Rise from a Poor Family: My Martial Arts Counterattack

Chapter 339 A Sudden Increase in Strength, The Teacher's Wounds (First Update)
Quzhou Prefecture.

Between the mountains.

"Cough cough!"

An elderly figure coughed a few times, took off his handkerchief, and looked at the few streaks of blood on it, a hint of regret in his eyes.

Time waits for no one.

Jia Nanzhu murmured. Before that battle, he was a key martial artist cultivated by Jiangnan Province. He had reached the sixth rank by the age of thirty and became the prefect of Quzhou.

In the mountain range where he was located, the remaining demons emerged from the mountains. In order to protect the people of Quzhou and prevent the demons from escaping, he, a sixth-rank demon, fought against a fifth-rank demon.

Although he eventually managed to stall until the higher-ups came and killed the fifth-grade demon beast, he himself was seriously injured.

Later, his body recovered, but he was left with an incurable wound, and he could never break through his cultivation level again.

As one of the most promising mid-level martial artists in Jiangnan Province, he was unwilling to accept his fate and unwilling to become the deputy director of the Martial Affairs Department based on his achievements. In recent years, he has tried to take another path in martial arts.

By integrating the strengths of various martial arts schools, one can achieve a breakthrough in their own martial arts will.

He succeeded in navigating this path.

This is also why he personally went to teach Lin Chen after learning about Lin Chen's situation.

To succeed on this path, one needs extremely high martial arts comprehension, and Lin Chen happens to possess that quality.

Even Senior Brother Shao and the others didn't know that he had already reached the upper grade all these years.

However, he has never displayed the strength of a high-grade martial artist. It's not that he deliberately hides his abilities, but because the injury he sustained years ago has not yet healed. If he were to use strength exceeding that of a sixth-grade martial artist, his vital energy would rapidly decline.

Just like now, in order to get to the battlefield as soon as possible, he no longer held back his strength, and his body could not withstand it and he began to cough up blood.

His time is running out.

……

……

Fireway

Within the formation.

Lin Chen, who had transformed into a ten-zhang giant, looked at the fire dragon in front of him with a helpless expression in his eyes.

This fire dragon was transformed from the spirit of the Fiery Blaze. As it continuously absorbed the energy of the Fiery Blaze in this sea of ​​fire, it finally awakened the Fiery Blaze completely. Before the Fiery Blaze could react, the dragon transformed into a fire dragon and swallowed the dragon whole.

Fortunately, he had cultivated the Boundless Divine Appearance Technique, and his body had been tempered by the energy of the Blazing Fire, so the Blazing Fire could not harm him.

If it were anyone else, even a first-rank martial artist, they would probably be seriously injured.

This is also the power of the Boundless Divine Appearance Technique: after absorbing a type of innate fire to temper the body, that innate fire will no longer be able to cause harm to the user.

However, he was equally powerless against this spirit of fire.

No matter how he activated the Boundless Divine Appearance Technique, he was unable to absorb the energy from the Spirit of the Blazing Fire.

The two sides have been locked in a stalemate for ten days in this sea of ​​fire.

"I guess you must be intelligent. Let's make a deal."

Lin Chen looked at the fire dragon. The reason he fought with this spirit of fire was not just to refine it, but more so because he did not want the spirit of fire to escape.

Once it escapes, the entire Lihuo Road, and even the southern part of Daliang, will suffer disaster.

Upon hearing Lin Chen's words, the fire dragon stopped circling and instead hovered quietly in the sea of ​​fire, its eyes fixed on Lin Chen.

Clearly, the fire dragon possesses intelligence and can understand Lin Chen's words.

"If you really want to escape, I can let you go, but you must not set foot in the territory of Daliang."

Lin Chen stared intently at the fire dragon. The reason he was in danger this time was because of the conspiracy between South Korea and the three islands in the Spratly Islands. He had no good feelings towards the three islands in the Spratly Islands.

