Rise from a Poor Family: My Martial Arts Counterattack

Chapter 425 Lin Chen's Confession (Third Update)
[Host: Lin Chen]

[Realm Level: Innate First Realm]

[Innate Skill: Canglan Technique] (Level 5, no damage)
[Qi and Blood: Level 3]

[Soul: Level 4]

[Willpower: Level 1]

[Speed: Level 3]

[Defense: Level 3]

[Comprehension: Level 5]

After he refined the Illusionary Sea Heart Flame with the Boundless Divine Appearance Technique, his [Speed] and [Defense] increased by one level.

Lin Chen was certain that if he were to face Sima Kong again now, he wouldn't even need to use the Azure Eye; he could easily defeat Sima Kong with just the Boundless Divine Appearance Technique.

After leaving the fire pit, Lin Chen returned to his own courtyard.

……

……

Is Junior Brother Zhao here?

Boom boom boom!
"Is there anything I can help you with, Senior Brother Du?"

Inside the courtyard, Zhao Haoyang's question came through. The next moment, the door was pushed open, and Zhao Haoyang appeared. However, when Zhao Haoyang saw Lin Chen standing behind Du Shuang, his expression immediately turned cold.

"What are you here for?"

Lin Chen didn't care about Zhao Haoyang's attitude and said with a smile, "I asked Brother Du to bring me here."

"What, is it not enough that you beat me on the fire-refining platform? Are you trying to humiliate me to my face?"

"Junior Brother Zhao, Brother Lin didn't mean that. Don't talk nonsense."

Upon hearing Zhao Haoyang's words, Du Shuang immediately reprimanded him. As Zhao Haoyang's personal disciple and a few years older than him, Du Shuang had the right to reprimand him.

"Senior Brother Du, I..."

"Brother Du, why don't I speak with Junior Brother Zhao privately?"

Lin Chen smiled and interrupted Zhao Haoyang: "I think it's alright for me to call you junior brother."

Zhao Haoyang pursed his lips. He really wanted to say "no," but seeing Senior Brother Du's sullen face, he could only remain silent.

In the eyes of these disciples, Senior Brother Du had always been a kind and gentle senior brother who had taken good care of them. Therefore, when he saw Senior Brother Du with a stern face, he was still a little scared.

“Junior Brother Zhao, you should have a good talk with Brother Lin. The path of martial arts is long, and temporary setbacks are nothing.”

Du Shuang gave Zhao Haoyang a word of advice, then smiled and nodded at Lin Chen before leaving.

He knew why Lin Chen had come to find Junior Brother Zhao. He had mentioned it not long ago, saying that since Junior Brother Zhao lost at the Fire Refining Platform, he had locked himself in his courtyard and had never stepped out again.

Junior Brother Zhao has become somewhat obsessed because of this defeat.

If one cannot break free from this impasse, then one's martial arts realm will likely remain stagnant.

Lin Chen is the person involved, so having Lin Chen persuade Junior Brother Zhao might be able to help him get out of his daze of failure.

……

……

"Won't you invite me to come in and sit down?"

As Du Shuang walked away, Lin Chen smiled at Zhao Haoyang. Zhao Haoyang didn't answer, but he made way for her and turned to walk into the courtyard first.

Lin Chen didn't care. He came to persuade Zhao Haoyang not because he had a saintly heart, but because he thought of the care and kindness Senior Zhuang had shown him. Zhao Haoyang's talent was quite good among the disciples of the Wanhuo Sect this year. If he were to be wasted like this, it would be too unfair to Senior Zhuang.

"Aren't you very unwilling to accept that you lost to me?"

Zhao Haoyang, who was walking into the house, turned around abruptly upon hearing Lin Chen's words, glaring at Lin Chen angrily: "I told you, if you're here to humiliate me, then get out of here now."

"Humiliate you?"

Lin Chen chuckled lightly: "What do you have that I can humiliate? I've defeated so many opponents, whether it's Sima Kong from the Sima family or Zeng Xi from the Thousand Machines Sect, or any of the top ten from Martial Arts Mountain. Which one of them is weaker than you?"

