Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
The words of the old Grandmaster marked an end to the competition on the 12th.
Eight School Alliance VS MAUA. Eight School Alliance lost the match and pulled out of the championship.
Even though the match had ended, the Eight School Alliance, the martial arts universities, the championship and the old Grandmaster’s generalization towards martial artists did not stop there.
Martial artists braved the fight. Death fight?
For what reasons were they fighting for?
For whom were they fighting for?
In recent years, there had not been a single large-scale war in Sino Nation. There might be small-scale ones, but this had little to do with the martial artists in martial arts universities, right?
These discussions were all over the Net.
Even so, no one answered, and a clear-cut answer was not provided. This sense of uncertainty was snowballing in the hearts of ordinary people.
...
Fang Ping and the rest were only spectators in this match.
After the match, Fang Ping, Fu Changding and the rest gathered round.
Training Room.
Bai Ruoxi was there too. When everyone had gathered, she spoke, “We are fighting against CCMAU tomorrow. If we win, we will only have to fight against either CCMAU or MAUA.
“If we lose, we will need to fight against MAUA, then CCMAU after.
“Besides Chen Jiasheng, the lead member of MAUA, most of the rest are critically injured.
“MAUA is not the key focus. The key focus is whether we can walk away with the first place?
“Tomorrow. The university wishes for you to conserve your strengths. This is because regardless of winning or losing, we still have one more match with CCMAU later...”
Most of the guys in MAUA were critically injured. It would not be difficult for CCMAU or MCMAU to win over each other.
Most importantly, the two universities, MCMAU and CCMAU were sure that they would have to face each other in a second round.
In this situation, the embattle was an important basis for winning or losing the match.
Fang Ping spoke directly, “The next round will naturally be easier if we just make sure that team CCMAU is critically injured in the match tomorrow.”
Bai Ruoxi did not know whether to laugh or cry. How could it possibly be that simple?
Ignoring Fang Ping, Bai Ruoxi continued, “Not all from CCMAU’s first team may participate in the match tomorrow. Neither Li Ran nor Zhan Zhenguang has recovered from their injuries. It is unlikely for the two of them to participate with their injuries.
“Both of them would have recovered by the final match on the 15th. It will be more suitable for them to participate then.
“The members likely to participate tomorrow are the three first-team members: Han Xu, Fang Wenxiang, and Wei Shujie. Then there will be two more members from the reserves team.
“All of their reserves team members are Peak Rank-1. They possess strong abilities, hence should not be underestimated.
“If the entire MCMAU first team is sent for the match tomorrow, there will be troubles in the final match on the 15th if everyone is injured in an accident tomorrow...”
Even if they had won over the MAUA, the MCMAU’s first team would not be in a good condition to fight in the final match three days from now if they were critically injured.
CCMAU’s Li Ran and Zhang Zhenguang were both tough fighters. They might be the ones to fight in the battle three days from now.
Fang Ping frowned slightly and said, “What do you have in mind, Instructor Bai, tell us.”
“There is no way to determine whether Han Xu will be a starter or provide support. If one comes face to face with Han Xu and is slow, one may not be able to even hit him before being disqualified after being injured by him.
“According to the university, either Zhao Lei or you will not participate tomorrow. Just in case...”
Zhao Lei was unsatisfied. “Instructor, it has already come to this. If we are afraid, wouldn’t CCMAU be afraid too?
“If we are injured, I doubt that CCMAU will be any better...”
“Don’t forget that they have five Peak Rank-1 reserves team members!”
Bai Ruoxi was suddenly serious. “The university is worried they will use the Duizi Tactic!”
“Employing a few reserves team members to injure our first team. If our first-team members are injured, we are left with Tang Songting – the only Peak Rank-1 in our reserves team!”
Chen Yunxi’s self-esteem had taken a blow recently to the point that she had no strong sense of self anymore. Even her instructor had ignored her now. Chen Yunxi could only keep her mouth shut.
