Rise from a Poor Family: My Martial Arts Counterattack

Chapter 434 Coercion and the Mastermind

call out!
A chilling sword light pierced down fiercely, splitting the sea surface into a ten-zhang-deep chasm. A disciple of the Canglan Sect was caught off guard and struck by the sword energy, spitting blood as he flew backward through the air.

Standing there, sword in hand, was none other than a Canglan Beast formed from pure Canglan energy! Its eyes were a deep blue, devoid of any emotion, exuding only a naked aura of destruction.

call out!
The Azure Beast swung its sword again, but just as it raised its sword, a burst of fire swept in and instantly engulfed it.

A few breaths later, the Azure Beast let out a mournful howl and vanished in the flames.

"Ahem, thank you, Junior Brother Lin."

The Canglan Sect disciples who were rescued showed gratitude on their faces when they saw Lin Chen, who had intervened.

"Brother, be careful."

Lin Chen didn't say much, because the situation was very dangerous.

As far as the eye could see, the vast, boundless sea had now been transformed into a battlefield.

A dozen or so Canglan beasts, each with a different appearance but all ferocious and violent, were frantically attacking the Canglan Sect disciples.

Each one exuded an aura far beyond the ordinary, carrying a twisted, murderous intent.

Blood poured onto the azure sea, and the clothes of several disciples of the Canglan Sect were already torn to shreds, their bodies covered with deep wounds that revealed the bone.

Even with Lin Chen's continuous support, they couldn't stop the Azure Wave Beasts from constantly emerging from the sea.

After one batch is killed, another batch will follow.

"Lin Chen's strength is truly beyond my expectations."

"No Azure Beast can withstand a single round against it; its strength is truly terrifying."

The disciples from the other sects watching the battle on the beach were also filled with emotion as they looked at Lin Chen, who resembled a god of war.

At this point, they had to admit that Lin Chen's strength was superior to theirs.

In terms of age, Lin Chen is the youngest among them.

"It's no use. There are too many Canglan Beasts. We can't kill them all. Right now, there haven't been any flawless-level Canglan Beasts yet. If several flawless-level Canglan Beasts appear, and Lin Chen gets bogged down, all the Canglan Sect disciples will die."

Escape from the sea?

The disciples of the Canglan Sect simply couldn't do that.

Previously, some disciples of the Canglan Sect had tried to leave the beach, but the Canglan beasts continued to pursue them. The beach was only so big, and there was nowhere to escape.

"Junior Brother Qiao, are you alright?"

Seeing Qiao Yuan surrounded by three Canglan beasts, Lin Chen transformed into a torrent of flames and burned the three Canglan beasts to ashes in one fell swoop.

"Senior Brother Lin, don't worry about us."

Qiao Yuan looked at Lin Chen with a complicated expression. Although he had never admitted it, he had accepted Lin Chen the moment he reached the top of Martial Dao Mountain.

In recent years, the Canglan Sect has not produced any truly outstanding genius disciples, but Lin Chen is the most talented disciple the Canglan Sect has produced in recent decades.

They can die, but Lin Chen must not die.

With three hours remaining before the opening of the Canglan Secret Realm, if they can continue to draw the Canglan Beasts' firepower, Lin Chen might be able to survive these three hours.

“Junior Brother Qiao is right. Junior Brother Lin, don’t worry about us. Retreat to the beach and conserve your strength.”

Another disciple of the Canglan Sect, after slaying a Canglan Beast, also shouted hoarsely to Lin Chen. His left arm hung limply at his side, having been severely injured in the battle with the Canglan Beast.

There are too many Azure Beasts; it's impossible for them all to survive. Some will inevitably die. Although the reality is cruel, for the sect, none of them can compare to Junior Brother Lin alone.

"Yes, Junior Brother Lin, you don't need to worry about us."

Not far away, Zhuang Yichen swung his sword at the Canglan Beast, knocking it back: "We are not doing this for you, but for the sect. We cannot act rashly at this moment."

No one wants to die!
Especially for these talented disciples, in the current situation, only Junior Brother Lin has the best chance of surviving. Junior Brother Lin came to their rescue, seemingly defeating these Canglan Beasts with overwhelming force, but Yue Xiu and the others knew that this must have also depleted Junior Brother Lin's innate power.

