Meeting You Was His Three Lifetimes of Good Fortune

Poyang County Martial Arts Administration.

Located in the central area of Poyang County, the tallest building Lin Chen saw earlier at the city gate was inside the Martial Arts Administration.

This was enough to show how much the Liang Dynasty valued martial arts.

The Martial Arts Administration wasn't as easy to enter as a Martial Arts Hall. Even after Yu Yongnian stated his identity, he still had to wait.

"Wait here."

The doorman glanced at Yu Yongnian several times with an indifferent attitude, then went inside the main gate.

After about a quarter of an hour, the doorman returned with a smile on his face and a somewhat warmer attitude.

"Instructor Yu, please follow me."

The doorman personally led Yu Yongnian and Lin Chen into the Martial Arts Administration, finally arriving in front of a courtyard.

"The Patrol Envoy is inside. Instructor Yu, please enter."

After escorting them, the doorman left. Yu Yongnian said to Lin Chen, "Wait at the entrance."

Lin Chen: ...

In 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 soon, it's excellent new Wuyi tea."

"Senior Sister, this time I've come to the Martial Arts Administration to file a complaint."

"A complaint?"

Although Shu Suwan knew in her heart that her Junior Brother would never come to the Martial Arts Administration unless something had happened, hearing this, she still felt a bit resentful. "Can't Junior Brother just come to see his Senior Sister when he has nothing going on?"

Yu Yongnian fell silent. Shu Suwan's resentful expression faded. "I'm just joking with Junior Brother. What are you complaining about?"

"Lin Chen, a disciple of the Martial Arts Hall in Riverbend Town, is the first to cultivate Essence Energy there. Yet, the various Martial Arts Halls are unwilling to give him an Aperture Opening Pill spot. This is clearly breaking the rules."

Shu Suwan looked surprised. "The Lin Chen Junior Brother is talking about, is he the student who wanted to participate in the Work-Study Program back then?"

"Yes, Senior Sister, you also know Lin Chen's family background. He's a fisherman's son who only spent twenty taels to cultivate Essence Energy. What kind of martial arts talent is that? Such a genius deserves an Aperture Opening Pill."

"He really only spent twenty taels?"

"At least that much, if not more," Yu Yongnian affirmed. "Doesn't Senior Sister believe me either?"

"Of course I believe Junior Brother's words." Shu Suwan gently shook her head. "But my belief in Junior Brother is useless. Those Martial Arts Halls won't believe it. Junior Brother, why don't you calm down and think from their perspective? If Junior Brother were a Martial Arts Hall Instructor, would you believe this?"

"Maybe... maybe not."

Yu Yongnian's nature wouldn't allow him to lie with his eyes open. If he were a Martial Arts Hall recruitment Instructor, he would also be skeptical about this matter.

"Even if the Martial Arts Halls don't believe it, in previous years, even if the number of students who cultivated Essence Energy exceeded eighty, the top student of the Martial Arts Hall wouldn't fail to get a spot."

Hearing the dissatisfaction in her Junior Brother's words, Shu Suwan had to explain, "The Martial Arts Administration does not have a clear regulation stating that the top student of the Martial Arts Hall must be given an Aperture Opening Pill spot. In previous years, if the number of students exceeded eighty, giving a spot to the top student of the Martial Arts Hall was more about demonstrating unity and fairness."

Shu Suwan knew that her Junior Brother's thinking was somewhat lacking in certain areas. In previous years, even if the number of students exceeded eighty, the Martial Arts Hall still had to give at least one spot to each town's Martial Arts Hall. This was to show that the Martial Arts Administration and the imperial court treated the townspeople equally.

Since a spot had to be given, it would naturally be given to the first-place student.

First place represented a better family background and therefore greater potential.

However, this time there was an unexpected turn of events. Who could have imagined that Lin Chen, a fisherman's son, would take first place in the Martial Arts Hall? In this situation, the Martial Arts Halls naturally thought about giving the spot to other students in Riverbend Town with better family backgrounds.

Anyway, as long as they gave Riverbend Town one spot, it would be enough to satisfy the Martial Arts Administration.

"I know you want to say, Lin Chen is a fisherman's son, yet he got first place in the Martial Arts Hall. Couldn't the Martial Arts Halls figure this out? Even if the amount of money spent was faked, if it could be faked once, it could be faked again later, which is enough to show that Lin Chen has the money to continue advancing in martial arts."

