The Zhongkao finally came to an end after the 17th and 18th of June.
On both those days, Fang Ping left quickly after escorting his sister to the gates.
At night, he diligently cultivated his Combat Techniques. He spat blood all over the gym floor at one point, nearly frightening his mother to death when she went to do some cleaning.
Li Yuying was dubious about Fang Ping claiming that he was cultivating his Combat Techniques.
Would one spew so much blood while cultivating?
Did all martial artists cultivate like that?
Fang Ping was at a loss to explain what he was doing. The Blood Arrow Method had to be cultivated like that; there was no other way to do it.
Lu Fengrou did not tell him—or perhaps she had forgotten to tell him—that he could just expel his saliva while cultivating. There was no need to spew blood every day and pollute the environment.
Of course, Fang Ping did not know about that; he would have certainly cursed her to hell and beyond if he had.
...
The Zhongkao ended on the afternoon of the 18th.
When Fang Yuan put her hands out for her present, Fang Ping handed her a big package.
When an ecstatic Fang Yuan opened the package, she started to doubt everything in her life. This was the big gift she had been promised?
Dejection, dissatisfaction, anger...all these feelings were clear from her expression.
Fang Ping wanted to laugh at that, but he could only feel somewhat melancholy. He mussed her hair. “These are all reference materials on combat techniques. There are also some tutorial videos on the basic combat techniques so that you can cultivate them. I’ve also written down some of my thoughts on cultivation for you to read. Don’t be a martial artist who relies solely on your Vitality.
“The Puncture Kick is a higher-level technique. You can try practicing it in the beginning stages after you’ve become a martial artist.
“For the other two combat techniques, burn the books after you learn how to cultivate them. Don’t practice them recklessly.
“When you fulfill the requirements someday, you can try practicing them.
“You can also apply to either NMAU or MCMAU.
“If you get into NMAU and Wang Jinyang’s still there, you can ask him to assign you a good mentor—or even to become your mentor himself.
“If you go to MCMAU, remember that my mentor’s name is Lu Fengrou. I also have a good old friend there: Instructor Li, who works in the logistics department.”
As Fang Ping spoke, it suddenly occurred to him: what was Old Man Li’s full name?
He did not dwell on it, smiling as he went on, “You can look for them if you go to MCMAU. Just tell them that you’re my sister...never mind. If you’re in danger, go look for them. If you aren’t, don’t bother them.
“I actually hope that you can live your life peacefully, but this world...it’s just that brutal!”
“Bro!”
Fang Yuan said uneasily, “Why are you telling me this?”
Fang Ping chuckled softly, “You’re fifteen. It’s time to grow up. My sister isn’t stupid. No, she’s a pretty clever girl.
“Your brother’s a martial artist. A martial artist. Do you understand?
“You know I’ve killed people before, so you’ll have to have considered the possibility that, someday, I’ll...”
“Fang Ping!”
Fang Yuan’s eyes were rimmed with red. She said crossly, “If you continue, I’ll stop talking to you!”
“Silly girl, you’ve got to stop being childish,” Fang Ping chuckled lightly, “Your brother will live for a long while yet. I’ve predicted my own lifespan—I’ll live till I’m 99 at least.
“But I’m bad with directions. I’m afraid that I’ll get lost, and that I won’t be able to find my way home.
“If my phone stops working and I can’t find the way home, who knows when I can come back?
“You’re a little adult now. You need to take good care of our parents and wait for me to return.
“You must practice your Combat Techniques. I’ve also left a few phone numbers for you. Of course, they might not be useful. Humans are all pragmatic creatures, after all.”
To be honest, Fang Ping did not know if the phone numbers he had left for her would be useful or not.
If he should die in the Catacombs one day, he would no longer be of use to anyone. Martial artists were a group of pragmatic people.
“Okay, I’ll stop here. I need to rush back to campus because I have things to do.”
“Bro!” Fang Yuan cried. She tugged at Fang Ping’s shirt sleeve and pleaded, eyes red, “I’ll stop playing around, and I don’t want any gifts! Can’t you just stay?”
