Rise from a Poor Family: My Martial Arts Counterattack

Chapter 304 Spirit Rank Four, The Secret of the Yan Kingdom

Murong Song entered the courtyard and took the initiative to speak with a smile: "Brother Hou, I've come to invite Lin Chen to the palace."

compensate!

Upon hearing Murong Song mention the imperial palace, Hou Zhantian and Lin Chen exchanged a glance, and the first thing that came to their minds was the compensation offered by the Yan royal family.

However, Hou Zhantian hesitated, wondering if it was necessary to go to the palace to offer compensation.
The Yan royal family could simply deliver the compensation to their doorstep.

At this critical moment, Hou Zhantian cannot afford to be careless.

“Brother Hou, the royal family of Yan Kingdom is skilled in spiritual cultivation, but some things can only be given in the palace. I guarantee that Lin Chen will not encounter any danger in the palace.”

Murong Song could guess what Hou Zhantian was worried about, so he directly used the royal family's reputation to guarantee it.

"This junior is willing to follow the senior to the palace."

Hearing this, Lin Chen finally made a decision to make the trip to the palace.

Since he arrived in Yan, the Yan royal family has always been fair and impartial, showing no favoritism towards Han, as evidenced by the scores in the first round of the points competition.

"Alright, then I'll trouble Junior Brother Chen to come along."

Hou Zhantian nodded. Murong Song had made his intentions so clear that the compensation he was about to offer was extraordinary. He wouldn't stop Lin Chen from getting the benefits, and having Chen Shan accompany him would ensure there would be no danger along the way.

……

……

The Imperial Palace of Yan State.

"Junior Brother Chen, please rest and wait in this side hall."

Murong Song led Lin Chen and Chen Shan into the palace, heading straight for the back courtyard, and finally stopped in front of a grand hall.

"it is good."

Chen Shan gave Lin Chen a wary look and, led by a palace maid, went to a side hall, while Murong Song smiled and led Lin Chen into the main hall.

At the head of the main hall, the old man from before was standing on the steps, his hands behind his back, studying a mural in front of him.

"Third Uncle, Lin Chen is here."

"Junior Lin Chen greets Senior Murong."

Lin Chen bowed, as Dean Hou had already told him the identity of the old man who appeared at the scene.

One of the three first-rank martial artists in the Yan Kingdom royal family, he is the third uncle of the current Yan Kingdom emperor. He has been a first-rank martial artist for nearly thirty years and is approaching one hundred years old.

"The pride of the Great Liang Dynasty truly lives up to its name."

Murong Zheng turned around, his old eyes smiling as he looked at Lin Chen: "When the news first spread that a genius with potential surpassing Pei Qingming had been born in Great Liang, I didn't believe it. Pei Qingming's martial arts talent was already rare in the world, and now another genius like him has been born in such a short time. Heaven has been too kind to Great Liang. Now it seems that I was short-sighted."

"You flatter me, senior," Lin Chen said modestly.

"No need to be modest. To be able to separate your divine soul from your divine thoughts at this level, you are the number one in the Nine Kingdoms. At least I have never heard of anyone being able to do this at the very beginning of the cultivation process."

Lin Chen narrowed his eyes slightly, but did not respond to those words.

"The Soul Verification Stele is a treasure of our Yan Kingdom. Our royal family is well aware of its mysteries. However, since Young Master Lin is unwilling to publicize it, our royal family will not reveal it to the outside world. You can rest assured."

Seeing Lin Chen's silence, Murong Zheng smiled wryly: "This compensation for you is also related to your divine sense."

"Thank you, senior. I was only able to separate my soul by sheer luck."

Upon hearing that the other party's compensation was related to divine sense, Lin Chen stopped pretending to be silent and admitted it.

Hearing Lin Chen's words, Murong Song's lips twitched. What a pragmatic little guy.

"In the Thousand Illusions Secret Realm, you must have obtained a red fruit..."

Murong Zheng had also figured out Lin Chen's personality. Before Lin Chen could admit it, he continued, "This red fruit is called the Spirit Tempering Fruit. It has the effect of tempering the soul and condensing the divine sense. This time, I will give you ten Spirit Tempering Fruits as compensation."

Ten?

Lin Chen's pupils shrank suddenly. He had experienced the effects of the Spirit Tempering Fruit before. Even if the later Spirit Tempering Fruits were not as effective as the first one, the quantity was still there, and it was possible for him to break through to the fourth level of the Spirit Rank.

The fourth rank is equivalent to the soul strength of a seventh-rank martial artist. If combined with his Thousand Machines Refining God Technique, he would instantly kill martial artists below the middle rank.

