Chapter 62: The Attention of Wu Yuan

Lin Chen’s battle with Fu Ang drew the attention of many martial artists present.

Battles at the Opened Meridians Fourth Level aren’t remarkable here.

But if someone of the same realm defeated a disciple of Zhenyue Martial Hall—especially one who had mastered Tiegu Gong—that would be worth noticing.

“When did Qingfeng Martial Hall produce such a powerful disciple?”

“Judging by his palm technique, he’s likely nearly achieved Minor Mastery of Qingfeng Palm—probably not a new recruit.”

“Yes, he’s likely an old student. If so, it’s hard to guess—last year or the year before, Qingfeng Martial Hall had many disciples like this.”

Below the stage, many began speculating about Lin Chen’s identity, but as before, the onlookers didn’t believe he was a new recruit.

Near a corner, two figures were whispering quietly.

“Senior Brother Lü, who do you think the fighter on stage is from our martial hall?”

“He’s probably one of last year’s seniors. Our current Opened Meridians Fourth Level group has only three—both other junior brothers haven’t even reached Mastery in Qingfeng Palm, so clearly not him.”

Lü Shuyu shook his head; he didn’t think the fighter on stage was from his own cohort.

The four seniors stronger than him had already reached Opened Meridians Fifth and Sixth Levels—clearly mismatched in realm. The two seniors matching his realm hadn’t reached the same proficiency in Qingfeng Palm.

Beneath the third stage, several masked martial artists had also noticed Lin Chen’s situation.

“This man’s Qingfeng Palm is nearly at Minor Mastery—too bad… he’s an old student.”

“So you mean, Senior Qi, you hope he’s one of our new recruits?”

“Qingfeng Palm at Minor Mastery makes for an interesting opponent. Otherwise, next month’s contest will be too dull.”

“Senior Qi, are you about to break through to the Seventh Meridian?”

The man beside him stared in shock upon hearing his senior’s words.

Everyone was training hard for the martial hall’s grand contest next month, but Senior Qi called it “dull”—there was only one possible reason: he was about to break through to the Seventh Meridian.

Before the contest, instructors had estimated a few students might reach the Seventh Meridian; reaching it meant a guaranteed top-ten placement. So far, only one martial hall among the Eight had a disciple who had achieved it.

Jiang Qing of Jingshui Martial Hall!

Qi Shan smiled faintly but didn’t answer.

If not for the need to spar with other martial artists on the Wu Yuan stage, he could have broken through to the Seventh Meridian long ago.

He’d held back from eating rare bird meat precisely to remain at the Sixth Meridian and spar with martial artists on the third stage who had mastered their techniques, to sharpen his own strength.

…

…

After defeating Fu Ang, several masked martial hall students climbed the stage, but none had sufficient technique proficiency—the strongest had only reached Mastery.

Lin Chen was disappointed. He’d hoped for opponents who had left the martial hall and achieved high technique proficiency—not these students.

Perhaps only by month’s end would he encounter such people.

He didn’t climb the stage again. Instead, his gaze turned to the third stage—the only one open to Opened Meridians Fifth and Sixth Level martial artists.

Two masked men were currently fighting there: one from Tiexue Martial Hall, the other from Mantis Martial Hall—both Sixth Meridian martial artists.

Yet the battle began swiftly and ended just as quickly.

The Mantis Martial Hall man lost before he could even block three strikes.

Lin Chen’s eyes narrowed slightly—not because the Mantis man was weak, but because the Tiexue man was incredibly strong.

His punches sounded like cannon fire—devastatingly forceful. Lin Chen estimated even a Zhenyue Martial Hall disciple wouldn’t withstand them barehanded.

“His identity is clear: Fei Hong of Tiexue Martial Hall, heir to the Fei Family Estate. He’s now the only Sixth Meridian disciple in Tiexue Martial Hall who has mastered Tiebang Quan.”

“Mastering Tiebang Quan must’ve cost him no less than five hundred taels.”

“He’s the Fei Family heir—his father was once a Ninth Rank martial artist, though his vital energy has since declined. Fei Hong’s older brother was last year’s grand contest champion.”

“We’ve struggled for over a decade on the martial path—yet that’s just their starting point.”

“Brother, be realistic. What’s our family background? What’s theirs? Why should you, in one generation, surpass three generations of Fei family effort? Is your father even a Ranked martial artist? Did your grandfather run the county’s largest meat stall?”

Three questions. Silence fell over the crowd.

Some onlookers were jealous. Others sighed quietly. A few analyzed rationally.

Hearing the last man’s rational words, Lin Chen agreed: why should one generation surpass three generations of effort?

For ordinary martial artists like himself, coming from a village, reaching the Opened Meridians stage was already a change in fate—earn money to train the next generation to attempt the Internal Organ Cultivation realm, then train the one after that.

Rising to prominence over three generations was already impressive.

Geniuses who rose in a single generation were rare.

Fei Hong stood on the third stage. No martial hall student dared to challenge him—no one could withstand Mastery-level Tiebang Quan.

Lin Chen wanted to try—but he was only at the Fourth Meridian, ineligible for that stage.

