Fang Ping followed Handlebar Mustache, walking into the depths of the small town.
The martial arts school students following behind were conversing in whispers, discussing Fang Ping.
“He just told us that’s MCMAU Fang Ping. That Fang Ping? Third place on the Rank-3 ranking?”
“That’s him. I’ve watched the martial arts championship video earlier.”
“He’s already a Rank-3 martial artist. Sigh, it’s no wonder these people can enroll in martial arts universities. Now I see why we can’t pass the martial arts university entrance exam. It’s so difficult to become a martial artist.”
“I heard someone saying that there are many powerhouses here at Eternal Sun Village too. This is my first time watching a fight between martial artists, though. Say, do you think they can win?”
“I don’t know. Also, is there anyone from Eternal Sun Village on the Rank-3 ranking list? I didn’t notice.”
“I’m not sure. Besides, that’s the martial arts university combat strength ranking... Eternal Sun Village is not a martial arts university. It’s hard to tell what’s going on with their martial artists. After all, we’re not in their league.”
“We’re not martial artists. What we know is less than a gnat’s eyelash. We’ll probably know more once we become martial artists.”
“...”
Fang Ping overheard the conversation. He did not say anything.
The only thing he could say was that these guys were overthinking things. Most of the people who studied in martial arts training classes hit a roadblock and stayed in Rank-1 and 2. In fact, most of them were Vitality martial artists.
However, a requirement was currently set in place everywhere. Martial artists now needed to cultivate Combat Techniques and would need to be inspected annually.
Even after these guys had cultivated the Combat Techniques, they still would not know a thing about the Catacombs. Not unless it reached the point where they were required to go in.
Otherwise, anything related to martial arts had nothing to do with them.
...
As they went from the bustling periphery into the depths, the noise seemed to have ceased abruptly.
Walking past a courtyard wall, a spacious, open square greeted them.
At this moment in the square, a large number of people were practicing punches.
Among them, a scrawny old man was guiding a few fifteen or sixteen-year-old kids in training their punches.
As they trained, each and every one of the kids looked as formidable and majestic as a vigorous tiger.
However, Fang Ping had flashed a glance. None of their Vitalities were strong; only slightly higher than the average person. He was unsure whether they lacked pills or were perhaps laying a foundation first and delaying the strengthening process for the later stages.
Before the age of 18, one could start building a good foundation by cultivating pole-standing and other similar cultivation methods to a certain level. Even if their Vitality was low, the progress in later stages could be rapid.
When many people enrolled in martial arts universities, their abilities were weak. Most of their Vitality sat at around 120cal.
Nevertheless, there were also many people who achieved Rank-3 and 4 in just a few years.
On the contrary, those who had spent a huge amount of resources before the age of 18 found themselves progressing at a much slower rate.
Fang Yuan’s progress was slow. In fact, Fang Yuan had consumed a huge amount of pills. This also had something to do with her underdeveloped bones and her Vitality that had not achieved its peak yet.
Hence, for the cultivation of second-generation martial artists, the wealthier families would cultivate earlier, disregarding the loss of resources.
Whereas families that were not so well-off would wait until they were older than 18, or after they had entered martial arts universities, before cultivating.
However, these people had built a very firm foundation, so their progress was naturally rapid.
Handlebar Mustache led a bunch of guys inside. The scrawny old man who was currently tutoring Fist Techniques turned his head to look, a slight frown forming on his face.
Handlebar Mustache kept his distance and shouted at the top of his lungs, “Third uncle, someone is here to challenge Zhenhua!”
“Rubbish!”
The scrawny old man snapped, his eyes sparkled so brightly all of a sudden that everyone was taken aback. Looking straight at Fang Ping, he berated him coldly, “We can’t afford to accept this challenge. Get out!”
“Third uncle!”
Handlebar Mustache shouted and trotted to his side, whispering something into the other man’s ear.
Fang Ping observed the old man’s eyes gluing themselves to his glaive for a moment, looking extremely speechless all of a sudden.
It seemed like Eternal Sun Village was not very well-off!
This old man was at least a martial artist higher than Rank-5. However, upon seeing his guandao, his eyes lit up, as if he would like nothing more than to snatch it. Was he about to resort to robbery?
