Chapter 85: When the Youth Soars, a Mentor from Afar Wonders

Jiangnan Dao, Huizhou Prefecture.

Beneath Mount Huangshan, a courtyard.

“What’s this? Not practicing today?”

Shu Suwan looked at her junior standing in the courtyard, puzzled.

“Think about it—these few days are when Poyang County’s Eight Martial Arts Academies hold their March Grand Competition,” Yu Yongnian replied, turning around.

“The March Grand Competition—this is about your student, isn’t it? I recall you sent two letters by courier to Poyang County not long ago; you care more for Lin Chen than for yourself.”

Shu Suwan spoke from genuine feeling.

Several days ago, her junior had already written two letters, sending them via courier to Poyang County, delivered into Hua’s hands, who then passed them on to Lin Chen.

Her junior wrote two letters not because one wasn’t enough—he did it deliberately, choosing which letter to send based on Lin Chen’s performance in the competition.

One letter focused on encouragement; the other on admonition.

If Lin Chen placed within the top thirty, Hua would give him the admonitory letter, which urged him to remain humble, restrain his sharpness, guard his modesty, and not let fleeting success cloud his judgment.

In her junior’s words, Lin Chen came from an ordinary fishing family; making the top thirty in a martial arts competition meant everyone around him would praise him—he feared Lin Chen would lose his drive to advance on the martial path amid such flattery, so he wrote the letter to jolt him awake.

The other letter, focused on encouragement, was meant for when Lin Chen finished at the bottom of the rankings, felt the gap between himself and students from wealthy families, and sank into discouragement, ready to abandon his martial path.

In short, her junior had gone to great lengths for Lin Chen.

“Say, what if your student places in the top twenty in this competition?”

Yu Yongnian shook his head: “Sister, don’t joke. I admire Lin Chen’s perseverance on the martial path, but perseverance alone won’t carry him forward—especially at the Opening Meridian realm, money matters far more.”

“My hope for Lin Chen is to open ten meridians within a year, then earn silver while training, achieving twenty-four opened meridians within three years.”

As Lin Chen’s instructor, Yu Yongnian wished for him to open as many meridians as possible, as quickly as possible, to reach the Organ Cultivation realm sooner.

But hope is hope, reality is reality—his target for Lin Chen was already an extremely high standard; going faster would be pure fantasy.

“Junior, how about we make a wager? If Lin Chen places in the top twenty in this competition...”

“If Lin Chen enters the top twenty, whatever you ask me to do, I’ll do it.”

“Agreed, then.”

Shu Suwan smiled faintly. This trip to Huizhou Prefecture had been rough for her junior; though he showed no outward sign, he’d spent days silently training alone in the back courtyard, surely burdened by frustration.

The wager was meant only to lift his spirits.

She didn’t believe Lin Chen could place in the top twenty in the March martial arts competition.

…

…

Group Ding, Group Wu, Group Xu…

The sparring on the training ground continued, while at the back gate of Poyang County’s government office, mounted government office runners departed, riding out of town toward the various townships under Poyang’s jurisdiction.

Qingshan Township, Kehé Township, Gaojia Township, Shimen Township, Lotus Township, Xiangshui Township…

Upon reaching each township, the runners soon had others ride further down to the villages.

Fourteen townships, totaling one hundred and twenty-two villages—all received the notice within four hours.

Simultaneously, instructors at each township’s martial arts hall informed their students.

In past years, these grand academy competitions were held inside the Wuzhengsuo, with outsiders barred from watching. Now, with such a rare opportunity, bringing students to witness the martial prowess of academy disciples, to see the prestige of martial arts, would strengthen their resolve to train.

…

…

The Wuzhengsuo training ground concluded the matches of the nine groups.

The nine victors were:

Group Jia: Zhang Qing, Iron Blood Martial Arts Academy.

Group Yi: Meng Yuan, Mantis Martial Arts Academy.

Group Bing: Lin Chen, Still Water Martial Arts Academy.

Group Ding: Ge Gaoyuan, Seven Stars Martial Arts Academy.

Group Wu: Zuo Qi, Gales Martial Arts Academy.

Group Xu: Fu Ang, Zhenyue Martial Arts Academy.

Group Geng: Fu Jingya, Still Water Martial Arts Academy.

Group Xin: Zhao Cang, Iron Blood Martial Arts Academy.

Group Ren: Qian Jun, Zhenyue Martial Arts Academy.

Among them, five were ten-acupoint cultivators, four were six-acupoint cultivators.

At the scene, the atmosphere at Qingfeng Martial Arts Academy was heavy—none of their students had emerged victorious from their group.

Their strongest hope, Chi Hanfei, had drawn Meng Yuan, a seven-acupoint cultivator with minor mastery of Mantis Fist; had he been placed in any other group, he stood a high chance of winning.

Luck is part of strength.

Yet from the academies these nine victors represented, many rational observers found the outcome unsurprising: Iron Blood, Zhenyue, and Still Water Academies each had two students advance.

This was not mere luck—it reflected the strength of these three academies.

The top three academies from last year’s competition clearly possessed far greater depth than the other five.

After the group matches, the ranking matches would follow.

The battle for positions eighteen through fifty!

Though many competitors remained, the ranking matches proceeded swiftly: according to Wuzhengsuo rules, winners faced winners, losers faced losers; the final winner in each realm could challenge a defeated opponent from a higher realm, and if successful, could continue challenging higher-realm victors.

This system could not achieve perfect precision; true accuracy would require round-robin preliminaries followed by round-robin finals—but clearly, neither the Wuzhengsuo nor the academies had the patience to make the rules so intricate.

As night fell, the competition ended. Lin Chen greeted Lu Yongfeng and Zhao Jingchuan from afar, then departed with the academy’s students.

Lu’s junior and the other two had performed exceptionally well, all placing within the top fifty; Lu’s junior even broke into the top thirty, ranking twenty-eighth—an outstanding result for a student from a township martial arts hall.

In past competitions, students from townships always finished at the bottom.

But Lin Chen understood that Lu’s junior and the others achieved such high ranks largely because this competition was too short.

The academies had only been open three months; even township students could afford the academy’s expenses. The longer the training, the more clearly wealth disparities would show.

Kong Yinglei brought Lin Chen and the other students back to the academy and immediately ordered everyone to return to their dormitories for rest, offering no special training for Lin Chen.

At this point, special training was useless.

…

…

Meanwhile, news of the competition began spreading among academy disciples, with two names circulating most widely: Lin Chen and Meng Yuan.

One had opened seven meridians and achieved minor mastery of Mantis Fist.

The other had opened six meridians but achieved minor mastery in both Clear Wind Palm and Cloud-Water Palm.

What?

You ask how Lin Chen could train both Clear Wind Palm and Cloud-Water Palm?

You’ve asked the right person.

Let me tell you—my cousin is in Qingfeng Martial Arts Academy, and apparently, Qingfeng looked down on Lin Chen…

Let me tell you—my cousin-sister is a student at Still Water Martial Arts Academy; according to her, Lin Chen originally showed exceptional talent in Clear Wind Palm, but Qingfeng rejected him because of his poor family background.

Impossible?

My cousin-sister says this is common knowledge at Still Water Martial Arts Academy.

My cousin says every Qingfeng disciple knows this story.

Who rejected Lin Chen?

Rumor says it was Vice-Head Qi of Qingfeng Martial Arts Academy!

That night, the laborers at Qingfeng Martial Arts Academy heard the sound of many porcelain vessels shattering in Vice-Head Qi’s courtyard.

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(End of Chapter)