If it weren't for his Martial Dao Mountain, which was connected to the Yan Dynasty, if he hadn't waited so many days at Martial Dao Mountain to finally meet a disciple of the Canglan Sect, if the Canglan Sect hadn't passed on the "Eternal Divine Appearance Technique" to him, and if he hadn't had enough comprehension to comprehend the "Eternal Divine Appearance Technique," he would already be ashes by now if he hadn't done even one of those things.

Repaying evil with kindness has never been Lin Chen's style of doing things.

He couldn't stay here indefinitely locked in a stalemate with this spirit of fire, so he decided to make a deal with it.

The fire dragon swayed its body, seemingly deep in thought. After a while, its massive head nodded a few times, indicating its agreement to Lin Chen's deal.

The next moment, the fire dragon swayed, stirring up the sea of ​​fire, and turned to roar away to the other side, disappearing into the depths of the sea of ​​fire in the blink of an eye.

Watching the fire dragon's departing figure, Lin Chen sighed softly. With the spirit of fire freed, the three islands of Nansha would inevitably suffer.

But what does this have to do with me?
It was the spirit of the fire that was awakened by the three islands of the Spratly Islands. Even if those ordinary people are to blame, they can only blame the martial artists of their own islands.

A dead Taoist friend will never die but a poor Taoist.

He is a son of Daliang, and his duty is to protect the people of Daliang.

As the fire dragon departed, the sea of ​​fire began to surge towards the other side of the abyss, where rocks began to emerge. Lin Chen looked at the underground space, which had expanded to twice its original size, and directly felt the terror of the raging fire.

"panel."

Lin Chen whispered something, and the panel appeared in front of him.

[Host: Lin Chen]

[Realm Level: Rank 4]

[Spirit Rank: 7.5]

[Innate Technique: Heavenly Evolution Myriad Phenomena Annihilation Palm]

【Eternal Divine Form: First Layer (Giant Form)】

[Title: Martial Arts Prosperity (A renowned figure on Martial Arts Mountain; for every 1,000 consecutive wins, Martial Arts Comprehension permanently doubles, and Divine Soul increases by 10%)]

[Achievement: The Glory of Liang]

[Effect: The more admirers a martial artist has in the Great Liang Dynasty, the faster their martial arts cultivation progresses.]

[Destiny: [Success Comes Naturally]: On the path of the ninth rank of martial arts, perseverance and gradual progress will lead to unstoppable progress without any bottlenecks.]

When Lin Chen saw his cultivation level and spirit rank, he gasped.

Although he had a premonition that his strength would increase greatly after successfully cultivating the first level of the Boundless Divine Body, the Giant Form, he never expected it to increase to such a terrifying degree.

From the seventh rank to the fourth rank, he leaped from the top of the lower rank to the top of the middle rank, crossing the three-rank boundary.

As for the Spirit Realm, it has also been upgraded by three ranks, even one rank higher than the cultivation realm.

"The Boundless Divine Body is not just about tempering the body. After all, the innate fire itself has the function of tempering the soul, but ordinary martial artists cannot absorb and refine it."

Lin Chen's eyes held a thoughtful expression. His rapid improvement in strength this time was primarily due to the Inexhaustible Divine Appearance Technique and sufficient Li Fire, but the [Martial Arts Prosperity] and [Light of the Great Liang] on his panel also played a role.

This time, he moved up tens of thousands of places in the rankings of Martial Arts Mountain, which is equivalent to a 10% increase in his spiritual power. The 10% increase in spiritual power of [Martial Arts Prosperity] is an increase of 10% based on his current spiritual power.

This improvement is extremely terrifying because his base is constantly increasing. It is no exaggeration to say that his current ten percent improvement in his spiritual power is equivalent to dozens of percent of his previous improvement.

"Lin...Lin Chen?"

Just as Lin Chen was immersed in his rapid improvement in strength, a voice filled with surprise came from afar. Lin Chen looked over and immediately smiled when he saw the old man's figure.

"Duke!"

"Haha, it's good that you're alright. I really thought..." Fang Funan saw that Lin Chen was unharmed and stepped forward to grab Lin Chen's hand. Lin Chen could feel the old man's heartfelt joy and excitement.

