Rise from a Low-class Family to Martial Artist

Chapter 89: Chapter 4: When the Youth Takes Flight, the Distant Mentor Watches Over

Jiangnan Dao, Huizhou Prefecture.

At the foot of Huang Mountain, a courtyard.

”Why, not practicing martial arts today?”

Shu Suwan asked, looking at her junior brother standing in the courtyard, somewhat puzzled.

”Considering the time, the March grand martial arts competition of the Eight Great Martial Arts Halls in Poyang County is happening these days.” Yu Yongnian replied, turning back.

”The March grand competition, are you missing your disciple again? I remember not long ago, you wrote two letters to be sent to Poyang County by the courier, you pay more attention to Lin Chen than to yourself.”

These words were spoken by Shu Suwan with feeling.

Several days ago, her junior brother had written two letters to be sent by courier to Poyang County, to be delivered to Hua’Er, and then forwarded to Lin Chen by Hua’Er.

The reason her junior brother wrote two letters was not because one couldn’t contain everything, but intentionally so, to be delivered based on Lin Chen’s performance in the competition.

The two letters contained content mainly focused on encouragement and admonishment.

If Lin Chen could enter the top thirty in the competition, Hua’Er would give him the letter with admonishment, urging Lin Chen not to get carried away by momentary achievements and to remain humble and cautious.

In his junior brother’s words, Lin Chen came from a humble fisherman’s family, and entering the top thirty in the martial arts competition would earn him much praise from those around him, but he feared that Lin Chen would lose his martial ambitions amidst such praise, so he wrote the letter as a wake-up call.

The other letter, centered on encouragement, was for if Lin Chen ranked at the bottom, feeling discouraged by the gap between him and those academy students from better-off families.

One could say, for Lin Chen, her junior brother really put in painstaking efforts.

”What if this disciple of yours enters the top twenty in the grand competition?”

Yu Yongnian shook his head, ”Senior sister, don’t make such jokes. I have faith in Lin Chen’s perseverance on the martial path, but perseverance alone doesn’t lead to progress in martial arts, especially in the Opening Acupoints Realm where wealth plays a significant role.”

”I expect Lin Chen to open ten acupoints within a year, and then, while earning silver coins, to open twenty-four acupoints within three years while practicing martial arts.”

As Lin Chen’s instructor, Yu Yongnian hoped Lin Chen could open as many acupoints as possible and quickly enter the Refining the Viscera stage.

But hope is hope, and reality is reality. The goals he set for Lin Chen were already ambitious, and to expect more would be unrealistic.

”Junior brother, how about making a wager? If Lin Chen enters the top twenty in this competition...”

”If Lin Chen enters the top twenty, I’ll do whatever senior sister wants me to do.”

”Good, it’s a deal then.”

Shu Suwan smiled slightly. This time in Huizhou Prefecture, her junior brother had not had a smooth pursuit of martial arts; although he didn’t show it, he practiced martial arts alone in the backyard for several days, indicating his troubled state.

The wager was merely to relieve her junior brother’s heart.

She didn’t think Lin Chen could enter the top twenty in the March martial arts competition.

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Group Ding, Group Wu, Group Xu...

The competitions in the Martial Arts Arena continued, and at this moment, the back door of the Poyang County Government Office was abuzz with government officials on horseback leaving the county office, heading towards various towns under Poyang County’s jurisdiction.

Cyan Mountain Town, Kaohe Town, Gao Family Town, Shimen Town, Lotus Town, Xiangshui Town...

The officials arrived at each town, and soon people from each town rode to the villages below.

In total, fourteen towns and one hundred twenty-two villages received the notifications within four two-hour periods.

Meanwhile, instructors from each town’s Martial Hall informed their students of the news.

In previous years, these martial arts competitions were held within the Martial Affairs Office, closed to outsiders. Now, with such a good opportunity, taking the students to witness the martial prowess of the disciples in competition could bolster their martial ambitions.

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At the Martial Arts Arena of the Martial Affairs Office, the group competitions concluded.

The nine victors were:

Group Jia, Zhang Qing from the Iron Blood Martial Arts Hall.

Group Yi, Meng Yuan from Mantis Martial Arts Hall.

