November 5th, Yao Chengjun entered Donglin Martial Arts University.
With three attacks with his spear, he had defeated the Peak Rank-4 powerhouse in Donglin Martial Arts University who ranked 17th. The martial arts world was shocked!
November 6th, Li Hansong entered Nine States Military School. His fists rained upon the Nine States, and Nine States Military School’s instructor that held 14th place was defeated.
November 7th, Yao Chengjun bypassed Nanjiang and entered Beihu. Yunmeng Military School’s top Rank-4 powerhouse, an instructor who ranked 12th, was nailed to the ground by Yao Chengjun’s spear. He could not fight back and was regretfully defeated.
The two prodigies’ had outstanding combat results!
In just a few days, they had quickly moved from the middle of the ranking list to the top and had started the battle of the top 10 Rank-4.
The next stop for both of them was Chungchou!
The Chungchou with the most sect powerhouses!
Wanshan Temple, Shaoshi Mountain, Wangwu Sect, these were all well-known sects in the sect world.
Among the top ten Rank-4 powerhouses, there were two from the Military Department, two from CCMAU, one from MCMAU, one from the Department of Investigation Services one from the Education Ministry, two from the sect world, and one from the House of Guardians in the North.
As for the two powerhouses in the sect world, one was Zhao Chuanwu, a member of the Wangwu Sect who ranked 9th. He was the grandson of the sect leader, Zhao Xingwu.
The other one was a Monk Puguang from Guangsheng Temple in Xishan Province, he ranked 7th.
The media focused their attention again. This time, with both Yao Chengjun and Li Hansong heading towards Chungchou, it was likely that their target was Zhao Chuanwu.
Whether or not these two would fight in Chungchou had become a hot topic in the outside world.
Yao Changjun had bypassed Nanjiang and did not fight NMAU’s Wang Jinyang. Did he think it was not worth it? Or was he just unwilling to?
…
Media speculation regarding those two had led to a decline in the popularity of the Rank-1 Martial Arts Competition.
November 8th, the Rank-1 Martial Arts Competition had entered the top ten’s fight.
MCMAU Gym.
Fang Ping sat on the second floor as he watched the martial artists below fight. He said softly, “They should hurry up and end the Rank-1 Martial Arts Competition before the National Championship begins. These guys are deliberately causing trouble for me, I’ll make sure to teach them a lesson sooner or later!”
Chen Yunxi nodded hurriedly, and Qin Fengqing replied lazily, “What’s the point of the Rank-1 Martial Arts Competition? Nanjiang Martial Arts University will be going up against Dongwu Martial Arts University the day after tomorrow, would any of you be interested in watching?”
“Is there anyone famous from Dongwu Martial Arts University?”
“Not really. Their Martial Arts Society’s president had just entered the Rank-4 stage too. But it wouldn’t be a bad idea to observe Wang Jinyang’s performance either…”
“What’s the point of watching him? You might not even get chosen for the first team.”
When Fang Ping finished speaking, Qin Fengqing’s expression darkened, and he asked angrily, “I might not get chosen? Fang Ping, what do you mean by that?”
“Chen Wenlong has reached Peak Rank-4, Zhang Yu has reached upper-stage Rank-4, Zhou Qing has reached middle-stage Rank-4, and Liang Fenghua has reached middle-stage Rank-4 too. What makes you think you’ll get chosen?”
“I’m stronger than them!”
Qin Fengqing huffed. ‘I’ve almost reached Peak Rank-4, even if we’re on the same level, they won’t be as strong as me.’
Fang Ping smiled indifferently. “I’m the main player in the Championship. I am the team leader, and I have the right to pick my teammates. Think about it, Qin Fengqing.”
“Think about what?”
“Consider it, should you try to bribe me? For example, with a certain map…”
“No problem!”
Qin Fengqing promised happily. His eyes squinted as he smiled, and he said, “You want the energy mine’s map, right? Fine, I’ll give it to you. I’m was just afraid you’d never dare to ask.”
Fang Ping glanced at him. He was a little afraid to ask for the map.
This guy was rotten to the core. If he gave him a map to a danger zone, Fang Ping would die without even knowing how he died.
