Downstage.
“My saber!”
Qin Fengqing sounded like he was going to cry.
Just as Fang Ping descended from the arena, Qin Fengqing leaped up and dashed toward him. He caught him and was going to berate him.
“Bleurgh!”
Blood sprayed out from Fang Ping’s mouth. He clutched at his chest, his other hand pointing toward Qin Fengqing. He then collapsed on Tang Feng, who had just arrived.
Qin Fengqing’s expression crumbled. He said helplessly, “Don’t do that! We know each other well enough…”
‘This was f*cking obviously him trying to sabotage me!’
Tang Feng looked helpless. He said, head throbbing, “His internal organs have suffered from a serious blow.”
“It’s not me who did it!”
Qin Fengqing sounded more and more high-pitched. ‘You can’t blame this on me!
‘I only wanted to take my saber back!’
Tang Feng looked at him, speechless. He snapped exasperatedly, “You’re not that powerful!”
Qin Fengqing was far from being able to do that to Fang Ping.
Qin Fengqing relaxed immediately. He nodded fervently, saying, “Yeah, I can’t beat him, everyone saw it, it’s that bastard Wang Jinyang who hit him, it has nothing to do with me…”
Fang Ping did not faint there and then. He said feebly, “You landed the last blow on me…”
“F*ck off, it’s none of my business!”
Qin Fengqing would not say anything else for the life of him. If he had, his saber would probably be gone for good.
Fang Ping rolled his eyes. ‘Old Qin is difficult to swindle nowadays.’
He sighed, ignoring Qin Fengqing, and took a package out from his bag that he had put aside earlier, and then he swallowed three Resurrection Pills like they were jelly beans!
Everyone’s faces showed their surprise.
Fang Ping, being as stingy and miserly as he was, swallowed three Resurrection Pills in one go. It was evident how serious his internal injuries were.
On the other side, the NMAU vice-chancellor took out several Resurrection Pills as well for Wang Jinyang to ingest, sighing.
Fang Ping happened to see that. He could not help but look at Tang Feng, complaining resignedly, “Instructor, look at NMAU, they’re so poor but…”
‘Their vice-chancellor gave out pills for free!
‘While I was so unfortunate that I had to take my own pills!’
Tang Feng seemed embarrassed. He said, though, “The NMAU team isn’t awarded credits.”
This was the truth. NMAU did not award credits to the championship team.
Wang Jinyang did not ask for them, and so the others were too embarrassed to do so, especially when they did not appear often on the stage.
MCMAU awarded everyone on the first team 2000 credits, equivalent to ten Resurrection Pills.
Fang Ping was out of ideas. He eyed Qin Fengqing and said, “You haven’t appeared onstage yet, isn’t 2000 credits too much for you…”
Qin Fengqing’s expression darkened. He gritted his teeth. “It’s because you didn’t let me, not because I didn’t want to!”
‘What?
‘You wanna deduct my credits?
‘If you do that, I’m gonna beat the s*it out of you!’
He was difficult to deal with, so Fang Ping turned to look at Xie Lei and the others, sighing. “The school’s struggling these days. How about this, let’s just take 1000 credits each so that the school can save some money…”
Chen Wenlong had already gone onstage. Zhang Yu said, “No problem. I’m okay with receiving no credits as well.”
Fang Ping gave him a thumbs-up in his mind. ‘Nice, look, this is how a gentleman should behave.
‘Unlike Qin Fengqing, that selfish bastard!’
Tang Feng chimed in after Zhang Yu, saying, “Cut it. Everyone will receive however much you deserve. The school isn’t that desperate yet.”
Qin Fengqing nodded fervently. He then snatched his changdao from Fang Ping’s hands. His heart was almost bleeding when he saw his now-jagged saber. He gritted his teeth. “You gotta pay me 80 million at least!”
Fang Ping rolled his eyes. He did not even bother looking at him.
Noting his reaction, Qin Fengqing said, “60 million… You’re not allowed to mention that 40 million, or I might as well die now. I’ll run laps around the stadium naked and say it was you that forced me to!”
Everyone showed their astonishment.
Qin Fengqing’s statement was amazingly bold!
