As soon as Lin Chen said this, an uproar instantly broke out at the scene.
Training and producing jingqi in three years wasn't considered much?
"Lin Chen, do you know what you're saying? Since you've learned martial arts, you should know how difficult it is to train jingqi. I think you're just jealous of your elder brother."
The aunt's face was full of anger. She could not allow anyone to belittle her own son.
Grandfather Lin Chaoyang also had a dark expression on his face. In the past, he would have already scolded him.
The other villagers were also pointing at Lin Chen and whispering among themselves.
In their eyes, being able to train jingqi in three years was already very impressive.
Over so many years in the village, apart from that Jiang Juren back then, there had only been a few who managed to train jingqi. All of them left the village to go to the city to serve as guards for wealthy households, only coming back occasionally.
And every time they returned, they did so in great splendor.
"Chen'er."
Lin Chen's mother looked at her son with some worry. After Grandfather announced that Lin Ming had trained jingqi, she had hesitated, wondering whether she should first scrape together money to repay the debt.
It wasn't that she wanted to curry favor with Lin Ming, but since Lin Ming had trained jingqi and her own son was also learning martial arts, Lin Ming could guide Chen'er in the future.
"Aunt, I really don't think training jingqi is that difficult, because I've trained it too."
The corner of Lin Chen's mouth lifted. He had been holding this breath in for a long time, and now he could finally let it out.
Although saying it himself made the bragging seem a bit rough, the face-slapping stiff, and even somewhat childish.
But wasn't he exactly at that age?
Just because he had lived two lives, did that mean he could endure hardships others couldn't, or throw his pride to the ground?
"A sharp sword is forged through grinding; the fragrance of plum blossoms comes from bitter cold."
It was nothing more than a kind of self-comfort forced by circumstances.
"What?"
"Did I hear that right just now? The Lin family kid said he trained jingqi?"
"I remember Lin Chen only went to the martial hall this year. If he trained jingqi, wouldn't that mean he did it in less than a year?"
The villagers looked at Lin Chen in disbelief. After being stunned for a moment, the aunt suddenly sneered. "Lin Chen, don't tell me you've gone crazy from learning martial arts and started spouting nonsense. Do you think anyone would believe that?"
"That's enough. Don't embarrass yourself in front of so many people."
Grandfather Lin Chaoyang also spoke heavily. His most valued eldest grandson had spent so much money and taken three years to train jingqi. For this youngest grandson to do it in less than a year—just thinking about it was impossible.
"Chen'er, is what you said true?" Only Lin Chen's mother stared at her son with a hopeful expression.
"Mother, it's true. Didn't Gu Fei tell you? I had special training at the martial hall this month because the instructor felt I could train jingqi. This time I came home because I've already trained it, to bring you the good news."
Hearing Lin Chen confirm it again, Lin Chen's mother suddenly turned her head. "My Chen'er says he's trained jingqi, so he has trained it."
"Fourth brother, aren't you going to stop them, just letting them make fools of themselves like this?"
Grandfather Lin Chaoyang looked displeased. Lin Chen's father, however, ignored him and said with an excited face, "Worthy of being my son. Well done."
Lin Chen's mother believed her son, and Lin Chen's father did as well.
Their son had really trained jingqi within a year!
"Little uncle, why are you also—"
Lin Chen's father cut off the aunt's words and questioned her. "Could it be that sister-in-law, you don't want my Chen'er to train jingqi?"
The aunt's expression stiffened. Accepting that Lin Chen had trained jingqi was even harder for her than handing over the land deed.
Didn't that mean her Ming'er was inferior to Lin Chen?
Just as the aunt's words stuck in her throat, the sound of a bronze gong rang out from the direction of the village entrance, and several figures walked over.
"It's the village chief!"
"The village chief is here too. With gongs and drums like this, what big happy event has happened in our village?"
Sharp-eyed villagers recognized the village chief among the group.
