Rise from a Low-class Family to Martial Artist

[Host: Lin Chen]

[Realm: Innate First Realm]

[Innate Technique: Azure Wave Technique] (Undamaged Level 5)

[Qi Blood: Level 3]

[Divine Soul: Level 4]

[Will: Level 1]

[Speed: Level 3]

[Defense: Level 3]

[Comprehension: Level 5]

After Lin Chen refined the Illusory Sea Heart Flame with the Inextinguishable Divine Face Technique, both [Speed] and [Defense] increased by one level.

Lin Chen could ascertain that if he were to face Sima Kong now, he wouldn’t need to use Canglan’s Eyes; just relying on the Inextinguishable Divine Face Technique alone would be enough to crush Sima Kong.

Leaving the Fire Cave, Lin Chen returned to his courtyard.

...

...

”Is Junior Brother Zhao here?”

Knock, knock, knock!

”Is there something, Senior Brother Du?”

Inside the courtyard, Zhao Haoyang’s voice came out, and the next moment the door was pushed open, revealing Zhao Haoyang’s figure. However, when Zhao Haoyang saw Lin Chen standing behind Du Shuang, his expression immediately turned cold.

”What are you doing here?”

Lin Chen didn’t mind Zhao Haoyang’s attitude and smiled, ”I asked Brother Du to bring me here.”

”What’s this about, beating me on the Fire Refining Platform wasn’t enough, and now you’re here to humiliate me face to face?”

”Junior Brother Zhao, Brother Lin doesn’t mean that; don’t speak carelessly.”

Du Shuang, upon hearing Zhao Haoyang’s words, immediately rebuked. Being a direct disciple and a few years older, he indeed had the authority to reprimand Zhao Haoyang.

”Senior Brother Du, I...”

”Brother Du, how about letting me talk to Junior Brother Zhao privately?”

Lin Chen chuckled, interrupting Zhao Haoyang: ”I’m calling you Junior Brother, is that okay?”

Zhao Haoyang pursed his lips, wanting to say ”no,” but seeing Senior Brother Du with a stern face, he could only remain silent.

To the disciples, Senior Brother Du always appeared as a warm figure and took good care of them, and seeing him with a stern face made Zhao Haoyang a bit apprehensive.

”Junior Brother Zhao, have a good talk with Brother Lin. The path of martial arts is long, and a setback is nothing at all.”

Du Shuang advised Zhao Haoyang before smiling and nodding at Lin Chen, then leaving.

He knew why Lin Chen had come to see Junior Brother Zhao, as he had mentioned not long ago that since Zhao Haoyang’s defeat on the Fire Refining Platform, he had locked himself in the courtyard and hadn’t set foot outside.

Junior Brother Zhao had become somewhat obsessed due to this defeat.

If he couldn’t get out of it, his martial arts realm might remain stagnant.

Since Lin Chen was the person involved, it might be more effective for him to encourage Junior Brother Zhao and help him recover from the obsessive failure.

...

...

”Aren’t you inviting me in to sit?”

As Du Shuang walked away, Lin Chen looked at Zhao Haoyang with a smile. Zhao Haoyang didn’t answer but made way and turned, heading into the courtyard.

Lin Chen didn’t mind. He was there to encourage Zhao Haoyang, not out of a Holy Mother complex, but out of gratitude for Senior Zhuang’s care and kindness. Zhao Haoyang’s talent was not bad among this generation of disciples at the Ten Thousand Flames Sect, and it would be a waste if he was left in ruin, which would be unfair to Senior Zhuang.

”Defeated by me, are you feeling discontented?”

As Zhao Haoyang was heading inside, he suddenly turned around, glaring at Lin Chen upon hearing this: ”I said if you’re here to humiliate me, you should leave now.”

”Humiliate you?”

Lin Chen chuckled lightly. ”Why should I humiliate you? I’ve defeated so many opponents, whether it’s Sima Kong from the Sima Family or Zeng Xi from the Thousand Mechanism Sect, or the top ten from the Martial Arts Mountain, which of them has lower skill than you?”