Qin Fengqing harrumphed. “Why look at me? If I embarrass myself, MCMAU’s reputation will be damaged seriously too, you know. If Fang Ping doesn’t pay me back, I’ll pull him down with me!”
Fang Ping was speechless. It was only after a while did he say tiredly, “Yunxi, hand the arrows to me.”
Chen Yunxi did as he said. Fang Ping waited for a while, but his Wealth refused to go up!
Fang Ping seemed resigned. Did this mean that NMAU wanted to take them back?
That was not possible!
This battle against Old Wang dented his Vitality. He spent more than 5 million Wealth points plus three Resurrection Pills, and he almost bled out.
He could not lose so much. He must keep those arrows.
NMAU had entered the top four this time. They would receive 10 more billion in subsidies, so they would not care about a loss so small.
Old Wang owed him as much as 60 million, anyway. The arrows did not have much A-grade alloy in them; they would cost around 5 million at least.
Fang Ping stopped caring about the arrows at that thought. He tossed them to Qin Fengqing and said exasperatedly, “Enough. Cut that out. The saber’s only jagged in a few places, it isn’t as if it disintegrated into powder.”
Qin Fengqing seemed to be dissatisfied. He muttered, “Don’t you own a B-grade yanyuedao?”
“I paid my debt to Senior Liang with it.”
“His saber is only C-grade! Mine’s B-grade! How about you give the saber to me and the arrows to him instead?”
“Haha!”
“Fang Ping, you’ve crossed the line. You damaged my saber, reducing it to this state…”
Fang Ping’s head hurt. He waved his hand and said, “Let’s just agree that you now owe me 30 million. I’ll deduct 10 million from your debt, how’s that?”
“You…”
Qin Fengqing looked indignant, but he got three arrows. The shafts were made of A-grade alloy too; they were enough to cover his loss.
Now Fang Ping deducted 10 million from his debt, too… He did not intend to pay him back, but the discount seemed to be advantageous to him.
He was not really satisfied, but he stopped bothering Fang Ping. He nodded. “You got the better part of the deal.”
“Remember to pay the 30 million forward soon.”
“I…”
Qin Fengqing cursed him in his mind. ‘Pay, your ass!’
As they talked, Chen Wenlong defeated Lan Wufeng effortlessly.
Fang Ping did not even bother to continue watching. There were only three Rank-3 martial artists left on the other side. What was even the point?
He looked to the faraway opposite corner. Wang Jinyang was still recuperating. Fang Ping exhaled. “He probably won’t show up in the coming battle between third and fourth place. Pity. Wang Jinyang’s only that much weaker than me. He might win against Yao Chengjun if he fought him.”
Tang Feng did not know how to feel. ‘You’re really only “that much” stronger than him?’
Fang Ping was not wrong, though.
Fang Ping was indeed more resilient than Wang Jinyang. If the two of them had really fought to the death, Wang Jinyang would probably die while Fang Ping would stay alive.
He checked Fang Ping’s innards and noted that his injuries were recovering. Tang Feng breathed a sigh of relief. “Luckily you’ve recovered, but… You were being too reckless. You almost shattered your Celestial Bridges!”
If they had shattered, Fang Ping would fall back a rank to Rank-3.
His honed body and bones would be unaffected, but his internal organs would suffer a huge blow had his Bridges really collapsed, and so he would find it difficult to advance to Rank-4 one more time.
“I didn’t plan to use that.”
Fang Ping shook his head, saying resignedly, “He just had to bully me. He wasn’t so strong when he fought Li Hansong. If he retained that level of skill, I could’ve just fought a nice and long battle with him. But then he fought me like he was on steroids! What can I do, not beat the sh*t out of him?”
‘Old Wang was being a bully!’
His Vitality outburst was so strong when he fought Fang Ping. He even used ranged attacks against him, and at last, he used up all the power in his marrow! He just had to fight him even if it meant suffering heavy injuries!
Fang Ping had no choice but to fight back.
As for who had first thrown out their ultimate moves, Fang Ping had long forgotten about that.
…
On the other side.
Wang Jinyang’s injuries were starting to heal.
After a while, he opened his eyes. The NMAU vice-chancellor relaxed slightly. An instructor nearby moved to say something, but he did not. After a while, the instructor said, “That was reckless of you.”
