Encountering You Was His Three-Lifetimes' Good Fortune

The Martial Arts Administration of Poyang County.

Located in the central area of Poyang County, the tallest pavilion Lin Chen had previously seen at the city gate stood within the Martial Arts Administration.

From this alone, one could tell how highly the Liang Dynasty valued martial arts.

The Martial Arts Administration was not as easy to enter as a martial arts academy. Even after Yu Yongnian announced his identity, they still had to wait.

"Wait here."

The gatekeeper glanced at Yu Yongnian several times with an indifferent attitude, then entered through the main gate.

After the time it took to drink a cup of tea, the gatekeeper returned. A smile had appeared on his face, and his attitude had grown somewhat warmer.

"Instructor Yu, please follow me."

The gatekeeper personally led Yu Yongnian and Lin Chen into the Martial Arts Administration, finally bringing them before a courtyard.

"Inspector Shu is inside. Instructor Yu, please."

The gatekeeper left after delivering them there. Yu Yongnian turned to Lin Chen and said, "Wait at the entrance."

Lin Chen: ...

Inside the courtyard, Shu Suwan was brewing tea. Seeing Yu Yongnian enter, she smiled and said, "Junior Brother, what brings you here? My tea will be ready in a little while. It's top-grade new Wuyi tea."

"Senior Sister, I came this time to file a complaint with the Martial Arts Administration."

"A complaint?"

Though Shu Suwan knew that her junior brother would never come to the Martial Arts Administration unless he had encountered some trouble, hearing this still left her feeling a little aggrieved. "Can't you come visit your senior sister when nothing's wrong?"

Yu Yongnian fell silent. Shu Suwan's aggrieved expression faded. "I was only joking with you. What are you complaining about?"

"Lin Chen, a disciple of the Martial Hall, was the first person in Kaohe Town Martial Arts Academy to cultivate Essence Energy. Yet the various martial arts academies are actually unwilling to give him a disciple slot for an Aperture Opening Pill. This is clearly a violation of the rules."

Shu Suwan looked surprised. "The Lin Chen you mentioned—is he the student who wanted to participate in the Work-Study Program back then?"

"Yes. Senior Sister, you know Lin Chen's family circumstances too. He's the son of a fisherman, and he cultivated Essence Energy after spending only twenty taels. What kind of martial arts talent is that? A genius like him deserves an Aperture Opening Pill."

"He really spent only twenty taels?"

"No more than that." Yu Yongnian spoke with certainty. "Senior Sister, do you not believe me either?"

"I naturally believe what you say, Junior Brother." Shu Suwan gently shook her head. "But my believing you is useless. Those martial arts academies won't believe you. Why don't you calm down first and put yourself in their place? If you were an instructor at a martial arts academy, would you believe this?"

"There... there's a chance I wouldn't."

Yu Yongnian's nature made it impossible for him to lie with his eyes open. If he were an instructor responsible for recruiting students at a martial arts academy, he would also have doubts about this matter.

"Even if the martial arts academies don't believe it, in all these years, even when the number of students who cultivated Essence Energy exceeded eighty, there had never been a case where the Martial Hall's top student failed to obtain a slot."

Hearing the dissatisfaction in her junior brother's words, Shu Suwan had no choice but to explain. "The Martial Arts Administration never explicitly stipulated that the Martial Hall's top student had to be given an Aperture Opening Pill slot. In previous years, when the number exceeded eighty, the Martial Hall's top student would receive a slot. More than anything, this represented unity and fairness."

Shu Suwan knew that her junior brother's thinking was lacking in certain respects. In previous years, even when the number of students exceeded eighty, the martial arts academies still had to give every town's Martial Hall at least one slot. This demonstrated the Martial Arts Administration's and the imperial court's equal treatment of the people in every town.

Since they had to give one slot, they would naturally give it to the top student.

First place represented better family circumstances, and therefore greater potential.

Only, an accident had occurred this time. Who could have imagined that a fisherman's son like Lin Chen would take first place in the Martial Hall? Under these circumstances, the martial arts academy would naturally want to give the slot to another student from Kaohe Town whose family was better off.

After all, as long as they gave Kaohe Town one slot, they would have enough to answer to the Martial Arts Administration.

