Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
After the special training class that night, Fang Ping went to the logistics department.
Upon seeing him, Old Man Li’s eyes narrowed dangerously. “So you’ve come.”
“Mm.”
“Impressive. I thought you wouldn’t dare come to me for at least three to five months.”
“What are you saying, instructor. I’m here to pay you a visit...”
“A**hole!” Old Man Li snarled in rage, arms shooting forward. Fang Ping, who was standing several meters away, was caught the next moment in Old Man Li’s grip
Old Man Li did not wait for him to spout any more rubbish and threw him out without further ado.
...
A few seconds later, Fang Ping was sprawled in a daze on the ground outside the logistics department, questioning the meaning of life.
‘Where am I?’
‘How did I get here?’
‘I think I was flying earlier, right?’
Even at night, there were visitors to the logistics department. At this point, Fang Ping suddenly heard someone ask, “President, are you....”
Fang Ping tilted his head for a look. When he saw that the speaker was chubby Guo Sheng, he smiled faintly, “The moon’s not bad tonight so I came out for a look. What about you?”
“Oh, I am here to get some pills. A senior made an order.”
“Alright. Good job. You should be on your way to becoming a martial artist soon, right?”
Guo Sheng looked rather surprised and answered rather shyly, “President, I achieved breakthrough last month.”
Fang Ping’s brows lifted. He had forgotten about that, and earlier on he had not been paying very much attention after all.
After letting out a cough to mask his awkwardness, Fang Ping chuckled, “My memory is a little confused. Recently someone mentioned achieving breakthrough as a twice-honed; I thought that was you...”
“Yes, that was me.” Guo Sheng looked slightly at a loss. He explained, “However after I achieved 169cal, I was stuck and couldn’t go any further. That’s why I managed to breakthrough.”
Fang Ping’s eyes narrowed dangerously. Did this boy know how to butter anyone up?
Whatever Fang Ping said, Guo Sheng could have just listened instead of trying to clarify things.
Guo Sheng seemed to realize something was amiss and tried to explain away Fang Ping’s behavior by saying, “President, you must be too busy. Don’t be so stressed. You are already a Rank-3, miles ahead of everybody else.”
“Mm. Go do what you have to do.” Fang Ping waved and sent Guo Sheng on his way.
Once Guo Sheng had departed, Fang Ping muttered helplessly, “It doesn’t look like there’s any way around Old Li now.”
He had actually been planning to claim an advance from Old Man Li, but now look at what had happened. Old Man Li had obviously discovered that Fang Ping had lied to him previously about distributing pills to the Ping Yuan Society members; that was probably why he had thrown Fang Ping out.
After looking around without seeing any familiar faces, Fang Ping considered going into the logistics department and trying again for his advance. However, he recalled that Guo Sheng might be still inside. With a sigh Fang Ping turned and left, deciding to come again tomorrow.
...
Fang Ping’s plan to claim credits in advance might not be progressing, but Chen Yunxi’s situation certainly was.
19th of April. Sunday.
Villa No. 8.
Lu Fengrou and Bai Ruoxi were present, as well as the trio of Chen Yunxi, Fang Ping, and Zhao Xuemei.
Lu Fengrou stared at Chen Yunxi, her demeanor cold and forbidding.
“Your instructor insisted on placing you with me. I’ll give you a chance right now to go to someone else, including Tang Feng. I will speak on your behalf!”
Chen Yunxi looked at Bai Ruoxi, completely at her wit’s end. However, Bai Ruoxi stood firm in her decision. “Sister Rou, I beg you!”
“Humph!”
Lu Fengrou seemed displeased. Fang Ping and Zhao Xuemei thought it rather strange.
Lu Fengrou did not stand on ceremony with them either, but she would never exhibit that kind of disgust in her attitude.
Based on how she was treating Chen Yunxi right now, Lu Fengrou really seemed to despise her.
Was it because of Chen Yunxi’s personality?
Chen Yunxi was very obedient. Even though she might be reluctant to do certain things at times, when an instructor made a request, she would not refuse.
Was that why Lu Fengrou hated her?
A Peak Rank-6 instructor should know better, however. Even though Lion Tang hated Fang Ping’s personality, he would never exhibit behavior like this.
It was also odd that Bai Ruoxi insisted on sending Chen Yunxi to Lu Fengrou.
