Chapter 89: The Despairing Gap

The crowd erupted in cheers!

However, Hong Qianhai, as a Qi-Refining expert, spoke with a booming voice that clearly carried across most of the area.

Whoosh!

The new cohort of students at the martial arts hall, including the veteran students who had come to watch, froze in stunned silence.

Had they heard correctly?

Was Master Hong saying Lin Chen’s Clear Wind Palm had reached perfection?

That’s impossible?

At this moment, even seed students like Gu Shan had lost their earlier composure.

If Lin Chen’s Clear Wind Palm had merely reached great mastery, it would have made them wary, granting him the strength to be taken seriously—but if it had reached perfection…

Then what’s the point of fighting?

Gu Shan’s lips kept twitching; he had just boasted he’d see whether Lin Chen’s Clear Wind Palm was sharper or his Iron Bones Art tougher.

Now there was no need to see—if Lin Chen truly had perfected Clear Wind Palm, he’d slice Gu Shan like chopping vegetables.

With ten times the power of his own cultivation base, to put it mildly, someone with five open meridians could fight someone with eight—and Lin Chen already had six open meridians.

So, has Lin Chen truly perfected Clear Wind Palm?

All the seed students now fixed their gazes tightly on Qi He.

“Liang, what does ‘perfection’ mean?” Lin Mu asked, still excited.

“Mom, I’ve never trained in martial arts—I don’t know,” Lin Liang shook his head.

“Instructor, what does ‘perfection’ mean?”

Students from the He River Martial Hall also asked Instructor Liu and Instructor Chen.

Aside from a few students whose families in town had martial artists and thus understood the later stages of cultivation, many students from the villages were just like Lin Chen once was—completely ignorant of the cultivation realms beyond.

“Perfection is the mark of a technique cultivated to its ultimate limit.”

“Instructor, have you yourself reached perfection in any technique?” a student asked foolishly.

Instructors Liu and Chen froze, then calmly admitted: “No. But you’ve seen it—your senior has perfected his technique. A disciple need not be inferior to his instructor.”

…

…

Qi He had never felt such pressure before, especially as he sensed the furious gaze from the left side—Master Xia.

Master Xia was a ranked martial artist who had come from Clear Wind Martial Hall. Though his blood qi had declined and his current strength likely fell below Qi He’s, he dared not show the slightest disrespect toward Master Xia.

Not only did the Xia family wield influence in Poyang City, but they alone had three Qi-Refining martial artists—and as a ranked martial artist, Master Xia’s connections far surpassed Qi He’s own Qi-Refining status.

He didn’t want to admit Lin Chen had perfected Clear Wind Palm, but under so many eyes, and since more than one person had trained the same technique, denying it would be useless—others would confirm it anyway.

“Observing Lin Chen’s palm strike, it is indeed Clear Wind Palm perfected. It was indeed wise of you to grant Lin Chen the Meridian-Opening Pill and teach him Clear Wind Palm.”

Qi He spoke, adding at the end that he himself had personally recruited Lin Chen into Clear Wind Martial Hall—his own merit.

But everyone else in the hall ignored his final remark; after yesterday, every martial hall knew the tangled history between Lin Chen and Clear Wind Martial Hall.

Qi He was beyond whitewashing.

Hearing Qi He say it aloud, Gu Shan and the others turned pale.

How could they possibly match Lin Chen with perfected Clear Wind Palm?

They couldn’t win.

As seed students of their respective halls, they had their pride and wouldn’t surrender easily.

But Lin Chen had clearly surpassed the limit of what they could endure—unless someone here broke through to the ninth open meridian, no one stood a chance against him.

This competition was already over.

For Gu Shan and the others, their goal had been first place—now that chance was gone; whether they finished second or third meant little to them.

Watching Lin Chen descend from the arena, they all wanted to ask: Are you even human?

Did you grow up soaked in Clear Wind Palm?

At Quiet Water Martial Hall, Lin Chen basked in the attention of all his senior sisters and junior sisters. Fu Jingya was the first to speak: “Lin Shi-di… no, now it’s Lin Shi-xiong—Lin Shi-xiong, you’ve hidden yourself well.”

Kong Yinglei wanted to say the same.

Good kid—you perfected Clear Wind Palm and didn’t say a word, only claimed great mastery. If you’d told me earlier, I wouldn’t have embarrassed myself in front of Shen Mei.

“It was luck—I suddenly gained insight last night and broke through to perfection in Clear Wind Palm.”

Lin Chen smiled faintly, sensing Kong Guanzhu’s resentful gaze, and explained: “I planned to reveal it today, so I didn’t tell you ahead of time.”

“Lin Chen, you did right. Revealing your strength before a match is a grave mistake—hiding your true ability was correct.”

Shen Lin cut in quickly, smiling warmly at Lin Chen—had he told Master Kong beforehand, she’d have been even more smug.

