July 25th, MCMAU’s Fang Ping challenged CCMAU’S Ling Yiyi and emerged victorious.
The Rank-3 ranking list was renewed again. Fang Ping now ranked third.
When the video came out, it caused a huge sensation.
This was not merely because Fang Ping had challenged Ling Yiyi.
There were plenty of videos online. There was a scene whereby CCMAU instructors stood on top of a Ferris wheel collectively, watching as the fight unfolded.
In mid-air, silhouettes of floating powerhouses flickered in and out of sight.
For many common folks, this was the first time they had seen witness the power of real powerhouses.
They flew through the air as if they were deities.
The dream of flying had always a realm that mankind had pursued since the beginning of time.
Previously, when Fang Ping had fought Monk Jiese, they were only stepping on air. Even that had already caused a huge stir at that time.
Now, martial artist powerhouses had shown their abilities once more, flying through the air and watching the fight. It had subverted many people’s imaginations.
‘So martial arts have already reached such a level!’
...
Fang Ping had defeated Ling Yiyi, and many were curious as to what would be the next step in his journey.
Unfortunately, Fang Ping disappeared. Liu Dali, who was making explosive reports also explained that even if the Military Department’s martial artists decided to fight Fang Ping, it would involve certain confidentiality. Therefore, he would not be able to report it, and no one could ever see the upcoming videos.
At that moment, many people were very disappointed.
But in half a month, a few martial artists had gained fame.
MCMAU’s Fang Ping, CCMAU’s Ling Yiyi, Wanshan Temple’s Monk Jiese, Hope Corporation’s Yu Chen...
As for whether Fang Ping can reach the top of the Rank-3 ranking list or not, they just had to wait for the ranking list’s updates.
...
Meanwhile.
Fang Ping almost crushed his phone. His eyes were sharp. In his anger, he laughed and said, “Good, that’s great! Hanging up on me!
“Was this absconding with money?”
Liu Dali had run away!
After uploading the video, he had sold out the copyright immediately and ran away!
At first, Fang Ping did not realize this. After selling the video rights, Liu Dali did not mention that it had been sold out. He said it had been dividends, and he would pass one million to him. Fang Ping had been rather happy. ‘At least this fella knew to split the money without being asked to.’
However, after he had gotten that one million, there were no more follow-ups.
Fang Ping was severely short on cash and contacted the people at Kudou to see if he could transfer the dividend into his account. He was then told that Liu Dali had already sold out the rights at the price of 6 million.
In other words, Liu Dali had taken 5 million for himself!
That’s not all. Fang Ping proceeded to ask around about the previous videos’ dividend. Knowing that he was Fang Ping himself, the other party told him the truth.
It came up to almost 15 million, there were quite a few videos before this after all.
After calculating, it came up to a total of 21 million. Fang Ping was given 7.5 million, so that meant Liu Dali took 12.5 million!
“This guy better not let me see him again. If I do, he’s dead!”
Fang Ping scolded. ‘Liu Dali is way too daring!
‘Daring to the point where he did not even think of it!’
After taking his lesser-by-10-million funds, Fang Ping could not say anything. It was divided 20/80, as per their verbal agreement. Fang Ping had even written the letter of authorization for Liu Dali.
“It’s okay, after taking 10 million for himself. He’s probably thinking of achieving a breakthrough to upper-stage Rank-3...”
Fang Ping could sort of guess why Liu Dali wanted to run away. He had been a middle-stage Rank-3 for quite some time. Now that he has over 10 million, it would not be a huge problem for him to cultivate himself to upper-stage Rank-3.
But after reaching upper-stage Rank-3, even if he was a casual martial artist, there was a great probability that he would be recruited.
“Once he enters the Catacombs, never mind 10 million, this bastard had better spit out 50 million for me!”
Fang Ping huffed. There were only so many Catacombs in the Sino Nation. If Liu Dali was recruited, it would only be a matter of time before they meet. Fang Ping did not have to go looking for him, he just had to wait for him to show up on his own.
