Rise from a Poor Family: My Martial Arts Counterattack

Chapter 249 A Genius Surpassing the History of Nine Kingdoms

Lingxiao City!
The Hidden Dragon Ranking, which brings together numerous martial artists from nine kingdoms, caused an immediate uproar upon its release.

This is the first time in so many years that a cross-border list of geniuses has been released in the Nine Kingdoms, and most importantly, it was launched by Wuyuan.

No one doubts the impartiality of the Martial Academy. The Martial Academy has branches in various countries, and many talented martial artists are members of the Martial Academy.

Heavenly Ranking, Earthly Ranking, Human Ranking!

A total of 100 martial artists made the list, but the most attractive one was the Heavenly Ranking.

All ten on the Heavenly Ranking were rank-1 martial artists, which was within everyone's expectations.

Among the geniuses under twenty years old from the nine kingdoms, it would be strange if they weren't among the top ten.

To the shock of all the martial artists who saw the list, the lowest rank in the top ten was already the eighth rank, and the top three had even reached the seventh rank, just one rank away from becoming a mid-rank martial artist.

If this time the Hidden Dragon Ranking hadn't not only recorded the names of the listed geniuses, but also their cultivation levels, no country would have known that there were so many terrifying geniuses.

The list was particularly impactful for the warriors of the Great Liang Dynasty.

In the eyes of the martial artists of the Great Liang Dynasty, those who reach the rank of a certain grade before the age of twenty are already considered geniuses. This includes many martial arts academy disciples who strive to reach the rank of a certain grade within three years of starting to cultivate internal organs at the age of sixteen.

But now that the Heavenly Ranking and Earthly Ranking have been released, they have discovered that geniuses from other countries are already at the seventh rank before the age of twenty.

Of the ten people on the Heavenly Ranking, only one is from the Great Liang Dynasty, and he is ranked ninth.

The number one on the Heavenly Ranking is a martial artist from South Korea.

The top-ranked warrior on the Earthly Ranking is from Han Kingdom.

At this moment, the warriors of Liang also deeply felt the power of Han Kingdom.

If Lin Chen hadn't emerged as a dark horse and ultimately taken the top spot on the Human Ranking, the top spot would probably have belonged to Han Guo.

The two people behind Lin Chen, the second and third on the Human Ranking, are both martial artists from South Korea.

For this reason, many Korean martial artists began to question Lin Chen's ranking at number one on the Human Ranking. However, what embarrassed the Korean martial artists this time was that, apart from the Zheng martial artists who did not refute, the martial artists from other countries scoffed at their doubts.

Lin Chen's victory at Lingxiao Martial Academy will undoubtedly place him at the top of the rankings.

This ranking is earned through hard work, no doubt about it!
In contrast, many other geniuses on the list have relatively unfamiliar names, which has raised questions from many people.

These people weren't questioning the fairness of the martial arts academy; it's just that those who made it onto the rankings were all top performers in the Refining Internal Organs Realm, and the differences between them weren't that great. Especially among those ranked close together, it was only through battle that one could truly determine who was ranked higher and who was lower.

Just as many martial artists began to question the decision, the Martial Garden announced that martial artists on the Hidden Dragon Ranking could challenge those ranked three places higher, with the winner taking the place of the loser.

This news is practically tantamount to Wuyuan admitting that their ranking accuracy can fluctuate by three places.

Just one hour after the announcement, a battle broke out at the Lingxiao City Martial Arts Garden.

The warrior ranked twenty-fourth on the Earth Ranking, from the State of Zhao, accepted the challenge from the warrior ranked twenty-fifth on the Earth Ranking, from the State of Xiang.

In this battle, the warriors of Zhao emerged victorious and maintained their ranking.

The loser will have 100 Dragon Points deducted.

……

……

Wuyuan!

Lin Chen, wearing a bamboo hat, entered the martial arts garden.

The martial arts garden was bustling with activity at the moment, and he was currently enjoying great popularity. He had come to see Elder Zhao, and wearing a bamboo hat would help him avoid a lot of trouble.

"I request an audience with Elder Zhao."

Lin Chen removed his bamboo hat in front of the martial arts deacon, revealing his true face, and then went to retrieve his martial arts identity token.

"No ID card needed, come with me."

The moment Lin Chen took off his straw hat, Zhang Shunan smiled and said, "Junior Brother Lin, your face is your identity card."

As one of the stewards of Lingxiao City Martial Arts Garden, Zhang Shunan was also an eighth-rank martial artist, but he did not put on airs of a junior martial artist in front of Lin Chen at all, and directly addressed Lin Chen as his junior brother.

