Backyard of the Canglan Hall.
Chu Zining was extremely excited, as he recounted to Lin Chen about Canglan Island, primarily about the changes within Liang during this period.
"Not long after you left with the lords of the Canglan Sect, many islands came to visit our island, like Nine Mountains Island, which showed goodwill towards us Liang..."
Lin Chen listened quietly. The Nine Mountains Island that Senior Brother Chu mentioned reminded him of Wei Xuan, a young man from Nine Mountains Island whom he met on the Dragon King Ship. During that time on the ship, he had good relations with those youngsters and even won first place in a competition.
Those youngsters like Wei Xuan definitely reported back the news to their respective islands, and these islands, aware of his martial potential, came early to establish friendly ties.
"With the recommendation of the powerhouses from these islands and the elders of our Martial Arts Alliance, our Liang also established contacts with many sects in the Eastern Sea Region. However, initially, these sects didn’t think highly of our Liang’s youth. It was very challenging to send our Liang’s youth to join these sects. At that time, Lord Kong and others were racking their brains daily to get our Liang’s young martial artists out."
Having always accompanied Kong Qifeng, Chu Zining was most aware of how painstaking it was during that time for Lord Kong and others, who even appeared much haggard.
Indeed, the Eastern Sea Region was vast, but in reality, the number of martial artists far exceeded the number of sects.
Each sect had to nurture its disciples, and with limited resources, they needed to strictly control the number of disciples.
"Junior Brother Lin, geniuses like you are rare in the entire Flame Dynasty. Even though Meng Xing and others might be considered talents in the Nine Kingdoms, in the Eastern Sea Region they’re just barely meeting the requirements for being recruited by these sects. However, there are many such youngsters throughout the Eastern Sea Region, so for those sects, they fall into the category of neither must-recruit nor missable."
Hearing this, Lin Chen nodded as he understood what Senior Brother Chu meant.
In terms of talent, Junior Brother Meng and others were not actually weak, but they suffered because Liang had not established connections with the Flame Dynasty before. The lack of martial arts resources led to lower cultivation realms compared to other youths in the Eastern Sea Region, and all sects assessed a martial artist’s potential based on age and realm.
Although this method was unfair—where those with affluent backgrounds and those without were in the same realm at the same age, the potential of the latter was evidently higher—the major sects didn’t care about such details unless the potential was particularly outstanding, like himself. Otherwise, the major sects wouldn’t be concerned about whether this method was fair to the youths undergoing assessments.
A family’s condition is also a part of potential.
If true fairness were to be achieved, it would require extremely detailed assessment criteria, and no sect would go through such trouble for disciples who would at best become the sect’s middle level.
In such circumstances, when many meet the criteria and the sect’s disciple quota is limited, it would depend on the power behind the youngsters, showcasing their abilities in their unique ways.
"Initially, several lords intended to train a new batch of youths, but Lord Kong vetoed it. He felt that this batch of young martial artists shouldn’t be sacrificed and decided to use Liang’s innate energy as a bargaining chip to secure entry for Meng Xing and others into the sects."
Chu Zining recounted the predicament Kong Qifeng faced back then, in which Lord Kong had a very high standing in Liang. Yet, even so, this proposal was met with opposition by many lords in the imperial court.
Even if Meng Xing and his peers managed to join the sect, they wouldn’t receive much attention. Instead, if Liang’s innate energy was traded for more martial arts cultivation resources from other islands or the Eastern Sea Region and used to nurture the next batch of youths, within three to five years, the new generation would appear more promising to the major sects, receiving better sect resources upon entry.
"Everyone wasn’t acting out of selfish desires but out of consideration for Liang’s future. There were several debates at the imperial court about it, and in the end, it was Kong who met with His Majesty, and eventually, His Majesty’s agreement led to the cessation of disputes among the lords of the court."
Lin Chen nodded. Neither Lord Kong nor the opposing lords were wrong. In some sense, Lord Kong even seemed a bit sentimental.
But that’s the Lord Kong he knew.
As the Minister of Martial Affairs, Lord Kong took responsibility for every student, unwilling to see Meng Xing and peers lose their luster in a broader martial world.
"Fortunately, not long after, news of you reaching the summit of Martial Arts Mountain came, and when it was known that you were from our Liang, it sparked an uproar in the entire Eastern Sea Region. Many sects proactively came to Liang to recruit disciples, and Meng Xing and the others no longer needed Liang to offer resources in exchange; as long as they met the major sects’ entry requirements, they could smoothly join."
At this, Chu Zining’s eyes were filled with admiration as he looked at Lin Chen. Back then, when Lin Chen became the paragon of Jiangnan Dao students, students throughout Poyang County benefited from it. He had once remarked that Poyang County students were fortunate to ride on Lin Chen’s coattails.
Yet who would have thought that in just a few short years, martial artists across Liang, and even the entire island, would benefit from Lin Chen’s success?
One person’s success brightens the entire island.
Even the Han Kingdom, which was always at odds with Liang, now bowed in submission. The Han Kingdom’s Emperor even took the initiative to erect a statue of Lin Chen in the capital, and the other kingdoms followed suit.
"Later, when Lord Hu from the East Sea Divine Palace visited our Liang, he suggested naming the island Canglan Island to avoid unnecessary troubles. This way, if certain powerhouses unaware of the situation on the island didn’t know you came from this island and caused a conflict due to some situations with us Liang."
