Chapter 45: Those Who Scheme and Grovel—I, Chen Chunfeng, Despise Them Most

Qingfeng Martial Hall!

After leaving the Wu Garden, Lin Chen did not return directly to Jingshui Martial Hall but decided to visit Qingfeng Martial Hall to select a martial art scripture.

He primarily trained in Qingfeng Palm, so Qingfeng Martial Hall surely had other martial arts perfectly suited to it.

Upon entering Qingfeng Martial Hall, Lin Chen headed straight for the Martial Arts Pavilion.

The Martial Arts Pavilion at Qingfeng Martial Hall was still staffed by the same senior brother as last time.

“Senior Brother Lin?”

A month had passed, yet Ma Hao still remembered Lin Chen.

Originally, when this junior brother came to return the Qingfeng Palm scripture, he had not claimed his hall identification token—Ma Hao remembered it vividly.

“Senior Brother Ma, I’d like to find a martial art scripture.”

“A martial art scripture?” Ma Hao frowned: “Aren’t you already training Qingfeng Palm?”

“I want to learn a leg technique as well,” Lin Chen replied honestly, without concealment.

“I see…”

Ma Hao felt puzzled. Normally, hall students only began studying other martial arts after half a year or a year. This junior brother was so eager to learn another technique—uncommon indeed.

“On the right-hand shelf on the second floor, there are many basic martial arts. But you can’t take them out—you must memorize them yourself.”

“Thank you for the information, Senior Brother.”

Lin Chen nodded, thanked him, and ascended to the second floor. Qingfeng Martial Hall’s second floor was the scripture library, just like Jingshui Martial Hall—he assumed all other halls arranged their Martial Arts Pavilions similarly.

On the first right-hand shelf, as Senior Brother Ma had said, sat over a dozen martial art scriptures. Lin Chen picked one up at random, read it, and immediately understood why the hall required students to memorize these texts.

Compared to Qingfeng Palm and Water Cloud Palm—both ranked martial arts with over a dozen pages—these basic techniques were only three or four pages long.

Two pages of illustrations, one page of incantations, and one page of technique descriptions.

After spending fifteen minutes reading through the description pages of the twenty-odd scriptures, Lin Chen selected two martial arts.

“Swift Wind Step” and “Flying Swallow Formula.”

“Swift Wind Step” trains speed—a footwork technique that complements the ethereal nature of Qingfeng Palm.

“Flying Swallow Formula” resembles a lightness skill, cultivating aerial suspension, allowing one to leap lightly like a swallow.

Compared to “Swift Wind Step,” the advantage of “Flying Swallow Formula” is the ability to leap swiftly and close distance, even catching an opponent off-guard in critical moments.

The drawback is obvious: if you fail to defeat your opponent, you risk leaving yourself vulnerable, for mid-air, your entire lower body is exposed.

“Lightness skill? That was a childhood dream.”

Walking on snow without leaving footprints, running across grass, leaping across rooftops…

In his past life, watching wuxia TV dramas, Lin Chen had often fantasized about possessing lightness skill—and now, such an opportunity lay before him.

One path was to fulfill a dream; the other, reality…

After two breaths, Lin Chen still picked up “Flying Swallow Formula”—not merely to fulfill a dream, but because the scripture described that the formula had six moves; if one mastered the fifth move, “Swallow Dancing in Spring Breeze,” the body could twist and turn mid-air like a swallow, allowing retreat even without a decisive strike.

“Flying Swallow Formula” had six moves, each with one incantation and three illustrations. Lin Chen began focusing intently, memorizing them silently.

An hour later, he confirmed he had fully memorized the moves and incantations.

He returned the scripture and descended the second floor.

“May I ask, Senior Brother Ma, who is the instructor for our cohort of new students?”

Back on the first floor, Lin Chen asked Ma Hao. He considered: there was no need to hide that he had mastered Qingfeng Palm.

Perhaps, seeing his talent in martial arts, the hall might reward him.

“You don’t know?”

Ma Hao was genuinely shocked. The cohort had been enrolled for over a month—how could this junior brother not even know who their instructor was?

Unfathomable!

“My situation is unusual—I haven’t been staying at the hall,” Lin Chen explained.

“Ah, I see. Our hall’s instructors live south of the compound. The one teaching your cohort is Instructor Chen Chunfeng. His courtyard has a signboard—easy to spot.”

“Thank you, Senior Brother.”

Lin Chen thanked him, left the Martial Arts Pavilion, and walked toward the southern part of the hall. Soon, he found the courtyard of Instructor Chen.

The instructors’ courtyards were arranged in a row, like later-era row houses, each with a wooden signboard hanging on the left side of the gate.

“Chen Chunfeng—this is the place.”

Confirmed he had found Instructor Chen’s courtyard, though the gate was slightly ajar, Lin Chen still knocked politely, his gaze never peering through the crack.

“Disciple Lin Chen requests an audience with Instructor Chen.”

“Lin Chen?”

Quickly, a deep voice echoed from within the courtyard, tinged with surprise and displeasure: “Enter.”

Pushing open the gate, Lin Chen saw a man with a goatee standing in the courtyard. Judging by his appearance, he was a few years older than Instructor Yu.

As Lin Chen studied Instructor Chen, Chen Chunfeng was also sizing him up—and with one glance, his expression turned cold.

As the instructor for this cohort, he naturally knew that one student, due to special circumstances, had been placed at Jingshui Martial Hall.

He had no objection to Director Qi’s arrangement—it didn’t consume the hall’s opening-meridian elixir quota. Lin Chen was clearly kept on only because Director Qi owed favor to Inspector Shu.

But one incident had stirred his resentment toward Lin Chen.

Jingshui Martial Hall had sent an official letter demanding payment for Lin Chen’s Class-A student allowance.

Class-A status was a reward from the Wuzheng Office, given to promising students—each hall received only five slots.

He had already decided which five students would receive these slots. There was no room for an extra one.

When he learned of this, he nearly exploded: Jingshui Martial Hall was using Qingfeng Martial Hall’s Class-A slot to curry favor with Inspector Shu.

If Lin Chen received the slot, one of his five favored students would lose it.

In his view, this was unjust to those five students!

The hall’s privileges for disciples had always been earned through examination results—when had they become tools for flattery toward the powerful?

He had argued fiercely with Director Qi—but he was merely a lowly instructor, his voice insignificant, and he failed to change the outcome.

Until five days ago, when Senior Brother Zhao informed him that Inspector Shu had resigned and left Poyang County—he went again to Director Qi. After much debate, Director Qi finally agreed to revoke Lin Chen’s Class-A status and restore the slot to his chosen students.

Now Lin Chen had come to his door—likely having heard the news and hoping to retain the allowance.

Hmph!

Those who use power to manipulate, those who grovel and scheme—none of it works on Chen Chunfeng!

(End of Chapter)