Rise from a Poor Family: My Martial Arts Counterattack

Chapter 212 Bafang City

Poyang Lake is 800 miles long. Going down the lake, it goes directly to the coast of the East China Sea through the Minjiang River.

"Boatman, are you going to Bafang City?"

"Ten taels of silver for the upper cabin, five taels of silver for the lower cabin, and one tael of silver for the deck."

"How long will it take to get to Bafang City?"

"Four hours."

"The deck will be fine."

"Sir, in order to board the ship, you must pay money and be a warrior. If you are not a warrior, we will not let you board our ship."

"Why?"

"Warriors don't have to pay the city entry tax. Although we are traveling by water, we still have to pass through the rivers of several cities. If we pay the city entry fee, it will probably take a lot of time."

The young man listened to the captain's words, was silent for a moment, lightly tapped his right foot, and jumped onto the cabin deck.

"Boatman, it's ok now."

"can!"

Seeing the young man leap and land steadily on the deck, the smile on the captain's face became more enthusiastic than before.

“This is for travel expenses.”

"Okay, sir, you can sit by the pole."

The captain took the money, said a few words and then went into the cabin.

The young man didn't sit on the railing. It was only six hours, and it wasn't like he couldn't stand.

For him now, it’s not that he is reluctant to spend ten taels of silver to go to the inner cabin, but there is no need to do so. He can still enjoy the scenery along the way on the deck.

This young man was naturally Lin Chen who was heading to Canglan Martial Arts Academy.

He took a boat from Linhu Village and sailed down Poyang Lake. After leaving Poyang Lake, he got off the boat here and changed boats several times afterwards.

Boat captains seldom carry passengers across borders. Firstly, they are not familiar with the waters of other places. Secondly, carrying passengers across borders is likely to cause dissatisfaction among local boat captains.

This is the sixth ship he has been on.

During the journey, we also stayed in inns in the counties along the way and arrived here without any problems.

Now it only takes another four hours to reach Happo Castle in Tokaido.

Although Bafang City is not where Canglan Martial Arts Academy is located, it is the most prosperous county town for trade between Tōkaidō and other routes.

According to the route arranged by the teacher, Lin Chen no longer needed to take the bus after arriving at Bafang City. Instead, he took the land route directly to Canglan City where Canglan Martial Arts Academy was located.

There were not many people on the deck.

To be precise, there is only Lin Chen.

An hour later, someone came out of the cabin.

"The deck is more comfortable. It's too stuffy to stay in the cabin."

"I think the captain should charge ten taels for the deck and five taels for the cabin."

"What if it rains and blows?"

Lin Chen just glanced at the three young men who came out and then looked away. The oldest one among the three was a martial artist who practiced internal martial arts, and the remaining two were only at the awakening stage.

There is a difference between the internalization of qi and blood in the state of awakening the orifices and that in the state of training the internal organs. Lin Chen has this kind of vision.

"This young man is smart and chose to stay on the deck. Is he going to Bafang City to participate in the assessment of Canglan Martial Academy?"

"No."

Seeing the other party asking, Lin Chen did not remain cool, but smiled and shook his head.

"Brother, you are talking nonsense. If this person was going to participate in the assessment of Canglan Martial Academy, why would he stay on the deck? He would have gone to the second floor or chartered a boat directly."

The slightly younger boy next to the inquiring man curled his lips. As a senior brother, he immediately glared at his junior brother, then looked at Lin Chen: "Don't mind it, little brother. My junior brother has no ill intentions."

Lin Chen nodded, but didn't take it to heart.

He didn't want to play out a plot where he was discriminated against and then slapped in the face. After all, they were just passengers on the same ship. He might not meet her again in this life after getting off the ship.

"I have heard of Canglan Martial Academy, but I have never heard of the assessment in Bafang City. Even if there is an assessment, shouldn't it be held in Canglan Martial Academy?"

Hearing Lin Chen's words, the man smiled and said, "Not everyone can enter Canglan Martial Academy. Only disciples of the Martial Academy and geniuses who have received the disciple letter from the Martial Academy can go there. Those who want to enter Canglan Martial Academy can only take the assessment in Bafang City. Only after passing the assessment can they go to Canglan Martial Academy for the second round of review."

"At this time of year, Bafang City is extremely lively. My three brothers and I went to see the excitement and meet those martial arts geniuses. What's your name, little brother?"

"My last name is Lin."

"Since Brother Lin has gone to Bafang City, he can also go and see the excitement. By the way, where is Brother Lin from?"

"Jiangnan Road."

Hearing that Lin Chen came from Jiangnan Dao, the man suddenly realized: "No wonder the young man didn't know about the Canglan Martial Academy assessment. You Jiangnan Dao are too closed."

"What do you mean by closed? Jiangnan Dao's martial arts have always been at the bottom. Jiangnan Dao is a mountainous area with poor mountains and bad waters, and there is little contact with the outside world."

The fellow student next to him interrupted again. Lin Chen's eyes narrowed slightly, but he was not angry. He just understood what the teacher said, that the warriors of Jiangnan Dao would be discriminated against when they went out.

"That can't be said. Now the court has announced the matter of the demon race. Jiangnan Dao paid a huge price for Daliang to be able to destroy the demon race in one fell swoop. The martial arts masters died, which led to the decline of Jiangnan Dao's martial arts."

Lin Chen smiled and didn't respond.