Seeing her Junior Brother about to speak, Shu Suwan knew what he wanted to say and smiled slightly. "Junior Brother, you are too caught up in the situation."

"Please enlighten me, Senior Sister." Yu Yongnian frowned. What he had just thought was indeed what she said, but he didn't know where he was confused.

"From the perspective of the people in the Martial Arts Halls, the record of the money Lin Chen spent on martial arts, reported by the Martial Arts Hall, must be fake. The Martial Arts Halls will then consider, why fake it? What is the purpose of this faking?"

"What is the purpose of faking?"

Yu Yongnian pondered, and after a while, he seemed to understand something and smiled bitterly. "So the Martial Arts Halls suspect me of faking it to get an excellent 'A' rating in the Instructor evaluation, and me personally bringing Lin Chen to the Martial Arts Hall makes these Instructors even more convinced that I faked it."

"Junior Brother doesn't need to be like this. Senior Sister believes you. If Junior Brother wanted to return to the county town, there was no need for all this. As long as Junior Brother nodded, Senior Sister would have arranged it for you." Shu Suwan's words had a deeper meaning, but unfortunately, Yu Yongnian didn't catch it.

"Senior Sister believing me is useless. The Martial Arts Halls won't believe it. Since that's the case, there's only one final step."

Yu Yongnian said in a low voice, "Senior Sister, Lin Chen is from Lakeside Village. That Scholar Jiang back then still had some connection to Lakeside Village and specifically instructed that if a junior from Lakeside Village had talent in martial arts, he could be informed by letter. If Lin Chen writes a letter telling Scholar Jiang about this, and Scholar Jiang gets angry, the Martial Arts Administration will likely find it hard to explain. I have stopped Lin Chen for now and informed Senior Sister of this matter to avoid causing Senior Sister trouble."

Shu Suwan's eyebrows twitched slightly. How could she not understand her Junior Brother? The implication of his words was that if the Martial Arts Administration didn't resolve this, he would take Lin Chen to find Scholar Jiang.

"Junior Brother, are you using Scholar Jiang to threaten Senior Sister?"

"Junior Brother wouldn't dare."

"You wouldn't dare? Aren't you clearly saying that if Lin Chen isn't given an Aperture Opening Pill spot, you will let Lin Chen write to Scholar Jiang and say that the Martial Arts Administration and the Martial Arts Halls are discriminating against him?" Shu Suwan said with feigned anger.

"If Lin Chen wants to write a letter, I can't stop him. I am just an Instructor, not Lin Chen's elder."

"Pfft!"

Hearing her Junior Brother's words that didn't match his thoughts, Shu Suwan finally couldn't help but burst out laughing.

"Don't worry, Junior Brother. The situation with the Martial Arts Hall students this year is different from previous years. There are internal reasons you don't know about yet."

"The number of students who have cultivated Essence Energy has exceeded the limit. It's not like this hasn't happened before, but I still believe Lin Chen deserves this spot," Yu Yongnian said with determination.

"It's not just that the number of students has exceeded the limit of eighty, it's also because Lord Su is making big moves regarding the Martial Arts Hall this year."

Seeing her Junior Brother's puzzled expression, Shu Suwan explained, "Poyang County has been at the bottom of the prefectural competition for four consecutive years. The newly appointed Lord Su wants to change the situation. He has already issued a document to the major Martial Arts Halls stating that the new batch of students entering the Martial Arts Halls will have a competition every three months. The results of the competition are related to the amount of resources the Martial Arts Administration allocates to each Martial Arts Hall. In this situation, the major Martial Arts Halls naturally want to save the Aperture Opening Pills for students with potential."

Yu Yongnian was surprised; he really hadn't known about these internal matters.

Since the newly appointed Lord Su of the Martial Arts Administration had set such a rule, the major Martial Arts Halls naturally hoped their students would rank higher in the competition. The resources provided by the Martial Arts Administration to the Martial Arts Halls were something that all the instructors, including the Hall Masters, cared about deeply.

Since it concerned the personal interests of these instructors, it was no wonder they weren't willing to give Lin Chen an Aperture Opening Pill spot.

"Senior Sister, Lin Chen's journey has not been easy. You heard it yourself back then. This child even put aside his dignity to practice martial arts. If someone like this loses the Aperture Opening Pill spot just because of his poor family background, I wouldn't know how to tell him."

