[{"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-60":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},2265895,4424,"Chapter 60: Martial Dao Must Advance Step by Step","rising-from-obscurity-my-martial-path-comeback-chapter-60",60,"\u003Cp>Wu Garden!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lin Chen, Lu Yongfeng, Zhao Jingchuan, and Cheng Ying gathered together once again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This time, it was Lin Chen who initiated the invitation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Three junior brothers, Senior Brother has an awkward request—I’d like to borrow some silver from you three.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Still at the Wu Garden compound owned by Zhao Jingchuan’s elder, Lin Chen didn’t waste time—he laid out the reason for inviting them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He wanted to open five orifices; to be safe, he needed three bottles of Zhiqiao Pills, but he didn’t have enough silver.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lin Chen had considered buying Zhiqiao Pills from other students—those who’d bought only one bottle or none that month could purchase extra for him and save money.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But in the end, he abandoned the idea: outside the academy, Zhiqiao Pills cost fifty taels per bottle; students already received a discount, and the academy forbade such resale schemes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Some things can’t be hidden—if you’re average and unnoticed, it’s fine, but since he’d chosen to compete in this academy match and put himself under the spotlight, he couldn’t afford to leave any opening for criticism.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I won’t hide it from you three junior brothers—I intend to go all out in next month’s academy match.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Upon hearing Lin Chen’s words, Lu Yongfeng and the other two wore expressions of surprise—not at his request for a loan, but at his ambition regarding next month’s match.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Lin Senior Brother, I can spare twenty taels.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After a pause, Zhao Jingchuan was the first to respond, pulling out silver notes on the spot: “I just bought Zhiqiao Pills—I only have this much left.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I can spare thirty taels,” Lu Yongfeng followed, also withdrawing silver notes from his robe.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Lin Senior Brother, I can’t match Zhao Senior Brother or Lu Senior Brother, but if you need it, I can scrape together twenty taels too.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Cheng Ying pulled out a ten-tael note, the rest in small silver pieces—totaling roughly another ten taels.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Thank you, three junior brothers—I’ll repay you within three months.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lin Chen was moved; seventy taels was a substantial sum.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Lin Senior Brother, if you’re serious about next month’s match, you should study your rivals. Our Yunyin Academy’s strongest, Senior Brother Chu, has already opened six orifices.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhao Jingchuan was positioning himself as an inside source.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He wasn’t close with the academy’s other students; the match hall was even more exclusive, and the county students looked down on those from town academies like his.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In his heart, Senior Brother Chu was merely a titleholder—only Lin Senior Brother was the true senior brother he recognized.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Thank you, Zhao Junior Brother. Our academy instructor has already given me the current cultivation levels of all academy students.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing Lu and Cheng about to offer their own intel, Lin Chen waved them off—academy instructors would provide the realm data; if they told him private details about their own academies, it could bring trouble upon them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hearing this, Lu Yongfeng and Cheng Ying swallowed their words, exchanging glances and forming a new judgment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It seemed the Jingshui Academy instructor also believed Lin Senior Brother had a chance to rank highly in next month’s match.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Only if the instructor thought a student had potential would they share rival academy data—none of the three of them had ever learned other academies’ students’ levels from their own instructor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“If Lin Senior Brother makes the top ten, it’ll be an enormous morale boost for all town academy students—and show the city students that we from the towns aren’t inferior.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhao Jingchuan smiled as he spoke; when Lin Senior Brother first mentioned borrowing silver for the match, he’d already reached this conclusion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lin Senior Brother had real confidence—not arrogance.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After graduating from the town academy, he’d carefully recalled every one of Lin Senior Brother’s performances—and realized Lin had moved with steady, deliberate precision at every step.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Having secured the silver, Lin Chen breathed easier.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To win in the academy match, he needed to break through two orifices within a month—and he’d sought loans from Zhao Jingchuan and the others precisely to ensure safety.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He planned to buy three bottles of Zhiqiao Pills, increasing intake from one pill every three days to one per day.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lin Chen had calculated: after achieving minor mastery of Qingfeng Palm, his blood circulation accelerated, enhancing Zhiqiao Pill absorption—two bottles would definitely open two orifices.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He bought a third bottle purely for extra safety.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Making the top ten meant not only a Tongqiao Pill, but a hundred-tael reward—this calculation wasn’t just his; other students with top-ten potential were doing the same math.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Students like Lu and Cheng didn’t compete for top ten not because they didn’t know the rewards were generous, but because they feared investing heavily and failing to make the cut—leaving them with nothing and jeopardizing their future cultivation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ordinary students couldn’t afford to gamble!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Let’s keep sparring.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After settling the loan, Lin Chen and the three continued sparring—this was always part of their gatherings, and the main purpose.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The outcome was the same as always: Lin Chen crushed Lu Yongfeng and the other two.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Lin Senior Brother, I now think you could rank in the top three even in our academy.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After losing, Zhao Jingchuan looked shaken; the pressure Lin Senior Brother now exerted was nearly equal to that of the academy’s six-orifice senior brothers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Yongfeng stayed silent—then made a decision: he would no longer aim to match Lin Senior Brother.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Otherwise, he feared his martial heart would eventually shatter.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The gap between him and Lin Senior Brother was widening.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After sparring, the four parted ways.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lin Chen returned to Jingshui Academy and went to the Wudao Pavilion, buying three bottles of Zhiqiao Pills at once.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>One hundred and twenty taels.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As he handed over the silver notes, his hands trembled—it was the largest sum he’d spent since arriving in this world.