[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-rising-from-obscurity-my-martial-path-comeback":3,"chapter-rising-from-obscurity-my-martial-path-comeback-rising-from-obscurity-my-martial-path-comeback-chapter-16":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Rising from Obscurity: My Martial Path Comeback",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2265851,4424,"Chapter 16: The One Who Should Be Here Isn","rising-from-obscurity-my-martial-path-comeback-chapter-16",16,"\u003Cp>【Name: Lin Chen】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【Profession: Martial Artist】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【Blood Qi: 4000\u002F5000】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【Destiny: [Water Finds Its Channel]: In the First Stage of Martial Path, perseverance, steady progress, and momentum will break through all obstacles without encountering bottlenecks.】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Looking at the increase in his blood qi on his panel.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lin Chen now wanted only to say one thing: Lu Yongfeng, Yan Dexing, and others were nothing but pretenders.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After cultivating essence, his blood qi instantly increased by a thousand points, and his strength reached eight hundred jin.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Now, one punch should be enough to knock Lu Yongfeng down.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But what puzzled him was why his blood qi cap had become 5000—5000 blood qi meant a strength of a thousand jin.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What did this thousand jin represent?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What are you thinking about?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yu Yongnian, seeing Lin Chen in deep thought, smiled and asked.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Master… I feel completely different after cultivating essence—my body is filled with endless strength.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“When the body harbors essence, blood qi naturally arises, circulating endlessly. Only then have you truly stepped onto the Martial Path.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yu Yongnian smiled slightly, then said: “You clearly know little about the Martial Path. Today, I’ll explain it to you properly.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You already know the two and a half stages of martial body cultivation. You’re currently at the half-stage. Next, you must use your internal essence to shatter your acupoints. Once successful, you’ll enter the Acupoint Opening Realm.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“After Acupoint Opening comes Organ Cultivation. Only then do you become a ranked martial artist, from Ninth Rank to First Rank. Those who haven’t entered Ninth Rank are collectively called Unranked Martial Artists.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Listening to the instructor’s explanation, Lin Chen now had a basic understanding of the Martial Path.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Acupoint Opening and Organ Cultivation—these were the two great thresholds of the Martial Path.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Only after crossing these two thresholds could one become a ranked martial artist.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ninth Rank was the lowest, First Rank the highest.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The nine-rank system for martial artists mirrored the Liang Dynasty’s nine-rank official system.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After a year of hard work, was he still seen by true martial artists as nothing more than a martial apprentice?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Don’t assume there are many ranked martial artists. In the entire Poyang County, there are only two Ninth Rank martial artists: the County Magistrate and the head of the Wuzhengsuo.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yu Yongnian could guess what Lin Chen was thinking—he had walked this path himself.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After cultivating essence, one feels invigorated, as if riding a horse across the Martial Path—but later, one realizes this is merely the starting point.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So few?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lin Chen gasped. He hadn’t expected only two ranked martial artists in the entire Poyang County.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I said only two Ninth Rank martial artists, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t others; Poyang County still has about ten Ninth Rank experts on paper, but except for the County Magistrate and the Wuzhengsuo chief, all the rest are over fifty, their blood qi already in decline, their strength no longer meeting Ninth Rank standards.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Can martial artists’ strength regress?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Do you think elderly martial artists can still compare with young, vigorous ones?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yu Yongnian smiled faintly: “Unranked martial artists begin declining after forty. Further advancement becomes nearly impossible. Even those who reach Ninth Rank only extend their prime by a decade—unless they break through to the next rank. With your current strength, you could kill a hundred-year-old Seventh Rank martial artist with one punch.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lin Chen’s lip twitched. Killing a hundred-year-old Seventh Rank martial artist wasn’t exactly honorable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But under these circumstances, an old saying from his past life fit perfectly here.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For a martial artist, revenge need not wait ten years.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If ten years aren’t enough, wait twenty—wait until your enemy’s blood qi decays.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“This is the cruelty of the Martial Path: Never underestimate the young; fear the old.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yu Yongnian paused, remembering Lin Chen’s village origins and the far greater complexity of the county martial academy. He asked: “Any major family avoids offending young martial artists. But if they’ve already offended one and cannot reconcile, what do you think such families will do?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Do everything possible to prevent the young martial artist from growing stronger.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lin Chen’s answer was diplomatic—he understood his instructor’s implication: such families wouldn’t lightly offend young martial artists, but if they did, they’d crush them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Only if a family believed its own young generation had great potential would it ignore such threats; otherwise, it must guard against future revenge from aging enemies.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yu Yongnian nodded slightly, saying no more on the matter. As long as Lin Chen stayed at the academy, he wouldn’t clash with the county’s major families. He’d merely offered a warning.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Precisely because unranked martial artists’ blood qi begins declining after forty, there’s a saying in the martial world: Open acupoints within five years, cultivate organs within ten—any slower, and entry into the ranks becomes impossible.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“If you can’t break through to Acupoint Opening within five years of entering the academy, your chances of entering the ranks afterward are slim.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“If you realize the Martial Path cannot be rushed, seek a position at the government office—earn silver while continuing to train, leaving yourself a backup path, so you won’t end up destitute after your blood qi fades, having failed to enter the ranks.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Martial artists may seem glorious, but the path is cruel.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Glory is built on silver and effort. Once past forty, as blood qi declines, income opportunities shrink. If you lack savings, you’re forced into demeaning work.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Once, a martial artist who had fully cultivated his organs, obsessed with training and lacking silver, borrowed a thousand taels from a moneylender. After forty, his blood qi declined, his income dwindled year by year, the moneylender pressed him for repayment, and past enemies sabotaged him—until he was driven to become a pimp in a brothel.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, the Martial Path demands determination—but never burn all bridges. Especially when you have family or descendants, always leave yourself an escape route.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Given your family’s circumstances, you’ve already brought honor to your lineage, no matter what happens ahead. Fight hard on the Martial Path, but know your limits.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yu Yongnian wasn’t exaggerating. Lin Chen had cultivated essence within a year. According to past academy rules, the top student of the martial hall received a single Acupoint Opening Pill. Even if progress slowed later, opening just ten acupoints would give him a chance to secure a minor government post.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A government clerk was a big man in the village—truly a source of family honor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ranked martial artists, however, were beyond the reach of ordinary families.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Every ranked martial artist had the backing of vast family resources.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Come back to the martial hall in two days. I’ll take you to the county academy. Today, you may return home and share this joy with your elders.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Then I’ll take my leave, Master.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lin Chen nodded. He would tell his parents about cultivating essence—they’d be overjoyed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After Lin Chen left, Yu Yongnian murmured: “Cultivating essence within a year deserves to be celebrated. Inner resentment blocks the mind’s clarity—I’ll help you dispel it.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just as Lin Chen stepped out of the martial hall and began his journey back to the village.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the back courtyard.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Yongfeng roared, his entire body glowing red, like a tiger’s bellow.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The sight startled Zhao Jingchuan and the other three.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I broke through! I’ve cultivated essence!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Yongfeng’s face twisted with triumph—but when he saw the confused expressions of Zhao Jingchuan and the others, his excitement instantly drained.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The one who should be here isn’t here. His joy and exhilaration plummeted by half.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>(End of Chapter)\u003C\u002Fp>",1265,"2026-06-19T20:25:56.550Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","8780a111aff289a21c1368cd57612f4d5e3de8ec17e21f1ce823bd320b2fc37d","rising-from-obscurity-my-martial-path-comeback-chapter-17","rising-from-obscurity-my-martial-path-comeback-chapter-15",591,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Frising-from-obscurity-my-martial-path-comeback-cover.jpg"]