"This junior has caused the Duke worry."

“It’s not just me who’s worried. The Left Prime Minister and your Minister of Military Affairs, Lord Kong, have come in person, as well as Jia Nanzhu from Jiangnan Circuit, and your teacher… If you hadn’t kept your information within the camp a secret, I’m afraid there would have been even more people here.”

Lin Chen was stunned. He had thought that his long stay here would surely cause concern among those outside, but he hadn't expected Lord Liang to come to Li Huo Dao in person.

"Go out first and then talk."

Fang Funan held onto Lin Chen's hand tightly and pulled him towards the exit.

He didn't know what had happened within the formation, but he wasn't in a hurry. He wanted to get Lin Chen away from here first and make sure they were completely safe.

……

At the entrance of the jade stele, when the elders present saw the Duke leading Lin Chen out, they were all shocked.

The news that Lin Chen had disappeared within the formation and whose fate was unknown was kept from the outside world, but as high-ranking members of the Zhennan Army, these elders knew about it because they had to be on guard against Li Huo's awakening at any time. Fang Funan did not hide this matter from them.

They were naturally filled with regret that such a genius as Lin Chen had perished inside the formation. Now, seeing that Lin Chen had emerged unharmed, smiles appeared on everyone's faces.

"You all continue to guard this area in case of any emergencies."

After giving everyone some instructions, Fang Funan pulled Lin Chen directly to the valley to set up temporary camp.

"Tell me, what did you encounter inside the formation?"

"Yes."

Lin Chen nodded and recounted his encounters with the three islands of Nansha and the martial artists from South Korea in the formation. He also mentioned that he obtained a technique for absorbing the Li Huo from Martial Dao Mountain and the agreement he had recently reached with Li Huo.

After listening to Lin Chen's story, Fang Funan's old face was filled with murderous intent.

"The three islands in the Spratly Islands... I have long suspected that the Spratly Islands are the culprits, but since there is no evidence and my Great Liang is currently at war with Han and Zheng, I can only endure it for the time being."

"Han and Zheng have declared war on us?"

Lin Chen was surprised. He had thought that South Korea would do the same thing as before, instigating other countries to start a war with Great Liang. He didn't expect that South Korea would actually get involved itself.

"The Han Kingdom has started a war with our country, and both sides are still relatively restrained. On the contrary, the Zheng Kingdom is determined to fight our Great Liang with all its might, and has almost exhausted the strength of its entire nation."

"What about the other countries?"

Given Han's nature, it's impossible for them to let the other countries stand by and watch; they would threaten these countries to join the siege of Daliang.

"On the day Zheng attacked Lingxiao City, Pei Qingming, alone with his sword, killed the Sea Demon King, frightening away tens of thousands of Zheng's troops. The restless hearts of the other countries were also extinguished."

Fang Funan stroked his beard and smiled, while Lin Chen's eyes lit up: "Brother Pei is amazing."

“Pei Qingming is a genius of our Great Liang. You don’t need to underestimate yourself. In another ten years or so, you will also become the pillar of our Great Liang, deterring other countries from making any rash moves.”

Fang Funan had high expectations for Lin Chen. To become the pillar of the nation, he must be at the top level, and even better, the best among the top level martial artists. It usually takes more than ten years for a mid-level martial artist with decent talent to go from mid-level to top level, and it also takes more than ten years to go from top level to the best level.

However, Fang Funan had high hopes for Lin Chen. With Lin Chen's talent, he didn't need more than thirty years; just another ten years would be enough for Lin Chen to grow up.

This was a consensus he and Kong Qifeng shared: they, the older generation, would give Lin Chen and Pei Qingming another ten years or so to grow.

"Duke, what about the three islands in the Spratly Islands?"

"Ignore them, they brought this on themselves."

Fang Funan waved his hand: "I know what you're thinking. The three islands in the Nansha Islands have been separated from our Great Liang for hundreds of years. Even the ordinary people there no longer belong to our Great Liang. The sins committed by the higher-ups are their own fault."

