Rise from a Poor Family: My Martial Arts Counterattack

Chapter 577 Want to get on the list? Harder than climbing to heaven! (Seeking monthly votes)
Seventy-two!

Seventy-one!
The warriors in the entire Tower of Babel plaza began to breathe rapidly.

Now, no one questions that Lin Chen is invincible in the fourth realm of the Innate Realm. Even in the fifth realm of the Innate Realm, Lin Chen is only one step away from being invincible.

Throughout the entire Tower of Babel, the top seventy people are all at the sixth level of the Innate Realm, while Lin Chen is currently standing at the very front of the fifth level of the Innate Realm. One step ahead is the battle against someone at the sixth level of the Innate Realm.

To be invincible across a realm—this level of genius has not appeared in the entire Yan Dynasty for who knows how long.

In my memory, I have only occasionally seen records of such peerless geniuses in the sect's records.

"It's a pity that if Lin Chen were not in the Canglan Sect, but in another sect... the Yan Dynasty would have produced another giant in the future."

A powerful figure sighed softly, "Canglan Sect is currently at war with Bahuang Sect and has been at a disadvantage. Given Lin Chen's displayed talent, Bahuang Sect will probably not sit idly by and watch Lin Chen grow like this. They will definitely try every means to kill Lin Chen."

Lin Chen's safety is uncertain!
If it were a peaceful sect, like the Thousand Machines Sect, with powerful sect members protecting him, no one would be willing to risk war with the Thousand Machines Sect to kill Lin Chen. Given time, Lin Chen could not only step into the Myriad Manifestations Realm, but would also be an outstanding figure in the Myriad Manifestations Realm.

Now, the more outstanding Lin Chen's performance is, the stronger the killing intent from the Eight Desolate Sect becomes.

Zhongzhou!

The royal harem pagoda.

"Second Grand Uncle, if Lin Chen really makes it into the top seventy, he will surely become famous throughout the Yan Dynasty. At that time, he will have even more luck by his side, and the luck of the Divine Seal will be plundered again. His losses may even exceed those of last time. I hope Second Grand Uncle will take action."

Yan Yang looked at the old man with an agitated expression. The old man did not respond, but sighed softly, "There is no possibility of reconciliation with Lin Chen?"

"Second Grand Uncle, you should also know that a genius like Lin Chen, having been betrayed by my third brother, will never have any goodwill towards my royal family again. The fact that one-tenth of the divine seal's fortune dissipated earlier is proof of that."

"Your Majesty, is this the same thought you hold?"

Beside Yan Yang was his father, Yan Zun, the current emperor of the Yan Dynasty.

"Second Uncle, do you have some suspicions?"

Yan Zun did not rush to express his opinion, but instead asked a question in return.

"Yanfeng of the Thousand Machines Sect once owed me a favor. Several years ago, I asked Yanfeng to perform a divination for my Yan Dynasty."

"How is the hexagram?"

Yan Zun's eyes gleamed. His second great-uncle wouldn't bring this up for no reason; Yan Feng must have figured something out.

"The general trend is irreversible." The old man shook his head. "But within this general trend, there is a variable, and this variable has not been around for long..."

"What kind of variable?" Yan Zun pressed, wondering why his second uncle hadn't told him about such an important matter.

"The rise and fall of a dynasty is not so easy to predict. Even with Yanfeng's deductive skills, he can only vaguely see this variable. He cannot even be sure whether this variable is good or bad for our royal family."

"I'm not telling you because as more people become aware of the variables, new variables also emerge."

The old man seemed to know what Yan Zun was thinking and offered an explanation.

"So, Second Uncle thinks that Lin Chen might be the so-called variable?"

Yan Zun understood why his second uncle hesitated; he was afraid that Lin Chen, this variable, would disappear.

"I only have some doubts, but until the very last moment, no one knows who the variable will be. You are the emperor of this generation, and it is up to you to make the decision."

Yan Zun's eyes were thoughtful. Although his second uncle was an elder, the royal family respected the emperor. He was the emperor, and everyone in the royal family had to obey his orders.

"Since we don't know whether this variable is good or bad for our royal family, we might as well not have it. Our royal family cannot put our fate in the hands of others."

Ultimately, Yan Zun made a decision.

The fate of the royal family can only be controlled by the royal family itself.

"I understand the Emperor's decision. I will now activate the divine seal to influence the Tower of Babel."

The old man said nothing more, turned and walked into the pagoda. The emperor knew better than himself what the price would be for human intervention in the divine seal.

Outside the pagoda, Yan Zun stood with his hands behind his back, gazing at the distant horizon: "Yang'er, do you think what your father did was right?"