Fang Ping and the rest did not understand and did not dare to enquire either.
After a moment of silence, Lu Fengrou nodded and decided, “Alright, she can remain with me.
“You can leave now. You have internal injuries so don’t go wandering everywhere!”
Bai Ruoxi chuckled softly, looked at Chen Yunxi and said, “Yunxi, Instructor Lu will be your instructor from now on. Work hard and cultivate. I will come and visit everyone when I am free.”
“Instructor...”
Chen Yunxi looked reluctant to see Bai Ruoxi leave. Lu Fengrou displayed some annoyance. “If you’re going to leave, leave. Do you think you’re parting forever?”
Bai Ruoxi could not help but laugh. She turned and left without lingering further.
Once Bai Ruoxi had gone, Lu Fengrou stared at Chen Yunxi for a moment and said, “You became a martial artist at 199cal Vitality. I can say you’re a stone’s throw away from becoming thrice-honed!
“The Chen family doesn’t lack for resources!
“But what about you?
“Right now, Fang Ping’s a Rank-3. He’s honed 6 bones in the torso!
“Zhao Lei honed 96 bones honed and has entered Middle-stage Rank-2.
“Fu Changding has also honed 95 bones honed and entered Middle-stage.
“But you, Chen Yunxi, you’re more naturally gifted than they are. You achieve breakthrough faster than any of them. With 93 bones honed, you’ve only just passed the threshold of Middle-stage Rank-2...
“You’re a useless piece of rubbish with talent and resources; if not for Bai Ruoxi...”
“Instructor!”
Fang Ping let out a cough and interrupted Lu Fengrou’s tirade, “Instructor, that... what’s that called. Should we organize a ceremony to formally initiate Yunxi as your apprentice?”
“Out!”
Lu Fengrou glared at Fang Ping, but her anger did subside a little. Staring at Chen Yunxi she ordered, “It’s the 19th today. If you still can’t hone 100 bones by the end of the month, you should just go back to the Chen family!”
Chen Yunxi’s face flushed scarlet. Lu Fengrou said impatiently, “Go on, leave!”
Upon hearing that, Chen Yunxi had no choice but to depart.
Once the girl had left, Lu Fengrou did not seem as furious as she had been earlier. Fang Ping found it hard to understand. Did Lu Fengrou hold a grudge against the Chen family?
If that were true though, Bai Ruoxi would never have placed Chen Yunxi under Lu Fengrou’s care.
The instructors might not be the students’ parents, but for the next few years in the university, the instructors would be fully in charge of their students’ martial arts cultivation. This was an important decision that would impact a person’s life.
Lu Fengrou did not vouchsafe an explanation. She looked at Zhao Xuemei and said, “Stop cultivating Combat Techniques for now. Hone your bones. Strive to achieve Peak Rank-2 before you enter the Catacombs!
“Stop operating that family company of yours as well. Your uncle is interested in it, isn’t he?
“Sell it to him for money!
“Once you’ve done that, you can come to me for pills and then go to the Energy Room to cultivate!”
“Instructor...” Zhao Xuemei was suddenly in a panic. She said hurriedly, “That is my father’s...”
“Your father died in battle! Do you want to be like your father and die in the Catacombs?” Lu Fengrou scolded her.
“Stupid girl! Once your father died, all your relatives set their sights on your company. If you were not at MCMAU, if I were not your instructor, do you think you would have been able to hold onto it?
“Sell it right now and exchange it for resources. Enhance your abilities.
“When you have become a Rank-3 or even Rank-4, wouldn’t it be much easier if you wanted to continue managing the business then?
“Do you think your uncle would dare to withhold the company from you?
“If a mere Rank-3 martial artist like him does not hand it over to you, he must have a death wish!
“Sell your company for one to two hundred million. It will be enough for you to cultivate up to at least Peak Rank-3. Do you understand what I am saying?”
Leaving aside any pill consumption, one to two hundred million would probably last Zhao Xuemei up until Peak Rank-3.
It was obvious that this was what Lu Fengrou meant. Zhao Xuemei’s progress was much slower than the rest. How could she catch up if she was reluctant to spend a substantial amount of money?
Rank-2 Bone-honing Pills were one million each.
Based on what Lu Fengrou had said, Zhao Xhuemei would need at least 10 pills a month. That would cost ten million.