“Still, victory or defeat will be determined in the final match. With that, we have to conserve every last bit of our strength and power.”
The recommendation given by the university was not entirely bad. After all, the fight for the first and second place would be on the final match.
As MCMAU reserves team members’ abilities were weaker than CCMAU, it would be difficult to carry on with the final match if many of the first-team members were injured in tomorrow’s match.
If the first team was unscathed, then there would be no use for CCMAU’s reserves team members.
The final match would be on the 15th. If the first team was wiped out entirely, then there would be no need to fight against their reserves team members.
Fang Ping asked in a deep voice, “What kind of sequence has the university allocated for the match?”
“Tang Songting, Zhao Xuemei, Fu Changding, Yang Xiaoman the four of them will fight. Either Zhao Lei or you will provide support.
“Instructor Tang Feng thinks that Fang Ping does not need to fight. Instead, Jin Lei from the reserves team can fight...”
“Wouldn’t that be obvious that we are going to lose?”
Zhao Lei was unimpressed. Although the words he said would sound like he was untrusting towards his team members, he was only speaking the truth.
Both Fang Ping and Zhao Lei were not fighting. Jin Lei was only an Upper-stage Rank-1. If he came face to face with Han Xu, Fang Wenxiang and the rest, losing was imminent.
“Even if we lose, there will still be opportunities for us to turn things around!”
Tang Feng walked in the door and said aloud, “A few first-team members will stay and prepare for the final match on the 15th. This is the key to determine if we win or lose in the final battle!”
“But... the Grandmaster had said that martial artists are not scared of battle. We do not fear bloodshed...”
“Foolish. This has nothing to do with being scared of battle and fearing bloodshed, this is a legitimate form of tactics! One day when you enter the Catacombs, are you going to act on the spur of the moment and attack the other party’s base?”
After Tang Feng had criticized Zhao Lei, he looked at Fang Ping and asked, “You are the team leader. What do you think?”
Fang Ping exhaled slightly and said, “Neither do I want to lose nor fight another match. Nevertheless, there are reasons for the university’s concerns. Zhao Lei will stay.”
“I knew it!”
Zhao Lei was extremely unsatisfied. He knew that this would be the result!
Since the beginning, he had not had the chance to fight in a match!
Regarding the final match, no one knew how things would turn out. It was still hard to say whether he could fight.
“It’s settled then. You will hold the line tomorrow.”
Fang Ping frowned slightly. “Why don’t I be the starter tomorrow...”
Fang Ping was worried that the four of them in front would feel extremely pressurized if Zhao Lei was not fighting but only there to provide support.
“There’s no need. You will hold the line and observe the situation. If the situation is taking a turn for the worse, at the end... you are allowed to conserve your abilities!”
Even though Tang Feng was vague, everyone knew what he meant.
If the four of them could not beat the other party tomorrow and be in a disadvantageous position, Fang Ping would then fight toward the end. He did not need to go all-out but had to prioritize the conservation of his abilities.
Anticipating the final match on the 15th!
Fang Ping did not comment. Yang Xiaoman curled her lips and lamented, “Don’t worry, instructor. We are not that easy to defeat!”
“Try not to injure yourself too seriously. The match tomorrow is not a match to determine the winning or losing teams!”
Tang Feng reminded once more. Whether everyone was listening or not, no one, not even an instructor like him could force them to.
The over-exaggeration by many people these few days had planted the idea which caused everyone to think that martial artists on the battle arena were participating in a deathmatch.
Asking them to avoid fighting now would only discourage these proud and arrogant students more.
After discussing the sequence allocation for the fight, Tang Feng left swiftly. Before he left, he did not forget to remind Fang Ping to collect 5 Rank-1 Vitality Pills.
...
Once he had collected 5 Rank-1 Vitality Pills from the logistics department, Fang Ping was elated once more.
These few days, the university had distributed 10 Normal Vitality Pills, 10 Rank-1 Vitality Pills, 2 Rank-2 Vitality Pills, as well as a certain amount of healing pills.