“Girlie, cultivate diligently and grow fatter next time I come back. Your cheeks are getting less squishy by the day.”
“Bro...”
Fang Ping mussed her hair with a smile and picked up his wooden box. He waved to her as he walked out the door. “There’s no need to see me out.”
“Bro!”
...
Fang Ping drove away, leaving Fang Yuan crying out after him desolately, “Bro, come home soon!”
In the car, Fang Ping sighed.
‘I want to come home soon, but...what if I can’t?’
...
MCMAU.
The night of the 19th.
Tang Feng looked at the group of students before him and said slowly, “Did you say goodbye to your families?
“Write your will and keep it on you. This excursion to the Catacombs might be very safe, or...all of you might end up dead.”
Tang Feng’s voice was calm. “This is very normal. Prepare yourselves.
“Even the Grandmasters can’t say for sure that they’ll be one hundred percent safe in the Catacombs, or that they’ll return safely.
“Rest assured however that if you do end up dying in the Catacombs, the school...will take care of your families well.
“Every person who descends into the Catacombs is a hero, the backbone of humanity, no matter if they volunteered, or if they were conscripted.
“Tonight, all of you can relax for a while! Eat well, drink well! Tomorrow, we’ll muster our spirits, get ready, and go down into the Catacombs!”
Everyone fell silent. The atmosphere felt oppressive.
Tang Feng did not say anything more but left the room quickly.
After he left, Fu Changding said off-handedly from where he was standing in the crowd, “As if it will be as scary as he said! We martial artists must experience this eventually!
“Martial artists of our generation don’t fear death! We fight, and we refuse to stand down!
“The Catacombs are not some terrifying, deadly caves. Many martial artists have achieved the middle ranks and become Grandmasters there...”
“We don’t need you to reassure us!”
Zhao Lei snorted. He said mildly, ‘When we become martial artists, we’ve already put aside these matters of life and death...”
“Idiots!”
Fang Ping cursed. He said, exasperated, “Being in the land of the living isn’t good enough for you? What are you doing, inflating your egos when you lot are merely a group of Rank-2 martial artists? Our main objective this time is to familiarize ourselves with the environment. Put other matters aside.
“I’m telling you, when you’re in danger, prioritize your own safety first.
“When you come across an unbeatable opponent, don’t all charge forward like a bunch of morons as if you’re in a television drama or something. One survivor is better than everyone dying.
“Also, don’t say something idiotic like “I’m not going to leave, I want to stay”. I don’t want to see all of you acting like dumb*sses.
“We’re going to kill enemies and earn money. Don’t tell me otherwise.
“Alright, dismissed! Go wherever you want, do whatever you want!”
Fang Ping dismissed everyone with leader-like authority.
No one said anything to that. After all, Fang Ping was the strongest among them. In the Catacombs, everything rode on one’s strength.
After everyone left, Fu Changding said with a grin, “Fang Ping, I have a treasure map for when we enter the Catacombs. May I suggest that the two of us embark on this big adventure...”
Fang Ping treated this as beneath contempt, saying exasperatedly, “F*ck off! There is treasure everywhere in the Catacombs! The main deciding factor is your skill!
“And you say you have a treasure map! Do you think I’m stupid?
“If there really is treasure, nothing will be left by now. Martial artists are like locusts; they flock toward anything valuable they see.
“Not only that, the Catacombs are massive. There’s treasure everywhere. Let’s just say that there’s an energy mine in the depths of the Catacombs, and you have a treasure map documenting its position—would you even be able to enter the mine?
“You won’t even know how you died!”
Fang Ping stopped talking to Fu Changding, only to scoot next to Chen Yunxi and ask in an undertone, “Yunxi, does your granddad know that you’re going to go down to the Catacombs?”
“Yes.”
“Did he give you any life-saving trinkets or something?”
Chen Yunxi said, confused, “What?”
“You know, something like a Grandmaster’s scroll...”
“Scroll?”
Chen Yunxi did not really understand. She shook her head. “No.”
“Did he give you anything else?”
