Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
The classroom fell silent momentarily.
Everyone was still digesting what they had heard.
Eventually, Yang Xiaoman spoke up, “Teacher, you mentioned that this information was only made known to students after they became a Rank-3 martial artist. If you’re telling us in advance, does that mean…”
Bai Ruoxi tucked her hair behind her ears and said in a hushed voice, “I’m not sure.”
“In 1920, there were only three known gateways into the Catacombs. Although the situation was a little tense even then, the government still managed to keep them in check.
“Therefore, the interim government at the time chose to hide it from the public.
“This way, they could prevent widespread panic.
“The situation continued that way and lasted until recent years.
“But then, the Internet was born… ”
Bai Ruoxi smiled bitterly and continued, “I can’t say whether the development of science and technology was good or bad. In the past, if the higher authorities wanted to hide something, it would be easy because news doesn’t spread fast.
“But now, it’s getting more and more difficult to keep things secret!
“In addition, the situation has been getting worse. I’m guessing that the fraction of people who will learn about it will increase. Eventually, the entire population will find out about it.
“I’ve told you this in advance as you’re part of the elites, though of course there is another reason…
“Due to the deteriorating situation in the Catacombs, we require more manpower. The current martial artists all wish to level up, but this requires resources which are, of course, limited.
“Meanwhile, the normal martial arts universities are trying to get their dirty hands on the resources as well… Okay, maybe that’s going a bit too far.
“Truthfully, everyone is on the same side and everything they’re doing is to defend against the Catacombs so pardon me for having a hard time differentiating their intentions.
“However, MCMAU is against sharing resources. Right now, we’re guarding one of the gateways to the Catacombs and that requires heaps of resources. Even though your strength isn’t honed to the limit yet, but all of you have already become a key component.
“I’m telling you this to let you know that we must win the championship at all costs!
“If we win, the school will be able to continue training you as before. If we lose, we will have to choose between abandoning some of you, or increase the difficulty of obtaining resources.
“For example, 10 credits can be awarded easily now, but I’m afraid that may not be the case in the future.
“In the future, your training will only get harder. We may even end up like regular martial arts universities, where most of the graduates leave as Rank-1s and the outstanding students as Rank-2s.
“Before, being weaker wasn’t that big of a problem…
“But now…”
Bai Ruoxi shook her head gently. With the direction they were headed, there was a possibility that all martial artists would be required to enter the Catacombs in the future!
If that came to be, the weak ones would be nothing more than sitting ducks.
Bai Ruoxi did not need to go into the details. Everyone was smart enough to understand what she meant.
Fang Ping instinctively frowned because, at that moment, he finally understood what Lu Fengrou truly meant.
He also realized why Rank-3 martial artists were more lethal.
Did that mean martial artists below Rank-3 would soon be caught up in the whole shebang?
If the development began involving the entire population, it would endanger everyone and could easily start a war.
It was only due to their ignorance that everyone could live in peace. If they found out, would the regular citizens be able to sit still?
It would mean life or death for them. The thought of it could set off the entire Magic City. If the citizens found out about the gateway below MCMAU, chaos would ensue in the city.
Tens of millions of people would try and flee Magic City to find a haven where there were no gateways under their feet.
If this was the case, Magic City would be reduced to a ghost town. Then, the entire economy of Sino Nation would collapse for years to come.
Sometimes, a country can only win a war if it has enough money and manufacturing capability.
If there was no money nor production ongoing, the government would be unstable. In the end, there would not be enough resources to be shared among the martial artists.
The first special training class left Fang Ping and his classmates feeling empty inside. The great burden that was passed to them left them with heavy hearts.
Suddenly, Fang Ping was unable to catch his breath as he wondered if they were all doomed to enter the Catacombs.
Nobody is unafraid of death!
Not even Fang Ping!
When martial artists battled one another, it was a fair fight as both parties were afraid of one another. However, the fight with the creatures of the Catacombs would be different. ‘Do the creatures of the Catacombs fear death?
After Bai Ruoxi let the news sink in, she smiled and said, “Of course, we’re not at that stage, yet. So don’t let it worry you too much.
“Grandmasters are aplenty in Sino Nation and so are the powerhouses. As usual, they’re currently taking care of the things that come through the Catacombs.