"Does Senior have any instructions?"

Upon hearing Lin Chen's words, a hint of appreciation appeared in Murong Zheng's eyes. With such a great temptation in front of him, Lin Chen was still able to remain calm, a truly rare state of mind.

There is no free lunch.

Lin Chen was well aware of this. The one who attacked him today was Lu Qiguang, who had nothing to do with the Yan Kingdom. Even if the Yan Kingdom wanted to compensate him, there was no need to offer such a generous gift.

As for the reason being his relationship with Murong Yan, that's even more impossible.

Even if the matter were settled, I am still just a junior and not qualified to be personally summoned by this first-rank expert and offered such a great benefit.

When you treat others with courtesy, you must ask for something.

Is there a place in the Yan royal family where they need me?

"I need your help with something, young friend. But rest assured, this matter poses no danger to you. Regardless of whether it succeeds or not, I will offer you all ten Spirit Tempering Fruits."

“In that case, I am willing to give it a try.”

"Alright, young friend, please follow me."

Murong Zheng didn't waste any time; the ranking competition started tomorrow, and time was of the essence.

Lin Chen followed Murong Zheng through the corridor behind the screen and finally appeared in front of a pavilion.

Two middle-aged men were guarding the pavilion, but they turned and left at Murong Zheng's wave.

Upon seeing the two middle-aged men, Lin Chen pondered to himself that this was the imperial palace, which was guarded by imperial guards. Moreover, the area he had come to should be the backyard of the imperial palace, which was heavily guarded. However, even with such heavy guards, there were additional mid-level martial artists guarding the pavilion, which was enough to show the importance of the pavilion to the Yan Kingdom's royal family.

Does it contain treasures or secrets of the Yan royal family?
While Lin Chen was pondering, Murong Zheng had already pushed open the door to the pavilion: "Young friend, come in."

Lin Chen followed and stepped into the pavilion. After entering, he scanned the entire pavilion with a look of surprise in his eyes.

The entire attic was filled with many red lines, somewhat resembling some laser protection scenes he had seen in his previous life.

The difference is that these red lines are not lasers, but soul lines.

"Young friend, the task I need to ask you is very simple: use your divine soul to manipulate this token, pass it through these soul lines, and send it to the jade disc at the very front."

Murong Zheng produced a jade token, and Lin Chen followed Murong Zheng's gaze to the front. On the wall at the front hung a huge jade disc with a groove in the middle that was exactly the shape of the jade token in Murong Zheng's hand.

"Senior, this matter doesn't require my involvement."

Lin Chen was not arrogant enough to think that he was the only one in the entire Nine Kingdoms who could separate his soul. Just because a low-grade martial artist couldn't do it didn't mean that a mid-grade or high-grade martial artist couldn't, especially a powerful force like the Yan Kingdom's royal family, which was famous for its soul cultivation in the Nine Kingdoms.

"There is a restriction here. Only martial artists under the age of twenty can put the token into the jade disc for it to be effective. As for what the effect will be, it is a secret of my royal family, and I am sorry that I cannot tell you, young friend."

Murong Zheng's attitude was very polite. Lin Chen suddenly realized that if that was the case, then apart from himself, it would be really difficult for the Yan royal family to find a suitable candidate.

To meet the requirements of the Yan Kingdom's royal family, one must be a martial arts genius with an extraordinary soul, and secondly, one must learn the method of soul control.

Even for myself, if I hadn't gone to the ruins of the Qingtian Sect by chance and obtained the Thousand Machines Refining God Technique, even with a soul far superior to ordinary people, I wouldn't have been able to separate my divine thoughts.

"I understand, I will do my best."

"I believe you will succeed, young friend. I will be waiting outside for your good news."

Murong handed the jade token to Lin Chen. Lin Chen did not rush to use it, but stared at the jade token in his hand and pondered it.

The jade token was extremely light in his hand. He tried to push it, but found that it did not move at all in his palm.

"what!"

With a thought, Lin Chen controlled his soul to separate a wisp and place it on the jade token. The next moment, the jade token slowly floated up.

"It actually requires the use of one's soul to control it. No wonder the Yan royal family needed to summon me."

Having confirmed that the jade token could only be moved by the soul, Lin Chen finally understood.

Inside the attic, soul threads were densely packed. To prevent the jade token from touching the soul threads and blocking the jade wall at the front, one needed an extremely refined ability to manipulate the soul, like threading a needle.