To be fair, B-class alloy weapons were mostly used by Rank-6 powerhouses; even Rank-5s rarely used them.
Most Rank-4 and 5 martial artists used C-class alloy weapons. As for those who were slightly weaker or poorer, they typically used D-class ones.
Frankly, the B-class weapon was wasted on Fang Ping, who was merely a Rank-3 martial artist.
The old man, who had most probably learned about the agreement between Handlebar Mustache and Fang Ping, suddenly broke out in a huge smile. He barked at the top of his lungs, “Go, get Zhenhua!”
In the square, a few teenagers who were practicing punches darted Fang Ping a curious look. Shortly after, someone ran into the depths.
...
Fang Ping paid no attention to any of that. He looked around him.
The square probably served as a martial arts training ground.
The majority of Eternal Sun Village’s martial artists were related to each other. Although it was called a sect, it could also be a family martial arts inheritance.
As for their attire, it did not differ much from the outside world. Nothing like long robes or great jackets as one would have imagined.
Having said that, perhaps Eternal Sun Village was really poor. The weapons on the weapon rack at the training ground were mostly wooden, some of them were metal. Judging from the luster, they were only ordinary steel, iron, and alloy weapons.
Not long after the teenagers darted into the residential area at the back, Fang Ping saw a figure dashing toward them.
“Who wants to challenge Zhenhua? He must have quite some nerve!”
“Guy must have a death wish. Zhenhua is about to achieve Rank-4. Rank-3 martial artists...who can be a match for Zhenhua!”
“...”
A bunch of middle-aged men and women, some quicker while others slower, started emerging from the depths of the village.
There were not too many people, though plenty were martial artists.
Fang Ping observed them for a while. Eternal Sun Village was capable of establishing a good reputation in the sects’ world. Passing down its legacy to date was proof that they still possessed a decent amount of capability.
Based solely on the ones Fang Ping had seen, there were no less than five middle-ranked martial artists!
Even if it was large for a village, Eternal Sun Village was just a village regardless. Judging from the size of the buildings at the back, there were about a hundred households.
Even if there were 5 people in a family, it would only amount to 500 people or so.
With a small population like this, even if there were no Grandmaster powerhouses, it would be astonishing enough if 0.01% of them were middle-ranked martial artists!
In big Sun City, with a population of hundreds of thousands, not a single middle rank martial artist could be found. This, of course, was not including martial arts university students like Wang Jinyang.
There were a few middle-ranked martial artists in the tiny Eternal Sun Village. It was also easy to bump into martial artists of the three lower ranks. A proportion like this was rather intimidating.
“Where do they find the resources to nurture so many martial artists?”
“Perhaps, the sects have a distinctive secret of their own?”
“Even so, if they really have the capability to breed so many martial artists on a wide-scale basis, the government would have done something about it long ago.”
However, Fang Ping had also started noticing certain things. Among the martial artists... many of them were injured and crippled.
“Resources acquired in the Catacombs?”
Fang Ping made some rough speculations. The Catacombs was a place of imminent danger. From what he could deduce, for the sake of resources, perhaps the sect martial artists were much more hardworking and cared more about actual combat compared to martial arts university students like them.
In martial arts universities, most of the Rank-1 and 2 martial artists had never participated in actual combat. Rank-2s might have, but it was extremely rare for Rank-1s.
The university would constantly subsidize them as well—a privilege the sects never had.
“If that is the case, then it means that they are willing to put in more effort for the sake of resources. I must be on my toes this time.”
Right now, it seemed his B-class glaive was a great temptation to them. Zhang Zhenhua, who would fight him shortly, might even be desperate enough to employ ultimate moves.
In Yunmeng Military School, he had learned a thing or two from the battle.
Coming here, however, the fight might not even be a fight to learn from each other anymore.
“Going into the arena... is a matter of life and death!”
Fang Ping recalled his instructor’s words, taking in a deep breath. This... was something that he asked for anyway.
They were all human martial artists, elites high up on the ranking at that. It seemed like a great shame to die here. Even so, this was survival of the fittest. Killing others was also a normal phenomenon in the martial arts world.
As Fang Ping was lost in his thoughts, a few youths walked out from the interior once more.