When Qin Fengqing saw that he was silent, he smiled proudly and continued. “This time around, the most important normal martial arts university is NMAU, the second would be Beijiang Martial Arts University, followed by Donglin Martial Arts University. The rest is just a little worse, with very few Rank-4 martial artists.
“Once the Battle of the Top Ten Schools begins, it’s unlikely that we will encounter Top Military School or universities like CCMAU in the first round.
“Even though the battles are set up by drawing lots, there’s an insider who’s pulling the strings. They won’t let us encounter these schools in advance.
“However, we might encounter NMAU.”
Fang Ping nodded slightly. If everything went accordingly, it was unlikely that these five schools, CCMAU, MCMAU, First Military School, Nine States Military School and Sino Nation Martial Arts University would encounter each other in the first round.
These five martial arts universities and military schools were the strongest. There were ten spots in the Battle of the Top Ten Schools, there was no way they would allow those schools to encounter each other in the first round.
“Oh yeah, Sino Nation Martial Arts University’s Liu Shijie has reached Peak Rank-4.”
“Uh-huh.”
Fang Ping did not care about that. Qin Fengqing glanced at him and tried to probe. “What’s your strength now?”
It was only a month ago or so when he and Fang Ping had entered the Catacombs together.
At that time, Fang Ping had only reached middle-stage Rank-4 recently.
“Upper-stage.”
“Weak, too weak.”
Qin Fengqing shook his head and said, “You’re just an upper-stage Rank-4. Your combat techniques are average at best, and other than being able to take a beating, you don’t seem to have any advantages…”
“Are you sure?”
Fang Ping quirked his brow and said, “I’ve been looking for someone to use as research recently. Would you like to volunteer?”
“Tsk, do you think I’m free? Do you think I don’t have to spend money on treatment if I get hurt? Unless you give me ten or eight Resurrection Pills…”
Qin Fengqing’s expression was full of disdain. ‘Why would I fight you? I’d be better off trying to swindle someone else.’
Fang Ping ignored him, then turned to look at the battle stage below.
At that moment, Luo Sheng was fighting.
After a short while, Luo Sheng was knocked off his feet and had fallen off the battle stage. He was unable to reach the top ten.
“His accumulation was not enough, but that’s alright for a Rank-1 or 2. After this competition ends, these few people will be able to reach the Rank-2 stage.”
Fang Ping was not angry. It was good enough that they managed to get into the top 20.
This time, MCMAU had 11 people in the top 100, and seven people in the top 50.
Four people in MCMAU made it into the top 20.
Now, in the Top 10 category, Luo Sheng had lost. Previously, Gu Longfei had won his round. All there’s left was Tang Wen and a sophomore student, and there was a high probability that they would win.
If they do win, they would be taking three spots in the top ten. That would be pretty good too.
When he finished speaking, Fang Ping turned to Chen Yunxi and said, “Tell me about the Ranks of the current students in MCMAU.”
It had been more than two months since school started.
In the past two months, many students have been lent out, and a large number of missions have been assigned. Compared to the past few years, these students have gained a lot more experience.
“MCMAU has a total of 6580 students. There are now 14 Rank-4 martial artists, 98 Rank-3 martial artists, 982 Rank-2 martial artists, and 4500 Rank-1 martial artists. The rest of the new students are all still aspiring martial artists. None of the old students are aspiring martial artists. All the students in our semester have achieved breakthroughs to the martial artist stage.”
“That would mean that half of the new students have already achieved a breakthrough?”
“Yes.”
Fang Ping nodded slightly, that was pretty quick.
When he entered school, there were around two thousand new students. Now, more than a thousand have already become martial artists, and the school had only begun less than three months ago.
Last year, when the last semester ended, barely half of the students had yet to achieve a breakthrough.
This semester, however, if his predictions were correct, other than a handful of students, most students would become martial artists by the end of the semester,
“The number of Rank-2 martial artists has also nearly doubled.” Fang Ping nodded again. Previously, there were only about 500 Rank-2 students in MCMAU.
Fang Ping said, “This semester, the goal of the Martial Arts Society would be for all the students to become martial artists! There is an estimated total of 4600 sophomores, juniors, and seniors. Now, there are about 3500 students who are in Rank-1. Since the sophomores have only been here a year, I won’t make this mandatory for them.
“There are still about 2000 Rank-1 martial artists among the juniors and seniors.