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>From a cautious standpoint, he shouldn’t have chased the top ten—he should have developed steadily, endured the early and mid-stages, and saved silver to surge later.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But when he learned from Zeng Director about the Talent System, he realized the instructor’s information had been incomplete.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Instructor Yu had said: before entering the ranks, silver was most important.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The academy valued students’ family wealth—silver meant potential.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That wasn’t wrong, because the Wuzheng Office’s Talent System requirements were too high—even the entire Poyang County had no one who met them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Wuzheng Office and academies didn’t ignore talent—they simply set the bar extremely high.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was similar to education in his past life: only two or three students per city caught the attention of top universities; in a county, there might be no eligible candidates at all.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Wuzheng Office set the Talent standard so high only because martial cultivation in the entire Liang State was extraordinarily prosperous—his steady progress simply didn’t catch the eyes of true elites.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With his background, simply meeting the Talent System’s threshold and making the list wasn’t enough.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because he wasn’t the only one like this.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Beyond talent, he couldn’t fall too far behind in realm advancement either.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Next month’s match was an opportunity—to enter the top ten, win the Tongqiao Pill and silver, then aim for the rewards of the match three months later.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>One step behind, and you fall behind forever; when your destiny finally activates, you won’t be considered talented.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Only by staying ahead from the start, then exploding upward when destiny activates, could you catch the Wuzheng Office’s attention.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Recalling his training at the town academy, his rapid rise from last to first in such a short time had impressed Instructor Yu and others.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But to the Wuzheng Office and academies, he was merely an ordinary student who finally cultivated essence in the final month of the year.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So he must learn from the town academy’s mistake!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He must never let any opportunity slip away.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Any opportunity must not be abandoned.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>One day, two days, the third day…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Today, Lin Chen stared at his interface, stunned.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【Host: Lin Chen】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【Host: Lin Chen】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【Realm: Opening Orifices (3\u002F24): (30\u002F100)】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【Qingfeng Palm: Minor Mastery (1\u002F10)】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【Shuiyun Palm: Proficient (1\u002F10)】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【Title: Black to the End】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【Destiny: [Water Flows Naturally]: In one martial realm, persevere steadily, progress gradually, surge forward without barriers.】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A progress bar had appeared beside his realm.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing the progress bar, Lin Chen’s eyes lit up—another reason he’d endured in the town academy was seeing his daily progress.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But after opening orifices, for some reason, the bar had vanished.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“It disappeared, then reappeared—is it related to my recent changes?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lin Chen rubbed his chin. If he had to name his biggest change these past days, it was taking one Zhiqiao Pill daily.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So, had the bar vanished after opening orifices because his daily growth was too slow?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Now, with daily Zhiqiao Pills accelerating his blood flow, the progress bar had reappeared.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The return of the progress bar was good news—its importance rivaled that of the Zhiqiao Pills.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With it, he could analyze his cultivation progress precisely, just as he had in the town academy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He could determine which poultry meat gave the best results, calculate the exact blood-boosting values of Qingfeng Palm’s minor mastery and Shuiyun Palm’s proficiency, and even estimate growth rates after reaching major mastery.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Which type of poultry meat provides the best effect? What are the exact qi and blood bonuses for Minor Mastery of Clear Wind Palm and Proficiency in Water Cloud Palm, and can these be used to estimate the increase upon reaching Great Completion?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Two days later.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lin Chen was stunned by his cultivation progress.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【Realm: Opening Orifices (3\u002F24): (50\u002F100)】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In two days, the progress bar had advanced 20 points—by this rate, he’d reach the fourth orifice in just five more days.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This pace already surpassed that of Sister Jiang.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What’s the cause?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lin Chen pondered for a moment, forming two hypotheses.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lin Chen pondered for a moment and came up with two hypotheses.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>My first hypothesis is that the earlier meridians are easier to open, which is why I can open one every ten days; but as I progress, the difficulty will increase.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Another possibility is that the minor mastery of Clear Wind Palm has boosted the speed of my blood and qi circulation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Perhaps both hypotheses are correct—my rapid progress stems from the combined effect of both factors.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Two more days passed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【Realm: Meridian Opening (3\u002F24): (65\u002F100)】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Looking at the realm progress on the panel, Lin Chen reached a conclusion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Minor mastery and mastery of the technique significantly affect blood and qi circulation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The day before, he had not cultivated Clear Wind Palm; instead, he spent the entire day practicing Water Cloud Palm, and his progress increased by only five points. But after practicing Clear Wind Palm yesterday, his progress rebounded to ten points.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“If that’s the case, I’ll focus solely on Clear Wind Palm this month and put Water Cloud Palm on hold.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>PS: I’m confused—I wrote about a village feud, and readers said it was fine, but the retention rate dropped for those two chapters. Did I not write it exciting enough? I rewrote them; if you want to see the new version, just refresh chapters 54 and 55—it won’t affect later reading.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>(End of chapter)\u003C\u002Fp>",1865,"2026-06-19T20:25:56.550Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","1e7bc33f5f5fc0d16a3d687c1995f37aff97c22a9722803516a75dee492d006b","rising-from-obscurity-my-martial-path-comeback-chapter-61","rising-from-obscurity-my-martial-path-comeback-chapter-59",591,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Frising-from-obscurity-my-martial-path-comeback-cover.jpg"]