Chapter 252: The Nine Kingdoms Need Martial Arts Geniuses

Hall entrance.

A woman in a red dress appeared, her figure tall, the skirt trailing on the ground like flowing clouds, the belt at her waist outlining a beautiful figure.

Her eyes were like peach kernels, her red lips painted with vermilion rouge, her lips not yet parted but already carrying three points of smile, the bright pearls by her ears swaying and shining with her temples, making her snow-white skin even more beautiful than jade.

Walking, she had a natural charm, like a mandala blooming in the night.

This is a Wu Yuan elder?

If it weren't for someone reporting the visitor's identity beforehand, Lin Chen would have suspected this person was some sheltered lady from a great family.

If Senior Sister Jiang Qing was pure, Murong Yan was lustful, then this woman in the red dress was a ripe peach, beautiful and unparalleled.

"So it is Elder Zhao."

Hou Zhan Tian spoke. He naturally had met Zhao Qianqiu.

Elder Zhao?

Lin Chen was stunned. That elder in Poyang County was also surnamed Zhao. This was what Yan Qianbei had told him.

Is this just a coincidence of the same surname?

"Little girl has met Dean Hua."

Zhao Qianqiu spoke with a smile, her eyes flowing to Lin Chen, who was a bit stunned on the side: "This seat heard from Yan He'an that you wanted to see me several times. Why, now that you see me, you have nothing to say?"

Lin Chen was still thinking about whether this Elder Zhao was the one he guessed. Hearing this, he didn't hesitate anymore and immediately bowed: "The disciple has met Elder Zhao."

"The disciple has received care from the Wu Yuan several times. Yan Qianbei told the disciple that it was because of Elder Zhao's instructions. The disciple wanted to express gratitude to Elder Zhao several times, but Yan Qianbei said you were not in Poyang County."

Lin Chen's expression was sincere. No matter how different this Elder Zhao was from the image he imagined, she had taken care of him.

From the beginning, choosing opponents for him, making his Qingfeng Palm cultivation progress rapidly, later giving him treasures like the "Thousand Hammer Map," including his true blood opening acupoints, and providing him with points to exchange for notes.

"The disciple just didn't expect... didn't expect Elder Zhao to be so young, so I didn't react for a moment."

Hearing Lin Chen's explanation, Zhao Qianqiu's red lips hooked into an arc, with an interested look: "Oh, what is this elder like in your eyes?"

Lin Chen was ashamed and didn't dare to speak. In his imagination, Elder Zhao was an old man about the same age as Yan He'an.

Hou Zhan Tian on the side saw Lin Chen being asked and also narrowed his old eyes. He knew that this Elder Zhao was a newly promoted Golden Garden Elder, and he also knew that she could be promoted to a Golden Garden Elder largely because of Lin Chen.

From this perspective, Lin Chen and this Elder Zhao could be said to be each other's noble people.

"Elder Zhao, please sit."

Hou Zhan Tian still spoke to relieve Lin Chen, making a gesture of invitation. Zhao Qianqiu nodded, her expression returning to seriousness. She walked to the guest chair, her right hand gently pinching the side of her skirt, and sat down gracefully, the skirt not having a single wrinkle.

"Elder Zhao should know the result of the Wu Yuan's competition."

"Yes, little girl came here because of this."

Zhao Qianqiu didn't sell it, looking at Lin Chen: "This time Lin Chen defeated the Yu Beichen brothers, the Hidden Dragon List ranking will be changed."

"Hidden Dragon List?"

Hou Zhan Tian and Lin Chen looked at Zhao Qianqiu at the same time.

"Today, my Wu Yuan will release a list, gathering the geniuses under twenty years old of the Nine Kingdoms, taking the top one hundred. Before today, Lin Chen's ranking was set at tenth on the Hidden Dragon List."

"Tenth on the Hidden Dragon List?"

Hou Zhan Tian frowned. He wasn't surprised by Lin Chen's ranking, but by this Hidden Dragon List.

"If I remember correctly, the Wu Yuan has never had a Hidden Dragon List selection. Why would it suddenly release this Hidden Dragon List?"

"Doesn't Lord Hou know?"