Hearing Lin Chen's words, Zhao Haoyang was furious, wishing he could tear off the mocking smile on Lin Chen's face right now.

"What, I hit the nail on the head, and all you can do is rage in vain?"

"Lin Chen, you're asking for it!"

boom!
Zhao Haoyang could no longer hold back and his aura exploded. However, at the very moment his aura exploded, an even more powerful aura emanated from Lin Chen and instantly pressed down on him.

Zhao Haoyang's face turned pale. Faced with Lin Chen's imposing aura, he couldn't even put up a fight. The difference in their abilities was too great.

"Are you unwilling to accept this?"

"Don't you feel that God is unfair? Why am I so talented in martial arts?"

Lin Chen looked at Zhao Haoyang with a sneer: "Do you know that I had similar dissatisfaction a year ago, or even three years ago?"

"Why...why are those privileged children able to easily become enlightened and have enough resources to enter the realm of internal organ cultivation?"

Hearing Lin Chen's words, Zhao Haoyang was stunned. "Enlightenment, internal organ training?"

What level of skill is this?
Isn't this something he could do when he was seven years old?

Let me tell you a story.

Lin Chen withdrew his imposing aura. Although Zhao Haoyang was angry, he was filled with curiosity and stood silently in place, waiting for Lin Chen to continue.

"There was a boy who was born in a desolate place where martial arts were not practiced. In his land, one could only begin to practice martial arts at the age of fifteen. One had to pay ten taels of silver to enter the martial arts school. Silver was the local currency. Ten taels of silver would take ordinary people several years to save up, and there had to be no natural disasters to save up."

Zhao Haoyang's eyes were filled with disbelief. There really was such a place? If one had to be fifteen years old to practice martial arts, then it was likely that one would never even reach the Innate Realm in this lifetime.

"Because of a certain benefactor, the young man was able to enter the martial arts school to learn martial arts without spending money. However, learning martial arts requires replenishing one's qi and blood, and the young man had no money to buy beef. He could only wait for other students to finish eating in the canteen. If there was any free beef soup left in the canteen, he would scoop up a few ladles."

"This behavior alone earned him ridicule from many students, who mocked him for being a poor man who dared to dream of learning martial arts, saying it was like a toad trying to eat swan meat—a pipe dream."

"But the boy did not give up learning martial arts because of these taunts. He practiced diligently every day. When other students rested, he used the time to practice martial arts. When other students went on spring outings, he was still practicing martial arts..."

"Heaven rewards diligence; after half a year, the young man finally cultivated his vital energy..."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Haoyang's eyes showed emotion. Essence... If he remembered correctly, when he first started practicing martial arts, his family only gave him a bowl of Qi and Blood Soup, and he already had essence in his body.

There's no need to cultivate one's vital energy; this is a consensus among the youths of the Yan Dynasty.

He never imagined that there were places where just one's vital energy could eliminate most of the people.

"But cultivating inner energy is only the first step. When the young man entered the martial arts school, he was looked down upon again because of his family's financial situation. The instructors at the school didn't even try to hide their disdain, but the young man still didn't give up..."

"Later, the boy won first place in the martial arts school competition, first place in the county competition, and became the model student of martial arts in Jiangnan..."

The anger in Zhao Haoyang's heart completely disappeared as Lin Chen narrated his story. At this moment, he was completely immersed in the experience of a poor boy's arduous cultivation on the path of martial arts.

"Later, the boy entered the ranks and became the number one young person in the Nine Kingdoms. The boy thought he was a martial arts prodigy, but at this time, a change occurred. Martial artists from the Yan Dynasty appeared. It was then that the boy realized that there was a Yan Dynasty outside the Nine Kingdoms, and that there were innate martial artists above the first rank."

"He once asked a martial artist from the Yan Dynasty how he compared to the geniuses of the Yan Dynasty, and whether any of the Yan Dynasty's youths had reached the middle rank at his age. Do you know how that martial artist answered?"

Faced with Lin Chen's question, Zhao Haoyang remained silent for a long time. An eighteen-year-old mid-grade martial artist was not even considered a genius in the Yan Dynasty.

