Rise from a Poor Family: My Martial Arts Counterattack

Chapter 326 The Theory of Super Grades
The palace hall.

Just as Lord Kong said, the moment Lin Chen stepped into the main hall, he felt three gazes fall upon him.

Three elderly men sat on the left and right sides of the main hall.

In an instant, Lin Chen felt an immense weight pressing down on him, and three gazes, like solidified mountains, made his breathing become uncontrollably rapid.

The blood and qi that were originally flowing smoothly in his body suddenly stagnated, as if a river was frozen by ice. Even the depths of his bone marrow felt a sharp pain. In just a moment, cold sweat seeped from Lin Chen's forehead, and the fabric of his clothes was instantly soaked through.

"break!"

Lin Chen roared inwardly, his inner dantian energies surging wildly, golden light seeping from his pores. His martial will supported him in resisting this terrifying pressure, keeping his posture upright so as not to be crushed.

"That's enough for the three of you!"

Kong Qifeng's voice reached Lin Chen's ears, and the next moment Lin Chen found that the pressure pressing down on him suddenly disappeared, and the eyes of the three old men at the front also returned to their gentle state.

"Senior Brother Kong, please don't be angry. Although Lin Chen is a disciple of the Martial and Political Department, he is still a citizen of our Great Liang. In terms of caring for him, the three of us are no less than you, Senior Brother Kong."

The old man on the left smiled and spoke. The next moment, a jade box appeared in his hand. With a flick of his finger, the jade box floated towards him.

"Lin Chen, this is my apology to you. Please don't blame me in your heart."

Lin Chen accepted it and quickly said, "This disciple dares not."

"We dare not blame him, but he dares to blame both of us."

Another old man beside him smiled and spoke up, flicking a jade box over before Lin Chen could answer.

When the third old man also tossed over a jade box, Lin Chen couldn't help but think to himself that he would not only not be dissatisfied with such a test, but would rather it happen a few more times.

However, he also understood that this was a gift from the three adults, presented as an apology, under the guise of testing him.

"That's pretty much it."

Kong Qifeng stroked his beard and introduced Lin Chen: "The two on the left and right are the current prime ministers, and the one in the middle is the Minister of the Army."

After listening to Lord Kong's introduction, Lin Chen was also filled with emotion. These three were the top big shots in the entire Liang Dynasty, the kind of people whose every move could shake the entire Liang Dynasty.

"This disciple greets the three esteemed masters."

Lin Chen bowed, and the three old men stroked their beards and smiled. One of them, a high-ranking military officer, said with a smile, "Lin Chen, with your current strength, staying at Canglan Martial Academy will probably not improve your strength much. Would you like to come to my military?"

Lin Chen remained silent and did not answer.

"Senior Brother Zhao, you're being too hasty, poaching people right in front of Lord Kong." The Left Prime Minister chuckled and said, "Lin Chen, the military is full of roughnecks. If you leave Canglan Martial Academy, you can come to my Great Liang Martial Arts Academy. The Martial Arts Academy is the central hall of martial arts in Great Liang, containing tens of thousands of martial arts techniques. Others who want to enter the Martial Arts Academy can only do so through the martial arts exam, and only the top twenty in the exam are qualified to enter. I can make an exception for you."

"The martial arts academy is full of people who are dedicated to martial arts. Theory can't compare to actual combat. The military is more suitable for Lin Chen."

Hearing the two big shots arguing with him, Lin Chen could only remain silent and looked at Lord Kong.

"Ignore them and go directly to His Majesty."

Kong Qifeng patted Lin Chen on the shoulder and instructed the guards at the entrance of the main hall, "Take Lin Chen to see His Majesty."

"Young Master Lin, please follow me."

The guards at the door acknowledged, glancing curiously at Lin Chen. This was the first time they had ever seen several adults actively vying for one person, but considering the record he had set, they weren't shocked.

Lin Chen walked out of the main hall and disappeared into the corridor. The smiles on the faces of the three old men vanished, and they all became serious.

"Our spies in South Korea have reported that the South Korean army has begun to assemble at the border."

The Left Chancellor spoke, and Kong Qifeng's old eyes narrowed slightly: "What about Zheng and Xiang?"

"The Zheng Kingdom is also beginning to gather its forces, especially the demon race within Zheng Kingdom. On the other hand, the Xiang Kingdom has not made any moves yet."

The Liang state has spies in several other countries, and those spies in the other countries also have spies in the Liang state. The mobilization of an army in one country cannot be kept secret.

"It's understandable that Zheng State follows Han State's lead, but why is Xiang State not following Han State's lead this time?"

"The Xiang Kingdom has never been of one mind with the Han Kingdom. The reason why it followed the Han Kingdom in the past to target our Great Liang was only because it was profitable. But this time, Pei Qingming and Lin Chen's amazing performance has made the Xiang Kingdom suspicious."

The Right Chancellor snorted lightly, saying that the Xiang Kingdom was just a fence-sitter who only did things that were profitable.

"We still need to be wary of the Elephant Kingdom and cannot let our guard down."

……

……

The inner courtyard of the imperial palace.

Led by the guards, Lin Chen passed through several palaces and finally arrived at the Imperial Garden.

"Young Master Lin, His Majesty is inside, so we won't go in."

"it is good."

Lin Chen nodded and stepped into the Imperial Garden, where he soon saw a middle-aged man in a bright yellow dragon robe sitting in a pavilion. "Disciple Lin Chen greets Your Majesty." Lin Chen walked to the pavilion and bowed.