“Father, now that Dongfang Canglang is relying on his father to disregard our royal family and wants to accelerate the dissipation of our royal family’s divine seal. If Lin Chen is really a variable, I’m afraid he will also take the opportunity to threaten our royal family, just like Dongfang Canglang. We must not allow Lin Chen to accumulate more fortune in the Yan Dynasty.”

Yan Yang did not hesitate at all. In his view, regardless of whether Lin Chen was a variable or not, Lin Chen had caused the royal family to lose face, so he could not be allowed to live.

Without their royal family, how could the martial artists of the Yan Dynasty be so prosperous today? Their royal family has been kind to all the martial artists of the Yan Dynasty. Even though his third brother had tricked Lin Chen, Lin Chen and Yin Wushuang of the Canglan Sect should not have publicly humiliated his third brother.

Without reverence for royalty, it must never be allowed to grow.

Yan Zun listened to his son's answer and said nothing more, but his eyes also showed the ruthlessness of a superior.

……

……

Inside the Tower of Babel.

Lin Chen finished his meditation and stood up. He was now ranked seventy-first, and the next person he would challenge was a strongman ranked seventy.

The seventieth place is occupied by a sixth-level Innate Realm expert.

This is why he took a full quarter of an hour to recover after defeating his opponent who was ranked seventy-first.

So far, he has only fought one Innate Realm Sixth Stage martial artist, the old servant beside Dongfang Canglang. But that old man was clearly not an ordinary Innate Realm Sixth Stage expert, and he could only barely withstand one of his moves.

Facing a sixth-level Innate Realm expert, he might not have a chance of winning, but since he had already come this far, Lin Chen had no reason to give up.

Now he no longer needs to hide his strength, because no matter how he conceals his power, the Eight Desolations Sect will do everything in its power to suppress him, and the royal family and Dongfang Canglang will also target him.

The more outstanding one's performance, the more it will inspire the Canglan Sect brothers and the warriors of the Canglan Domain.

Composing himself, Lin Chen was about to walk toward the jade tablet when, just as he took a step, the majestic voice from inside the Tower of Babel rang out once again.

"Thirty consecutive wins, a reverse fight against a fifth-level innate realm while only at the fourth level of the innate realm. The Invincible Arena is now open, where you can fight against the strongest geniuses in the history of the dynasty. You will be automatically teleported to the Invincible Arena after three hundred breaths. Please be prepared."

Upon hearing this sound, Lin Chen was startled. Was the Invincible Arena activated?
A battle between invincible geniuses from the history of the imperial dynasty?
Lin Chen recalled the first time he broke into the Tower of Babel, and the swordsman he encountered who killed him with a single strike.

That swordsman was one of the hundred strongest warriors in the third realm of the Innate Realm.

Therefore, the opponents he will face next will no longer be those experts at the sixth level of the Innate Realm, but rather those experts at the fourth level of the Innate Realm who were the strongest in history.

Thinking of this, Lin Chen became excited. While cross-realm battles could prove his strength, fighting against supreme experts of the same level would bring him more combat experience. At the same time, he also wanted to see if there was a gap between his strength and that of these historical supreme experts.

……

……

Outside the Tower of Babel.

Everyone knew that Lin Chen was definitely going to challenge the 70th-ranked expert at the sixth level of the Innate Realm, and even that expert himself had appeared in the Tower of Babel Plaza.

The old man didn't seem nervous. Even though he was defeated by Lin Chen, who was at the fourth level of the Innate Realm, it couldn't be said that he was weak. Defeating an opponent by crossing one realm could be considered as defeating a weak opponent, but defeating an opponent by crossing two realms meant that no one would think that the opponent was weak.

Everyone will only have one opinion: a true peerless genius has been born.

Just as everyone was eagerly anticipating the event, the inscription on the jade tablet suddenly changed.

"There's been a change!"

In an instant, everyone's eyes turned to the jade tablet, eager to know the result.

However, everyone was stunned when they saw the ranking on the jade tablet; Lin Chen's name had disappeared from the jade tablet.

The seventy-first place was changed back to the name of the powerful figure Lin Chen had challenged before.

Where did Lin Chen go?
"Strange, what about Lin Chen's ranking? Even if he failed the challenge, he should be ranked seventy-first?"

Just as everyone was wondering, an old man in the crowd spoke up: "Lin Chen's ranking is gone. There is only one possibility: the Tower of Babel does not recognize his challenge ranking."

The moment the old man spoke, everyone present turned to look at him. The Tower of Babel did not recognize Lin Chen's ranking.
Why?
Some people wanted to refute the old man, but others recognized his identity and asked, "Brother Zhao, is there a reason for your statement?"

"I was once in charge of the rankings at Martial Arts Mountain. There were some young martial artists who rose rapidly in the rankings, even to an astonishing degree. But in the end, these young people had their rankings revoked by Martial Arts Mountain, simply because they used cheating methods."