Add on another 30 Rank-2 Vitality Pills and she would need around 20 million.
By spending roughly 30 million a month on top of her own abilities, achieving Peak Rank-2 within two months was not impossible. Zhao Xuemei’s abilities were not too bad; if they were, she would not have managed to achieve all she had so far.
Of course, she had no choice but to spend forty to fifty million within these two months as well.
Zhao Xuemei’s expression betrayed her reluctance. Only after a moment did she nod and reply, “Alright.”
Only then did Lu Fengrou resume her mild demeanor. Turning her attention to Fang Ping, she frowned, “What’s wrong with you?”
Fang Ping was surprised and returned, “Instructor, I’m fine.”
After this, Fang Ping added all of a sudden, “Are you referring to the matter with Instructor Li? I didn’t provoke him. The old man threw me out without warning. Instructor, are you going to avenge me?”
“What?”
It was clear that Lu Fengrou was in the dark about the inside story and was equally unwilling to be enlightened. She furrowed her brows and said, “What I’m saying is that you have achieved your breakthrough for more than 20 days now. How can you have only honed 6 bones?”
Previously, Fang Ping’s cultivation speed was lightning-fast.
He had honed 126 bones in less than 7 months from start to finish, honing one bone in less than two days.
What about now?
It had been more than 20 days and he had only 6 bones honed.
Although the torso was relatively harder to hone than the limbs, Fang Ping had not yet encountered the hardest part—the spine. He was still honing his ribs right now. If this was already considered slow, what about when he began honing his spine?
Fang Ping rolled his eyes a little before sighing softly, “Instructor, I’m sure you know that my quick progress last time was only because l consumed a huge amount of resources.
“I don’t have any income right now nor any family company that I can sell. I am broke, so it’s only natural that my progress has slowed down.
“Right now, I am relying solely on my Vitality for nourishing. I haven’t consumed a single Bone-honing Pill. I am also saving up Vitality Pills as much as I can...
“Besides, if I were to buy any right now, they would have to be Rank-3 pills!”
Fang Ping kept on complaining, “Rank-3 pills are too expensive! They’re so expensive I’m scared. Normal Vitality Pills are 3 credits, Rank-1 pills are 10 credits, Rank-2 pills are 20 credits, but Rank-3 pills are 40 credits!”
Fang Ping looked as if he found this unbearable. “40 credits. I’m never going to be able to afford that!”
“Oh.” Lu Fengrou’s response was monosyllabic. She then continued, “Don’t complain to me that you’re hard up, it’s not going to do you any good.
“You have invested tens of millions in your own company. I know that too.
“However, aren’t you always complaining that I am biased and that I don’t give you any benefits?
“All right. Right now, I am going to offer you a deal. If you agree, I will supply you with all your upcoming cultivation resources from now on.”
“Please do tell!” Fang Ping said in a rush.
Lu Fengrou gave a faint smile and continued, “It’s easy. Just two things.
“Number one. Help me deliver a letter and a few words.”
“Not a problem!”
Fang Ping’s reply was almost instantaneous. He felt secretly happy—complaining about being hard up was still useful as his instructor was finally offering him benefits now.
Sending the letter could actually qualify as one of the mission conditions. Unless he was delivering the letter into the Catacombs, the task was basically not dangerous at all.
“Secondly, kill someone for me!”
Fang Ping furrowed his brows all of a sudden and said with some embarrassment, “But instructor, you’re almost a Grandmaster yourself...”
Was she making fun of him?
“What? You’re reluctant? I’ll give you the benefits in advance. Of course, you’ll need to pay the price in exchange. I’m not telling you to carry out the killing now. You can do it when you are more capable!”
A cold gleam appeared in Lu Fengrou’s eyes. Fang Ping, having heard about it, asked dryly, “That fellow from the Fang family in Donghu?”
“Get lost!” Lu Fengrou growled and let out a snort. “Why would I need to send you to kill him?”
Fang Ping was stunned. This meant that he might be facing a Rank-7 Grandmaster at least!
His instructor really was trying to make a fool out of him.
“Well, are you going to accept or not? If you accept, I’ll give you 1000 credits right now. If you die along the way, I won’t hunt you down to repay me either!”
“This...”
Fang Ping laughed bitterly, “Instructor, aren’t you trying to embarrass me now? Is the other party a Grandmaster?”
“No.”