"A young prodigy, a role model from humble beginnings. No need for formalities, please come in and sit down."

Emperor Liang Jing turned to look at Lin Chen: "The reason I asked you to come to the capital this time is that I want to meet the number one genius of my Great Liang."

"Your Majesty is too kind."

"No need to be modest, you deserve this title."

Emperor Liang waved his hand and then continued, "Last time I sent Xun'er to Canglan Martial Academy to tell you some secrets about Martial Dao Mountain. What is your ranking on Martial Dao Mountain now?"

"I have just entered the top 80,000," Lin Chen answered truthfully.

"At your age, being able to rank within the top 80,000 in the Martial Arts Mountain of the Yan Dynasty is already extremely rare. Even in the Yan Dynasty, you could be called a genius."

"Your Majesty, are you familiar with the Yan Dynasty?"

Lin Chen couldn't help but ask the question that had been bothering him. The founding emperor came from the Yan Dynasty, as Liang Xun had said himself. Moreover, Liang Xun had also said that the secrets of the royal family were known only to His Majesty.

"The Yan Dynasty has many domains, each of which is several times the size of the nine kingdoms, and also has many overseas islands and countless martial arts sects... However, I know that these are not what you are curious about."

Emperor Liang Jing smiled slightly, as if he could see through Lin Chen's true thoughts, and continued, "In martial arts realms, the first grade is indeed not the end. Above the first grade, there is the super grade, which is an existence that surpasses the first grade."

"How should the 'Super Grade' realm be distinguished?"

Since His Majesty had seen through his thoughts, Lin Chen simply asked directly.

"Innate factors and celestial phenomena."

"The innate realm is divided into six realms, and the celestial phenomena are a dominant force in the Yan Dynasty."

"The first of the six realms of innate nature is the Transformation Realm. As for the five realms that follow, my great-grandfather never mentioned them."

Lin Chen knew that the grandfather His Majesty was referring to was the founding emperor. The Great Liang Dynasty had existed for three hundred years, and His Majesty was the fourth emperor.

"Your Majesty, why can't our Nine Kingdoms produce any Innate Realm experts?"

Lin Chen asked his second question: even though the number of martial arts geniuses in the Nine Kingdoms was less than that of the Yan Dynasty, there was no reason why there wasn't a single innate expert.

"Because of a lack of resources to refine one's innate qualities."

Emperor Liang Jing smiled wryly: "There are indeed some exceptionally talented warriors among the nine kingdoms, but to break through to the first rank, one needs to gather the five elements of innate energy, which is difficult to gather in the nine kingdoms."

"Innate energy?"

Lin Chen thought of Lingxiao energy and Canglan energy. Could these two be considered innate energies?

"The Lingxiao energy of Lingxiao City is indeed innate energy, and the Canglan energy of Canglan Mountain is also considered, but both of these energies are only one of the five elements of innate energy."

Emperor Liang Jing looked at Lin Chen: "Only when the five different innate energies of the five paths and five elements are gathered in one body can one step into the innate realm. In fact, there is a lot of innate energy in the entire Nine Kingdoms, but the only thing lacking is the innate energy of the water element."

"The Cloud Cauldron Mother Tree of Zhao is a natural energy of the wood element. Han also has three types, and my Great Liang also has one type. All nine kingdoms combined have natural energy of the four elements of metal, wood, fire, and earth, but they lack water. This is the real reason why it is difficult for martial artists from the nine kingdoms to enter the Innate Realm."

Lin Chen suddenly realized why there were no innate experts in the Nine Kingdoms who surpassed the first rank.

Make bricks without straw.

Even the most brilliant genius cannot magically transform into innate water-attribute energy.

"The reason I asked you about the ranking of Martial Arts Mountain earlier was because, according to my great-grandfather, those who rank in the top 10,000 of Martial Arts Mountain can exchange for innate energy. However... it is too difficult to break into the top 10,000 before the age of twenty."

Emperor Liang Jing smiled wryly. Even though Lin Chen had shown the potential to be the number one genius in the nine kingdoms, he did not believe that Lin Chen could break into the top 10,000 of the Martial Arts Mountain in the next two years.

According to the notes left by my great-grandfather, almost all of the top 10,000 martial artists in the Yanhuang Dynasty's Martial Arts Mountain were at the fourth rank, and there were even quite a few at the upper rank.

This is the gap.

However, Emperor Liang Jing did not intend to tell Lin Chen these things, lest Lin Chen's heart for cultivation be discouraged.

However, Lin Chen was excited after hearing Liang Jingdi's words. It was indeed difficult to be among the top 10,000 in Martial Arts Mountain, but it was not impossible for him. With the help of the panel, his breakthrough to the ninth rank would not be slow. As long as he entered the top 10,000, he could exchange his points for water-attribute innate energy.

"Is there any other problem?" Emperor Liang Jing asked Lin Chen like an elder.

"Your Majesty, regarding the origins of Emperor Taizu..."

"Don't ask about this matter."

Emperor Liang interrupted Lin Chen directly. Seeing Lin Chen's puzzled expression, he hesitated for a long time before finally saying, "My great-grandfather had enemies in the Yan Dynasty. This is a family feud within the Liang family. My great-grandfather said not to involve the Liang Kingdom."

Upon hearing this, Lin Chen's pupils contracted slightly. The Emperor Taizu's words could only mean one thing.

The enemies of the founding emperor were very powerful back then. The founding emperor was certain that they still existed and worried that if the Nine Kingdoms established contact with the Yan Dynasty, his enemies would come knocking on his door.

(End of this chapter)