Many martial artists at the scene looked at each other in bewilderment. Most of them had no connection with Lin Chen, but from their own perspective, they were also unwilling to see such a peerless genius appear.

Therefore, when the old man revealed that Lin Chen had obtained such a ranking through cheating, most of the martial artists present remained silent, even though they felt there were loopholes in the old man's words.

The biggest loophole lies with Li Qing.

Li Qing personally went inside the Tower of Babel to fight Lin Chen. Anyone with eyes could see that Li Qing was defeated, so there was no problem with Lin Chen's strength.

"Martial Arts Mountain and the Tower of Babel can be used for cheating? Senior Zhao, do you have any evidence to support your claim?"

Zeng Xi, who arrived later, couldn't help but question it. Even though this senior was much stronger than him, he didn't want to see Lin Chen being slandered like this.

"The fact that the Tower of Babel abolished Lin Chen's ranking is the basis for this. The ranking of the Tower of Babel is the same as that of Martial Dao Mountain, and even the royal family cannot change it artificially. As for the cheating situation I mentioned, when we were in Martial Dao Mountain, there were many young people who challenged their opponents on the battlefield of Martial Dao Mountain and had some special treasures on their bodies that could allow them to enter Martial Dao Mountain along with their divine souls. However, this was not told to us by Martial Dao Mountain, but was discovered by me afterward when I sent people to investigate the young people."

Zhao Yan's words convinced many martial artists, as his argument was reasonable and well-founded, given that Lin Chen's ranking in the Tower of Babel was indeed gone.

Zeng Xi's face showed resentment. He didn't believe that Lin Chen would cheat in the Tower of Babel challenge: "Since you say so, how do you explain that Senior Li lost to Lin Chen earlier?"

"I don't know about that. You'll need to ask Li Qing himself. I'm just sharing my guess with you all. Whether you believe it or not is up to you."

Zhao Yan didn't give a definitive answer because he couldn't provide any evidence. He had received instructions from the Crown Prince to enter the Tower of Babel and spread this message.

Besides promising him some benefits, the Crown Prince also assured him that Lin Chen would never appear on the Tongtian Ranking again, because Lin Chen's next opponent would be one of the top one hundred strongest people in the four realms of the Innate Realm since the founding of the Yan Dynasty.

The Yan Dynasty has existed for so long, and countless outstanding individuals have emerged from it. Every one of those who can be ranked among the top 100 is a peerless genius.

Even though Lin Chen can be considered a peerless genius, to be on the list, it's not enough to defeat just one person; he has to defeat a full hundred.

Making the list is as difficult as ascending to heaven.

As long as Lin Chen doesn't appear on the Heavenly Ranking, no one can expose his words.

Moreover, he didn't speak with such certainty; he was only stating his own judgment. If anything unexpected happened, he could easily deflect blame.

Upon hearing Zhao Yan's answer, Zeng Xi wanted to argue, but Jiang Chen stopped her.

"Junior Brother Zeng, please don't say any more."

"Senior Brother Jiang, I don't believe Lin Chen would cheat."

"It's not a matter of whether to believe it or not, but we need evidence. We'll wait until Lin Chen comes out before making any further statements."

Jiang Chen knew about Zeng Xi and Lin Chen's relationship, but most people believed Zhao Yan's words at the moment, and there was no point in continuing to argue until Lin Chen came out.

……

……

Inside the Tower of Babel.

On the invincible arena, Lin Chen smiled the moment he saw his opponent.

Unexpectedly, among the hundred strongest experts in the fourth realm of the Innate Realm, I encountered that familiar swordsman again.

At that time, he could not even withstand the sword intent emanating from his opponent, and was defeated after only three strikes.

call out!
The unruly swordsman draws his blade!

This time, the sword intent was even more terrifying than the last time, but this time Lin Chen saw the opponent's long sword clearly, and almost the moment the opponent drew the sword, he also threw a punch without hesitation.

One sword, two swords, three swords...

One punch, two punches, three punches...

After three moves, the unruly swordsman sheathed his sword, and his figure vanished from the arena.

Seeing the unruly swordsman disappear, Lin Chen was surprised, but he quickly realized that for this senior, the first three strikes were already his strongest three strikes. If three strikes could not defeat him, then there was no need to continue.

I once heard my master say that there is a type of swordsman who cultivates an indomitable swordsmanship and pursues the ultimate sword intent.

A single strike could decide the outcome; this senior must have been such a swordsman.

"I obtained the Will of a Perfect and Flawless Blade."

The authoritative and ruthless voice rang out once more, and a blade gleaming with a dazzling, cold light silently hovered in front of Lin Chen on the arena.

PS: Requesting guaranteed monthly votes!
(End of this chapter)