Fang Ping was slightly stunned when he saw one of them. When the other party met Fang Ping’s eyes as well, he was equally startled. After that, he nodded at Fang Ping, saying, “Fang Ping, it’s you. I thought it would be someone else.”
“Why are you here?” Fang Ping blurted.
Zhang Zhenguang chuckled, “I’m from Eternal Sun Village. Isn’t it normal for me to be here?”
The person was CCMAU Zhang Zhenguang. Fang Ping had met him a few times during the championship.
Zhang Zhenguang might look weak and flaccid when he fought, but he could be tough when he needed to be. He could be extremely violent and vicious as well when he got serious.
During the championship, he defeated Chen Jiasheng: a Rank-1 against a Rank-2. Of course, Chen Jiasheng had already fought a match prior to that.
Despite that, Zhang Zhenguang had also proven his capability by defeating a Rank-2 as a Rank-1.
Right now, Zhang Zhenguang was already a Rank-2 martial artist. From the first lunar month until now, half a year had gone by. It would be exceedingly bizarre if someone like Zhang Zhenguang had not achieved Rank-2 by now. Han Xu had even achieved Rank-3. Very soon, everyone else would follow suit.
“You’re from Eternal Sun Village?” Fang Ping asked sceptically. “But you are in CCMAU...”
Fang Ping stopped halfway and did not finish his sentence. Rather than obtaining cultivation resources from home, enrolling in CCMAU was, of course, a much better choice.
The sects today were no longer stuck in their own traditional ways.
Their members would also join the martial arts universities, the Military Department, and the Department of Investigation Services.
Those who passed the martial arts university enrollment tests would enroll in martial arts universities.
Those who did not pass the test would stay behind to take care of the sects or their families. This was roughly the current situation with the sects today.
Fusion and adapting was the trend.
However, some sect martial artists were still reluctant to allow their members to enroll in martial arts universities. The sect’s significance would gradually be eaten away until finally, they would be assimilated and taken over. Perhaps the sects that had been passed down for many generations might disappear very soon.
As Eternal Sun Village was a family sect, they did not reject the idea of their children enrolling in martial arts universities. This was understandable.
Standing beside Zhang Zhenguang were a few other male and female youths.
When they saw Zhang Zhenguang greeting Fang Ping, someone asked softly, “Is this the MCMAU student who defeated Third Brother’s team last time?”
“I think so. Though it seems like he did not fight Third Brother.”
Fang Ping and Zhang Zhenguang had not fought each other before. CCMAU and MCMAU fought two times with each other. The first time, Zhang Zhenguang did not go onto the arena as he was injured.
The second time, he stepped into the arena with critical injuries, landing a punch on Chen Yunxi. Chen Yunxi was injured and went ballistic. Unexpectedly, Zhang Zhenguang had collapsed by himself after overexerting his body. Chen Yunxi vented on the next person who went on the arena—Han Xu, beating Hanxu to a pulp straightaway.
As a matter of fact, there was plenty of bitterness between CCMAU and MCMAU.
Despite that, both of them did not hold many grudges. When they met, neither Fang Ping nor Zhang Zhenguang displayed any spite. There was no need for that.
“Third Brother is only an Upper-stage Rank-2, but he’s already a Peak Rank-3?”
“How impressive! He’s better than Third Brother!” Among the male and female youths, a few girls who were still young looked at Fang Ping admiringly.
In everyone’s hearts, Zhang Zhenguang, who passed the test and enrolled in CCMAU, was already a genius among geniuses.
Looking at Fang Ping now, Fang Ping was much stronger than Zhang Zhenguang, hence it was only natural that everyone was impressed by him.
Zhang Zhenguang did not feel offended. Instead, he whispered, “Admire all you want, but don’t start getting any ideas. I heard that this fellow is not interested in ladies. When he meets pretty ladies, he beats them up. You girls don’t get too close to him!”
A little girl, who looked just slightly older than Fang Yuan, asked in surprise, “Why? Is he...”
Zhang Zhenguang shrugged. ‘I’m no close friend of his. I have no idea either.’
However, he did hear rumors regarding MCMAU Fang Ping’s inclination to hitting ladies.