Zhao Qianqiu saw Hou Zhan Tian frown and pondered for a long while, understanding in her heart.

It seemed that the Daliang high-level officials hadn't decided whether to disclose the secret discovered in the Snow Region. Although Hou Zhan Tian was also a Ranked martial artist, he was only a Wu Yuan Dean and didn't intervene in the Imperial Court.

The Daliang royal family and those three dukes should be waiting until they made a decision before informing Ranked martial artists like Hou Zhan Tian.

"Know what?" Hou Zhan Tian asked in a deep voice.

Zhao Qianqiu glanced at Lin Chen, who was equally curious, and her smile faded: "The Snow Region has undergone changes. Your Daliang and Xiang Guo both discovered the Snow Region secret realm and took out a bamboo slip from it, which recorded a piece of lost history of the Nine Kingdoms two thousand years ago."

"Two thousand years ago?"

Lin Chen was blank, while Hou Zhan Tian had a gleam in his eyes: "Does Elder Zhao mean about the origin of martial arts?"

"Yes."

Zhao Qianqiu nodded, seeing Lin Chen's confused expression, and explained: "Whether it is Daliang or the other eight countries, the records about martial arts can be traced back to two thousand years ago at most. Since each country has records, martial arts have already appeared, but no country has records of what the origin of martial arts is, as if this technique appeared suddenly."

"So that's it."

Lin Chen realized. Hou Zhan Tian pursued: "Then the bamboo slip records the origin and source of the Nine Kingdoms' martial arts?"

"The Nine Kingdoms' martial arts... or more accurately, only the origin of the four countries' martial arts, which are Xiang Guo, Liang Guo, Han Guo, and Yan Guo." "Why only four countries?"

This time it was Lin Chen who pursued.

Zhao Qianqiu didn't answer, Hou Zhan Tian explained: "More than a thousand years ago, there were no current Nine Kingdoms. There were only four countries in total. The current Zheng Guo, Zhao Guo, and these five countries were split from the land of the original four countries."

"So that's it. It seems the disciple needs to supplement more history."

Lin Chen was a bit embarrassed. This question of his was indeed a bit stupid. The world's situation divides and unites. What he sees now is the Nine Kingdoms, which doesn't mean it was the Nine Kingdoms a thousand years ago.

"The four countries' martial arts come from an empire called the Yan Yan Yan Huang Chao."

Yan Yan Yan Huang Chao?

Hou Zhan Tian said in a deep voice: "Was this Yan Yan Yan Huang Chao an empire on this land more than two thousand years ago?"

"No, the Yan Yan Yan Huang Chao was elsewhere. It was just that martial artists from the Yan Yan Yan Huang Chao came here and taught martial arts to the ancestors of the four countries. And the reason this history was buried was just because the task of that martial artist from the Yan Yan Yan Huang Chao was to teach martial arts, and after completing the task, he left."

The hall was silent.

Lin Chen and Hou Zhan Tian were both digesting the information in Zhao Qianqiu's words.

The martial arts of the Nine Kingdoms actually came from an empire elsewhere. This news, if spread, would shock all martial artists of the Nine Kingdoms.

However, what Lin Chen was thinking about was another question: that Yan Yan Yan Huang Chao sent people here to spread martial arts, why did they hide this matter?

Or why didn't the Yan Yan Yan Huang Chao take the Nine Kingdoms into its pocket?

There is no empire that doesn't want its territory to be wider. And why has no one in the Nine Kingdoms discovered the existence of the Yan Yan Yan Huang Chao for two thousand years?

Zhao Qianqiu saw that Hou Zhan Tian and Lin Chen were both pondering and asked Lin Chen with a smile: "What did you think of?"

"The disciple has many doubts."

"If you have any doubts, say them. This elder will see how much you can think of."

Clearly, Zhao Qianqiu was specifically testing Lin Chen. Lin Chen didn't hesitate and asked all the questions.

"Anything else?"

"The disciple only thought of these for now."

"You can only think of these because there are many secrets you don't know."

Hou Zhan Tian opened his mouth. As a Ranked martial artist, he knew more secrets of the Nine Kingdoms than Lin Chen, and he also got many answers from the information revealed by Zhao Qianqiu.