“It seems to me that these people don’t feel a lot of pressure, even the new students are a lot more motivated than they are. Who can tell me why?”
Chen Yunxi whispered, “The seniors are graduating soon, some of them aren’t even in school…”
“Busy trying to earn money?”
Fang Ping said indifferently, “They’re putting the cart before the horse. After all, how much can a Rank-1 martial artist make? Whatever. This semester’s seniors are all useless anyway. I don’t care…”
Qin Fengqing retorted. “Hey, if you have something to say then say it to my face. I’m a senior too.”
“That’s why I said you’re all useless. It doesn’t matter that some of my seniors are in their senior year, they still can’t change my impression regarding the seniors!”
Fang Ping’s tone was unfriendly, and he said coldly, “The seniors have been in school for four years. When they first entered the school, they were already close to the Rank-1 stage. Now, four years have passed. These four years were the best time for them to cultivate, but after these four years, some of them are still in Rank-1. So tell me, are they not useless?
“Coincidentally, a large number of students have achieved a breakthrough recently. The school’s resources are limited, I can’t keep looking after useless people.
“Previously, during our expansion, we were expanding based on the scale of the newly-enrolled students’ Ranks. Now, since a large number of new students have suddenly achieved a breakthrough, there is a lack of resources. So, I have to reduce the Rank-1 seniors’ provisions…”
Liu Mengyao who was nearby, could not resist saying, “Junior Fang, if you do that, you’ll offend a lot of people…”
“I am the president, I don’t care about that. So what if I do offend them?
Fang Ping sneered. “They should make drastic improvements, if they can, that is. Then they can come up to me a few years later and tell me off, ‘Fang Ping, you were an arrogant bastard who thought you were better than us, but now, I’m doing so much better than you are!’.
“If they don’t have the capability, why should I be afraid of offending them?
“Just do as I say. Reduce the seniors’ provisions, and increase the new students’ provisions.
“This semester’s new students are not bad. In the Rank-1 competition, out of the four students who made it to the top 20, three of them are new students, and only one of them is an existing student. Isn’t that humiliating?
“What pride do they have, to ask us for supplies?
“These Rank-1 and 2 martial artists have gotten used to taking, but they never think about the price. They just take the school’s provisions for granted, where did they get that sort of confidence?
“When we were in Rank-1 or 2, we might have taken a lot, but we contributed a lot too.
“When we were in Rank-1, we had started taking up missions. In Rank-2, we had already entered the catacombs. It was normal for us to get injured. I might not have participated in many battles, but I was injured more than once or twice. Which one of us didn’t have scars?
“But looking at most of these seniors, their skins are all pale and soft, like a poached chicken. Do they honestly think that they are qualified to join the workforce?”
Qin Fengqing glanced at himself subconsciously, then sighed in relief. ‘I’m not pale or soft, other than being a little handsome, I’ve got nothing to do with what Fang Ping is saying.’
Liu Mengyao was helpless, so she had no choice but to say, “Then the Martial Arts Society should have a meeting to discuss…”
“No need for that!”
Liu Mengyao wanted to say something, but she stopped herself. The reason she proposed a meeting was to reduce the pressure on Fang Ping, to let the outsiders know that this was a unanimous decision, and not just Fang Ping’s personal opinion.
But since Fang Ping rejected the idea, it would seem that he was not concerned about that at all.
With Fang Ping taking the lead, it would greatly reduce the pressure on the rest of the Martial Arts Society’s members.
Qin Fengqing was not concerned about that, but he did remind him and said, “Now, you’re mighty, so even if they are furious, they wouldn’t dare to say a thing. But if you lose at the Championship, then you’ll start having a lot of trouble.”
The mighty had to be mighty till the very end.
He might be mighty in here, but he might be weaker out there. If he was defeated at the Championship, then Fang Ping might start facing a lot of rumors and pressure.
“Then I’ll win! If I win, they won’t be able to say anything!”
As he was speaking, Fang Ping turned to Chen Yunxi and the others again and said, “You all should hurry up and reach Peak Rank-3. The Nanjiang Catacombs are about to be opened. I won’t ask anyone else to do the same, but I hope you guys will be there. When a new entrance is opened, it might be dangerous, but it’s also a great opportunity.