Altogether it had increased Fang Ping’s Wealth by 4 million more or less.
The spending for the past half a month had finally achieved the break-even point after the compensation received from the university.
In mid-December, Fang Ping had just achieved a breakthrough to Peak Rank-1, Wealth at 11 million, Vitality 319cal.
Today, after a month, even though he did not breakthrough to Rank-2, his abilities had improved tremendously.
Wealth: 10000000
Vitality: 310cal (330cal)
Mentality: 279Hz (299Hz)
Bones honed: 62 bones (90%), 14 bones (40%), 130 bones (30%)
Within a month, his Vitality had reached a figure of 330cal. Even Fang Ping was surprised. He thought that his limit was 320cal.
In terms of his bone-honing progress, certain bones of his hands had been honed because he used the Body-honing Pills.
Other than that, one of the biggest changes was the improvement of Combat Techniques.
On the arena, Fang Ping had managed to display his achievement in attaining the lethal move in two of the Combat Techniques.
He had even attained the elevated stance in pole-standing.
With this ability, one would qualify in the finest group of all new students, or even amongst all Rank-1 martial artists.
“CCMAU’s abilities are not weak. Even though Han Xu had only defeated two in a row by himself at that time, it was also because Sun Mingyu went all out and landed a blow on him which injured him. If not, he might even continue to the third.
“Fang Wenxiang... that fellow defeated Chen Jiasheng. He did not even employ plenty of techniques. He insisted to resist Chen Jiasheng’s double-bladed sword. He defeated the other party with a few punches of Heaven Shaking Fist.
“Although Chen Jiasheng had fought two matches before and had spent a huge amount of Vitality, he was still a Rank-2. He was almost killed by Fang Wenxiang.”
Fang Ping was not bothered when he thought of these.
The university wished that they could conserve their combat strength tomorrow. However, youth, even though Fang Ping had been incarnated to his former life, he was still a youth!
Which youth was not proud and arrogant and had one’s nose in the air? To ask them to consider defeat before even fighting, who could accept that?
“CCMAU...”
Tonight, Fang Ping did not cultivate excessively. Very soon, he went to bed and rest.
Fang Yuan and the rest did not disturb Fang Ping. They knew he had a match with CCMAU tomorrow. Even though they knew he had an unyielding strength, CCMAU did defeat two Rank-2 martial artists from MAUA and was widely known to rank first amongst the martial arts universities. No one would underestimate CCMAU.
...
13th of January.
MCMAU’s gym.
“It’s the match between CCMAU and MCMAU later!”
“On the topic of CCMAU and MCMAU, there are too many deep-seated resentments between them.
“Sino Nation’s best martial arts university battle!
“North and South best martial arts university battle!
“CCMAU looks down on MCMAU, while MCMAU is equally disdainful towards CCMAU. The fight as the best between the two universities has been going on for a few years now...”
“We are way out of topic. I’m afraid the Grandmaster powerhouses will want to stuff my mouth shut.”
Liu Huarong chuckled, ending these rather controversial topics.
“According to the regulations of the competition, the loser today will compete against MAUA tomorrow. The winner will then fight against the winner today for the first place.
“That is why there is a possibility that today’s match could be the first match between CCMAU and MCMAU. They may even meet again two days later.
“In this situation, whether this will turn out to be the conservation of abilities to prepare for the final match or fighting an uphill battle and claim the first victory are questions worth considering.”
Liu Huarong was clear with the regulations of the competition. He wrestled with his words. “It is really hard to tell who would win and lose this time.
“CCMAU had put on a strong performance during the first match on the 11th. Even so, some first-team members were injured.
“For MCMAU, team leader Fang Ping took on four in a row by himself. Besides Fu Changding who has fought so far, three other first-team members have not fought yet, thus their abilities are unpredictable.
“Honestly, I don’t think I can predict the odds for both teams to win the match anymore.