"Is the Yan Yan Yan Huang Chao related to the legend of the desolate land?"

Zhao Qianqiu wasn't surprised that Hou Zhan Tian could guess this point and nodded: "In the eyes of the Yan Yan Yan Huang Chao, the land of the Nine Kingdoms is a desolate land. And according to the rules of the Yan Yan Yan Huang Chao, the desolate land should have a thousand years of martial arts development time. Although I don't know why no martial artists from the Yan Yan Yan Huang Chao came here a thousand years ago, at least it verified that the legend is true."

"So that's it. No wonder the five clans of Guanzhong suddenly appeared, and no wonder your garden would launch the Hidden Dragon List."

Having obtained the confirmed answer, Hou Zhan Tian also untied the confusion in his heart these days.

"Dean, Elder Zhao, the disciple is completely confused."

Seeing these two talking in riddles here, Lin Chen was a bit helpless. Can't these two speak clearly?

"On the land of the Nine Kingdoms, there has always been a legend that the land of the Nine Kingdoms is actually a desolate land. This desolation doesn't refer to the land being desolate, but martial arts being desolate."

Zhao Qianqiu saw Lin Chen's anxious look and her red lips parted: "The bamboo slip in the Snow Region secret realm was left by someone from the Yan Yan Yan Huang Chao. According to what is recorded in the bamboo slip, they are specifically responsible for searching for desolate lands, then spreading their martial arts techniques, and at the same time giving them a thousand years of independent development time, without any interference."

"After a thousand years, the Yan Yan Yan Huang Chao will send people again. If the martial arts of the desolate land have not developed, all martial artists of the desolate land will be taken away by the Yan Yan Yan Huang Chao. As for what they are taken away for, the bamboo slip doesn't mention it."

Lin Chen pondered. Although the bamboo slip didn't mention what they were taken away for, it was definitely not a good thing.

"Rest assured, according to what is recorded in the bamboo slip, the martial arts of the Nine Kingdoms can be considered developed, so there is no such thing as being taken away."

Zhao Qianqiu knew what Lin Chen was thinking and gave Lin Chen a reassurance.

Hearing this, Lin Chen was relieved. Thinking about it, the Nine Kingdoms had so many Ranked martial artists; it would be unreasonable to say it was a desolate land of martial arts.

"But similarly, once developed, it is no longer a desolate land and will lose the 'independent' rule protection of the Yan Yan Yan Huang Chao. Forces in the Yan Yan Yan Huang Chao will also be able to come to us."

"According to the bamboo slip, the batch of people who came to the Nine Kingdoms to spread martial arts back then could only be considered medium existence in the Great Yan. Any second-rate sect in the Great Yan Yan Yan Huang Chao would have the ability to destroy the Nine Kingdoms."

Hou Zhan Tian, who had been silent, added a sentence at this time: "If you want to keep it, there is only one way, and that is to cultivate martial arts geniuses."

Seeing Lin Chen's confused expression, Hou Zhan Tian recited: "The thousand-year Yan edict ends, the desolate land is no longer alone. If you want to keep the mountains and rivers solid, you must support the Qilin and Phoenix to soar."

These two sentences were the songs in the legend of desolation.

Lin Chen had thoughts in his eyes. If it weren't for Elder Zhao's explanation earlier, these two sentences would be difficult to understand, but with Elder Zhao's words, the meaning of these two sentences was clear and easy to understand.

After a thousand years, the thousand-year protection period of the martial arts desolate land has passed. If you still want to keep your home country, there is only one way, and that is the appearance of "Qilin and Phoenix," which is the so-called genius.

"The content of the bamboo slip is known to the high-level officials of all countries. Although I don't know why the forces of the Yan Yan Yan Huang Chao haven't appeared yet, this is a sword hanging over the heads of the Nine Kingdoms. And our Wu Yuan, after a decision, has issued the Hidden Dragon List."

Zhao Qianqiu's beautiful eyes were full of brilliance. This Hidden Dragon List would not just have a name, every genius on the list would receive rich martial arts resources.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 253 =====