Listening to Lin Chen, Zhao Haoyang gritted his teeth in anger, wishing to tear apart Lin Chen’s mocking smile.

”What, did I hit the nail on the head, and you can only respond with impotent rage?”

”Lin Chen, you’re courting death!”

Boom!

Unable to bear it any longer, Zhao Haoyang’s aura erupted. Yet, just as his aura burst forth, an even more formidable aura radiated from Lin Chen, pressing towards him instantly.

Zhao Haoyang’s face turned pale, facing Lin Chen’s aura, he couldn’t even put up a resistance; the gap was too great.

”Aren’t you unwilling?”

”Do you think the heavens are unfair, why is my martial arts talent so high?”

Lin Chen mocked as he looked at Zhao Haoyang: ”Do you know that as early as a year ago, or even three years ago, I too felt such discontent?”

”Why... why can those children of the aristocracy easily open acupoints and have enough resources to step into refining the viscera?”

Hearing Lin Chen’s words, Zhao Haoyang was dumbfounded, opening acupoints, refining the viscera?

What kind of realm is this?

Wasn’t it something he could do by age seven?

”Let me tell you a story.”

Lin Chen withdrew his aura. Although Zhao Haoyang had anger in his heart, he was filled with curiosity at this moment, standing silently in place, waiting for Lin Chen to continue.

”There was a young boy, born in a Martial Arts Desolate Land. In the land where he lived, one could only start practicing martial arts at the age of fifteen and had to pay ten taels of silver to enter the Martial Arts Hall and learn martial arts. Silver was the currency of that place, and it would take an ordinary family several years to save up ten taels, and that’s assuming no natural disasters occurred.”

Zhao Haoyang showed a look of disbelief in his eyes—were there really such places?

Needing to wait until fifteen to practice martial arts, one might never reach the Innate Realm in this lifetime.

”The boy, due to the intervention of a certain nobleman, was able to enter the Martial Arts Hall without paying. However, learning martial arts requires supplementing Qi Blood. The boy couldn’t afford beef and could only wait in the cafeteria until other students finished eating, hoping that if there were any leftover free beef soup, he could scoop a few ladles of it.”

”This behavior alone led to the boy being ridiculed by many students. They laughed at how a poor person dared to dream of learning martial arts, as if a toad dreaming of eating swan meat—utterly delusional.”

”But the boy didn’t give up on learning martial arts because of these taunts. He practiced diligently every day. When other students rested, he practiced martial arts. When others went out for leisure, he was still practicing...”

”Heaven rewards diligence. In half a year, the boy finally cultivated Essence Qi...”

Hearing this, a moved expression appeared in Zhao Haoyang’s eyes. Essence Qi... if he remembered correctly, when he started practicing martial arts, his family only gave him a bowl of Qi Blood Soup, and he already had Essence Qi in his body.

Essence Qi, there was no need to cultivate it—that was the consensus among the youths of the Flame Dynasty.

He never thought that there were places where just having Essence Qi could eliminate half the people.

”But cultivating Essence Qi was only the first step. When the boy entered the Martial Hall, due to his family background, he was again looked down upon; the Instructor of the Martial Hall didn’t even bother to hide his disdain. Even so, the boy didn’t give up...”

”Later, the boy took first place in the Martial Hall competition, first place in the county competition, and became the exemplary martial arts student of Jiangnan Dao...”

The anger in Zhao Haoyang’s heart completely dissipated with Lin Chen’s story. At this moment, he was completely immersed in the arduous journey of cultivation on the Martial Path of a young boy from a low-class family.

”Later, the boy advanced in grade and even became the first among the younger generation of the Nine Kingdoms. He thought he was a Celestial Pride of Martial Arts, but just then, changes occurred. A martial artist from the Flame Dynasty appeared, and it was only then that the boy realized that outside the Nine Kingdoms, there was the Flame Dynasty, and above the First Grade, there were Innate Martial Artists.”

”He once asked the martial artist from the Flame Dynasty how he compared to the talents of the Flame Dynasty. Were there any young people in the Flame Dynasty who reached Middle Grade at his age? Do you know how that martial artist answered?”

