Rise from a Low-class Family to Martial Artist

The Illusory Sea Heart Flame is the Mother Fire, and it has existed in the Fire Cave for thousands of years. Its power is not something Lin Chen can withstand. If Lin Chen wants to refine the Illusory Sea Heart Flame, he can only attract it to manifest voluntarily and refine it strand by strand.

”Thank you, Senior Zhuang.”

”Even with the sealing wall left by this old man, if you find it unbearable, it’s best to give up immediately, or else your Divine Soul will suffer severe injuries.”

Zhuang Lie took a deep look at Lin Chen, gave him a few words of advice, and even took out a jade scroll.

”Senior Zhuang, what’s this?”

”Leave your name inside with Divine Thought, in case you do ruin yourself. This old man doesn’t want to get involved in disputes with your master and the Canglan Sect.”

Hearing this, Lin Chen glanced through the content of the jade scroll, his lips twitching slightly—it was a disclaimer.

Refining the third Innate Fire and choosing the Illusory Sea Heart Flame was his own decision, unrelated to the Ten Thousand Flames Sect or Senior Zhuang, and all consequences would be borne by himself.

”You can still give up now.”

”Senior Zhuang, since I’ve made my decision, I won’t give up.”

Lin Chen shook his head, his attitude resolute.

After a few breaths, watching Lin Chen walk into the Fire Cave, Du Shuang still stood motionless.

”Why are you still here?”

”Elder Zhuang, I want to see if Lin Chen can succeed in refining.”

Du Shuang chuckled, refining three Innate Fires at the Innate First Realm was no easier than when Lin Chen ignited twenty-seven Innate Fires on the Fire Refining Platform. If he truly succeeds, it will certainly cause a sensation throughout the sect.

He wanted to be a witness, whether Lin Chen succeeded or not, he would be the first to know.

Zhuang Lie glanced at Du Shuang and didn’t reprimand him. It was good to have Du Shuang here; if any unexpected situation occurred, he could notify him immediately—saving him from having to be stationed there the entire time.

According to his estimation, even if Lin Chen did refine successfully, it would take a month. An elder like him couldn’t possibly wait here for a whole month.

The Fire Cave was different from other places. If he used Divine Thought to spy into the Fire Cave, it was very likely to alarm the Illusory Sea Heart Flame and provoke its resistance.

Zhuang Lie left, leaving Du Shuang waiting at the entrance to the Fire Cave.

...

...

In the Fire Cave, Lin Chen also ventured step by step deeper. The whole cave was vast, but the temperature hardly changed, and the deeper he went, the more it felt like a chilling stillness.

”Am I already under the influence of the Illusory Sea Heart Flame?”

The Illusory Sea Heart Flame targets the Divine Soul, and the cold he felt was an illusion within his Divine Soul Perception.

Every step he took echoed with hollow footsteps, making him feel as though he was walking on a road of death, extremely uncomfortable.

A quarter of an hour later.

Lin Chen stopped, finding a crimson wall before him, engraved with runes. Nevertheless, this crimson barrier was constantly fluctuating, as if being assaulted by wave after wave.

At its most intense, bubbles as long as three feet appeared on the wall surface, but as the runes on the wall flickered, they quickly deflated again.

One zhang away from the sealing wall, Lin Chen sat cross-legged and began operating the Refining Fire Technique he stealthily learned from Zhao Haoyang. A unique aura continually emitted from around him.

As Lin Chen pushed the Cultivation Technique, a faintly azure glow appeared in the darkness beyond the sealing wall, resembling a fluorescent jellyfish slowly approaching from the abyss.

One breath, two breaths...

When the azure light neared the wall, it silently penetrated through the surface. Lin Chen, though with closed eyes, could perceive with his Divine Soul that a special energy was now observing him.

The Illusory Sea Heart Flame was highly unique—when unleashed as a whole, it could sweep through everything like an overlord, but when alone, it was extremely timid and would immediately flee at the slightest provocation.

A few breaths later.

As the ethereal blue flame penetrated through the wall, the Star Map within Lin Chen’s Dantian roared with turmoil.

...

Boom!

The Fire Cave vanished, and at that moment, Lin Chen felt himself continually plummeting, instantly sinking into the sea, while beneath the ocean surface, countless pale arms frantically reached for him.

The faces of the arm’s owners were clearly visible.