"I know what you want to say. Lin Chen is a fisherman's son, yet he took first place in the martial arts academy. Could the academy really not think of that? Even if the amount of silver he spent was falsified, being able to fake it once meant he could fake it afterward as well. That alone would be enough to prove Lin Chen had the money to continue advancing along the martial path."

Seeing that her junior brother was about to speak, Shu Suwan smiled faintly. "Junior Brother, you're too close to the situation to see clearly."

"Please enlighten me, Senior Sister." Yu Yongnian frowned. What he had just wanted to say was exactly that, but he did not know where he had gone astray.

"In the eyes of the people at the martial arts academy, the record of how much silver Lin Chen spent learning martial arts, as reported by the Martial Hall, must be false. Then the academy would consider why it was falsified and what purpose the falsification served."

"What purpose did the falsification serve?"

Yu Yongnian pondered. After a long while, he seemed to understand something and smiled bitterly. "So the martial arts academy suspects that I fabricated the figures to obtain an Excellent Grade evaluation in the instructor assessment. And since I personally brought Lin Chen to the academy, those instructors would be even more convinced that I falsified the records."

"Junior Brother, there's no need to take it so hard. Your senior sister believes you. If you wanted to return to the county seat, why would you need to go to such lengths? As long as you nodded, I could arrange it for you." Shu Suwan's words carried a deeper meaning, but unfortunately, Yu Yongnian failed to catch it.

"Your believing me is useless. The martial arts academy won't believe me. Since that's the case, we can only take the final step."

Yu Yongnian spoke solemnly. "Senior Sister, Lin Chen came from Lakeside Village. Scholar Jiang had a connection with Lakeside Village back then. He specifically instructed that if a younger generation from Lakeside Village showed talent in martial arts, they could write to inform him. If Lin Chen writes to Scholar Jiang about this matter, Scholar Jiang may fly into a rage, and the Martial Arts Administration will have trouble explaining itself. I stopped Lin Chen for now and came to tell you about it, so as to avoid causing you trouble."

Shu Suwan's brows twitched lightly. How could she fail to understand her junior brother? The meaning hidden in his words was that if the Martial Arts Administration did not resolve this, he would take Lin Chen to find Scholar Jiang.

"Junior Brother, are you using Scholar Jiang to threaten your senior sister?"

"I wouldn't dare."

"You wouldn't dare? Aren't you plainly saying that if Lin Chen isn't given an Aperture Opening Pill slot, you'll have him write to Scholar Jiang and say that the Martial Arts Administration and the martial arts academies are discriminating against him?" Shu Suwan's voice carried a trace of anger.

"If Lin Chen wants to write a letter, I can't stop him. I'm only an instructor, not Lin Chen's elder."

"Pfft!"

Hearing her junior brother say one thing while clearly meaning another, Shu Suwan could no longer hold back and burst out laughing.

"Don't be anxious, Junior Brother. The circumstances among this year's martial arts academy students differ from those of previous years. You still don't know the details."

"The number of students who cultivated Essence Energy exceeded the limit. It isn't as though such a situation never arose before. I still believe Lin Chen deserves this slot." Yu Yongnian's expression was resolute.

"It isn't only because the number of students exceeded the limit of eighty. It's also because Lord Su is making major moves against the martial arts academies this year."

Seeing the doubt on her junior brother's face, Shu Suwan explained, "Poyang County has ranked last in the prefectural competition for four consecutive years. The newly appointed Lord Su wants to change the situation. He has already issued a notice to all the martial arts academies: starting with the new cohort, their students will compete once every three months. The results will determine how many resources the Martial Arts Administration allocates to each academy. Under these circumstances, the academies will naturally reserve the Aperture Opening Pills for students with potential."

Yu Yongnian was astonished. He truly had not known about this hidden situation.

With Lord Su of the newly appointed Martial Arts Administration establishing such rules, the various martial arts academies naturally hoped their students would rank higher in the competitions. The resources the Martial Arts Administration provided to the academies were something every instructor, including the academy masters, cared about immensely.

Since this concerned the instructors' own interests, it was no wonder they were unwilling to give Lin Chen an Aperture Opening Pill slot.

"Senior Sister, Lin Chen has had a difficult journey. You heard it yourself back then. To practice martial arts, that child even cast aside his dignity. If someone like him were to lose an Aperture Opening Pill slot simply because his family was poor, I wouldn't even know how to face him."

Yu Yongnian looked at his senior sister, pleading in his eyes.