“No?” Fang Ping felt despondent. If the target was not a Grandmaster, why was Lu Fengrou asking him to do this?
Could it be an attempt to give him some experience?
Fang Ping thought for so long he began to get a headache. He then asked, “A Peak Rank-6 then?”
“Not that either.”
“Don’t tell me it’s a High Grandmaster?”
“No. Why are you spouting so much nonsense?” Lu Fengrou was growing impatient. There were no Grandmasters and High Grandmasters in the Catacombs. Those titles only applied to humans.
The Catacombs called it Rank-7, 8, and 9. What did the little brat know?
Fang Ping relaxed and laughed, “Instructor, then there’s no problem at all. I believe you wouldn’t ask me to kill innocents...”
“Nonsense.”
Lu Fengrou glared at Fang Ping and tossed him a painted scroll. “This is the guy. If you meet him, slaughter him. You can do that when you’re stronger.”
“All right, no problem,” Fang Ping agreed gleefully. Two missions were not too difficult. The fact that Old Lu would actually give him 1000 credits was like the sun rising from the west.
Lu Fengrou then tossed Fang Ping a letter and said, “Head to the Catacombs entrance in the southern area and wait there. Today or tomorrow, a white-haired old man will return from the Catacombs. Pass the letter to him. Also, tell him that his daughter misses him. Ask him to go and accompany her as soon as possible.”
“Oh.”
Fang Ping nodded in some astonishment. Was that Lu Fengrou’s father?
So who was he to Fang Ping?
His master’s master?
Despite his surprise, delivering the letter did not require that Fang Ping leave the university, so he was more than happy to serve Lu Fengrou in this matter.
1000 credits—his instructor was indeed very wealthy even if she was overbearing!
She had also treated him exceptionally well. He had finally emerged from his ordeal.
Zhao Xuemei, who had been watching from the sidelines, felt rather envious. Her abilities were not yet strong enough, or else she would have seized the chance to go on this mission.
Zhao Xuemei and Fang Ping both thought privately that if Lu Fengrou had ordered Fang Ping to kill someone, that person was most certainly very wicked.
Martial artists might be a privileged class in current society, but if they murdered innocent people, they would have to pay a huge penalty for it.
The easiest way of doing this was to send them to the death camps in the Catacombs.
Old Lu would not deceive Fang Ping like that. Before Fang Ping killed anyone however, he would definitely have to do some investigation into the matter on his own.
If his target was neither a Grandmaster nor a Rank-6, it was probably someone with Rank-4 to 5 abilities. Fang Ping did not mind helping Lu Fengrou out once he had the ability.
...
Upon leaving the villa, Fang Ping’s expression was gleeful. “My instructor was very generous! 1000 credits...that’s really something.”
Lu Fengrou had paid him 1000 credits in advance. From Fang Ping’s point of view, she was really taking care of him very well.
Zhao Xuemei was slightly envious but did not want to see Fang Ping show off. She asked, “It seems like Instructor Lu doesn’t have a good impression of Chen Yunxi, doesn’t it?”
Fang Ping gave this some thought. “I don’t really know. Maybe it’s because they haven’t interacted much. Perhaps after some time, things will be better.”
“It’s such a pity about Instructor Bai,” Zhao Xuemei sighed. Bai Ruoxi had sustained a broken arm and heavy injuries; she could barely even teach now.
“Didn’t Instructor Lu mention it before? To be able to come back alive, that’s truly fortunate.
“Besides, for Instructor Bai, being injured means that she doesn’t need to enter the Catacombs anymore. Perhaps this is a good thing...”
Fang Ping could only consider the benefits when he thought about this matter, otherwise, the entire affair left a bad taste in his mouth.
Fang Ping did not want to waste further time going over the matter again and again, so he said, “I’m off to the logistics department for a bit. We’ll talk more once I’ve redeemed my credits.”
These credits were a mission reward given to him by Lu Fengrou, so they were considered to be Fang Ping’s. He did not need to worry about his Wealth now.
If he utilized those 1000 credits wisely, that would be equivalent to 30 million Wealth. Even if he did not exchange it for pills to sell off, he would still have 20 million Wealth.
To Fang Ping, these credits came at the perfect time.
After he finished his words, Fang Ping dashed to the logistics department in a hurry. Old Man Li might have been fuming earlier, but hopefully by now he would have cooled down a bit.