There were Li Yuan and Li Zhe, father and son of the Li Family from Jiangnan Dao, he had slain, Zhuang Xin and Zhuang Zhi, two brothers attempting to kill him for treasure, and also martial artists from the Han Kingdom ambushing him after the martial arts contest at the Nine Countries Martial Arts Academy.

Their faces were ferocious, their eyes filled with malice, staring intently at Lin Chen.

Lin Chen’s expression remained unchanged, merely letting out a cold laugh, ”The ones I killed were those deserving of it, alive they couldn’t do anything to me, let alone dead.”

As he said this, a powerful aura emanated from Lin Chen, instantly dissipating these malicious figures beneath him,

Yet the changes beneath the ocean floor had not ended. As these figures vanished, more arms appeared, more figures emerged—this time, the faces were unfamiliar, ones Lin Chen did not recognize.

”Grandpa, I don’t want to die.”

A child pitifully stared at an old man, who held a hatchet, his face filled with reluctance: ”Don’t be afraid, dear grandson, it will be over quickly.”

”Grandpa, grandpa, I don’t...”

Whish!

The hatchet fell, and blood gushed from the child’s chest, splattering the old man’s face.

The old man dropped the hatchet, cradling the child, his deeply wrinkled face filled with anguish and anger. He was just an ordinary man, why should he suffer such calamity?

Taking his own grandson’s life—why was heaven so cruel?

Yet he couldn’t bear to see the child consumed by flames, burned alive by that terrifying fire.

He couldn’t bear the child suffering.

Even those powerful martial artists couldn’t escape, how could his grandson?

...

”Mother, it hurts.”

”Father, it’s unbearable.”

...

Countless figures endured agony in the sea of flames, ordinary people buried beneath it.

Children’s tragic cries, adults’ roars, the elder’s wheezing breaths...

”Why, why harm us?”

”Because of you, you released the demon’s flame—you are the executioner!”

”Executioner!”

”You’re a murderer!”

”Return my grandson’s life!”

”Repay for my daughter’s life!”

Countless arms reached for Lin Chen, the heart-wrenching cries and eyes filled with resentment momentarily bewildered him.

He realized these were the people of the Nansha Three Islands.

When the Li Fire broke its seal, it didn’t head southward toward Liang but instead ravaged the Nansha Three Islands.

The powerful families of the Nansha Three Islands had already fled before Li Fire’s arrival, leaving only weaker martial artists or ordinary people behind.

These ordinary people couldn’t compete with Li Fire in speed and ultimately perished in the sea of flames.

”You butcher, you caused the death of millions.”

”We’ve done nothing to you—why kill us?”

”Repay with your life?”

Voices echoed in Lin Chen’s ears, his face gradually turning pale, and even his body began to fade into transparency as the hands crept closer.

Yet just as the hands were about to touch Lin Chen, he opened his eyes, calm and unflustered.

”A renowned figure from my homeland once said: before the end, first cut down the Holy Mother.”

”It wasn’t I who killed you, but the Island Master of the Nansha Three Islands, and the current situation is also your own doing.”

Liang had attempted several times to reclaim the Nansha Three Islands.

Even with Han Kingdom’s opposition, it was unavoidable—several times an army was near mobilization.

Yet ultimately, it was abandoned—not out of fear of Han Kingdom’s intervention, nor of the martial artists from Nansha Three Islands, but because every time Liang prepared to deploy, the powerful families of Nansha Three Islands would gather representatives from the royal families of the Eight Kingdoms to conduct an island-wide referendum, allowing all the island’s people to decide whether to rejoin Liang.

The result was always that the islanders chose not to rejoin.

”I am a citizen of Liang, I enjoy the Martial Path resources provided by Liang, and have the duty to protect Liang’s people, guard Liang’s territory, and uphold our pride—but for the Nansha Three Islands, I have no such duty.”

”Not to mention the Li Fire voluntarily chose the direction of Nansha Three Islands to ravage—if it had chosen Liang’s south, I would have still driven Li Fire away, regardless of whether repelling it would endanger the lives of the Nansha Three Islands’ people—that is none of my concern!”

With those words, the faces of these commoners turned ferocious, madly surging toward Lin Chen, yet ultimately unable to touch him.

Lin Chen expressionlessly watched these struggling faces, and after three breaths, all the silhouettes vanished, returning the ocean floor to peace.