As a matter of fact, this was a long time ago. It happened when he had just enrolled in CCMAU. A few ladies in CCMAU had gossiped about this before. It was a news spread from MCMAU.
Rumor had it that when classes in MCMAU commenced, Fang Ping had thrashed a few MCMAU female freshmen students to within an inch of their lives. All the freshman year girls were boycotting Fang Ping.
This... was probably true. Whatever it was, Zhang Zhenguang thought the possibility was very high. Or else, the news would not have spread from MCMAU all the way to CCMAU.
...
As a Peak Rank-3 martial artist, Fang Ping was equipped with sharp eyesight and good hearing.
Although Zhang Zhenguang spoke very softly, Fang Ping could hear everything clearly.
At this moment, Fang Ping’s face was pitch black!
He had already noticed something amiss when he was in Yunmeng Military School earlier. He was not even remotely close to the people in Yunmeng Military School; however, a female martial artist from there actually knew him. She even said that he specifically hit ladies!
Right now, even CCMAU Zhang Zhenguang knew about it!
“Yang Xiaoman!”
Fang Ping scoffed. She was most probably the one who spread this news around. When the classes had just commenced at that time, this lady had joined hands with the other girls in class to boycott him.
Right now, the news had spread like wildfire!
He would punish her sooner or later!
As Zhang Zhenguang and the rest were chatting about, a slightly older youth standing beside him started sizing Fang Ping up.
After a while, a smile broke out on the youth’s face, saying, “MCMAU Fang Ping. Right now, you are so much more reputable than me. Why do you wish to come here and challenge me?”
“To get more power!”
Zhang Zhenhua’s eyebrows raised. He chuckled lightly, saying, “What you’re saying is, you want to fight and gain an invincible front as a Rank-3?
“No offense, but it’ll be difficult!
“A power accumulation like this cannot be broken off, nor can it be defeated. So, what does invincibility mean?
“In the Rank-3 stage, no matter how strong you are, I can still defeat you!
“Qin Fengqing has broken through to Rank-4 it seems. However, those who are ranked above you, many of them are Rank-3 powerhouses too.
“CCMAU Ling Yiyi is extremely close to breaking through Rank-4. She has hacked an Upper-stage Rank-4 martial artist to death. What’s more, she was only ranked third on the Rank-3 ranking. However, I heard from my brother that Ling Yiyi has extremely powerful abilities. At least she’s much stronger than I am. Do you have the confidence to defeat her?
“When you have accumulated your power up to the peak, once you lose to others, you’ll only be helping others gain power.
“Many Peak Rank-3 martial artists are waiting for people like you to go up to them to challenge them. They don’t even need to waste a lot of time. Defeating you guys is enough to push their essence, spirit, and soul up a stage...”
“Let’s not talk about Ling Yiyi. You’ve made a trip to Chungchou this time. I’m afraid that you need to challenge that little monk in Wanshan Temple too... Though, in my opinion, you may not be a match for him. I’ve fought a few times with him and have seen him a few times. Your power is not as accomplished as his...”
A martial artist’s influence could not be used as combat strength.
Even so, at the same rank, the same stage, even the same age, yet Fang Ping was in no way stronger than others. He was already at a disadvantage.
With a deep-throated voice, Fang Ping said, “If I don’t fight, then who can say whether I will win or lose! Even if I really lose, I’ll just start all over again. The reputation of an invincible Rank-3, I, Fang Ping will earn it for sure!”
Zhang Zhenhua laughed uncontrollably, “Such confidence. Last year, Wang Jinyang came here, yet he was not bold enough to say anything like that. After that, he did not continue on with the challenge as well.
“Although I lost to Wang Jinyang last year, he suffered equally critical injuries himself.
“Today, a year has passed. He’s a Rank-4, while I’m a Rank-3. Even so, I’m not the same person I was last year.
“Fang Ping, you may not get through this round, not with me. It won’t be so easy to get your weapon back after losing it.”
“All this talking is useless. We’ll know after we fight!”
“All right then. Looks like you’re really stubborn.”
Zhang Zhenhua did not continue. Instead, the scrawny old man yelled, “Spread out, everyone. Those from the martial arts training classes go further away. Don’t make any noise!”
The martial arts training classes students felt like their eardrums were rupturing. Each and every one of their faces drained of color, stepping back hurriedly.