He didn't know how the martial artist would reply, but it certainly wouldn't be anything nice.

"That martial artist told the boy, 'You are but a mayfly, yet you dare to compare yourself to the heavens! You are worlds apart from the pride of the dynasty; how can you be compared to them?'"

Zhao Haoyang's pupils constricted sharply, and he pressed, "What was your reaction?"

By now, Zhao Haoyang understood perfectly well that the "young man" Lin Chen was referring to was himself.

If he were Lin Chen, upon hearing these words, he would probably instantly lose heart.

"I also cursed the heavens for being unfair. I practiced diligently day and night, through hot and cold seasons, and finally broke through the encirclement of my peers and cultivated to the middle level, but it turned out to be just a level that others could easily reach."

"But what good is further cursing? It can't change any facts."

"The difference between the Nine Kingdoms and the Yan Dynasty is just like the difference between me and those privileged children in the county town back then."

"In the past, when I was humble, I was able to surpass the sons of many powerful and noble families in the nine kingdoms and reach the pinnacle of my generation. Today's situation is just a replay of that predicament."

"It's nothing more than repeating this path of comeback."

As Lin Chen finished speaking, Zhao Haoyang gave Lin Chen a deep look, and he could feel the determination in Lin Chen's words.

Moreover, Lin Chen didn't just talk about it; he actually did it.

Having been in the Yan Dynasty for only half a year, he has already reached the top of the Martial Arts Mountain.

He was ashamed of himself.

Even if his family had been poor at the beginning, Zhao Haoyang believed that he could still be determined to practice martial arts and change his destiny through it.

He was able to endure the students' ridicule and mockery.

Having reached the top of the nine kingdoms, upon hearing about the situation of the Yan Emperor Dynasty's prodigies, he truly couldn't persevere any longer; the breath in his heart would simply dissipate.

After putting in a lot of hard work, you finally reach a certain height, only to find that it's someone else's starting point. Without a strong heart, you can't persevere, let alone actually succeed in a comeback like Lin Chen.

In comparison, it's a disgrace that I can't leave simply because of Elder Zhuang's words and because I lost to Lin Chen.

"Thank you for your guidance, Senior Brother Lin. I am deeply grateful."

Zhao Haoyang bowed respectfully to Lin Chen, his previous anger and arrogance gone.

"Junior Brother Zhao, the path of martial arts is long. Let's encourage each other."

Lin Chen smiled slightly. He felt that Zhao Haoyang was able to get out of the daze of failure, and he could say that he had done right by Elder Zhuang.

Fifteen minutes later, Lin Chen left Zhao Haoyang's courtyard, with Zhao Haoyang following closely behind to see him off.

The Wanhuo Sect disciples who were passing by were all speechless when they saw Zhao Haoyang actually giving Lin Chen a ride; their mouths were agape and their expressions were as if they had seen a ghost.

What triggered Senior Brother Zhao to offer to see Lin Chen off with a smile on his face?

……

"Sect Master, this Lin Chen..."

Unbeknownst to Lin Chen, his words of persuasion to Zhao Haoyang had reached the ears of several elders of the Wanhuo Sect.

"I never expected that Lin Chen would come from a desolate place in the martial arts world, and even from a poor person in that desolate place. It's truly unbelievable."

An elder sighed with emotion, and Dong Congyang, the sect leader of the Wanhuo Sect, also showed a moved expression.

"How did the Canglan Sect manage to find such a promising talent?"

The other elders also sighed in admiration, but Zhuang Lie remained silent.

No wonder Lin Chen decided to refine the third innate fire. Given his background, he must have faced countless risks like this to get to where he is today.

Lin Chen only said a few words to Zhao Haoyang, mentioning that he had cultivated diligently day and night without fail, which glossed over the hardships of cultivation. However, with a poor background and no connections, without taking risks and fighting hard, no matter how talented he was, he could not have achieved what he has today.

The way of doing things without missing any opportunity is probably ingrained in the little guy's very bones.

This little guy's cultivation path is truly heartbreaking.

P.S.: Here's the third update. It's almost the beginning of the month, so please give me a guaranteed monthly vote!

(End of this chapter)