Faced with Lin Chen’s question, Zhao Haoyang was silent for a long while; an eighteen-year-old Middle Grade martial artist wasn’t even considered a genius in the Flame Dynasty.

He didn’t know how the martial artist responded, but it certainly wasn’t anything nice.

”The martial artist told the boy, a mayfly trying to match the heavens! Compared to the prodigies of the dynasty, you are like clouds and mud, incomparable.”

Zhao Haoyang’s pupils contracted sharply, and he asked, ”How did you react?”

By now Zhao Haoyang understood that the boy Lin Chen referred to was himself.

If he were Lin Chen, hearing these words would probably deflate his spirit instantly.

”I did curse the heavens, unfair as they were, tirelessly training through the seasons, finally making my way among my peers, cultivating to the Middle Grade Realm, only to find it was merely an attainable realm for others.”

”But what good is cursing? It changes nothing.”

”The gap between the Nine Kingdoms and the Flame Dynasty is no different from the one I faced in the county with the aristocratic children.”

”Once, despite being insignificant, I could surpass many aristocratic children of the Nine Kingdoms and reach the peak of my generation. Today’s situation is merely a repeat of past challenges.”

”It’s just another rebellious path to walk.”

Once Lin Chen finished speaking, Zhao Haoyang looked deeply at him. He could sense the determination in Lin Chen’s words.

Moreover, Lin Chen wasn’t just speaking; he actually did it.

In just half a year since arriving in the Flame Dynasty, he reached the summit of the Martial Arts Mountain.

Zhao Haoyang felt unworthy in comparison.

If at first his family background was humble, Zhao Haoyang believed he could also solidify his martial heart, using martial arts to change his destiny.

He could endure the ridicule and mockery from other students too.

But reaching first in the Nine Kingdoms and then hearing about the talents in the Flame Dynasty—he truly couldn’t hold on; the spirit within him would dissipate.

After enduring so much hardship and finally reaching a certain height, only to find out it’s just someone else’s starting point—it takes an immensely strong heart to persist, let alone achieve a reversal like Lin Chen did.

Compared to that, he was rendered helpless merely by Elder Zhuang’s words and a defeat by Lin Chen, which was simply humiliating.

”Thank you, Senior Brother Lin, for your guidance. I am deeply grateful.”

Zhao Haoyang solemnly bowed to Lin Chen, devoid of earlier anger or arrogance.

”Junior Brother Zhao, the path of martial arts is long; let the two of us encourage each other.”

Lin Chen smiled slightly. Seeing Zhao Haoyang emerge from his state of defeat, he felt he lived up to Elder Zhuang.

A quarter of an hour later, Lin Chen left Zhao Haoyang’s courtyard, with Zhao Haoyang closely following to see him off.

The disciples of the Ten Thousand Flames Sect passing by were shocked to see Zhao Haoyang actually sending Lin Chen off; they gaped as if seeing a ghost.

What had happened to Senior Brother Zhao to make him voluntarily see off Lin Chen, even with a smile on his face?

...

”Sect Leader, this Lin Chen...”

Lin Chen didn’t know that everything he said to Zhao Haoyang had been overheard by several elders of the Ten Thousand Flames Sect.

”Who would’ve thought that Lin Chen came from a Martial Arts Desolate Land, and from a poor family at that? Truly unbelievable.”

An elder sighed, and Sect Leader Dong Congyang of the Ten Thousand Flames Sect also showed a moved expression.

”Such a good seedling, how did the Canglan Sect manage to find him?”

The other elders sighed in succession, but Zhuang Lie remained silent.

No wonder little Lin Chen decided to refine the third Innate Fire. For someone with his background to reach this point, who knows how many risks he has taken along the way similar to this one.

Lin Chen’s words to Zhao Haoyang were few, just a brief mention of tireless practice, but being born into poverty and without background, taking no risks and not fighting hard, even with talent, it would be impossible to achieve today’s success.

His style of seizing every opportunity is probably etched into his very bones.

This little guy’s journey in cultivation is truly heartbreaking.

PS: Three Chapters delivered, and with the start of the new month approaching, please do cast a guaranteed monthly vote.