A trace of grievance appeared in Shu Suwan's eyes. "You came all the way to find me yourself. Do you really think your senior sister would stand by and do nothing?"

Junior Brother, you really don't understand your senior sister.

"Thank you, Senior Sister." Delighted by her words, Yu Yongnian immediately responded.

"Don't thank me yet. I do have a way, but I can't say whether it will work." Shu Suwan waved her hand. At the same time, she asked curiously, "Junior Brother, you care so much about Lin Chen. Have you taken him as your Core Disciple?"

An instructor and a student were naturally connected by a teacher-student relationship, but that relationship was not very firm. Many instructors would privately take talented and promising students as disciples. Only then could they be considered true master and disciple.

"Being able to cultivate Essence Energy after spending less than twenty taels of silver—isn't that worth caring about?" Yu Yongnian did not hide his true thoughts from his senior sister. "I never intended to take Lin Chen as my disciple."

"Why not?" Shu Suwan was quite puzzled. Her junior brother cared so much about Lin Chen and thought so highly of him. It would only make sense for him to take Lin Chen as his disciple.

"I'm only an ordinary instructor. How much help could I give Lin Chen even if I took him as my disciple? If a village or town student manages to blaze a path for himself in martial arts, he will inevitably catch the eye of some great figure. The weight of a first master is no small matter."

After Yu Yongnian said this, Shu Suwan's expression shifted. "For Lin Chen to meet a junior brother like you really is his good fortune across three lifetimes."

The martial path required enormous expenditure.

Many martial arts geniuses who managed to distinguish themselves came from prominent lineages. Because powerful martial artists took those geniuses' backgrounds into consideration, they would not take them as disciples.

But if a village boy managed to make a name for himself on the martial path—

Clean, without a background, without a master or school.

Such a disciple was exactly what those powerful martial artists liked most. Once accepted, he would be nurtured as a successor who inherited the master's legacy.

"It can't be called three-lifetimes' good fortune. I only feel that a determined youth who can set aside his dignity shouldn't be let down."

Even now, Yu Yongnian still remembered Lin Chen coming to his courtyard and saying that he wanted to participate in the Work-Study Program.

Without firm conviction in the martial path, how could a youth have thought of such a solution or said such words?

He could imagine that on the night his family had split apart, Lin Chen must have tossed and turned in bed, thinking for an entire night before coming up with this method. Even before stepping into his courtyard, he had likely hesitated countless times before finally summoning the courage to enter and speak those words about the Work-Study Program.

"Your senior sister understands. Wait here for a while. I'll go handle this matter."

"On Lin Chen's behalf, I thank you, Senior Sister." Yu Yongnian smiled.

"You never seem so concerned about your own affairs. Yet you become this agitated over a student's matter."

Shu Suwan's words carried a certain implication, but Yu Yongnian failed to detect it.

Shu Suwan left the courtyard. When she saw Lin Chen standing outside the door, she stopped.

"Lin Chen, a student of the Kaohe Town Martial Hall, pays his respects to you, my lord."

Seeing an elegant woman walk out of the courtyard, Lin Chen froze for a moment. Once he recovered, he immediately bowed, while inwardly guessing at the woman's identity.

Her bearing was extraordinary. Could she be Inspector Shu of the Martial Arts Administration?

If so, what was the relationship between Instructor Yu and this Inspector Shu...?

The spirit of gossip began to burn in Lin Chen's heart. During his more than ten months in the Martial Hall, he had seen the families of Instructor Liu and Instructor Chen appear, but he truly had never seen Instructor Yu's family.

"Your Instructor Yu was prepared to fall out with me, his senior sister, over your matter. If you aren't given an Aperture Opening Pill slot, he was going to take you to Raozhou Prefecture to file a complaint with Lord Jiang."

Shu Suwan's expression was solemn, revealing neither joy nor anger. Lin Chen hesitated, uncertain whether her words were true, but still replied, "Instructor Yu's care and protection for his disciple will be engraved in my heart."

"A disciple can't have two masters, and they're all cut from the same cloth. All right, go inside and keep your Instructor Yu company over tea."

Hearing Lin Chen's answer, Shu Suwan seemed to be scolding him, but she was actually very satisfied.

He had not changed his answer merely to curry favor with her.

If Lin Chen had answered, "I wouldn't dare," she would instead have felt a thorn in her heart. That would have proven her junior brother had judged him wrongly.