Rise from a Low-class Family to Martial Artist

Chapter 188: Chapter 51: Lin Chen: I Could Slap My Past Self to Death

Exemplar of Jiangnan Dao Academy Students!

To be called an exemplar, besides strength, one must have traits that inspire admiration and emotion.

Unless one’s strength is overwhelmingly supreme, so much so that all contemporaries in Jiangnan Dao look up to them.

Clearly, Lin Chen has not reached that level yet; looking across the entire Jiangnan Dao, there are contemporaries who have already opened twenty acupoints.

The heritage of those noble families is far beyond what Lin Chen can catch up with at this moment.

If one cannot stand out solely through strength, then it is by deeds alone.

Qiu Rufeng is well aware of why the Military Affairs Hall decided to hold off and choose an exemplar, even though there are opponents within our own prefecture, what kind of exemplar is that?

If it truly is the Huo family, then they must have provided the Military Affairs Hall with a reasonable excuse for their opposition.

”Teacher, what should we do next?”

”I intend to invite the Huo family patriarch for a banquet to test their intentions; do not inform Lin Chen of this for now, lest it distract him. We will discuss it after his three-month special training.”

Qiu Rufeng hasn’t figured out how to resolve this matter yet. The most critical issue is the attitude of the Hall Chief of the Military Affairs Hall.

”As for the Snake Shadow Bow you mentioned, I have looked into it. This bow comes from a family in Raozhou Prefecture from the previous dynasty. This family once produced a Third-Grade Martial Artist, but shortly after our dynasty was established, the entire family fled to the Zheng Kingdom.”

”Lin Chen is pursuing the Extreme Martial Arts Path, and entering the grade doesn’t require weapons. His focus should now be on martial arts techniques, perfecting his leg technique. Once three techniques are perfected, entering the grade will be a matter of course.”

”Disciple understands and has prepared a leg technique for Lin Chen, the Gale Leg Technique from the Gale Martial Arts Hall in our county.”

”Hmm, regardless of the purpose of the Huo family, as long as I am the Director of the Military Affairs Department for a day, Lin Chen need not worry.”

”Disciple thanks the teacher on behalf of Lin Chen for his care.”

Qiu Rufeng waved his hand, indicating that Su Lingchuan need not say words of gratitude. As the Director of the Military Affairs Department, he has his own ambitions.

However, Liang has been prosperous for over two hundred years, and there are always people calculating their petty gains.

They forget that the northern demon tribes are watching covetously, and the sea demons of the East Sea still wreak havoc from time to time.

Years ago, sea demons flooded nine cities with East Sea waters, northern demon beasts slaughtered a million people, and several countries took advantage of the chaos, forcing Great Chu to cede half of its territory, which has not been fully recovered yet.

Demon grudges, national hatred...

Too long a peace has made many forget their original intentions.

...

...

The Huo Family.

”Father, I’m afraid the Military Affairs Department might find out that you were the one who submitted the opposition to the Military Affairs Hall.”

”Even if Qiu Rufeng guesses it, so what? The Director of the Military Affairs Department changes every ten years. Qiu Rufeng won’t stay long in Raozhou Prefecture. Don’t think that Qiu Rufeng is without personal motives. He is eager to promote Lin Chen as the Jiangnan Dao student exemplar to enhance his own reputation and advance further.”

In the main hall of the Huo family, the white-haired clan leader of the Huo family wore a self-satisfied expression: ”The excuse I opposed with can withstand investigation; Lin Chen’s disrespect to elders was stated by his cousin himself.”

”Father, how did you think of investigating Lin Chen’s family matters?” Huo Kang was genuinely surprised that his father had noticed Lin Chen so early on. He only learned of the talented martial artist named Lin Chen from Poyang County after the county competition.

But it was just a name he remembered, as he didn’t take competitions within the Opening Acupoints Realm seriously.

Given such a family background, the likelihood of resources running scarce is high, and one may simply fade away to just another ordinary martial artist.

In the eyes of the Huo family, anyone who couldn’t reach the Eighth Grade was considered just an ordinary martial artist.

”Three years ago, after I privately arranged a marriage between Shu’Er and Li Zhe with the Li family’s patriarch, I paid attention to any potential talents in the Raozhou Prefecture. This was because the Li family had planned for Li Zhe to become the exemplar of the Jiangnan Dao students as a key step.”

”Father, you arranged a marriage for Shu’Er?”

Huo Kang was shocked. As her father, he wasn’t even aware of this matter.

”It wasn’t publicly announced. It was something that the Li family’s patriarch and I discussed privately, so I didn’t inform you. Nevertheless, the marriage contract is already written.”

Seeing his son’s dissatisfaction, Huo Zhong scolded him: ”Li Zhe’s father is not yet fifty and is already a Sixth-Grade Martial Artist. How can you, as her father, be dissatisfied with Shu’Er marrying Li Zhe?”

”It’s not dissatisfaction, father. It’s just that you should have informed me earlier,” Huo Kang replied with a bitter smile. His father’s dominance was well-established in the family. Although he expected his father to arrange a marriage for Shu’Er, he never imagined it would be kept secret even from himself.

”The fewer people who know about this, the better. Once Li Zhe is established as the Jiangnan Dao student exemplar, they will marry the following year.”

Huo Zhong did not tell his son that one of the Li family’s conditions for agreeing to the marriage was that when Hongdu Prefecture recommended Li Zhe as the Jiangnan Dao exemplar, the Huo family ensured that Raozhou’s Military Affairs Department wouldn’t oppose it.

But once Qiu Rufeng issued a document promoting Lin Chen’s achievements, Huo Zhong realized he couldn’t persuade Qiu Rufeng.

Because Qiu Rufeng had the same goal.

At that point, he had people investigate Lin Chen’s family situation and discovered that it was exactly as reported in the documents, with no falsehoods.

Just as he was contemplating how to create obstacles for Lin Chen, the investigation revealed that Lin Chen was not on good terms with his grandfather.

Even though the villagers of Linhu Village rarely discussed Lin Chen’s family matters with outsiders, they were ordinary villagers and couldn’t truly keep secrets. A little pressure applied by those investigating uncovered everything clearly and thoroughly.