The people of Eternal Sun Village, even the teenagers and youths stepped back considerably. On the contrary, the middle-aged martial artists did not go too far away. Many of them looked very curious, standing aside waiting for the fight to commence.
Zhang Zhenhua was the most competent among the younger generation of Eternal Sun Village. As for Zhang Zhenguang, he had not achieved Rank-3 yet, slightly weaker than his brother.
Even so, Zhang Zhenguang was a few years younger, and he was even studying at CCMAU. It was hard to say that he would not keep up with Zhang Zhenhua’s pace in the future.
Fang Ping’s age was rather close to Zhang Zhenguang and he had achieved Rank-3. Although he ranked higher than Zhang Zhenhua, martial artists would never admit that they were weaker than anyone without putting up a fight.
In many people’s eyes, Fang Ping had been riding on MCMAU’s coattails, using his achievement as someone who had defeated a Middle-stage Rank-4 to earn his place above Zhang Zhenhua.
This might not be the case in an actual fight!
...
As everyone was stepping back, Zhang Zhenhua grabbed the weapon handed over to him by other people.
A double mace!
This was Fang Ping’s first time seeing someone using a weapon like this.
“Eternal Sun Village is situated outside, so Tai-chi is the first thing that comes to everyone’s mind. But, they don’t know that we are even more competent at Weapon Techniques!”
Zhang Zhenhua smiled as he explained, the double mace on his hand waved a little, stirring the air, creating shockwaves. Fang Ping’s face gradually grew solemn.
A mace did not have a blade. Strictly speaking, it is classified as a whip.
Despite that, the mace was very heavy, much heavier than the average saber or sword. In terms of the techniques, it was mostly used for smashing.
Of course, it could prick, poke, sweep, cover and press as well. However, martial artists who wielded maces loved to use it to smash people up. They were bursting with confidence too. They had a certain level of strength. Many martial artists who were born strong or martial artists who had ample Vitality loved to use the mace.
“May the best man win!”
Fang Ping put the glaive aside. He did not draw it.
He had attained the collective punch. Now, it was much more important for him to master Vajra Punch on a deeper level. As for Saber Techniques, he would shelf for now.
Zhang Zhenhua could not care less whether he was using a weapon or not. He returned the bow, grinning. “On the arena, although there’s no life and death involved when you’re just fighting to learn from each other, don’t blame me for not going easy if you get injured.”
“You can say that to me again once you’ve injured me then!”
“Very well!”
Zhang Zhenhua had just finished saying those words when he leaped high up in the air, wielding the double mace in his hands. He raised it to his head and smashed it down!
Fang Ping was only trying to find out his limits, hence he did not retreat. His spine was straightened instantly, releasing a muffled roar.
The Vitality in his entire body was suddenly shifting as well. Although there was no blood-tinted light glowing out of his fists, Vitality force was clustered together to the extreme, releasing a full outburst!
Boom!
A thundering boom. Fang Ping took several steps back, his fists numb. When he took a look, his fists were already stained with blood.
Zhang Zhenhua did not chase after him. He nodded his head slightly, saying, “If that’s all you got, then you’re no match for me. There’s no need to fight anymore!”
Fang Ping’s expression was a dignified one. He asked in a growl, “Inherent mighty strength?”
“You can say that.”
Zhang Zhenhua guffawed. He was not surprised to see that Fang Ping had no intention of giving up. Leaping up, he once again initiated an attack on Fang Ping!
Fang Ping did not receive it forcefully this time. He turned his body sideways and stepped aside. He stretched out his hands, locking Zhang Zhenhua’s left arm swiftly and flung him behind violently!
Zhang Zhenhua’s feet stomped heavily on the ground. The granite-paved ground was suddenly deeply imprinted with a pair of footsteps!
“Not good enough!”
Zhang Zhenhua roared in a low voice. Seemingly without moving a muscle, the double mace suddenly flew at blinding speed toward Fang Ping’s head.
Fang Ping could not fling him out in such a short period of time. Without getting entangled, he shifted his feet promptly, backing up to avoid the attack.
“He has a really strong physique, mighty strength...”
Fang Ping blew out a mouthful of air. He really needed to be careful now.