“The Nanjiang Catacomb will be opened soon. If this guy manages to breakthrough to upper-stage Rank-3 before then, there’s a high chance we’ll meet in Nanjiang.
“Just wait and see!”
...
Capital City Pill Company.
Liu Dali watched eagerly as he was handed a few bone-honing and Vitality pills, and said happily, “I’ll become an upper-stage Rank-3 soon!”
“Once I become an upper-stage Rank-3...I’ll only be a bit further behind that guy. I don’t have to be afraid of him!”
Liu Dali pursed his lips. ‘It’s not like we signed a contract. Giving you a few million was already good enough.
‘Once I become an upper-stage Rank-3, I don’t have to be afraid of him anymore...Even though Fang Ping looks quite fearsome, but Liu Dali has heard that upper-stage Rank-3 and middle-stage Rank-3 are different, and the gap between that and peak Rank-3 was not big.’
As he was thinking, he suddenly recalled that the past few times Fang Ping had fought, he had defeated peak Rank-3 powerhouses. Liu Dali felt a bit uncertain, and said, “Who asked you to get me in trouble? It was your fault that I was nailed into the ground for more than half a day!”
That day when he had been patted a few times by that old man, he had been stuck in the ground for half a day.
Initially, it was just dirt. As a middle-stage Rank-3, it should have been fairly easy for him to get out. However, he did not know what happened, but no matter how hard he tried, he could not get out. It was not until the sky turned dark that he managed to crawl his way out.
As for Fang Ping, which was the person who had sabotaged him, Liu Dali felt that it was only fair that he took a bit more labor fee for himself.
“Sino Nation is so big. I don’t ever have to return to Magic City again...”
Liu Dali kept his pills and left happily, but he felt a bit regretful. He should have just kept the one million to himself instead of giving it to Fang Ping, what a waste.
...
In the hotel.
Fang Ping temporarily put away the thought of finding Liu Dali. His task was more urgent than that guy.
He had been training for some time in preparation for Rank-4.
“Maybe...I should go find Governor-General Zhang and ask him for advice. I have still yet to be able to perform seven collective slashes. But Governor-General Zhang was the one who invented that combat technique. This is no ancient combat technique, the creator is still alive. He’s the only one truly understands Manic Explosion.
“After seven collective slashes, I’ll have to find Chen Qiufeng again and challenge him. No matter what, I still have to get to the top of the ranking list, it did not matter if my breakthrough to Rank-4 happened the day after.”
Seven collective slashes, he believed that in terms of that, Chen Qiufeng would not be his opponent.
But no matter what, once he defeated him, it would mean that he had settled another problem.
He had learned a lot on his Northbound journey.
His five consecutive slashes had become seven consecutive slashes. Other than his skull, the rest of his bones have grown. Currently, he also had 35 million in cash.
“The company has expanded quite a bit too, even around the Magic City peripherals...and no one is looking for conflict.”
According to the usual rules, to expand beyond the borders of Magic City, he would need to be at least a Rank-4.
However, Fang Ping was only at peak Rank-3, yet no one has said anything.
A peak Rank-3 such as he was not on the same level as the usual peak Rank-3. There were not many Rank-4 martial artists who could compare to him too. For genius martial artists like him, it was only a matter of time before he reached Rank-4. Moreover, Fang Ping’s combat strength was greater than theirs. If they were to come looking for trouble on that front, they would only be waiting for his revenge.
“Back to Nanjiang!”
Fang Ping had decided to go find Zhang Dingnan to ask for his teachings. Then he would return home for a few days and prepare to challenge Chen Qiufeng.
He would then do his best to achieve a breakthrough to Rank-4, and before school started, he would challenge Zhang Yu to combat.
Regarding entering the Rank-4 stage and challenging Zhang Yu, Fang Ping felt like he could win without any extra means.
After packing up his things, he glanced at his statistics and sighed. His improvement was not slow, but he had almost exhausted his wealth, and he was facing the risk of bankruptcy.