Wang Jinyang did not deny the accusation. He nodded, then said, chuckling, “The desire to win burned up in me. I couldn’t put it out.”
He was calm and collected normally.
He failed to do that this time, though.
The instructor did not continue berating him. He sighed. “We can’t battle against FMS.”
Wang Jinyang’s marrow was overtaxed and his internal organs were seriously injured. Even though he had taken quite a lot of pills, he would need a few days to recover, and this was on the basis of his extremely swift recovery.
Mutated martial artists like him recovered faster than average martial artists.
If not for that, they would no longer be able to battle after the consecutive battles.
The NMAU vice-chancellor said after the instructor, “I informed the Department. NMAU has surrendered. We will not fight for third place.”
If they had, Wang Jinyang would have to battle with injuries. If Yao Chengjun was merciless to him, he might incapacitate Wang Jinyang permanently.
The vice-chancellor said, “We’re returning to Nanjiang! I’ll return in the afternoon. The Catacomb entrance… Has appeared!”
Their eyes widened!
Wang Jinyang furrowed his brow. “The entrance has appeared?”
“Yes, just this morning. The first party ready to enter has arrived there by now, one by one. We will enter when the tunnel stabilizes.
“Jinyang, you stay here and recuperate. Don’t enter the Catacomb before you fully recover.
“Also, when you get back, you can break through into Rank-5. After the breakthrough, you’ll be at a similar level as the average upper-stage, or even Peak, Rank-5 martial artist.
“You may for one or two more years, wait until you graduate… Whatever, let’s wait until then to talk about it.”
The NMAU vice-chancellor trailed off.
It was a pity. If Wang Jinyang was at Grandmaster-level, or even Rank-6 level, he could hand NMAU off to Wang Jinyang without a worry.
Wang Jinyang was still at Rank-4 though. Even if he had advanced into Rank-5, he was still a little too green for the role.
NMAU was not MCMAU, but one could not assume the post of vice-chancellor if he was not at Rank-6. Even if he was a genius.
“Vice-chancellor…”
Wang Jinyang’s expression crumpled. He mulled on it for a while and stood up. “I’ll go with you. Wait for a while, I’ll return shortly.”
Wang Jinyang took off toward the MCMAU side.
The Catacomb had opened. He had to inform Fang Ping. Maybe Fang Ping could bring some MCMAU people along as reinforcements.
…
“MCMAU wins!”
The referee announced loudly. Chen Wenlong defeated four opponents consecutively.
There were few who were still watching them. Everyone was still discussing the Wang Jinyang-Fang Ping showdown prior.
Fang Ping had claimed victory, but he did not dwell on it. It was evident that he had suffered serious injury.
Fang Ping looked more at ease than Wang Jinyang, that was also true. Who would be stronger, them or the first place in the Rank-4 ranking list? That was what everyone was discussing.
They had not seen the latter in battle before.
…
Fang Ping did not mind the audience’s chattering.
Fang Ping thought that first place was not necessarily stronger than the few of them. He did not give a sh*t about the other even if he had honed his combat techniques to the point of mastery.
Fang Ping thought of himself as invincible among Rank-4, and so he would be.
He had defeated Wang Jinyang and Yao Chengjun. Li Hansong he did not care much for. If he was not the Invincible One, who would be?
He heard the sounds of MCMAU’s victory. Fang Ping eyed Li Hansong. ‘Tomorrow it’ll be your turn, you iron-headed gargoyle! Don’t assume that I can’t just because I’m injured!’
He was trying to intimidate Li Hansong with his gaze alone when he heard footsteps. He turned, only to meet Wang Jinyang’s gaze as the older man walked toward him.
The MCMAU students looked at Wang Jinyang. He ignored their gazes and walked toward Fang Ping, saying, “The Catacomb is open!”
“It is?”
“It opened in the morning. I’ll return to Nanjiang later. Three to five days later, give or take, the tunnel will stabilize, and entry will be allowed. If you’re interested, you can come to Nanjiang.”
Fang Ping was deep in thought. “Sure. I’ve wanted to go to the Nanjiang Catacomb for a look since long ago. After the championship ends, I’ll return to MCMAU first in order to arrange everything.”