Group Bing, Lin Chen from Jingshui Martial Arts Hall.

Group Ding, Ge Gaoyuan from Seven Stars Martial Arts Hall.

Group Wu, Zuo Qi from Gale Martial Arts Hall.

Group Xu, Fu Ang from Mountain Suppressing Martial Arts Hall.

Group Geng, Fu Jingya from Jingshui Martial Arts Hall.

Group Xin, Zhao Cang from Iron Blood Martial Arts Hall.

Group Ren, Qian Jun from Mountain Suppressing Martial Arts Hall.

Among them, five were Seven Acupoints students, and four were Six Acupoints students.

Onsite, the atmosphere at the Clear Wind Martial Arts Hall was very heavy; neither the disciples of Clear Wind nor Cloud Conceal managed to break through their groups.

The most promising, Chi Hanfei, encountered Meng Yuan, who also had Seven Acupoints and Small Success in Mantis Fist; otherwise, he might have succeeded in other groups.

Luck, after all, is part of one’s strength.

However, looking at the martial halls to which the nine students belonged, many reasonable people weren’t surprised by the result. Among the nine, the Iron Blood Martial Arts Hall, Mountain Suppressing Martial Arts Hall, and Jingshui Martial Arts Hall each had two students break through their groups.

It wasn’t just luck; it reflected the strength of these three martial halls.

The martial halls that dominated the previous competitions were indeed stronger than the other five houses.

After the group matches ended, the ranking matches were up next.

The contest for ranks eighteen to fifty!

Although there were many participants, the ranking matches proceeded quickly. According to the rules of the Martial Affairs Office, matches between students of the same realm determined the victors, with winners facing winners and losers facing losers. Ultimately, the top victor of the same realm could challenge the loser of a higher realm. Upon successful challenge, they could continue to challenge the winner of the higher realm.

While this ranking couldn’t be entirely precise, achieving accuracy would require a preliminary round-robin, followed by a final round-robin, but evidently, neither the Martial Affairs Office nor the martial halls were inclined to make the rules so meticulous.

As night fell, the competition concluded, and Lin Chen bid farewell to Lu Yongfeng and Zhao Jingchuan from a distance before leaving with the other martial arts hall students.

Junior Brother Lu and the others achieved commendable rankings, all entering the top fifty, with Junior Brother Lu breaking into the top thirty, ranking twenty-eighth. This result was already excellent for the town’s Martial Hall students.

In previous Eight Great Martial Arts Hall competitions, students from the town had always ranked at the bottom.

Lin Chen understood, however, that the notable rankings of Junior Brother Lu and the others were primarily due to the short duration of this competition.

The martial arts hall term had been open for three months, and even for students from the town, the hall expenses were bearable for that duration. Over time, the differences in family background would become more apparent.

Kong Yinglei led Lin Chen and the others back to the martial arts hall, directly asking them to rest in their dormitories without conducting any special training for Lin Chen.

By this point, special training was no longer useful.

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Meanwhile, news of this competition began to spread among the disciples of the major martial arts halls, prominently featuring the names Lin Chen and Meng Yuan.

One was Seven Acupoints with Small Success in Mantis Fist.

The other had Six Acupoints, but both Clear Wind Palm and Water Cloud Palm were at Small Success.

What?

You ask why Lin Chen can practice both Clear Wind Palm and Water Cloud Palm?

You’ve asked the right person.

Let me tell you, my cousin is at the Clear Wind Martial Arts Hall. It’s said that it’s because Clear Wind Martial Arts Hall looked down on Lin Chen...

My cousin said Lin Chen initially showed great talent in Clear Wind Palm, but the Clear Wind Martial Arts Hall was dissatisfied with Lin Chen’s ordinary family background and eventually abandoned him.

Impossible?

My cousin mentioned it; it’s well-known at Jingshui Martial Arts Hall.

My cousin said all Clear Wind Martial Arts Hall disciples are aware of this.

Who abandoned Lin Chen?

I heard it was that Vice Hall Master Qi from Clear Wind Martial Arts Hall!

That night, the attendants at Clear Wind Martial Arts Hall heard many porcelain items shattering in Vice Hall Master Qi’s courtyard.

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