Rise from a Poor Family: My Martial Arts Counterattack

Chapter 280 The Meeting of Two Generations of Prodigies of the Great Liang Dynasty

A longsword pierces the sky!

A figure rushed past Lin Chen.

He swung his sword again, aiming behind him.

Ah!
Lin Chen only heard a muffled groan behind him. When he turned around, he saw a middle-aged man clutching his arm, with blood dripping from his hand.

“This person has violated the border blockade regulations of my Zhao state. I am acting in accordance with the rules. Does your Liang state intend to challenge Liang state to war?”

The middle-aged man looked to Lin Chen's right, his face filled with anger. Only then did Lin Chen notice that a young man was standing next to him.

A young man dressed in a blue robe.

"You're a member of the Liang family?"

"I am a member of the Liang family."

Upon hearing Lin Chen's answer, the young man did not ask any further questions. He turned his gaze to the middle-aged man from Zhao across the way: "You dare to attack my Liang people and even chase me across the border. Today, I shall cut off your arm."

call out!
The man swung his longsword again, and the sword light flashed. Before Lin Chen could even see the sword light clearly, a scream came from the other side.

The middle-aged man's left arm fell to the ground.

"If you don't get out of my Great Liang territory within ten breaths, then leave your life behind."

The young man spoke calmly, as if he were talking about something trivial.

The middle-aged man's eyes were filled with resentment. As a fifth-grade martial artist, having his arm severed by a single sword strike was a great humiliation. But he also knew that the person who could strike him so hard that he didn't even have time to react was definitely a fourth-grade martial artist.

“The Zhao Kingdom will keep this record. If your Liang Kingdom wants to be an enemy of other kingdoms, then you’d better wait.”

After uttering a harsh remark, the middle-aged man picked up the severed arm that had fallen to the ground and slunk away.

"Thank you for saving me, sir."

Lin Chen looked at the man in front of him and for some reason, he felt that the man looked familiar, as if he had seen him somewhere before.

But if one had actually seen a powerhouse of that level, one would definitely remember them.

“You are a son of my Liang Kingdom, how can I sit idly by and do nothing? The Zhao Kingdom thinks that my Great Liang is too busy to care about anything else, so they want to take advantage of the situation. They have made a mistake.”

Upon hearing the young man's words, Lin Chen was startled. Was he taking advantage of the situation?

Could something terrible have happened in Daliang?
"Senior, why did the Zhao Kingdom suddenly close its borders?"

The young man turned around, looked Lin Chen up and down, and after a while asked, "What's your name?"

"Junior Lin Chen."

The young man, whose expression had been calm, suddenly changed his expression strangely, and his eyes twitched a few times: "Lin Chen from Raozhou Prefecture in Jiangnan Circuit?"

"It is indeed this junior. Senior, do you know this junior?"

"Not only do I know, but I also have some connection with you. Can you guess who I am?"

"Guess?"

Upon hearing this, Lin Chen carefully examined the senior in front of him. Judging from his appearance, this senior was only in his early thirties, definitely not forty.

Furthermore, this senior asked him to guess, which must mean he believed he could guess from the existing conditions.

In his thirties, wielding a sword... his strength is suspected to be among the best of the mid-level martial artists...

Most importantly, he felt like he recognized him...

With all these factors combined, a name popped into Lin Chen's mind, and his eyes lit up: "You...you are Senior Pei Qingming?"

"Not bad, you're quite quick-witted."

Pei Qingming nodded with a smile, and Lin Chen's face also showed excitement after receiving Pei Qingming's confirmation.

This is the undisputed number one genius in the Great Liang Dynasty for the past three hundred years.

Although he was also called a genius, he only surpassed this senior Pei in terms of potential.

"Senior Pei, what brings you here?"

"This is not the place to talk. Come with me."

If it were anyone else, even a genius disciple of the Great Liang, Pei Qingming wouldn't waste his time. He had his own purpose in appearing here, but since this young man was Lin Chen, he was willing to spend some time on him.

Lin Chen followed behind Pei Qingming, and the two headed into the distance.

Along the way, Pei Qingming walked ahead at a considerable pace, and Lin Chen dared not ask any questions, so he could only do his best to follow behind.

With his current strength, even when he went all out, he could only barely keep up with Pei Qingming's pace. Seeing Pei's leisurely stroll, Lin Chen secretly reminded himself that he still had a long way to go in the path of martial arts.

There is still a big gap between myself and the truly strong.

"good."

Fifteen minutes later, Pei Qingming stopped and muttered something to himself.

He deliberately sped up along the way. For someone of Lin Chen's age to be able to keep up with him without falling behind for too long and without running out of steam, his vigor and strength were truly remarkable.