Wealth: 1.55 million
Vitality: 1200cal (1365cal+)
Mentality: 540Hz (575Hz+)
Bone-Honing: 177 pieces (100%), 29 pieces (30%)
“I haven’t honed my skull, I have no idea how much that will take. As for my Vitality and Mentality, ever since the system was upgraded, I have yet to increase them purposefully...”
As he was thinking about this, he suddenly wanted to try increasing the limit of his Vitality.
In the past, to increase the Vitality limit by 1cal, they had to spend 1000 wealth points.
At that time, the “+” had yet to exist.
‘Now that the symbol was there, would there be any differences?’
As he was thinking of that, the statistics suddenly changed again.
Wealth: 1.54 million
Vitality: 1200cal (1366cal+)
Mentality: 540Hz (575Hz+)
Bone-honing: 177 pieces (100%), 29 pieces (30%)
“Huh?”
Fang Ping’s expression was full of shock. It was not because of the ten thousand’s worth of credits consumed, even though it was ten times more, but it was that he could feel the difference!
His physique was changing!
Even though the changes were very subtle, for Fang Ping who was in peak Rank-3, he was now extremely aware of his body’s perceptions.
Previously, when this technique was used to increase the limit, if the body could not handle it, there would be signs of bursting blood vessels or even signs of the body bursting.
But this time...the limit of Vitality had increased by 1cal. His physique was adapting too and was becoming stronger.
“This...does this mean...”
Fang Ping was shocked. He thought the “+” sign was useless, that it had just materialized for no reason. But now, he realized that he had been negligent!
He did not even think about trying it at first!
“Does this mean that when my Vitality limit increases, my physique will improve too? Which would be equivalent to omitting the previous stages of body-honing...
“Damn it, if I had known this earlier, I wouldn’t have had to buy so many bodybuilding pills and body-honing pills...”
Fang Ping muttered, “But the system had not been upgraded back then. I didn’t think that it would become so useful. If I had known about this earlier, I would have increased my Vitality. That way, I wouldn’t have to go through so much trouble. I had to break the rules and replenish my Vitality just to defeat Ling Yiyi.
“Is there a limit this time?”
Fang Ping was unsure. If there was not a limit, he could increase his Vitality infinitely, then his physique would keep getting stronger. If he could increase his Vitality infinitely, even if he did not hone his internal organs, could he, a Rank-3 take on a Rank-6?
“There should be a limit.”
He made a quick judgment. If he was not wrong, there would be a limit.
He just did not know where it was.
“Could I do the same for my Mentality?”
Currently, Fang Ping did not dare to increase his mentality. The more he understood, the more cautious he was.
Previously, he had increased it by 1cal and finally broke through his goal of 500Hz. Even though he did quite remember what happened afterward, he was certain he might have lost a piece of his memory.
‘That’s too dangerous!’
‘But what about now?
‘If he increased it now, could he automatically adapt to that sort of Mentality?
‘Even if the consumption has increased by 10 times, it a permanent boost. So, it’s no big deal that the consumption had increased tenfold!’
The increase of Vitality was not only a limit increase, it included the improvement of the physique as well. It was something that he should do.
“Let’s try it again!”
Fang Ping did not waste any time and started increasing his Vitality limit again.
Very soon, the statistics changed again:
Wealth: 1.2 million
Vitality: 1200cal (1400cal+)
Mentality: 540Hz (575Hz+)
Bone-Honing: 177 pieces (100%), 29 pieces (30%+)
Fang Ping’s skin continued shrinking. It was very subtle, but when Fang Ping touched it, he could feel that it had become more resilient.
“This is interesting. If this continues, I will achieve the state of golden body sooner or later!”
Fang Ping was pleased. “Where’s the limit?”
“It’s a pity I do not have enough wealth points, I can’t just waste it as I please. Once I have sufficient wealth points, I’ll give it another go.”
As for his Mentality, after pondering for a bit, he still did not dare to do it.