“Whether someone enters the Catacombs is completely up to them.
“The Catacombs is full of danger but also full of opportunities.
“Hidden in the world of the Catacombs are resources much greater than ours. You can find incredible items there.
“Among them are the energy mines. An energy ore the size of your fingernail can be exchanged for a high-grade pill.
“Although large pieces of ore are found deeper into the Catacombs, they can also be found on the outer surface. The energy mines are normally utilized by the creatures.
“Moreover, weapons and pills can be found in the Catacombs.
“Therefore, you don’t have to worry about going about this blindly. The fact that there are so many martial artists and powerhouses in Sino Nation was the result of the Catacombs. I suppose that’s the silver lining of it all.”
After Bai Ruoxi was able to calm the students down a notch, she proceeded with her series of strange but engaging lectures.
After a break, the students felt better.
Feeling slightly calmer, Fang Ping asked, “Teacher, will the number of gateways to the Catacombs increase? Is there some sort of pattern?”
He was worried about what might happen if a gateway popped up right under Sun City.
Bai Ruoxi chuckled, “There are signs when a gateway opens. Don’t worry, powerhouses sense it quickly and take action even quicker.
“As for the pattern… An entryway to the Catacombs opens once every 5 years on average.”
From 1920 to the present year, 19 entryways were formed in the 88 years. It is assumed that a new gateway would appear in around four years or so.
That was why government officials have found it increasingly difficult to control the situation in recent years.
When the number of gateways increased, the amount of available manpower decreased naturally. In the end, the dangers only escalate.
If the situation continued that way, they were afraid that there might be a day where every citizen would be enlisted into the army to defend their country.
If that time came, it would be the end of the world for everyone.
…
The atmosphere was still somewhat depressing.
Bai Ruoxi tried to lighten the mood so she laughed and said, “Okay, that’s all I have about the Catacombs for today. Anyways, you guys still have a long way to go before you’d need to tackle this matter.
“The rule that martial artists must be at least Rank-3 to enter is still valid so until then, don’t worry about it.
“Since we are all martial artists, let’s talk about topics that martial artists like. ”
“Does everyone know that there’s a Grandmaster ranking and weapon manual in every country, including Sino Nation?”
Martial artists were generally very interested in rankings, of both martial artists and weapons.
As soon as Bai Ruoxi mentioned it, someone immediately piped up, “Yes we know, they’re all available online.”
“None of the ones online are legitimate. Why would a group of laymen know anything about it?”
Bai Ruoxi dismissed the online rankings, but still, she forced a laugh and said, “The rankings they have on the Internet are people all of us know, such as the principal of MCMAU or the principal of CCMAU. But what about the powerhouses from other martial arts universities or the Department of Defence or the Department of Investigation Services? People outside our world don’t have much information about them.
“Well, there’s a legitimate strength ranking that rates everything between all the martial arts universities. In fact, there’s an official one for the three main departments, namely, the Department of Defence, the Department of Investigation Services, and the Education Ministry.
“Martial arts universities fall under the category of the Education Ministry.
“Now that all of you have signed the confidentiality agreement, these rankings can now be revealed to you.
“However, I didn’t prepare the list today so I’ll be showing the rank listings to everyone tomorrow.
“The Grandmaster rank listing is based on all three major departments while the rank listing for the martial arts universities is separated to the instructors and the students.
“That includes the middle-ranked rankings, Rank-3 below rankings…
“If you all are interested in this, we can continue this topic in the next general knowledge class
…”
Bai Ruoxi knew what piqued the students’ interest and sure enough, it diverted their attention toward it.
Everyone chattered about the rankings with great interest.
Bai Ruoxi was pleased to see that the students were taking to the topic well.
This was how elite students of MCMAU should behave!
These 50 students were not picked from 1580 people. They were the 50 best of the best, chosen from close to ten million candidates from all over the nation. Of course, there were some outstanding students in Capital City Martial Arts University too.
Among the thousands of people, these were the ones who were accepted into the special training classes.
If they could not accept the truth and were overwhelmed and panicked by it, then the whole world might as well be doomed.
Even though they did not learn a lot about martial science theories or combat techniques in the first special training class, Fang Ping nevertheless felt the knowledge they gained was equally valuable!