The village chief of Linhu Village was an old man. Normally, he walked slowly, but at this moment he strode forward with quick steps, showing no sign of being over sixty years old.
"So everyone already knows."
Seeing the villagers gathered in front of the Lin family's ancestral residence, the village chief shouted loudly from several zhang away. "It seems Lin Chen has returned to the village to tell everyone the good news."
As soon as the village chief said this, the way many villagers looked at Lin Chen changed.
They recalled what Lin Chen had just said.
"Today, on the way back from town, I ran into the martial hall's announcement team. Only then did I learn that our village has produced a genius. Lin Chen not only trained jingqi within a year, he's also the first in the martial hall to do so."
Boom!
As soon as the village chief finished speaking, all the villagers erupted again.
"I told you Lin Chen would make it. I could tell when he was little that he was cut out for martial arts."
"Training jingqi within a year and even taking first place—amazing. The Lin family has produced a qilin child."
"Lin Chen trained jingqi, and with Lin Ming added, wouldn't that mean the Lin family has two martial artists? The Lin family's ancestral graves are smoking with good fortune."
"Old Lin Chaoyang is probably overjoyed now."
"That's not necessarily so."
That single "not necessarily" immediately made the atmosphere strange again.
The inside story of the Lin brothers' family division was, thanks to Gu Fei's spreading, known by practically the entire village. Although the parties involved hadn't admitted it and the villagers didn't fully believe it, what had just happened was something they had seen with their own eyes.
For Lin Chaoyang, the grandfather, to not believe that his own youngest grandson had trained jingqi—wasn't that exactly as rumored, favoritism to an extreme?
As for the fact that they themselves hadn't believed it earlier, they subconsciously ignored that now.
It wasn't important.
They were outsiders. It was normal for them not to believe. But Lin Chen was Lin Chaoyang's own grandson. For a grandfather not to believe—that was a problem.
"Now that I think about it, those rumors were all true. If my grandson said he trained jingqi, I'd never say he was embarrassing himself or spouting nonsense."
"And Lin Chaoyang kept saying his family's qilin child was Lin Ming?"
"Lin Ming is nothing. Three years just to train jingqi. Lin Chaoyang must be blind, mistaking the real qilin child."
...
...
Listening to the villagers' discussions, the village chief also knew about the inside story of the Lin family's split. But he wouldn't bring it up now. Seeing Lin Chaoyang standing there somewhat dazed, he sighed lightly in his heart.
This time, Lin Chaoyang, as a grandfather, had truly misjudged things.
"Lin Chen, congratulations. The announcement team will be here soon. Shall you go receive them?"
"Many thanks for the reminder, Village Chief."
Lin Chen bowed to the village chief. At this moment, the burly men who had come to collect the debt were also a bit stunned.
An announcement from the martial hall. Training jingqi within a year, and first place.
The news truly shocked him.
He might not care about Lin Ming, but anyone who trained jingqi within a year was someone he couldn't afford to offend—let alone the martial hall's top-ranked one.
In the near future, that person would certainly be a powerhouse at the Kaiqiao Realm.
"Since your village has a happy event, we'll talk about the debt in a few days." The burly man wanted to slip away.
"Stop."
Lin Chen called out to him. He could clearly feel that the instant he did, the burly man's body trembled.
"Young Master Lin, I… our master is also a Kaiqiao Realm expert." The burly man lacked confidence and could only bring up his master.
Earlier, he had only thought the youth's gaze was sharp and unlike that of an ordinary villager. Now he didn't even dare meet Lin Chen's eyes.
"Debts must be repaid—this is only right. Whoever owes the debt, you go to them. I won't stop you. My second uncle's family doesn't owe you money. You shouldn't have injured my cousin. This account needs to be settled."
The burly man's expression turned strange upon hearing Lin Chen's words. He had also heard the exchange between Lin Chen and Lin Chaoyang just now, and immediately understood what was going on.