Lin Chen tried to use his divine sense to control the jade token to move forward. The jade token had a unique sense of weight, as if he were holding a thin bamboo pole with a heavy object tied to the top of the pole.

If the swing amplitude is too large, it is easy to hit the soul line.

The swing amplitude is too small, and the heavy object does not move at all.

The timing and temperature required for this are extremely difficult to control.

……

Outside.

Murong Song looked at the closed attic door and whispered, "Third Uncle, do you think Lin Chen can succeed?"

"I don't know," Murong Zheng shook his head. "But Lin Chen is the only chance for our Yan Kingdom in the last fifty years. We have to try no matter what. Do you think that if Lin Chen fails, the price of ten Soul-Refining Fruits offered by our royal family is too high?" Murong Song nodded. "Soul-Refining Fruits are only produced once every ten years. This is taking out our royal family's savings of a hundred years at once. If Lin Chen succeeds, that's fine, but if he fails, isn't that a bit inappropriate?"

"You... do you know why you've been stuck at the second rank and can't step into the first rank?"

Murong Zheng shook his head and sighed softly: "Lin Chen is only seventeen this year, and there are still two years before he turns twenty. Even if he fails this time, there is still a chance to try again. Giving Lin Chen the Spirit Tempering Fruit will certainly require a great investment from our royal family, but as Lin Chen's soul grows, our royal family will also benefit. At least Lin Chen's chances of success have increased."

"We need to broaden our horizons. And to put it another way, the potential that Lin Chen has shown is enough to make the royal family befriend him. As long as Lin Chen doesn't fall, he is very likely to reach the first rank before he is fifty."

"Nephew understands, Uncle is right."

Even as a second-rank martial artist, Murong Song showed no dissatisfaction in the face of his third uncle's reprimand.

Indeed, his vision was too narrow; he only considered the value of ten Spirit Tempering Fruits and ignored other factors.

"Lin Chen's age advantage is undeniable, and nurturing Lin Chen is also for the benefit of our royal family. I've heard that Yan'er and Lin Chen have a relationship?"

“I have already asked my elder brother about this matter, but he said that Yan’er and Lin Chen were in contact privately and that he was not informed.”

Murong stroked his beard, pondering for a long time: "Let Yan'er and Lin Chen decide how things develop. The royal family should not interfere. Such a genius should be treated with sincerity, and we should not harbor too much snobbishness."

"Yes."

……

……

Inside the attic, Lin Chen's forehead was covered in large beads of sweat, which dripped continuously.

In the short time it takes to drink a cup of tea, Yu Ling had only advanced halfway under his divine control, and at this moment he was already somewhat unable to hold on.

The token itself was extremely heavy. Even with his best efforts, he could only manipulate the jade token to move forward slowly. Meanwhile, he also had to dodge these soul lines, which increased the difficulty several times over.

Snapped!
The next moment, the jade token touched the soul thread and instantly fell to the ground.

Lin Chen glanced at the jade token on the ground, turned around and opened the pavilion door. Facing the two old faces, he said regretfully, "I'm sorry, seniors, I have failed."

A hint of disappointment flashed in Murong Song's eyes, but Murong Zheng still wore a smile on his face: "It's alright, it was my oversight. I should have given you the Spirit Tempering Fruit first, so that your chances of success would have been much greater."

Lin Chen: ?
"Little friend, follow me."

Murong led Lin Chen to a bedroom on the side, pushed open the door, and saw ten jade boxes on the table inside.

"This jade box contains the Spirit Tempering Fruit. Young friend, please absorb and refine it first."

"it is good."

Lin Chen nodded. Since this senior was so generous in trusting him, he wouldn't stand on ceremony. He would try it out after absorbing the ten Spirit Tempering Fruits.

Murong Zheng raised his right hand, and the door closed.

Lin Chen walked to the table and opened the ten jade boxes. Each jade box contained a Spirit Tempering Fruit, which was exactly the same as the Spirit Tempering Fruit he had picked in the Thousand Illusions Secret Realm.

After swallowing a Spirit Tempering Fruit, Lin Chen's fatigue vanished instantly.

At the same time, he also kept an eye on his own control panel.

[Host: Lin Chen]

[Spirit Rank: 3.7]

It increased by 0.1 points, which is much worse than the first one.

As he predicted, the first Spirit Tempering Fruit was the most effective, and the effect would weaken afterward.

But if the effect is not enough, quantity will make up for it.

There are ten Spirit Tempering Fruits here; he refuses to believe he can't reach the fourth rank.

One, two, three...

……

……

Outside.

Murong Zheng's eyes were filled with anticipation: "This time, our royal family's long-awaited dream has finally come true."