He was finally freed from all his questions and doubts.
Although Bai Ruoxi had not disclosed too much yet, Fang Ping got the general idea of it all. The rest of his questions, such as the origin of the Catacombs, could wait until his strength had improved. He knew that once he became stronger, he would find out everything he needed to know. If not, that meant no one else knew about it either.
…
Two or more hours later.
The end of class.
When Bai Ruoxi left the class, the students remained loitering around.
Fu Changding lamented, “Everything makes sense now. I’ve always felt that something was bothering me, like some secret was happening in my household. My grandpa would always disappear for a some time every year. Now that I think of it, he might’ve been entering the Catacombs all this time.”
Yang Xiaoman nodded and added, “I think that was the case. I’ve always felt that the middle and upper-ranks have been keeping something from us.
“If the Catacombs really was that dangerous, surely more people would avoid it.
“I’m sure not all martial artists are self-sacrificial people. According to Instructor Bai, the middle-ranks and upper-ranks are still going regardless of the danger.”
When Fang Ping heard her comment, he replied, “I think you’re right but there’s definitely people who won’t risk it.”
He wondered, ‘Did the Evil Sect comprise of middle and upper-ranks who refused to risk their lives and join the war?’
Moreover, the missions that the Department of Defence carried out always involved martial artists.
Fang Ping felt that it was uncommon for martial artists to be villainized.
He thought, ‘Do martial artists who refused to enter the Catacombs end up on the wanted list?’
‘Could it be possible that after being a middle-rank, you would be forced to carry out missions?’ Fang Ping still had his doubts but he would not be surprised if it turned out to be true as well.
Surely it took a lot of martial science resources to groom someone into an upper-ranked martial artist. If these people refused to join the war, the Government would not be happy with it.
The Government would want something in return for all the privileges martial artists got.
Since the first day they entered martial arts university, privileges had been aplenty for people like Fang Ping.
The resources that were provided by the university surely had to account for something in return.
It was said that there were voluntary restrictions on accepting tasks.
Even though they said the missions were on a volunteer basis, it seemed that there were some prerequisites.
After the students were done discussing, some were left excited but some were still worried.
After half an hour, everyone went on their way.
…
When they arrived at their dormitories, Fang Ping gave Li Chengze a call.
“The courier company needs to speed up the progress! The food and beverage webpage has to be up soon. I’ll be transferring 8 million yuan to the company’s account tomorrow, so hurry up!”
Fang Ping was relatively calm before, but now he felt a sense of urgency.
He finally understood why the seniors were always carrying out missions. Everyone knew they had to feel this sense of urgency.
The school might have told them in advance to intentionally make them nervous.
Otherwise, the students would not be as tenacious and would take their time doing things. In the event that the school announced that the resources allocated were to be reduced, the urgency of it might not be reflected in the students.
Combined with the tremors that Magic City felt last night, did it mean that they had to worry about a safety breach?
If the large number of powerhouses in Magic City could not guard them well, then it would mean big trouble.
Fang Ping had to seize the opportunity while it was still conflict-free to earn some money from his business. He would have better peace of mind if he knew that he had enough wealth to last him in the future.
That night, it might have been due to the pressure, but Fang Ping managed to improve his bone-honing.
His lower right fibula was completely honed and currently, only his lower femur and patella separated him from having a completely honed body.
Late at night.
After Fang Ping glanced at the system interface, he suddenly exclaimed, “Oh my gosh, is it possible that God had sent me down to save the world? After all, I’m the only one with the system interface!”
When he had this thought, Fang Ping cried out immediately,”It can’t be me! Old Wang is a better fit than I am!”
‘I mean, hell, that guy is progressing faster than I am. It’s hard to say who’ll be the one saving the world.’
…
The outer parts of the Catacombs.
The entire land was green with mountains and the waters were clear. Wang Jinyang, whom Fang Ping thought could save the world, was toilsomely dragging Qin Fengqing while they ran madly in the fields. To say the least, the scene did not quite fit a potential world savior.
They had been running frantically for a long time before Wang Jinyang, with a face covered in dirt, shouted, “You fucking retard!
“I’m trying to save you but it seems like you really want to die!