So there was a conflict between this grandfather and grandson. If that was the case, things would be easier to handle.
"For injuring Young Master Lin's cousin, I can offer compensation."
"Five taels," Lin Chen said coldly.
"Five taels? Why don't you just go rob someone?" the burly man snapped.
"If you don't want to pay, that's fine. You hit my cousin a few times—let me hit you a few times too, and we'll call it even."
Seeing the playful smile on Lin Chen's face, the burly man shivered. Let a martial artist who had trained jingqi hit him a few times? He'd have to be out of his mind to agree. A jingqi-trained martial artist had at least seven hundred jin of strength. A few punches would take half his life.
"Then we'll offset it as Young Master Lin said—five taels. After that, only ten taels will remain to be repaid." The burly man lowered his head.
Lin Chen's expression turned cold. He took one step forward, and the burly man and his companions retreated three steps in perfect unison.
"Didn't I make it clear earlier? Whoever owes you money, you go to them. My second uncle's family doesn't owe you money. These five taels—you must hand them over!"
When the villagers saw Lin Chen take a single step and force the burly men to retreat together, finally obediently taking out five taels of silver, many of the village youths deeply etched this scene into their minds.
So this was the prestige that came after learning martial arts?
The might of youth, fierce as a tiger!
Many villagers who had previously lost the thought of letting their children learn martial arts felt that desire rekindled once more upon seeing this scene.
Learning martial arts was costly, but once mastered—just look at Lin Chen. With only a few words, he made someone obediently hand over five taels of silver.
Many villagers looked at Lin Hui, who was being held in Second Aunt's arms, with envy in their eyes.
Lin Hui really came out ahead this time.
Although he had taken a few hits, at most he'd just need some medicine and a few days' rest. With the year-end approaching, there wasn't much work anyway. This money was practically picked up for free.
The old village chief narrowed his eyes as he watched the scene. He thought of that youth who had left the village ten—no, fourteen—years ago. Although that person had also brought benefits to the villagers, he had never displayed the might of a martial artist before them like this.
"Second Aunt, take this money."
Lin Chen handed the five taels of silver to Second Aunt. With one hand clutching the silver and the other holding Lin Hui, Second Aunt suddenly couldn't help but burst into loud sobs.
"Mother, don't cry."
Lin Xi, who had been huddled beside Second Aunt, saw her mother crying and suddenly stood up, charging toward the burly man. The burly man originally wanted to dodge, but under Lin Chen's sharp gaze, he could only stand still obediently.
Lin Xi hugged the burly man's leg and bit down hard. The burly man grimaced in pain, but didn't dare shake her off. He was afraid that the moment he did, the huge fist before his eyes would come crashing down on him.
After biting him fiercely, Lin Xi was very clever and ran back behind Lin Chen. Lin Chen smiled faintly and rubbed his younger cousin's head.
The burly man clenched his teeth. To be honest, he didn't want to part with those five taels. If his master were here, he could have protected him. But his master wasn't present, and if he didn't pay, he feared he'd be carried out of the village.
Afterward, as long as the Lin family repaid the money, the master wouldn't offend a young martial artist on the verge of reaching the Kaiqiao Realm over such a matter.
"Young Master Lin, now that the compensation's been paid and the anger vented, can we collect the debt? Of course, if Young Master Lin speaks up, we can delay it a few days."
"Do as you please."
Lin Chen pulled Lin Xi aside.
"Chen'er, how can you be like this? Now that you have the ability, a single sentence could settle everything. Are you really going to watch our Lin family's ancestral land fall into outsiders' hands?"
Seeing that Lin Chen truly stepped aside, the aunt hurriedly spoke, her words full of reproach.
Lin Chen stopped and looked at the aunt. Under his gaze, she uneasily shifted her eyes away. Only at this moment did she realize that this nephew she had never taken seriously before had such a sharp gaze.