In Zhang Shunan's mind, Lin Chen was already being treated as a rank-1 martial artist.

"Thank you, senior brother."

Lin Chen took his hand out of his pocket to express his gratitude.

"Junior Brother Lin, that battle at the Martial Academy really boosted the morale of our Great Liang, not bad!"

Zhang Shunan led Lin Chen into the martial arts garden. Lin Chen smiled and said, "As a martial artist of the Great Liang, this is my duty."

"If all the martial artists of my Great Liang were like Senior Brother Lin, what would my Great Liang have to fear from the other eight kingdoms?"

Zhang Shunan sighed. He had also investigated Lin Chen. Whether it was the disciples of Jiangnan Road, Canglan Martial Academy, or especially Lingxiao Martial Academy, according to his investigation, these teenagers of the same age all spoke of Lin Chen with admiration.

It's not just because of Lin Chen's abilities, but also because of his character and conduct.

In the martial arts world, there are many geniuses with great strength, but they may not be able to win everyone's respect because they are too arrogant and disliked by many.

However, when it comes to Lin Chen, the disciples of Lingxiao Martial Academy, who have only known each other for a few months, all have a very good impression of him.

Humility, showing the demeanor of a senior disciple!
"We've arrived. Elder Zhao is in the courtyard."

Zhang Shunan escorted Lin Chen to the entrance of Zhao Qianqiu's courtyard and then left with a smile. He knew that Elder Zhao must have some private matters to tell Lin Chen, and it was not appropriate for him to stay by his side.

Watching Zhang Shunan's figure disappear into the distance, Lin Chen stepped forward and was about to knock on the door when Zhao Qianqiu's lazy voice came from inside: "No need to knock, come in."

As Lin Chen pushed open the door, he saw Elder Zhao leaning lazily against the armchair in the courtyard. She was still wearing the same long dress, but judging from the embroidered patterns on it, she must have changed into a different one.

"It seems Elder Zhao is a red enthusiast!" Lin Chen thought to himself, and respectfully said, "This disciple greets Elder Zhao."

Zhao Qianqiu's slender fingers rubbed against the armrest as he stared at Lin Chen. Lin Chen felt a little uncomfortable under his gaze, wondering if there was something on his face.
"Lin Chen, this elder has a question for you: are you cultivating the Nine Revolutions True Blood Refining Viscera Technique?"

After a long pause, Zhao Qianqiu spoke, and his first words stunned Lin Chen, leaving him momentarily speechless.

After a moment, Lin Chen replied, "To be honest, Elder, this disciple has indeed been practicing this method."

Lin Chen didn't hide it because he knew he couldn't hide it anymore. If he hadn't been stunned for a moment and had directly denied it, or if he had looked puzzled, he could have denied it. But he was stunned for a moment, and for a powerful person like Elder Zhao, he probably already had the answer in his heart.

Zhao Qianqiu's beautiful eyes lit up; her guess was correct.

"Is this the fifth job advancement?"

"Ah."

"In that case, the Martial Arts Academy will prepare a great gift for you, enough to help you advance to the sixth level."

Zhao Qianqiu didn't keep him in suspense. Seeing the excitement on Lin Chen's face, he smiled and said, "This is the greatest reward I can give you within my authority."

"Elder Zhao, are you familiar with the Nine Revolutions Technique?"

Lin Chen wasn't surprised that Wu Yuan knew about the Nine Revolutions True Blood Refining Visceral Technique. After all, it was a technique practiced by the founding emperor of the Great Liang Dynasty, and it must be very famous in the Nine Kingdoms. It was just that no one had been able to cultivate it successfully in the past three hundred years, so ordinary martial artists didn't know about it.

But Elder Zhao's knowledge of the cultivation method was somewhat unexpected.

"Doesn't it seem strange?"

"I do have some doubts. The abbot told his disciples that not many people know how to cultivate this method."

"Would you be even more surprised if I told you that the complete cultivation route of the Nine Revolutions True Blood Refining Viscera Technique is hidden in the Martial Garden Library?"

Zhao Qianqiu smiled as she looked at Lin Chen's slightly agape expression of surprise. She found that she really enjoyed seeing Lin Chen's surprised look.

Perhaps it was because Lin Chen always did things that surprised her, so she wanted to surprise Lin Chen back.

"This disciple...is indeed shocked."

Lin Chen smiled wryly. What he thought was a secret now felt like the whole world knew.