“If that’s the case, I’ll stop talking. Let’s see the lineup for both teams!”
As soon as he finished speaking, the line-up for both teams was projected on the big screen.
“CCMAU: Wei Shujie, Lao Tao, Han Xu, Fang Wenxiang, and Liu Haoming.
“This lineup... interesting!”
Liu Huarong chuckled, “Due to injuries from the previous matches, CCMAU Li Ran and Zhang Zhenguang are not fighting this time. It is unsure whether their injuries are the ones holding them back or they are just conserving their abilities.
“Although Long Tao and Liu Haoming are members of the reserves team, both of their abilities are at least Peak Rank-1.
“The first-team starter, Wei Shujie. Unexpectedly, Han Xu and Fang Wenxiang are arranged as third and fourth respectively. I’m sure everyone has witnessed both of their abilities.
“They are powerful Rank-1 candidates who can defeat Rank-2!
“Can MCMAU Fang Ping defeat these two lineups?”
“Eh, MCMAU has rearranged their lineup. None of the MCMAU members are injured. This must be... conserving abilities?
“They have prepared to conserve energy first?
“MCMAU: Zhao Xuemei, Fu Changding, Yang Xiaoman, Tang Songting and Fang Ping.
“First-team member Zhao Lei is not fighting. Still the same Peak Rank-1 Tang Songting fighting, and Fang Ping to hold the line.
“This... does not seem like it will do MCMAU good.”
As Liu Huarong explained, Chen Xueyan continued, “If four of them in front are defeated by Han Xu, then Fang Ping will come face to face with Han Xu, Fang Wenxiang, and Long Tao.
“Zhao Lei is a top scorer in MCMAU martial sciences examination and a twice-honed martial artist. He is very close to achieving the thrice-honed level.
“Now that Zhao Lei is not fighting, the situation does not look too good for MCMAU. They must be preparing for the final match in two days.”
...
The comments given by both emcees in front had also traveled to the back.
Indignance filled Zhao Xuemei and the rest of their faces. Fu Changding was exasperated, “Are we losing for sure just because Zhao Lei is not fighting? How can they ignore me, Fu Changding, just wait and see, I will make their jaws drop!”
“I, Yang Xiaoman, is also not to be pushed around!”
Yang Xiaoman gave a light grunt and was clearly discontented.
Zhao Xuemei’s complexion showed that she was somewhat tensed up. Bai Ruoxi comforted her softly. “Don’t be nervous. The reason why you are up first is that we have considered the suitability of your moves for the first match...”
Zhao Xuemei might be a lady, but her moves were vicious. It would be helpful for the members fighting up next.
Yang Xiaoman comforted her too. “There’s nothing to worry about Wei Shujie. He was easily defeated by Chen Jiasheng last time...”
Chen Yunxi who had kept quiet all the time spoke softly, “He is still a twice-honed martial artist. It will be better if Xuemei remains vigilant.”
The CCMAU first team was made up of twice-honed martial artists. There might even be thrice-honed ones. Currently, no detailed information had been provided.
Wei Shujie did lose to Chen Jiasheng. However, Chen Jiasheng was a Rank-2 martial artist. He was also a Rank-2 with powerful strength. He must not be underestimated for this one thing.
Zhao Xuemei nodded her head, took a deep breath, raised her long alloy staff, exhaled and replied, “Don’t worry. I will not let MCMAU nor everyone down!”
“Be careful!”
Fang Ping reminded. Fang Ping was worried because Zhao Xuemei was a person who would fight to her death.
Moreover, Zhao Xuemei had just entered Peak Rank-1, and she was only a once-honed martial artist. Her upper Vitality limit was not as high as the other party.
This made Fang Ping worried that she might fight without surrendering. It would spell trouble if she was critically injured.
“Don’t worry, I know my limits.”
After saying those words, Zhao Xuemei marched towards the arena.
Fang Ping could only suppress his worries and directed his attention to the arena like everyone else.