strongest student at Mountain Shaking Martial Arts Hall but stood first in line, so the strongest one must have been taken to another place by the Martial Affairs Office, just like Senior Sister Jiang?

Cloud Conceal Martial Arts Hall, Gale Martial Arts Hall...

Soon, all students from the Eight Great Martial Arts Halls arrived, numbering over a hundred, and Lin Chen also saw his three junior brothers, Lu Yongfeng, Zhao Jingchuan, and Cheng Ying.

The four exchanged glances from afar and nodded slightly as a greeting.

Retracting his gaze, Lin Chen was about to close his eyes to rest, but felt a gaze seems to be staring at him from the side, as he turned his head, his eyes met Chen Chunfeng’s.

Chen Chunfeng was looking at Lin Chen. He had instinctively searched on the side of Jingshui Martial Arts Hall, still feeling regretful about Lin Chen joining Jingshui Martial Arts Hall.

Noticing the regret in Chen Chunfeng’s eyes, Lin Chen pressed his lips lightly, nodded slightly, and then withdrew his gaze.

He didn’t know what Instructor Chen truly thought of him, but since the moment Clear Wind Martial Arts Hall revoked his top-tier treatment, he knew he had no ties with Clear Wind Martial Arts Hall anymore.

A short while later, Lin Chen saw Hall Master Kong, not only Hall Master Kong but also eight individuals from the other seven martial arts halls walking over from the front of the arena, all with grave expressions.

The appearance of the eight Vice Hall Masters brought silence to the once noisy scene.

The ability to read expressions was possessed by all present students.

”Senior Sister Kong, how will the competition be conducted this time?” Shen Lin asked curiously upon seeing Kong Yinglei approaching.

”Each martial arts hall selects a seed student to directly enter the subsequent rounds, while the other students are divided into eight groups, with only one victor per group.”

Upon hearing Hall Master Kong’s words, Lin Chen understood that the seed student from Jingshui Martial Arts Hall was Senior Sister Jiang, and the seed students from the other martial arts halls were also the top ranking ones, who had been called away earlier by the Martial Affairs Office.

”This rule seems fair; the other students are divided into nine groups and fight it out, rank decided through two-on-two battles within each group.”

Shen Lin pondered for a moment; even though the rule by Lord Su differed from the previous competition rules, there were only subtle changes, so it shouldn’t be enough to make Senior Sister Kong look so troubled.

”Within a group, it’s single elimination. A loss means elimination,” Kong Yinglei added.

”Single elimination? Then how will the ranking be decided?”

Shen Lin was a bit puzzled, as competitors from different martial arts halls in each group might have varying strength levels.

”A draw determines the match sequence within the group,”

”A draw determines opponents? Isn’t that unfair?”

Shen Lin frowned since if the strongest and second strongest in a group got drawn against each other in the first round, the second strongest would be eliminated right away, which seemed unfair to that student.

”All who lose can fight in subsequent battles to decide the rankings for the remaining positions,”

Kong Yinglei explained, as per Senior Sister’s view, Lord Su’s rules favor focusing on the top ten students, while the rankings beyond that hold little interest to him.

Simply put, rankings from the eleventh to the fiftieth position concern the resource allocation for the martial arts halls, so the major halls are keen about it, but Lord Su doesn’t care.