After the war between Daliang and the Northern Frontier Demon Clan began, he returned to Daliang and made a special trip to Lingxiao Martial Academy, where he also met with Dean Hou.

This was the first time he had ever seen Dean Hou praise a young man so highly, especially when Dean Hou mentioned that Lin Chen's vitality was unprecedented since the founding of the Great Liang Dynasty. At that time, he had some doubts and felt that the dean was exaggerating.

In retrospect, Dean Hou was not exaggerating.

Lin Chen was stunned when he heard the word "not bad". Before he could react, a woman's figure walked out from the bamboo forest in front of him.

"Brother Pei is back."

The woman had a serene smile on her face, but when she saw Lin Chen following behind Pei Qingming, a hint of doubt appeared in her eyes.

"Qingqing, let me introduce you. This little guy has broken all my records: Martial Dao Mountain, Lingxiao Hall... I think he won't be able to keep my record for the fastest breakthrough in the future either."

Pei Qingming spoke with a smile, and Lin Chen rubbed his nose somewhat embarrassedly.

Some of my records seem to suggest that I really gained fame by stepping on Senior Pei. Luckily, I didn't go to Lingxiao Martial Academy, otherwise I really wouldn't be able to explain it.

"You're Lin Chen?"

Dai Qingqing looked at Lin Chen with great interest. In her eyes, Brother Pei was the most amazing genius she had ever seen. But she never expected that in just two short years, all the records that Brother Pei had set had been broken.

This also made her very curious about what was so special about the boy named Lin Chen who broke Brother Pei's record.

"Junior has seen ..."

"No need for the junior title. We're not that different in age. Just call me Brother Pei like Qingqing does, and Qingqing can call me Sister."

Pei Qingming interrupted Lin Chen's politeness with a smile, saying, "If you call Qingqing 'Senior,' I'm afraid Qingqing will be unhappy and feel that you're making her sound old."

"Then I'll listen to Brother Pei. I've met Sister Qingqing."

Dai Qingqing nodded: "It's my honor to be called 'sister' by the future genius of Daliang. You and Brother Pei chat, I'll go prepare lunch for you."

"Thank you for your help, Sister Qingqing."

Dai Qingqing walked into the bamboo forest, while Pei Qingming led Lin Chen to stand on the hillside on one side of the bamboo forest.

“If it were a martial artist your age, there are some things I shouldn’t tell you, but given your potential and the training that Daliang has given you, it’s alright to let you know in advance.”

Pei Qingming spoke, and Lin Chen listened attentively. He knew that his elder brother Pei was about to tell him about some major events that had recently occurred.

"Five days ago, the Marquis of Zhenbei led our Great Liang army to the royal court of the Northern Frontier Demon Clan. If nothing unexpected happens, this battle will completely annihilate the Northern Frontier Demon Clan and lay the foundation for the eternal stability of our Great Liang's Northern Frontier."

Lin Chen's face showed no joy upon hearing this. Brother Pei had said "unless something unexpected happened," so did something unexpected actually occur?
"Then, just three days ago, when the Marquis of Zhenbei was preparing to launch a general offensive against the demon royal court, the Han Kingdom suddenly intervened and demanded that our Great Liang stop its attack on the northern demons."

"Why?"

Lin Chen's face was filled with anger. The Northern Frontier Demon Clan had plagued the Great Liang for hundreds of years, not to mention the previous dynasty. This time, there was an opportunity to wipe out the Northern Frontier Demon Clan in one fell swoop, but just because of a word from the Han Kingdom, the Great Liang was going to give up?

Pei Qingming saw the anger on Lin Chen's face. In fact, when he first learned of this news, he was also unable to suppress his anger.

"Because the martial arts resources needed by Han Kingdom can only be provided by the Northern Frontier Demon Clan, destroying the Northern Frontier Demon Clan will affect Han Kingdom's martial arts resources, and therefore we, Great Liang, are required to stop our attack."

This is the reason why Han Kingdom made Daliang cease hostilities.

"You really have the nerve to ask that."

Lin Chen's face was full of sarcasm. He knew very well that this was just an excuse that Han Kingdom had made up. The real reason was that Han Kingdom wanted to keep the Northern Frontier Demon Clan. As long as the Northern Frontier Demon Clan existed, Daliang would have to station troops in the north to guard it, and would also have to face harassment from the Northern Frontier Demon Clan from time to time.

"Brother Pei, the imperial court hasn't agreed, has it?" "Of course not."