Yu Yongnian looked at his Senior Sister, his eyes filled with pleading.

Shu Suwan's eyes held a hint of resentment. "Junior Brother, you've come to find me yourself. Would I just stand by and do nothing?"

Junior Brother, you don't understand me.

"Thank you, Senior Sister," Yu Yongnian said happily when he heard this, immediately responding.

"Don't thank me so quickly. I have a method in mind, but it's hard to say if it will work." Shu Suwan waved her hand, and at the same time, asked curiously, "Junior Brother, you're so invested in Lin Chen. Have you taken him on as a personal disciple?"

Instructors and students inherently have a master-disciple relationship, but this relationship isn't very strong. Many instructors will privately take on talented and potential students as disciples, and only then is it considered a true master-disciple relationship.

"Cultivating Essence Energy for less than twenty taels of silver, isn't that worth being invested in?" Yu Yongnian didn't hide his true thoughts from his Senior Sister. "I haven't thought about taking Lin Chen as a disciple."

"Why not?" Shu Suwan was very confused. It would make sense for her Junior Brother, who was so invested in and thought so highly of Lin Chen, to take him on as a disciple.

"I'm just an ordinary instructor. How much help can I give Lin Chen if I take him as a disciple? If a student from a village or town can forge a path in martial arts, they will definitely catch the eye of those important figures. The weight of the first teacher is not light."

When Yu Yongnian said this, Shu Suwan's expression was moved. "Lin Chen is truly fortunate to have met you, Junior Brother."

The path of martial arts is incredibly expensive.

Many martial arts geniuses who show potential come from prominent families. Those strong martial artists are wary of the backgrounds of these talented students and won't take them as disciples.

But if a rural boy makes a name for himself on the path of martial arts...

Clean, no background, no master.

These are the disciples that strong martial artists like the most, and once taken in, they are cultivated as inheritors.

"It's not three lifetimes of fortune. I just feel that a determined young man who can put aside his dignity shouldn't be let down."

Even now, Yu Yongnian remembers Lin Chen proactively coming to his courtyard and talking about the Work-Study Program.

If he didn't have firm belief in martial arts, how could a young man come up with such an idea and say such words?

He could imagine that on the night he left the family, Lin Chen must have tossed and turned in bed, thinking all night to come up with this method. Even before entering his courtyard, he probably hesitated several times before mustering the courage to come in and say those words about the Work-Study Program.

"I understand, Senior Sister. You wait here for a while; I'll go handle this."

"Junior Brother thanks Senior Sister on behalf of Lin Chen," Yu Yongnian said with a smile.

"I haven't seen you put so much effort into your own affairs, but you're so excited about a student's matter."

There was a certain meaning in Shu Suwan's words, but Yu Yongnian didn't pick up on it.

Shu Suwan walked out of the courtyard and stopped when she saw Lin Chen standing outside the door.

"Lin Chen, a student from Riverbend Town Martial Arts Hall, greets the esteemed one."

Seeing an elegant woman walk out of the courtyard, Lin Chen was startled. After reacting, he immediately bowed, while his heart speculated about the woman's identity.

This person has an unusual presence. Could she be Inspector Shu from the Martial Arts Administration?

If so, the relationship between the Instructor and this Inspector Shu...

The gossip spirit was burning in Lin Chen's heart. In the past ten-plus months at the Martial Arts Hall, he had seen the families of Instructor Liu and Instructor Chen appear, but he had never seen the family of Instructor Yu.

"Your Instructor Yu is practically ready to fall out with me, his Senior Sister, over your matter. If I don't give you an Aperture Opening Pill spot, he's going to take you to Raozhou Prefecture to complain to Lord Jiang."

Shu Suwan's expression was serious, showing no emotion. Lin Chen hesitated, unsure if her words were true, but still replied, "This disciple will forever remember Instructor Yu's care and protection."

"A master doesn't produce two different kinds of disciples; they're all the same. Alright, go in and have tea with your Instructor Yu."

Hearing Lin Chen's answer, Shu Suwan seemed to scold him, but in her heart, she was quite satisfied with his response.

He didn't change his words to please her.

If Lin Chen had replied "I wouldn't dare," she would have had a reservation, which would have proven that her Junior Brother had misjudged him.