“Fang Ping, you’re asking very strange questions. What do you mean, anything else?”
“Uh...” Fang Ping had no way but to cut to the chase. “How many pills are you planning to bring along with you?”
“Quite a lot.”
“How many Resurrection Pills?”
“5.”
“Only 5!” Fang Ping was dissatisfied, saying crossly, “Your granddad’s being really stingy. He should give you 50, at least.
“Let’s make an agreement. If we ever get into danger, give me all the pills you have. How about that?”
“Fang Ping!”
Before Chen Yunxi could even reply, Yang Xiaoman interrupted angrily, “Can you not be so shameless?”
Fang Ping wrinkled his brow. “I’m serious. Give them to me, and I’ll keep you alive.”
He did not ask them to lend him the pills because he could only increase his Wealth if they gave them to him.
These few wealthy people had quite a lot of valuable pills with them. If they ever got into trouble and gave their pills to him, his Wealth points might increase by thousands of millions or even billions.
If Fang Ping had this amount of Wealth, and their adversaries were not devastatingly powerful, Fang Ping might be able to kill them with a few hundred consecutive strikes. The situation would not be completely hopeless.
Yang Xiaoman looked furious. It was obvious that she did not really trust Fang Ping.
Seeing that, Fang Ping did not bother going further into the matter. He said as he headed toward his dormitory, “Believe me if you want to or don’t. No matter what, I won’t risk my life for you if you don’t contribute.”
“Fang Ping, you’re so cold-blooded! I wouldn’t plead for your help even if I died!” Yang Xiaoman said angrily.
If Fang Ping were to save their lives without asking for a reward, they would have compensated him gladly.
Now though, he was laying out terms, which made things difficult to accept.
Fang Ping said nothing even though he heard Yang Xiaoman’s comment. What did they know?
How could he save others if he was not pragmatic?
...
It was already late when he arrived at his dormitory.
Someone knocked on the door not long after he entered.
Fang Ping opened the door, only to see Fu Changding standing outside. Fu Changding said with a smile, “Want a drink?”
He lifted the bottle of alcohol he was carrying as he spoke.
He did not wait for Fang Ping’s reply, but came inside and sat down. He said, laughing, “Martial artists don’t drink without abandon, but I remember that Grandfather and the others would drink some before they went down to the Catacombs.
“I didn’t understand it back then but I do now.
“This morning, my dad called me. He told me that if I die in the Catacombs, he’s going to produce more siblings so that they’ll be able to avenge me.
“He’s already that old, and yet he wants to produce more babies. Shameless, isn’t he?”
Fang Ping laughed at that. He took two glasses out from the cabinet, teasing, “The only thing you should be scared of is if your mom didn’t birth your current siblings and your dad’s only looking for an excuse to bring your illegitimate siblings out there somewhere home.”
“F*ck off, my dad wouldn’t dare do that! He’s only Peak Rank-3 while my mom’s Rank-4!”
Fang Ping nearly choked to death. What on earth was this, were the women stronger in every family now?
He remembered that Guo Shen’s mom was also stronger than his dad.
“Your dad’s only at Rank-3?”
“What’s this “only at Rank-3″ business?” Fu Changding was speechless. “Do you think that entering the middle ranks is so easy? We’ll improve fastest in the next ten years.
“Quick progress during this period is normal, but we’ll have to spend more time advancing during the later stages.
“The middle ranks aren’t that easy to reach...”
Fang Ping mused, “I think I’m going to be a middle-rank martial artist by next semester.”
Fu Changding had nothing to say. How could he even reply to something like that?
Wasting no more time, Fu Changding lifted his glass and downed the entire contents in one mouthful. He then made a face, sticking his tongue out. “F*ck, this is disgusting!”
He had thought that alcohol would taste good, but now he was discovering just how bad it could taste.
Fang Ping could not stop laughing. He then took a sip as well, and said, somewhat reminiscently, “This is good stuff. It’s been a long time since I had some.”
“You’ve had alcohol before?”
“Did you think that I was an innocent young man like you?”
“You say that as if you’re so much older than me.”