"This elder can tell you a secret: the master of Wuyuan Garden and your Great Liang Emperor Taizu were fellow disciples."

Upon hearing this, Lin Chen's pupils shrank. The Martial Garden Master and the Emperor Taizu were actually fellow disciples?
That's not right. Emperor Taizu has been dead for over a hundred years. If the owner of Wu Garden was a fellow disciple of Emperor Taizu, how old would he be now?
Over three hundred years old?

Isn't this just a complete old monster?

Martial arts gardens are scattered throughout the nine kingdoms. If the owner of a martial arts garden and the founding emperor are fellow disciples, would the other eight kingdoms agree to allow the martial arts garden to be established there?
"I have some doubts, but you'll understand when you meet the owner."

Zhao Qianqiu didn't explain too much to Lin Chen, because she had only recently learned some of the secrets herself.

After being promoted to Elder of Jin Garden, she went to the Martial Hall according to the rules of Martial Garden and met the Garden Master, where she learned many secrets.

The fact that the garden owner and the founding emperor of the Great Liang Dynasty were fellow disciples was probably unknown even to the Great Liang royal family. The reason the garden owner would tell her these secrets was not because she was special, but because she had discovered Lin Chen.

The owner of the garden treats Lin Chen differently, and he himself benefits from Lin Chen's influence.

"Do not mention this to anyone."

Zhao Qianqiu's expression turned serious, and Lin Chen quickly nodded: "This disciple will absolutely not tell anyone."

Just kidding, if this news gets out, it will probably cause a stir in the royal families of all nine kingdoms.

"Although the head of the martial arts academy is a fellow disciple of the founding emperor of the Great Liang Dynasty, he will not favor the Great Liang. The purpose of the martial arts academy is to cultivate martial arts geniuses, regardless of nationality. Has anything come to mind?"

Upon hearing Zhao Qianqiu's question, Lin Chen pondered for a moment and replied, "The Yan Dynasty?"

Yesterday at the Martial Academy, Elder Zhao informed us that the Yan Dynasty had sent people to spread martial arts here, but they had requirements for martial artists from this desolate place, especially talented ones.

The purpose of the martial arts academy is to cultivate genius martial artists...

There is probably some kind of connection between the two.

"The bamboo slips that were revealed in the snowy region are not the earliest ones. The garden master had already discovered similar bamboo slips a long time ago, which is why the martial arts garden aims to cultivate geniuses."

Lin Chen suddenly realized: "I see, I understand now."

"Wu Yuan knows about this, but whether the other countries know about it is unknown."

Zhao Qianqiu's words were meaningful. Lin Chen was taken aback and asked, "Elder Zhao, what do you mean by that?"

“Back then, dozens of martial artists from the Yan Dynasty came here, belonging to different forces. The Snow Region was just one of them. My Martial Garden was able to find one bamboo slip, and the Snow Region had another bamboo slip. Who can guarantee that there weren’t any elsewhere? Could other countries, including the Great Liang, have also found bamboo slips but simply chosen to conceal the news?”

Several other countries also discovered this, but they concealed the news?
What benefit would these countries gain from concealing this information?

Lin Chen pondered for a while, and then his eyes lit up. He understood what Elder Zhao meant.

“Some people want to wait for the Yan Dynasty to arrive, and then use this advance information to make contact with them in advance.”

Zhao Qianqiu said quietly, "There are more than a dozen sects in the Great Liang. The strength of the martial artists in each sect varies. However, if one sect is to swallow up another, it will also suffer heavy losses. But if the power of the Great Liang is gathered, it is very easy to destroy a sect."

"The Nine Kingdoms, to the Yan Dynasty, may be the difference between floating in the water and the clear sky."

"Who can guarantee that if a genius emerges from our country and is valued by a force from the Yan Dynasty, that force won't extend that favor to the country that produced the genius and help it unify the nine kingdoms?"

Lin Chen was suddenly struck by the fact that Elder Zhao's words were highly likely to be true.

"Not to mention... there were several forces from the Yan Dynasty that came here back then. We have no idea whether these forces were enemies or competitors of the Yan Dynasty..."

Zhao Qianqiu stared intently at Lin Chen: "Don't harbor any illusions. If you want to control your own destiny, there is only one way: make yourself a genius enough. If I'm not mistaken, the Yan Dynasty set these rules in order to gather martial arts geniuses."

"Only those who surpass all the geniuses in the history of the Nine Kingdoms may be able to catch the eye of the Yan Dynasty."

(End of this chapter)