……

……

The boat was moving fast on the lake, and the passengers in the cabins all went to the deck, but the passengers on the second floor didn't need to, as the second floor was open, with just an awning. More than three hours later.

Lin Chen stood on the deck and saw a towering city in front of him.

Bafang City appeared in sight.

"Gentlemen, we will reach Bafang City in a quarter of an hour."

When the captain's voice came, the passengers in the cabin came out one after another, including many passengers in the upper cabin.

"Brother Zhu, Bafang City is coming soon!"

Several young boys and girls walked out of the cabin, six people in total, four men and two women. Lin Chen only took a glance and found that these people were most likely dirty warriors.

"I wish that Senior Brother will be able to enter Canglan Martial Academy in one fell swoop this time."

The man called Senior Brother Zhu had a proud look on his face: "Thank you for your good wishes, I will have a drink with you all after I pass the test."

"Brother Zhu, there will be no problem. Your elder brother is a disciple of Canglan Martial Academy. With elder brother Zhu here, it will not be a problem to pass the test."

"Hey, move aside."

Several people came down from the upper cabin, and one of them looked at Lin Chen who was standing at the front of the deck and spoke.

Lin Chen glanced at the few people and was about to say something when the man who had been talking to him all the way pulled his sleeve. Lin Chen glanced at the man and finally silently gave up the front row seat on the deck.

"Brother Lin, those who are qualified to take the test all have extraordinary family backgrounds. This person's eldest brother has entered the Canglan Martial Arts Academy. The worst of his family may have middle-grade warriors. We cannot afford to offend them."

Seeing Lin Chen move aside, Ji Qing lowered his voice.

"Thank you for the reminder, Brother Ji."

"When you're out, it's better to have less trouble than more. Bafang City has been very busy these days, and there will be many children of the rich and powerful. People like us can't afford to offend them."

In Ji Qing's opinion, since Lin Chen was willing to spend one or two taels of silver to stand on the deck while on a ship, he must have an ordinary family background. He had used up all his family's money to cultivate to the Lianzang realm. If he wanted to break through further, he would have to rely on his own efforts, just like himself.

……

……

The wharf of Bafang City stretches for thousands of feet, with merchant ships coming in and out in an endless stream.

As a city where three rivers meet, the prosperity of Bafang City can be seen from the rows of merchant ships and the huge docks.

The pier of Bafang City is very long, and there is a pier specifically for warriors to disembark from their cruise ships.

At this moment, several young men were standing at the dock, and the one in the middle was a young man wearing a green martial arts uniform.

All the people who came ashore had envy on their faces when they saw the pattern embroidered on the boy’s chest.

Red sun and blue sea!

The logo of Canglan Martial Arts Academy.

This person is a formal student of Canglan Martial Academy.

"Brother Zhu, your brother will definitely be able to successfully pass the martial arts academy assessment this time when he comes to Bafang City. There are only a few families other than the Zhu family that can have two martial arts academy disciples."

"It would have been better in previous years, but this year..."

Zhu Xing shook his head with worry in his eyes. He asked the instructor through his connections and found out that there were a total of 5,000 students registered for Canglan Martial Arts Academy this year. If it was just the increase in the number of students, it wouldn't be a big deal, as there were more than 20 of them who could definitely enter the academy.

It is no exaggeration to say that as long as these twenty or so people are interested, the martial arts academy will be willing to send them disciple letters.

These people chose Canglan Martial Academy at the last minute, so they had to pass the assessment according to the rules to enter the academy. The academy only recruited sixty disciples every year. This time, considering the existence of these geniuses, forty more places were added, but the difficulty was still much greater than before.

After all, in addition to the twenty or so people who must take up one place, there are many people who were originally able to pass the assessment of other martial arts academies and have also signed up for Canglan Martial Arts Academy.

And the reason for all this is because of that person.

A role model of Daliang martial arts students, Lin Chen from Jiangnan Dao.

"Brother Zhu, it seems like another disciple has arrived from your martial arts academy."

The person next to him spoke up to remind him, and Zhu Xing looked in the direction the person who reminded him was looking. When he saw the person coming, there was surprise in his eyes.

Why is this person here?

"Excuse me, fellow apprentices."

Zhu Xing threw down these words and walked over there. The fellow disciples around him were not students of Canglan Martial Academy, but they came to Bafang City to participate in the assessment of Canglan Martial Academy. They were from the same prefecture as him.

"Senior Brother Qu."

"You are……"

"Blessings to the stars."

"Haha, Junior Brother Zhu, why are you here?"

Qu Feng looked at Zhu Xing in front of him, and when he heard him introduce himself, he remembered that he had such a junior brother.

An extremely ordinary junior fellow student in the martial arts academy.

"I'm here to pick up my brother. He has also signed up for this year's martial arts academy assessment."

"That's... that's really good. If I can enter the martial arts academy, it will be a good story."

Qu Feng nodded, but his attitude was not enthusiastic. Not to mention whether Zhu Xing's brother could pass the martial arts academy assessment, even if he passed it would not mean much.

"Brother Qu, are you here at the dock to pick someone up as well?"

"Ah."

Zhu Xing originally wanted to ask Senior Brother Qu who he was going to pick up, but looking at Senior Brother Qu's attitude, it seemed that he didn't want to say more, so he didn't ask. Anyway, he would be able to see it soon.

(End of this chapter)