Even martial artists at the Innate Realm cannot continuously replenish their innate power.

These disciples used to have grudges against each other for competing for rankings and resources, but now they only know one thing: they are disciples of the Canglan Sect.

At the edge of the beach, Yue Shan and other disciples from the Blood Moon Sect remained indifferent, their eyes flashing with complex emotions—fear, calculation, but no intention of offering any assistance.

Only Zeng Xi was fighting two Canglan beasts not far from the beach, but this was the limit of what he could do. Any more... he could only choose to retreat and give up.

Listening to Qiao Yuan and the others' words, Lin Chen knew in his heart that Qiao Yuan and the others told him to hold back his strength not because they had any deep feelings for him, but simply because they were disciples of the Canglan Sect, and the talent and strength he had shown would make him a pillar of the Canglan Sect in the future.

Their goal is the Canglan Sect.

"Actually, the Canglan Sect disciples made the right choice; protecting Lin Chen was the right thing to do."

"With Lin Chen's talent and strength, as long as he doesn't perish, reaching the sixth level of the Innate Realm should be no problem."

On the beach, Mu Jun slowly spoke. Don't be fooled by the fact that these super sects have experts at the Myriad Manifestations Realm. These experts are the foundation of the sects and they don't usually show themselves easily.

Some disciples may never even get to see one of their sect's top experts in their entire lives.

The struggles and resource competitions between various sects are mostly fought over by experts at the sixth level of the Innate Realm.

A master of the Myriad Manifestations Realm is the pillar of a super sect, and naturally, they won't be mobilized easily.

……

Lin Chen didn't hear what Mu Jun and the others were saying on the beach, but he did notice their amused expressions. When he saw his senior brother from the sect fighting Canglan, he let out a soft, ambiguous "heh."

boom!
The next moment, the flames on Lin Chen's body suddenly exploded, landing directly on several Canglan Beasts around him. These Canglan Beasts, attacked, instantly fixed their scarlet eyes on Lin Chen and pounced on him.

call out!
Lin Chen's figure transformed into a golden light and headed towards the beach, with nearly ten Azure Beasts hot on his heels.

"not good!"

The moment Mu Jun and the others, who were watching the show on the beach, saw Lin Chen heading towards them, they instantly guessed what Lin Chen wanted to do.

This is an attempt to shift the blame eastward!

"Lin Chen, what you're doing is going against us..."

Someone tried to threaten him, but Lin Chen just sneered. "At this point, you're telling me you might offend the sects behind you?"

Seeing that Lin Chen remained unmoved, Mu Jun and his group of nine immediately tried to disperse, but they were fast, and Lin Chen was even faster. He caught up with one of them in an instant and even overtook him.

Behind him, the Azure Beasts made no attempt to avoid him. Several Azure Beasts attacked almost simultaneously, unleashing terrifying energy in an instant. The aftershocks blasted the outer sect disciples behind Lin Chen into spinning motionless in the air.

puff!
Zhang coughed up blood and retreated ten feet away, his face extremely pale. His eyes were filled with resentment as he looked at Lin Chen. If he hadn't desperately activated his innate power at the last moment to push his speed to the limit, he would probably be dead by now.

"Lin Chen, I..."

"If you don't want to die, fight these Azure Beasts."

However, when Zhang Jin saw Lin Chen's indifferent eyes and cold words, he couldn't help but shiver. Lin Chen's eyes told him that the other party was really capable of doing such a thing.

As for the sect demanding an explanation from Canglan Sect and Lin Chen after learning of this, what does that have to do with me? I'm already dead.

"I can only stop one Azure Beast for you."

Lin Chen did not respond, but his figure appeared behind Zhang Jin once again. Zhang Jin's expression changed drastically, and he followed suit, but his speed was always a step slower than Lin Chen's, and he could not shake off Lin Chen at all.

“Two… I can hold off two Azure Beasts for you.”

Zhang Jin chose to submit, but Lin Chen remained unmoved. Zhang Jin could only dodge again, but seeing the five Canglan Beasts chasing after him, he gritted his teeth and said, "I'll go to the sea right now."

Upon hearing Zhang Jin's words, Lin Chen did not follow when Zhang Jin moved to a different position.