“Good. I’ll wait for you, then!”
Wang Jinyang turned and left.
After a short while, the NMAU people started packing up their things and leaving gradually.
After their departure, Fang Ping turned to Huang Jing inadvertently, just as the other man arrived. He exhaled shortly and said, “Dean, I want to form a team heading for Nanjiang!”
Huang Jing furrowed his brow. He said, after a while, “Old Liu is already in Nanjiang. The Vice-chancellor and I will not go.”
One out of the three Grandmasters in MCMAU was already there. If the remaining two went, MCMAU would be embroiled in chaos.
Wu Kuishan had to guard both MCMAU and the Magic City Catacomb, and so Huang Jing could not stay idle outstation. After the championship, he would have to return to MCMAU and stand guard, so that Wu Kuishan would be freed of his many responsibilities.
If he and Li Pofu both went into the Nanjiang Catacomb, Wu Kuishan would find it difficult to support MCMAU in his lonesome, even if MCMAU won first place in the championship.
“Mm, I didn’t intend for the two of you to go from the beginning, I want to organize a team of instructors. They’ll follow the majority there. How’s that?”
Huang Jing considered it for a while before saying, “30 people at most. MCMAU won’t be able to maintain its pedagogical processes if it’s more than that.”
“I understand. You can count on me.”
Fang Ping nodded. Tang Feng opened his mouth to speak, but Huang Jing said, “You can’t go! Stay put and wait for your breakthrough!”
Tang Feng had already achieved Mentality-Vitality fusion. He was nearing Grandmaster-level!
What would happen if he went to Nanjiang and passed there?
Li Changsheng was already headed there. There were few Peak Rank-6 powerhouses in MCMAU. Lu Fengrou was still in the Magic City Catacomb. MCMAU could not take the risk.
Luo Yichuan said from beside them, “I’ll lead the instructors.”
He was also a Peak Rank-6 powerhouses, but he had not achieved Mentality-Vitality fusion. He was not as important as Tang Feng.
Huang Jing felt conflicted, but he nodded at the end. “Sure. You lead a team, then.”
He looked toward Fang Ping and said, “Don’t take too many students there. The Catacomb has just opened, so it’s incredibly dangerous! Wait for a while. You have to wait till there is a settlement in the Nanjiang Catacomb before the students can go in!”
Fang Ping nodded. “I know. I won’t let them go just for them to die. I want to go in for a look first, though, and capitalize on the opportunities I come across!”
“I’m going too!”
Qin Fengqing’s eyes lit up. A new Catacomb!
Treasure everywhere!
He heard that in the early days after a Catacomb’s opening, energy stones were everywhere like normal stones.
Thousand-year-old medicinal herbs were as ubiquitous as weeds.
Walk a few steps, and there were stone and rare metal mines everywhere…
Qin Fengqing’s eyes gleamed greedily at the thought. Money, money!
“I’ll go too!”
Several Rank-4 martial artists spoke up after Qin Fengqing.
Fang Ping eyed them, and said after consideration, “Let’s talk about this later. If you want to, you can, but not now. Let’s wait till the championship ends to talk about it.”
A few days would have to pass until the Catacomb was open to enter.
It was too dangerous being the first party to enter. Fang Ping wanted to wait till the Grandmasters cleared off the enemies there before entering.
The competition… Would go on.
The finals were impending, and it would not be canceled if the Catacomb was not conquered.
…
Fewer and fewer Grandmasters stayed in Capital City.
Many of them had intended to stay until after the finals.
The Nanjiang Catacomb had opened, though, so some Grandmasters whose base were closer to Nanjiang left with their teams. Those who were in places further away, their hearts were no longer in the championship. Whatever their decisions were, the higher-ups would ask for reinforcements if the situation in Nanjiang worsened.
The average civilian felt nothing. They were still anticipating the finals the next day, anticipating the battle between Fang Ping and Li Hansong.
Fang Ping sighed when he saw the audience’s excited faces.
No one knew how many martial artists would die somewhere away from home.
Those people hoped for their sons and daughters to become martial artists, enter martial arts universities. They did not know that this path was not easy to walk.
One day, when the Catacombs were made known to the public, would the parents hellbent over sending their kids to martial arts universities regret everything?