“I’ve told you time and time again that the village is big and there’s a high chance there’s a powerhouse around. But did you listen to me? You just had to take that chance and I feel stupid that I chose to come with you!”
The calm and refined Wang Jinyang that Fang Ping knew was now spewing every single swear word in his vocabulary.
Qin Fengqing, who was dragged along, had lost his crescent sword ages ago and his body was covered in wounds. He panted, “Cut…cut me some slack. I… I saw the energy mine… It was as big as my fist!
“Fuck, if we got it, we’d be rich!
“Damn, we… we have to get backup. The two of us are no match for them…”
“Who’s there to look for?”
Wang Jinyang heaved, “There’s nobody in Nanjiang Martial Arts University that could help us. They’re not strong enough. Some of them are still wounded from the previous voyage to the Catacombs in Tiannan.
“And I don’t trust the people from MCMAU. I bet those bastards would kill me first if they had the chance.
“For the rest of them, it’s either I can’t trust them or they’re not good enough.
“The weaker ones are out of the picture.
“The stronger ones may try to kill me.”
When Qin Fengqing saw that he was no longer running, he collapsed to the ground and panted helplessly, “I broke through Rank-3 too quickly and didn’t have enough time to form a team, just like you.
“It won’t be easy to find someone on such short notice.
“What… what do you think Fang Ping?”
“He’s just Rank-1!”
“He’s progressing fast…”
Wang Jinyang gave it some thought and shook his head, “We’ll come back to this later. Don’t you feel that this area of the Catacombs is a little strange? Most of the villages in the Magic City area are empty. It’s as if everyone has moved to the entryway of the Catacombs.
“If this continues, it might be a repeat of the Tiannan incident.”
Qin Fengqing answered indifferently, “There are many powerhouses in Magic City. Don’t worry about it.”
Wang Jinyang scolded him once more, “Fool, what I mean is we’ll be like the victims in Tiannan. Sooner or later, the gateway will be shut and the Grandmasters will have to forcibly block it for some time.
“Sure, maybe they’ll only be able to hold it for half a year, one at most. But for that time, the two of us will be stuck here! ”
Talking to this idiot was like talking to a wall!
If they were stuck inside, they would be dead in no time.
The thought of this lead Wang Jinyang to think of his mentor Zhang Qingnan.
Even if Zhang Qingnan survived in the Catacombs, the gateway in Tiannan was closed shut. It would not be opened for some time. Even if he survived, he was still in danger.
“Let’s just hope we can buy some time…”
Wang Jinyang sighed. He was far too weak to do anything now. Even if the Grandmasters had not locked the doors, he would not be able to last a day if he went in.
Even if they did enter, they would not be able to venture deep enough for a detailed search.
After he thought about it, Wang Jinyang suddenly said, “Let’s head back and get back into shape. We’ll return in a few days if we decide to get the energy ores. It’ll be enough for the both of us to level up our ranks, with your Rank-3 soon to be Rank-4 and my Rank-4 going into Rank-5!”
“Okay…”
Qin Fengqing felt pretty depressed as he looked at the numerous wounds on his body. ‘And I thought I had decent luck, the last couple of times weren’t that bad.’
‘This time around, I can’t believe my luck was worse even with Wang Jinyang alongside me, and he’s supposed to be stronger than me. Could he be affecting my luck?’
Qin Fengqing moaned internally. He did not dare to say it out loud. He suddenly felt that pulling Wang Jinyang along may not have been such a good idea after all.
As they dragged their tired bodies, Qin Fengqing suddenly blurted out, “Do you sometimes think that this world would be pretty beautiful if it weren’t for all these creatures? In fact, I think it’s prettier than our world.”
“Go ahead and marry one of these Catacombs creatures then. Let’s see if her family accepts you after you move into with her.”
“Haha. Forget about it, I’m afraid of death too, you know.”
“You’re afraid of death? From what I see, you’re pretty good pals with death. If I find you spouting nonsense when you didn’t listen to my warnings again, I’ll make sure to be the first one to bring you to your good friend!”
Wang Jinyang was still unnerved from the incident before. ‘This bastard’, he thought, ‘if it hadn’t been for his quick response, both of us would be in the ground by now.’