Seeing that Lin Chen hadn't followed, Zhang Jin breathed a sigh of relief. However, just as another thought crossed his mind, Lin Chen's icy gaze swept over him, causing Zhang Jin to tremble. He had no choice but to obediently fly towards the sea. Seeing Zhang Jin's submission, Lin Chen didn't stop, and once again led the five Azure Beasts closer to the others.

"Lin Chen, you've angered everyone. Do you really think you can fight against all of us all by yourself?"

"Gentlemen, let's gather together. I refuse to believe we're afraid of him alone!"

The second person Lin Chen was chasing was Mu Jun. When Mu Jun saw Lin Chen coming towards him, he immediately shouted loudly, trying to threaten Lin Chen and also hoping to get the others to join forces with him.

However, no one present was a fool.

Lin Chen's strength is clearly far superior to theirs; if they join forces, they can indeed deal with Lin Chen.

But the key issue is that they are not united.

They came from different sects and had little interaction before. Who could guarantee that if they rushed towards Mu Jun, others would do the same?
If the others are not available, and Lin Chen were to use this as an excuse to take drastic measures, they would be unable to withstand him at all.

Who can guarantee that no one is deliberately standing by and watching?

Without trust, these people simply cannot achieve true unity in such a short period of time.

"I'm going to the sea!"

Seeing that no one responded, Mu Jun sighed inwardly, and after casually throwing out those words to Lin Chen, he headed towards the sea.

One, two, three...

After five disciples were driven to the sea to join forces with the Canglan Sect to fight the Canglan Beast, the remaining disciples stopped resisting and even flew towards the sea before Lin Chen could catch up.

Since there's no way to resist, the only option is to join.

Yue Shan looked at Lin Chen, who was looking at him, and helplessly spread his hands: "Brother Lin, I am willing to cooperate."

Lin Chen nodded, and just as he was about to turn his attention to the next person, he heard Zeng Xi's voice in his ear.

"Brother Lin, be careful of Yue Shan from the Blood Moon Sect. I have a feeling something is off about him. The Canglan Secret Realm has been opened so many times without any problems. Why is there a problem this time?"

Zeng Xi's telepathic message caused Lin Chen's eyes to narrow almost imperceptibly.

"Everyone else entered the bubble to try to subdue the Azure Beast and obtain its martial will, but Yue Shan remained on the beach without taking any action. Although Yue Shan gave an explanation, it still seems a bit unreasonable now."

"Most importantly, Yue Shan isn't very strong. Based on my understanding of the Blood Moon Sect, there are disciples of the same age who are stronger than Yue Shan. So why did Yue Shan get a spot to enter the Azure Wave Secret Realm?"

The spots in the Canglan Secret Realm offered by the Canglan Sect were obtained through high-stakes transactions between various sects and were reserved for the sect's top geniuses. Only those top geniuses who had already comprehended the flawless level of martial will and no longer needed to come to the Canglan Secret Realm would be given to other disciples.

But that's precisely where the problem lies. If those top genius disciples have already comprehended the flawless level of martial will, then the sect wouldn't need to spend a huge amount of money to exchange for a spot from the Canglan Sect.

Even super sects are very realistic in their disciple training, providing as much resources as the disciple has potential.

Although super sects have a strong foundation and a large business, they also have many disciples and consume astronomical amounts of martial arts resources.

"Brother Zeng, are you saying that this whole incident was orchestrated by Yue Shan?"

"There is only one possible explanation: the Blood Moon Sect had already reached an agreement with your Canglan Sect on the quota a long time ago. The disciple who was originally intended to receive the quota had comprehended the Flawless Martial Will and no longer needed the quota, so it was Yue Shan's turn."

Zeng Xi did not answer Lin Chen's question directly, but instead gave his deduction.

Ultimately, he had no evidence, and the final decision rested with Lin Chen himself.

Lin Chen narrowed his eyes slightly. With the addition of Yue Shan and the others, the pressure on Qiao Yuan and the others was slightly reduced. These Canglan Beasts were only formed from martial will and had only the instinct to fight. Their cooperation with each other was not strong.

Lin Chen's entire soul was focused on Yue Shan at this moment. With the strength of his soul, Yue Shan could not escape even the slightest detail.