Kong Yinglei rolled her eyes inwardly, but regardless, Lin Chen’s perfected Clear Wind Palm brought her pleasant surprise.

If she’d previously thought Quiet Water Martial Hall might have three students in the top ten, now she could declare with absolute certainty: the champion of this year’s competition would be from Quiet Water Martial Hall.

The champion would be decided only between Lin Chen and Jiang Qing.

The thought that the top spot would be decided by an internal battle within her own hall made Kong Yinglei nearly giddy.

Too bad her senior wasn’t here—if she knew Lin Chen had perfected Clear Wind Palm, she’d never miss this spectacle—and she’d surely humiliate Qi He to death.

Compared to her, I’m still lacking—I need to learn more from my senior.

Regardless of how much shock Lin Chen had caused, the matches continued; the next students took the stage, and the crowd still cheered enthusiastically.

But the martial artists watching the matches no longer felt the same anticipation—they sensed something missing.

More precisely, their minds were elsewhere, distracted.

With Lin Chen’s brilliance as a benchmark, the remaining matches, though impressive, failed to move them—they felt dull and uninspired.

Qi Fei and the others felt the same—after their matches, whether they won or lost, they hurried off the arena.

Quickly, the top nine were determined.

Of the eight martial halls, only Clear Wind Martial Hall was completely eliminated; each of the others had one student left, while Quiet Water Martial Hall, including Fu Jingya’s bye, had three.

The referee responsible for drawing lots returned to the backstage area, his gaze landing on Lin Chen: “Lin Chen has a bye this round.”

Gu Shan and the others froze, then unconsciously exhaled a sigh of relief.

They had to admit—in this round, they’d rather face Jiang Qing than Lin Chen.

The Wuzhengsuo assigning Lin Chen a bye spared them the fear of facing him in the next round.

Lin Chen hadn’t expected the Wuzhengsuo to directly assign him a bye—he was surprised, but didn’t refuse.

A bye was always good.

After the draw, Lin Chen and Jiang Qing returned to Quiet Water Martial Hall’s side. When Kong Yinglei learned Lin Chen had received a bye, she nodded.

Unexpected, but understandable.

The second round lacked the breakneck pace of the first; the eight drawn, excluding Fu Jingya, were all seed students from their respective halls—with no great disparity in strength.

Who won or lost depended entirely on their battlefield performance and combat skills.

This intense, thrilling competition drew wave after wave of cheers from the crowd, rising and falling like tides.

After the second round, the top five were decided.

Tie Xue Martial Hall’s Fei Hong, Zhen Yue Martial Hall’s Gu Shan, Quiet Water Martial Hall’s Jiang Qing, Qi Xing Martial Hall’s Song Yu, and Lin Chen, who had a bye.

Of these five, would someone still get a bye in the third round?

Not just Lin Chen and the others—every martial artist watching wondered the same.

The third round would be brutal; the one with a bye could rest at full strength, while the other four would fight exhausted—this was grossly unfair.

“I suggest a round-robin format—each of the five fights in sequence to determine final rankings.”

“Not ideal. The first to fight would be at a disadvantage—after a brutal match, how much strength could they still exert?”

“Round-robin isn’t impossible, but each student needs sufficient time to recover—this would drag the event out too long, at least two full days to finish.”

With so many civilians watching, delaying the final champion’s decision until tomorrow would make this martial hall competition imperfect.

Behind the arena.

Jiang Qing glanced at the silent Gu Shan and the others, then suddenly spoke: “I’ve broken through to the ninth open meridian.”

Whoosh!

Gu Shan and the others’ pupils contracted—they stared at Jiang Qing in disbelief.

Ninth open meridian?

Shocked?

Indeed shocked.

But with Lin Chen’s perfected Clear Wind Palm just now, what couldn’t they accept?

In their hearts, accepting Jiang Qing’s ninth open meridian was far easier than accepting Lin Chen’s perfected Clear Wind Palm.

Lin Chen lifted his gaze toward Senior Jiang—he wasn’t surprised.

Before the match, Senior Jiang had hinted she might reach the ninth meridian.

What he wondered was her purpose in saying it.

Intimidation through strength?

Only Lin Shi-di here has the qualification to fight me. The rest of you can withdraw, or compete for the lower ranks—third, fourth, and fifth places mean nothing to you.

Jiang Qing spoke calmly, yet her words were arrogant.

Lin Chen had guessed right—Jiang Qing truly intended to intimidate them with her strength.

A ninth open meridian leading an eighth isn’t just one meridian—it’s a chasm.

She didn’t want to waste time—only Lin Shi-di could make her fight seriously.

Gu Shan, Fei Hong, and Song Yu exchanged glances, each seeing the bitterness in the others’ eyes—when had the top martial artist of a school ever been so disregarded?

Yet they had to admit Jiang Qing was right: for them, whether third or fourth place made little difference; the slight bonus in silver taels meant nothing to the three of them.