“I hope by the time we reach our senior year, our semester will have a batch of Rank-5 students, or maybe even Rank-6!
“And I hope we won’t be like the seniors now, weak.”
According to the way things are going now, Chen Yunxi and the rest will only be able to reach Rank-4 once their sophomore year ends.
Even in their junior year, they might not reach Peak Rank-4. Usually, by the time students reach their senior year, it was not unusual for none of the students to be in Rank-5.
However, this was not Fang Ping hoped to see.
Fu Changding, Zhao Lei and the others nodded slightly, but they said nothing.
This was only the second Championship, and none of them were able to participate. They did not even get chosen to be on the reserves team, even though they were all talented students. Needless to say, they were not too happy about it.
They would have just let it go if they were not chosen. But now, Fang Ping was the team leader.
Over at NMAU. Wang Jinyang was only a junior.
With Wang Jinyang’s circumstances, by the time the Championship ended, he would most certainly reach the Rank-5 stage, and he was only halfway through his junior year. By the time he graduates from his senior year, he might already be a Rank-6 powerhouse.
Compared to these people, they were only Rank-3 sophomores. There was nothing to be proud of.
“That’s all I have to say. Everyone else should work hard too. Other than that…assemble a squad of Rank-2 and 3 martial artists to be in charge of delivering the provisions to the students who are away from school.”
The crowd stared at him blankly. Fang Ping explained, “It’s time to expand MCMAU’s e-commerce platform, and I’ll be able to assign more tasks for everyone. Relatively speaking, these tasks are a lot safer, but it will also allow the students to gain more insights…”
Yang Xiaoman mocked. “Does that mean than other the school-assigned missions, they’ll work for you for free too?”
Fang Ping retorted, “Move aside, what do you know? Is there a difference between the school and me? The main goal of the e-commerce platform is not to earn money, but to expand the martial artists’ circle, and make MCMAU the leader of the pack.
“MCMAU might have the manufacturing rights, but they still can’t sell the pills to outsiders.
“However, once the circles have merged, people from other schools will be able to take up MCMAU’s missions and earn MCMAU’s credits as well. Then, they’ll be able to exchange the credits for pills and weapons. In truth, we’ll just be using an alternative method to sell the pills and the weapons…”
“But we currently don’t even have enough for ourselves.”
“That’s just our current situation. Now, the students’ capabilities have grown exponentially. The school intends to let all Rank-2 students know about the Catacombs’ matters. In the future, the number of people entering the Catacombs will increase, just the number of students alone could amount to thousands! The difficulty of obtaining materials will decrease and the number of materials obtained will increase. Then, we’ll have more than enough.
“We have to plan. Just because we don’t have any leftovers now, that doesn’t mean we won’t have any in the future.
“That’s why we should expand the e-commerce circle, to prepare for what’s next.
“If we can’t get the rights to operate outside, then we’ll just use alternative methods to sell to those who are on the outside.”
“If the pill company finds out, you’ll be in trouble…”
“What trouble? Am I breaking the law?” Fang Ping asked, unconcerned. “Besides, this takes time. By the time they start looking for trouble, I’ll already be a Grandmaster. If I’m a Grandmaster, would I still be bothered by these things?”
“After the Championship ends, we’ll start preparing for the Rank-2 Martial Arts Competition. Once that is over, it will be time to begin next year’s Rank-1 Martial Arts Competition again.
“We’ll make it a routine. That way, MCMAU will have a continuous flow of income.
“If the school is awarded the Top School of the Year, MCMAU will receive more than 5 billion in funding. After this happens a few more times, we’ll become more powerful and stronger.
“The strength of an individual is meaningless. MCMAU already has multiple Grandmasters, and that’s not what the school is looking for.
“Only when there is a steady stream of talents, will the students become stronger. The new will replace the old. That will be the foundation of the school’s strength.”
The crowd nodded. Chen Yunxi was slightly in awe, and said, “After you became the president, the school has become stronger…even my grandfather praised you for your talents.”
Fang Ping coughed. ‘Don’t bring up your grandfather. I’m sure he wants to beat me to death right now.
‘I hope that during the Battle of the Top Ten Schools, MCMAU won’t be paired with NMAU. Otherwise, Master Chen will cry, because they will be beaten terribly by MCMAU again.’