Ten breaths later, Lin Chen's figure suddenly transformed into a golden light and headed towards Yue Shan.

"Brother Yue, I'm here to help you."

Yue Shan, who was fighting two Canglan beasts, was stunned for a moment when he heard the voice behind him. Lin Chen was the first to choose to help him. Was it because he acted too well?

"Thank you..."

As soon as he uttered the word "thank you," Yue Shan's expression suddenly changed. He spat out a mouthful of blood, and his spirits sank even lower as he looked down in disbelief at the bloody hole in his chest.

This scene immediately drew the attention of everyone else who was engaged in battle.

There was doubt, confusion, and anger...

"Lin Chen, what are you trying to do? We've already helped you fend off these Azure Beasts, what more do you want?"

Mu Jun roared angrily, and the other outer sect disciples felt the same way. They could accept Lin Chen taking them along to fight the Canglan Beast, but they could not accept Lin Chen betraying them in the end.

"Please do not misunderstand, everyone. The reason for this change in the Canglan Secret Realm is all because of this person."

Lin Chen shouted, and in the next moment he appeared in front of Yue Shan. He struck out with his palm, and Yue Shan was sent flying before he could react. However, Lin Chen had a red bead in his hand.

"Brother Zeng, here you go."

Lin Chen flicked his right hand, and the red bead flew towards Zeng Xi instantly. The moment Zeng Xi caught the bead, the two Canglan Beasts that were originally in front of him stopped their attack.

This scene caused everyone present to turn pale.

No one present was a fool. This bead came from Yue Shan. Zeng Xi grasped the red bead, and the Canglan Beast stopped attacking. Yue Shan should do the same.

However, Yue Shan was still attacked by two Canglan beasts. There is only one possibility: Yue Shan was acting.

If this matter had nothing to do with Yue Shan, Yue Shan could have simply taken out the red bead.

In an instant, everyone's eyes turned to Yue Shan.

Yue Shan, who had been slapped onto the beach by Lin Chen, struggled to his feet. His face, which had been innocent, was now filled with resentment.

Once the red bead was discovered, he had no room for excuses.

This time, unless everyone present dies, his plot will still be exposed.

But if he were the only one to leave alive, the elders of the Canglan Sect and other sects would not let him go.

Elder Li alone could not withstand the wrath of so many sects, and he would most likely be sacrificed.

"Don't look at me like that. You all had a chance to live, but now that we've been exposed, I have no chance to live. So let's all die together."

Sensing the angry gazes of Mu Jun and the others, Yue Shan smiled coldly. This conspiracy must not be exposed, otherwise it would bring danger to the sect. He could not let these people leave alive, not a single one.

His parents, sister... his family members are all in the hands of the sect.

The moment Yue Shan finished speaking, Lin Chen took action, pointing out with a finger. He didn't know what Yue Shan was going to do, but it certainly wasn't anything good.

Unfortunately, it was still a step too late.

Yue Shan's body exploded in full view of everyone, but strangely, the blood around him did not scatter in all directions after the explosion. Instead, it condensed in the air and formed a blood moon, which slowly rose into the sky.

"It's a blood moon!"

Upon seeing the rising blood moon, Zeng Xi suddenly realized: "It seems that the Canglan Sea must have been infected by the Blood Moon Flower of the Blood Moon Sect, which is why this has happened."

"Any living being infected by the Blood Moon Flower will experience a 30% increase in strength the moment the Blood Moon rises."

A man from the outer sect spoke slowly, and his words made everyone tense. Although they could currently hold off the Canglan Beasts, they were only barely managing to hold them off. If the strength of these Canglan Beasts increased by another 30%, they would probably have no chance of winning at all.

Most importantly, when the blood moon rises, all infected creatures will indiscriminately attack all uninfected beings. In other words, from that moment on, even if Lin Chen stops pressuring them, they will not be able to remain uninvolved.

"This time, I really am going to die here."

Some people smiled bitterly, and several even looked at Lin Chen with resentment in their eyes. If it weren't for Lin Chen, how could they have fallen into such a dangerous situation?

Lin Chen ignored the resentful looks in these people's eyes; at this moment, he was looking at the messages popping up on his panel.

(End of this chapter)