"Third Uncle, what do you mean?"

Murong Song's pupils contracted sharply. Did his third uncle mean that Lin Chen could succeed?

"Although we should treat Lin Chen with sincerity, it doesn't mean we shouldn't be wary. The jade token has already landed more than halfway. With the effect of these ten Spirit Tempering Fruits on the growth of the soul, Lin Chen is very likely to succeed."

Murong Zheng's eyes gleamed. His nephew had decent martial arts talent, but he wasn't very bright. Otherwise, he would have already reached the first rank.

If Lin Chen were to manipulate the token and fail before even crossing the Soul Line, while he would certainly invest in Lin Chen, he wouldn't so easily hand over the ten Spirit Tempering Fruits to Lin Chen. Instead, he would wait until after the ranking competition ended.

To avoid provoking dissatisfaction from South Korea.

The truth will eventually come out. Lin Chen's trip to the palace to collect compensation cannot be kept secret from Han Kingdom. When Han Kingdom discovers that Lin Chen's spiritual power has greatly improved during the ranking competition tomorrow, they will inevitably think of the royal family.

Only the royal family of Yan Kingdom has the means to enable a young martial artist to rapidly increase his spiritual power in a short period of time.

But now he can't care about that anymore. Faced with the royal family's centuries-old goal, even the Korean Kingdom has to take a backseat.

……

……

Half an hour later, the door was pushed open, and Lin Chen walked out looking radiant.

"Thank you for the fruit, senior."

Lin Chen clasped his hands in a fist salute to Murong Zheng; the harvest of these ten Spirit Tempering Fruits far exceeded his expectations.

"This junior would like to try again."

"Then I'll have to trouble you, young friend."

Murong Zheng agreed with a smile. This time, the royal family used up almost all the Spirit Tempering Fruits they had accumulated, waiting for this moment.

Back in the attic, Lin Chen picked up the jade token that had been put away and placed by the door again. As the attic door closed, Lin Chen looked at the values ​​on the panel and a slight smile appeared on his lips.

[Spirit Rank: 4.04]

His soul rank reached the fourth level. He broke through to the fourth level when he consumed the sixth Soul Tempering Fruit, but the remaining four Soul Tempering Fruits only provided him with 0.04 progress.

It's not that the effects of the Soul Tempering Fruit have decreased so much, but rather that after reaching the fourth rank, the strength of the soul is incomparable to that of the third rank.

If the first step is a clear pool of water, the second step is a ditch along the field, and the third step is a stream, then the fourth step is a river.

"rise!"

Lin Chen gave a soft shout, and this time sixteen flying knives appeared in front of him. The next moment, the sixteen flying knives condensed together and shot into the jade token.

The jade token floated in the air, and under Lin Chen's control, it danced gracefully like a butterfly.

call out!
The jade token floated in the air for a moment, then changed direction and headed towards the jade wall in front of it. It passed through the soul thread with great agility and arrived in front of the jade wall in just fifteen breaths.

When Lin Chen was still an inch away from the jade wall, he felt a suction force pull the jade token away from his divine soul control. With a "snap," the jade token stuck tightly to the jade wall.

"The Yan family of the Soul Separation Domain..."

On the jade disc, words began to appear, but before Lin Chen could finish reading them, the door to the pavilion opened, and Murong Zheng's figure blocked his way.

"Thank you, young friend. You must be tired. Why don't you go and rest for a while?"

"it is good."

Lin Chen knew that the writing on the jade disc must be related to the secrets of the Yan royal family, and this senior obviously did not want him to know.

"Young Master Lin, please."

Murong Song also changed how he addressed Lin Chen, and led Lin Chen out of the pavilion.

"Would Young Master Lin like to rest here, or return to the other courtyard?"

"Let's go back to the other courtyard."

Lin Chen thought for a moment and realized that he had nothing to do in the palace, so he might as well return to the Martial Academy's villa.

“Alright, I’ll escort Young Master Lin back.” Murong Song nodded, but after taking only a few steps, he suddenly stopped: “Young Master Lin, what happened in this pavilion concerns the secrets of our royal family. Whatever you saw, I hope you will not reveal it.”

Before his third uncle's lesson today, Murong Song would have used a half-threatening tone to warn him, but after his third uncle's lesson, Murong Song used a "request" tone.

"Don't worry, senior, I didn't see anything."

Murong Song smiled. Regardless of whether Lin Chen really saw nothing, Lin Chen's words already indicated that he would not reveal what he had seen.

That's enough.

(End of this chapter)