As a military leader, Fang Funan was not the kind of person who was soft-hearted.

"If it weren't for the chance that you cultivated that body-tempering technique, making Li Huo unable to harm you, or if you hadn't entered the formation back then, and the conspiracy between Han Kingdom and the three islands of Nansha had succeeded, it would be the people of my Great Liang who would be suffering now."

"Lin Chen, you must remember one thing: sometimes being merciful to your enemy is being cruel to yourself."

Fang Funan looked serious and earnestly instructed Lin Chen, fearing that Lin Chen was still young and might feel guilty if Li Huo caused trouble on the three islands of Nansha.

"I've taken note."

Seeing that Lin Chen's expression remained unchanged, indicating that he truly understood the principle, Fang Funan smiled again: "This time, you were forced into a life-or-death situation, which has also improved your strength. However, you should rest for now and then write to those you care about to report that you are safe."

"Ah."

Lin Chen nodded. He should inform his elders, especially his teachers, that he had survived and should inform them, especially his teachers, who had given up their positions as deputy directors and lived in Linhu Village for a long time in order to nurture him.

My fate is unknown in the battle, and I'm afraid my teacher must be feeling incredibly distressed.

Just as Fang Funan was about to leave the camp with Lin Chen, a voice came from outside the camp: "Your Excellency, there is a letter from the capital."

"Send it in."

A middle-aged man walked in carrying a letter. Fang Funan took the letter, glanced at the creases on it, and smiled at Lin Chen, saying, "It's a letter from Kong Qifeng. I'll just let him know about your situation when I reply to him."

Upon opening the envelope, Fang Funan glanced at it briefly before his expression suddenly turned cold. Lin Chen could feel the chilling aura emanating from Fang Funan.

"Your Excellency, what major event has occurred?"

Lin Chen couldn't help but ask out of curiosity. Logically speaking, a martial artist of his level might not be qualified to know about secret matters, so asking like this was a bit rash.

But Lin Chen's situation is different. He has even met His Majesty and knows some of the secrets of the royal family. If a major event occurs in the country, the Duke will not hide it from him.

Fang Funan looked at Lin Chen with a complicated expression, but did not rush to speak.

"It is the younger generation that has overstepped its bounds."

"It's not that I'm overstepping my bounds, it's just that I don't know how to explain it to you. Never mind, you can see for yourself."

Lin Chen took the letter from Fang Funan with a puzzled look, but when he read the contents of the letter, his eyes were filled with endless killing intent.

"Your Excellency, I shall take my leave now."

After putting down the letter, Lin Chen clasped his hands in a fist salute to Fang Funan, his expression resolute.

"Lin Chen, it would be good for you to go see your teacher, but don't act rashly. The imperial court has already sent people to the army, and they will surely give you an explanation for this matter."

"Thank you for the reminder, Your Excellency. I will think it over carefully before acting."

After bowing respectfully, Lin Chen turned and left the tent, his figure disappearing in a streak of light.

As Lin Chen's figure disappeared, Fang Funan's eyes were filled with murderous intent. Li Yuan's son, Li Zhe, plotted to assassinate Lin Chen's family. When this was exposed, Jia Nanzhu went to Hongdu Prefecture and wiped out the entire Li family. Later, he went to the army and fought with Li Yuan, but suffered a loss. Li Yuan had actually broken through to the peak of the fourth rank.

Kong Qifeng's letter mentioned that Li Zhe would take action against Lin Chen's family because he heard that Lin Chen's fate was unknown after entering the formation.

Outside of the Li Huo Dao, the only people who knew that Lin Chen had entered the formation that sealed Li Huo were the Left and Right Prime Ministers of the Imperial Court, Kong Qifeng, and Jia Nanzhu.

On the contrary, several people in the Zhennan Army knew about this.

Someone leaked the news.

If one harbors such intentions, then that would be a betrayal of the Great Liang.

If it was unintentional, then it would be a breach of military law.

Kong Qifeng's purpose in writing was to have him investigate who leaked the information.

　This is the third update to make up for today; here's the first one.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)