Chu Zining further explained to Lin Chen the reasons for naming the island Canglan Island.
Anyone who was an innate powerhouse and heard the term "Canglan" would certainly associate it with the Canglan Sect.
In the Eastern Sea Region, many powerhouses from the Outer Domain would come to sea islands to search for treasures, especially those who kept their identities hidden, who would often plunder resources from some islands forcefully. Every year, many islands in the Eastern Sea Region would suffer plundering as a result.
Especially those with fewer Innate powerhouses, if they only plunder Martial Path resources it’s one thing, but encountering those who are ruthless, they may even massacre the martial artists on the island.
The East Sea Divine Palace does have stewards patrolling, but the East Sea is too vast, and it’s impossible for the stewards of the Eastern Sea to arrive immediately. Moreover, after the looters hide in the vast sea, those stewards cannot discover them.
Unless Innate powerhouses of the Fifth and Sixth Realms are dispatched to track them down, but such high-level powerhouses wouldn’t mobilize just because a particular island was looted. The looters take advantage precisely of this fact to dare act so boldly.
Now, with the island renamed as Canglan Island, any powerhouses coming ashore would inquire about the island’s situation. Upon learning that Lin Chen, currently number one on Martial Arts Mountain and a direct disciple of the Canglan Sect, resides there, they would be wary.
"Among the islands that appeared with us from the Annihilation Storm, seven have already been looted, and more than half the martial artists on one island have been slaughtered."
Listening to Chu Zining’s explanation, Lin Chen’s eyes slightly narrowed; isn’t this just piracy?
Except this group of pirates are all Innate Realm powerhouses, specifically looting small islands without background or backing.
"Are there currently many Innate martial artists on Canglan Island?"
"At present, our Martial Arts Alliance already has seventeen Elders, but they are all in the Innate First Realm, which is considered among the strongest on the many islands that have emerged this time."
Seventeen Innate First Realm powerhouses already count as a daunting force in Chu Zining’s eyes. Yet, having stepped into the Innate Second Realm, Lin Chen knows clearly that even these seventeen Innate First Realm martial artists combined would not be a match for one Innate Second Realm martial artist.
Steward Hu of the East Sea Divine Palace indeed proposed a good suggestion. If an Innate Second Realm powerhouse sets their eyes on the treasure on Canglan Island, relying on the elders of the Martial Arts Alliance would not deter them. Instead, his own presence would make them hesitate.
Half a two-hour later, Chu Zining finished talking about the changes on Canglan Island during this period and looked at Yin Yue, who had been silently sitting on a chair beside them, asking with a smile, "Junior Brother Lin, who is this little girl?"
"A descendant of one of my senior brothers, upon learning I was going home for a bit, insisted on coming along to play. She’s quite mischievous, even my senior brother can’t control her."
Lin Chen fabricated an identity for Yin Yue, something he had thought up on the way back. If anyone asked more detailed questions, he would attribute it to Third Senior Brother.
Mischievous?
Chu Zining’s expression was peculiar. This little girl hadn’t moved an inch for a whole half a two-hour, seemingly having no connection with the word mischievous.
His own daughter at this age couldn’t sit still for a moment; now that was truly mischievous.
"So she is a descendant of your senior brother; welcome to Canglan Island, little girl."
Chu Zining said with a smile, but Yin Yue did not respond, continuing to sit there on her own.
"Senior Brother Chu, this little one is quite unruly, please don’t take offense to her."
Hearing Lin Chen come to his rescue, Chu Zining understood in his heart that this little girl wasn’t unruly by nature. Her demeanor and behavior surpassed even those from grand families; she must be of noble birth, unwilling to associate with him, hence her lack of response.
Chu Zining didn’t mind this. During his time in Coastal City, he had seen many descendants of Innate powerhouses, all with high and lofty attitudes. The descendants of Innate First Realm were easier to approach; however, the ones from the Innate Second and Third Realms wouldn’t even bother to look at him, were it not for his position as the director of Canglan Hall and having Junior Brother Lin backing him.
Second Grade Realm was merely the strength of the guards by their side, and not even the strongest among them.
"Junior Brother Lin, if you’re returning to Canglan Island, I’ll arrange a ship for you..."
"No need for such trouble, I’ve already reserved a spot on the Dragon King Ship, and I should be able to board in the next few days."
"Indeed, given your status now, of course, you’d take the Dragon King Ship. I should have thought of that."
Chu Zining slapped his thigh. If he had arranged it, it would have just been an ordinary vessel, while Junior Brother Lin, with his current status and position, ought to take the fastest and most comfortable Dragon King Ship.
"Junior Brother Lin, about your recent appearance?"
"People fear fame, just like pigs fear being fattened. After my battle on Martial Arts Mountain, many have seen my face. If I were to travel with my real appearance, there’d be so many social obligations along the way, so I simply changed my looks to avoid wasting time."
Hearing Lin Chen’s explanation, Chu Zining also smiled knowingly. With Junior Brother Lin’s current fame, traveling with his real face would indeed entail many social obligations. Refusing them all would seem disrespectful.
Fame becomes a burden...
Who would have thought that such experiences, often only encountered by powerhouses after many years of cultivation, would befall Junior Brother Lin at the mere age of twenty?

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