“Will Senior Qi climb the stage?”

“Among this year’s recruits, Fei Hong is invincible at Sixth Meridian. Even if I faced him, I couldn’t win. But Fei Hong broke through to Sixth Meridian less than seven days ago—he may not reach Seventh Meridian by next month. With realm advantage alone, I could suppress him.”

Qi Shan shook his head slightly. His junior brother had no sense of discernment—Fei Hong was clearly invincible at Sixth Meridian. Would he really climb up and humiliate himself?

Seeing no one step forward, Fei Hong removed his mask and shook his head in disappointment—his meaning was clear: the crowd below had disappointed him.

There were martial artists below who could defeat Fei Hong—those who had trained for years, Sixth Meridian martial artists with Great Mastery of their techniques, confident enough to best him.

But there was no need. The Fei Family Estate behind Fei Hong still intimidated them.

Seeing Fei Hong descend the stage, Lin Chen knew no more exciting matches would follow. He prepared to leave.

“Young brother, wait.”

As Lin Chen turned to go, he realized the referee had somehow appeared beside him.

Lin Chen stopped, puzzled as to why the referee had called him.

“Young brother, what’s your purpose in entering the stage?” the referee asked with a smile.

“Senior, I don’t understand your meaning.”

“Those who enter the stage usually have three motives: one, to fight others and improve combat ability; two, to pursue the stage rewards; three, to enjoy the satisfaction of defeating others. But you don’t seem like the third type.”

Enjoy the satisfaction of victory?

Lin Chen glanced at the referee—he understood the referee was being polite. “Enjoying victory” meant bullying the weak.

Many martial artists who had graduated from martial halls—or never even joined one—would challenge on the first and second stages, deliberately targeting martial hall students to humiliate them.

Just like when Master Kong brought new recruits to face old ones—the old students had the same mindset.

Taking advantage of their years of training, they’d crush promising young martial artists before they grew strong enough to resist.

Lin Chen answered honestly: “I wish to improve my combat ability.”

“To improve strength, you need suitable opponents. I’ve observed your Qingfeng Palm—you’ve reached Minor Mastery.”

“Yes.” Lin Chen nodded, not denying it.

“Among Opened Meridians Fourth Level martial artists with Minor Mastery, there are fewer than thirty in Poyang County. Finding one is difficult.” Yan He’an smiled.

Fourth Meridian. Minor Mastery.

These two conditions filtered out most martial artists. Opened Meridians martial artists didn’t come to Wu Yuan every day.

Most martial artists below the Tenth Meridian were busy earning silver. They only came to Wu Yuan during spare time.

“What do you mean, Senior?”

“For martial artists like you, Wu Yuan has a solution: add stakes to the stage. If you’re willing, you may offer a prize. The winner takes it. Wu Yuan will notify eligible martial artists. If interested, they’ll come to challenge you.”

Hearing Yan He’an’s explanation, Lin Chen understood: he was being asked to pay.

The martial artists of Poyang County had no time to spar with him—but if he offered silver, they’d be interested.

Beat him, and you take the prize.

Lose, and you lose nothing—just a good practice session.

“How does the prize work?”

“For a Fourth Meridian martial artist, five taels is sufficient. If you’re confident, you may offer more to attract more challengers.”

Five taels?

Lin Chen’s lip twitched. That was asking him to bleed.

“Wu Yuan has a rule: for a martial artist’s first stake challenge, Wu Yuan will cover the cost—but the applicant must disclose personal information to Wu Yuan.”

The referee smiled warmly at Lin Chen. Lin Chen fell into thought.

He’d received his identity token from Wu Yuan, but Wu Yuan had never registered any details—hence Zhao’s remark that Wu Yuan didn’t care about their martial artists.

Recalling Master Zeng’s words about the Talent System, Lin Chen suspected: Wu Yuan and the Wuzheng Office didn’t ignore them—they simply didn’t consider ordinary martial artists worth noticing.

Only true martial geniuses drew their attention.

The senior’s stopping him meant Wu Yuan had noticed him.

But what kind of organization was Wu Yuan?

Would revealing all his information to Wu Yuan put him at risk?

Better safe than sorry.

What if Wu Yuan’s hidden masters sought out talented martial artists only to eliminate them?

Don’t call it paranoia.

The possibility was small—but still worth guarding against.

No one had suffered before because they weren’t talented enough.

He had a destiny-marked title—what if he eventually met their standard?

“Young brother, Wu Yuan keeps all martial artists’ identities confidential. Without the martial artist’s consent, even the Wuzheng Office Director or the County Magistrate cannot learn a martial artist’s true identity.”

Lin Chen paused, then finally decided to accept.

He realized: if Wu Yuan truly had designs on talented martial artists, could he possibly hide?

I revealed myself in the martial arts academy sparring; the Wuzhengsuo, as the body responsible for cultivating warriors, would be eager to use me as a positive example for publicity—Wu Yuan would still find out.

It’s right to guard against others, but one must not throw out the baby with the bathwater.

“Thank you, Elder. I am willing to issue a stakes challenge, but I have one request—could this duel be held at night?”

(End of Chapter)