The two of them chewed the fat for a while.
This was the first time Fang Ping had heard Fu Changding talk about his family.
The Fu family was considered to be quite distinguished in Capital City.
Fu Changding’s grandfather was a Rank-6 martial artist. He had not yet achieved Peak, but he was already quite strong among those of his rank. He was a department head at CCMAU.
Fang Ping was surprised. Only then did he know that Fu Changding’s grandfather was working as an instructor in CCMAU!
What did it mean, this fellow deciding to go to MCMAU over CCMAU?
Was this a rebellious gesture from someone in a martial arts family’s third-generation?
Noticing Fang Ping’s surprise, Fu Changding said, chuckling between burps, “I’m small fry. My granddad’s only an instructor, not a deputy vice-chancellor or a vice-chancellor. Chen Yunxi’s family is much more interesting.
“Did you know her grandfather’s the vice-chancellor of SCMAU?”
“What?”
“South Capital Martial Arts University, one of the universities in the Eight School Alliance. Her grandfather’s vice-chancellor, but she didn’t go there. So what if I applied to MCMAU?
“My grandfather told me, if we die, don’t die where our family can see us.
“You wouldn’t know though. Many instructors’ children don’t apply to the universities their parents teach in.
“Think about it, how devastated would the instructors be if their children died in front of them?
“Your mentor’s one of them!
“To be honest, if her daughter didn’t die under Deputy Vice-chancellor Wu, the fallout between them wouldn’t be this big.
“My family’s the same way. Better to die in another school than die before them.”
Fang Ping had found this hard to comprehend at one point but now he could understand where Fu Changding was coming from.
These people would rather their descendants die elsewhere. No matter how devastated they would be after the battle, it still beat watching them die.
“I quite understand.”
“Yeah...”
Fu Changding smiled woozily, “Actually when I was young, my grandfather was against me practicing martial arts. When I was in high school, he told me not to apply to a martial arts university.
“I was indignant.
“Why should I follow what he said?
“That’s why I practiced martial arts against his wishes and applied to a martial arts university— to MCMAU, a university on par with CCMAU!
“When I learned about the Catacombs, I had an epiphany. He was afraid I would die in battle.
“But I don’t think it’s such a big deal. Honestly, it isn’t. Everyone dies eventually!
“The path of martial arts is full of surprises. The Catacombs might have even more surprises in store!
“It’s another world, a different world. If I don’t go down and experience it for myself once in my lifetime, I’ll regret it even after I die!”
Fang Ping sipped from his glass, saying lightly, “Living is preferable to dying.”
“No one wants to die, especially me, not when I want to become a Grandmaster too. My granddad failed, so I must become one! But...say, Fang Ping, I’m suddenly really scared now. I’m afraid that I’m really going to die. Do you think I will?”
Fu Changding was a little inebriated by this point. He said with a touch of melancholy, “There are so many of us Rank-2 martial artists going to the Catacombs this time. It’s especially dangerous there now as well. I’m scared that we’ll be unable to protect everyone when danger comes!
“Forget about Big Lion. If a large-scale battle ensues, all of the MCMAU instructors together wouldn’t be able to protect each and every one of us...”
“We’ll survive as long as we can, then!”
“Yes, we’ll survive as long as we can!”
Fu Changding downed another glass. The two friends continued drinking, without any snacks to accompany it.
...
That night, many people did the same thing.
Some drank, wistful and alone. Some penned their wills in silence.
Would they die?
Nobody knew.
On the day they became martial artists though, on the day they found out about the Catacombs, everyone understood that this was the fate of the strong.
There were no strong ones who had not gone to the Catacombs!
This was true in all of Sino Nation, and even the entire world.
Casual martial artists who reached the requisite ranks would have to go to the Catacombs as well. This was their responsibility, and also their obligation.
That is unless one chose to defect and join the evil sects.
...
Fang Ping was a little drunk by now.
This was not because of the alcohol, but because of his emotions.
While Fang Ping was anticipating the trip to the Catacombs the next day, at the same time he also felt some trepidation.