Pei Qingming's eyes flashed with coldness: "In this battle against the Northern Frontier Demon Clan, my Great Liang lost more than two hundred mid-grade martial artists and nearly a thousand low-grade martial artists. As for the martial artists who had cultivated internal organs, they were countless. The entire court was determined to settle the Northern Frontier in one battle. How could we retreat at this point? Let alone the Han Kingdom, no one can stop my Great Liang."

More than two hundred mid-grade martial artists, plus nearly a thousand low-grade martial artists. The Great Liang has used up its resources of twenty years. If it gives up halfway, how can it face these martial artists who died in battle?
"What about South Korea?"

"The Han Kingdom did not actually fight against our Great Liang, but it directly cut off border trade with our Great Liang, and with its powerful influence, it also made several other countries want to sever ties with our Great Liang."

Lin Chen suddenly realized that Zhao State's blockade of its border with Daliang was on the orders of Han State.

"The states of Zhao, Zheng, and Xiang have all severed their border ties with our Great Liang. As for the states of Ze, Wu, and Qi, these three have never shared any borders with our Great Liang. The only state that shares a border with our Great Liang, Yan, has not yet made a statement."

"Can the Yan state withstand the pressure?"

"Although Yan is a small country, it is precisely because Yan has maintained smooth communication with other countries for many years that it can use this as a reason to temporarily suspend the closure of the border, but I think it won't last long."

South Korea is very strong!

As the only major power among the nine kingdoms that has existed for over a thousand years without being overthrown, even Pei Qingming had to admit that Han Kingdom's martial arts strength was superior to Daliang's.

"Brother Pei, why doesn't Han Kingdom directly wage war against our Great Liang?"

Hearing Lin Chen ask this question, Pei Qingming had a mocking look on his face: "This is why the Han Kingdom has been able to stand for a thousand years without being destroyed. In the past thousand years, the other eight kingdoms have all experienced wars. Take my Great Liang Kingdom for example, it has experienced several dynastic changes, and the Han Kingdom has been pushing things along in all of these."

"South Korea is very clever; it never intervenes proactively. If any country begins to rise, it will suppress it and support other countries to counter it. To some extent, South Korea did provide assistance to Emperor Taizu in his rapid rise, but..."

Pei Qingming changed the subject: "My Great Liang has no need to be grateful to the Han Kingdom. The reason why the Han Kingdom helped the founding emperor was only to take this opportunity to invade my Great Liang's territory. It was only because the founding emperor resisted that the Han Kingdom was not able to succeed. Moreover, my Great Liang has already repaid the Han Kingdom double for the assistance it provided."

"Lin Chen, this time our Great Liang is determined to destroy the Northern Frontier Demon Clan. No matter what the Han Kingdom does, our Great Liang will fight to the end. We have already survived the most difficult period of the past three hundred years. Our founding emperor and his generation never bowed down to the Han Kingdom, and our generation will not."

Pei Qingming told Lin Chen this because once the news of the border blockade by several countries gets out, many forces within the Great Liang territory that have suffered losses will act sarcastically, especially those whose clansmen are in other countries. With the blockade by several countries, their descendants are all abroad and unable to return, so they are probably feeling uneasy.

Pei Qingming was well aware of his influence in Daliang. He could influence the young martial artists of this generation, and Lin Chen, as the number one genius of the new generation in Daliang, would influence the new generation of martial artists in Daliang with his words and deeds.

If the three generations—old, middle-aged, and young—are united, no matter how many schemes and tricks the Han Kingdom employs, it will not affect the Great Liang.

“Brother Pei, I understand, and I support the court in doing this.”

Lin Chen nodded, expressing his stance: this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to annihilate the Northern Frontier demon race must not be missed.

Even if South Korea were to take action, Great Liang should not give up, let alone just exert pressure.

Ultimately, Han Kingdom still dared not take action against Liang Kingdom, because Han Kingdom had become accustomed to supporting other forces and to controlling the situation of the nine kingdoms from a superior position. If it took action, Liang Kingdom might be defeated, but Han Kingdom would also suffer a great loss of strength.

Upon hearing Lin Chen's statement, Pei Qingming smiled.

Perhaps even Lin Chen himself doesn't realize how much influence he has on the new generation of martial artists in Daliang.

When he returned home, his nephew would mention Lin Chen in his conversations, and Lin Chen's letter to his junior brother in Jiangnan had already spread throughout the entire Liang Dynasty.

Each generation has its own objects of worship.

Lin Chen is the object of admiration for the new generation of martial artists in the Great Liang Dynasty.

"We haven't finished talking yet, but the food is already ready. It'll get cold if we don't eat it soon."

Dai Qingqing appeared at the foot of the hillside, looking at the two figures standing on the hillside, and raised a scroll in her hand.