Against Jiang Qing, who had opened nine orifices, they truly had no chance—but what of Lin Chen?

They understood the power of a martial art perfected to its peak, yet they had never experienced it themselves; to give up so easily despite being two orifices ahead of Lin Chen felt unbearable.

Seeing Gu Shan and the others look at him, Lin Chen guessed their thoughts—he too felt unwilling to surrender.

If so, then he would make them lose all hope.

“Yesterday, I also opened one more orifice—I now have seven opened.”

Gu Shan: …

Fei Hong: …

Song Yu: …

Enough!

You guys in Jing Shui Martial Arts School play your own games.

At that moment, the three were on the verge of collapse—were you two senior brothers just mocking us?

One of you hid one orifice, the other hid a perfected Clear Wind Palm and one orifice—why didn’t you say so earlier? We wouldn’t have fought for it.

…

…

Behind the arena, a man from the Wuzhengsuo hurried toward the left zone and stood respectfully before Su Lingchuan.

“What is it?”

“Master Su, Gu Shan of Zhen Yue Martial Arts School, Fei Hong of Tie Xue Martial Arts School, and Song Yu of Qi Xing Martial Arts School have withdrawn from the contest for first place.”

The man’s words caused the martial artists present to frown.

To give up the final contest after reaching this point?

Even if Lin Chen had perfected the Clear Wind Palm, he still had a chance to fight—yielding before even engaging was shameful.

“Damn brats!”

In the front row, left side, a middle-aged man’s face turned ashen—he was Fei Cheng, lord of Fei Family Estate and Fei Hong’s father.

He could accept his son losing—but not accepting defeat without a fight.

The path of martial cultivation is long; how many prodigies will he face later? If he always flees from battle, he will never enter the ranks in this lifetime.

“What’s going on?” Su Lingchuan also frowned—he didn’t care about rankings below fifty, but the top ten students were still under his watch.

“Jiang Qing of Jing Shui Martial Arts School has broken through to nine orifices and persuaded the three to withdraw. Lin Chen has also broken through to seven orifices—verified.”

The man’s reply made Fei Cheng’s expression turn strange: nine orifices, seven orifices, plus a perfected Clear Wind Palm—he had indeed misjudged his son.

Su Lingchuan’s eyes gleamed—this year’s martial school students had truly surprised him. Jiang Qing was expected, but Lin Chen was a major shock.

“Since the students have made their decision, proceed directly to the final round.”

Su Lingchuan’s word was final; the rankings for third, fourth, and fifth could be decided later at the Wuzhengsuo.

With Su Lingchuan’s approval, the man quickly went backstage to notify them. A dozen breaths later, Gu Shan and the others returned to their respective schools’ zones, while Lin Chen and Jiang Qing stepped onto the arena.

Seeing this, students from all seven martial schools—including Fu Guan Zhu and the instructors—stared in shock. What was happening?

Why were Jiang Qing and Lin Chen on the stage?

According to previous rounds, students from the same school never faced each other.

“Gu Shixiong, what’s going on?” Fu Ang asked curiously.

“Jiang Qing has opened nine orifices, Lin Chen has opened seven. Myself, Song Yu, and Fei Hong have withdrawn from the race for first place.”

Gu Shan spoke calmly, but his words plunged Zhen Yue Martial Arts School into silence.

Two other zones fell silent too: Qi Xing and Tie Xue Martial Arts Schools alike.

“Shi-jie, did you hear that?”

Shen Lin’s eyes sparkled. Zhen Yue Martial Arts School stood right beside them; with her hearing, she had caught every word Gu Shan spoke—surely her jie had heard too.

But Kong Yinglei glared at her with fury, leaving Shen Lin stunned—why was her jie angry?

Wasn’t this good news?

First and second place were both taken by Jing Shui Martial Arts School.

“Vice Director Kong Yinglei of Jing Shui Martial Arts School asks: why are two of our disciples paired against each other? Is this unfair?”

Shen Lin’s eyes widened—how could her jie say such a thing with such audacity?

Whoosh!

The vice directors of the other seven martial schools were stunned—Kong Yinglei was ruthless!

Not just kill—destroy the soul!

The common folk didn’t know the truth, but with Kong Yinglei’s question, the Wuzhengsuo would have to respond—and all the people of Poyang County would learn that Jiang Qing and Lin Chen of Jing Shui Martial Arts School were leagues above the rest, in a class of their own.

In the hearts of the common folk, Jing Shui Martial Arts School would now be Poyang County’s top school.

Ordinary people didn’t follow the martial school competitions every year; for most, this match might be the only one they’d ever witness.

They would tell this story again and again to their children.

But your Jing Shui Martial Arts School only accepts female disciples—why do you want this empty honor?

Are you planning to break tradition now? Having tasted victory, will you start taking male disciples?

(End of Chapter)