The painting depicts a hillside with two figures standing on it. Although their faces are not visible, their figures and appearances suggest that one is a boy and the other a young man.

In the distance, the sun cast long shadows of the two people.

Seeing Lin Chen's gaze fall on the scroll in her hand, Dai Qingqing smiled and explained, "I saw you two were having a very serious conversation, and I didn't want to disturb you, so I just drew a picture for you."

Dai Qingqing was about to call the two for dinner when she was drawn to the scene of them chatting on the hillside.

One of them is the number one genius among the younger generation of the Great Liang Dynasty.

One of them is the number one genius of the new generation in Daliang.

The two stood together, as if carrying on a tradition.

As a witness, she wanted to paint this scene.

"Sister Qingqing's painting skills are superb."

"Your sister Qingqing likes to dabble in painting whenever she has free time. When it comes to painting skills, there are few in the entire Daliang who can compare to your sister Qingqing."

Pei Qingming watched for a while and then explained to Lin Chen.

"Brother Pei, you're just flattering me. My painting skills are far from those of the masters."

After lunch, Pei Qingming and Lin Chen went to the hillside again.

"I heard from Dean Hou that you chose a bow and arrow as your spiritual weapon?"

"Ah."

Lin Chen took out the Dragon Shadow Bow from his waist. Pei Qingming glanced at it and said, "Not bad, it's a good bow."

"Let me see your archery skills."

Upon hearing Pei Qingming's words, Lin Chen knew that his elder brother Pei was going to give him some pointers.

As the number one martial arts genius in Daliang, Brother Pei's martial arts skills are probably no less than those of his own teacher. Moreover, like Brother Pei, he is already far ahead of his peers. Even his teacher and the dean often cannot accurately predict his progress in martial arts.

On the contrary, Brother Pei, being someone who has been through it all, can offer me more experience.

"Brother Pei, please give me your guidance."

"Ah."

Pei Qingming put his hands behind his back, while Lin Chen held his breath and concentrated, his blood and qi surging like a volcano. The Dragon Shadow Bow was drawn, and the bowstring emitted a deep dragon's roar.

The mere act of drawing the bow produced a resounding dragon's roar, something Lin Chen had never been able to do before.

In the past, only when the Dragon Shadow Bow was drawn to its limit and an arrow was released would the sound of a dragon's roar resound.

The reason for the change in the Dragon Shadow Bow is that its blood and qi have been enhanced, and the blood and qi contain the energy of the dragon. The Dragon Shadow Bow has sensed more of the dragon's energy.

At the same time, the golden figure inside Lin Chen's dantian spun and transformed into three golden arrows that appeared on the bow and arrow.

The simultaneous firing of three arrows was something Lin Chen had never been able to do before.

Even though his martial will has grown in the Canglan Palace, controlling the martial will is essentially controlling the soul. He was able to fire three arrows at the same time thanks to the profoundness of the Thousand Machines Refining God Technique.

"Three arrows?"

Pei Qingming was also surprised to see Lin Chen nock three arrows in an instant.

call out!
call out!
call out!
The next moment, Lin Chen lightly tapped his fingers, and three arrows, accompanied by icy blue vortexes, shot out into the air, forming a triangular shape, sealing off the area around Pei Qingming.

"It's alright."

Pei Qingming whispered something, and when the three arrows were right in front of him, he raised his right hand and pointed out with one finger.

With a flick of his finger, the three arrows vanished instantly.

Seeing this, Lin Chen's pupils contracted, and he suddenly retreated. Taking advantage of the momentum, the bowstring rang out again with a dragon's roar, and his right hand repeatedly drew the bow.

shhhhhh!
Golden arrows rained down, one after another.

Twelve arrows were fired in quick succession, and Lin Chen then put away his bow.

With all his might, firing twelve arrows in the blink of an eye was already his limit.

Pei Qingming's pupils contracted slightly. He hadn't expected Lin Chen to be able to shoot twelve arrows in a row. The power of each arrow was already close to that of an eighth-rank martial artist. With twelve arrows in a row, even an eighth-rank martial artist would be injured if they were not prepared.

I don't have that kind of strength at Lin Chen's age.

Pei Qingming felt a sense of satisfaction at being surpassed by Lin Chen, who was the same age as him.

It is a blessing for the Great Liang to have such a rising genius.

"Lin Chen, watch carefully."

Pei Qingming drew his sword from its sheath. Lin Chen stared intently, but he couldn't see Pei Qingming's sword-drawing posture. He only saw the sword light flash through the air, and then the world returned to silence.

The twelve arrows vanished instantly.

"You've forced me to draw my sword, that's quite good."

(End of this chapter)