This was different compared to his physique. When he increased his Vitality, even if there was a case where his body could not handle it, he would just burst some blood vessels at most. In his current state, Fang Ping’s body would not burst that easily.
As for his Mentality and anything related to his brain area, it would be a serious issue if his brain burst.
“Normal peak Rank-3’s Vitality is around 1000cal, mine is now at 1400cal. I should have a lot more advantages than they do. But as for people like Ling Yiyi, their physique and Vitality are stronger than most people too. Their Vitality should be more than 100cal as well.”
‘I wonder if I can reach Rank-4’s 2000cal limit.
‘If I could do that, then except for my internal organs, the gap between me, a Rank-3 and the Rank-4 martial artists should not be that great.’
The increase of Vitality limit did not only represent the amount of Vitality, but also the strength of the physique. It was like the power emanated by the Vitality.
The power unleashed by a Rank-6 powerhouse using 1cal of their Vitality was so much greater than someone in the Rank-3 stage.
It was much like the gap between an upper-stage and a middle-stage. If Fang Ping unleashed a move using 50cal of his Vitality, he could obliterate a move made by a middle-ranked martial artist who was using 100cal of his Vitality.
“An invincible Rank-3, as destined from the very beginning!”
At that moment, Fang Ping’s confidence and aura swelled!
And not just invincible in Rank-3, Fang Ping felt as if he could be invincible to the very end of his martial arts journey!
...
On the same day, Fang Ping left Capital City.
When he was leaving Capital City, an instructor from CCMAU had followed him stealthily. It was not to ambush him but to see Fang Ping off as he left the borders. This was so he could make sure Fang Ping did not linger in Capital City. Those groups of people from MCMAU kept causing trouble for CCMAU.
When the instructor saw Fang Ping, he was very shocked.
‘What happened to this guy?
‘Even after the battle with Ling Yiyi, he did not have such an aura. Many still felt that he was being overconfident, and it was unlikely that he could defeat the two people from the Military Department.
‘But now, seeing him again, he looks so imposing. He emanated an aura of invincibility!’
The instructor following behind him had a surprised look on his face. ‘What is going on?
‘Did he go home and take a nap, and just woke up feeling like he was invincible?
‘Or did this guy master the seven collective slashes, and think he is above all the other Rank-3?’
“Even Chen Qiufeng isn’t this confident, right?”
The instructor muttered to himself, unable to comprehend the situation.
‘An invincible Rank-3 is cultivated through combat. It was only by fighting to the point where no one dared to doubt you, then only can you be considered as such.
‘Why was Fang Ping behaving like this?
‘His journey to invincibility has yet to be completed!’
...
The CCMAU instructor was not the only one who was shocked.
When Wang Jinyang saw Fang Pin’s striding forward, with his head held high and his face full of confidence, he asked in a surprised tone, “Did you fight the people of the Military Department in secret?”
“Nope.”
“Then he can use seven collective slashes now?”
“Nope.”
“Then, you...what’s up with you?”
Fang Ping dismissed it and said with a smile, “I am invincible. If my will is strong and then I will be too, what’s so strange about that?”
“Your will is strong...”
Wang Jinyang muttered, then raved to himself, “I am an invincible Rank-4...am I an invincible Rank-4? Yes, I am an invincible Rank-4!”
The next moment, Wang Jinyang’s aura skyrocketed, his eyes shone energetically. He muttered to himself, “Huh, it worked? Is this lying to myself of hypnotizing myself?”
Fang Ping’s mouth was opened the whole time.
‘You, an invincible Rank-4? As if. You’re just an upper-stage Rank-4, what’s up with you?’
Wang Jinyang ignored him and was still talking to himself, “No, only my aura has changed. This is not because of my capabilities, but because I’m full of energy. It doesn’t mean that I’m invincible...but that’s not right, there should be some advantages to this.
“Wait, no, why do I have to delude myself like this?
“This aura is somewhat superficial...it’s not realistic enough!
“But this way, when I’m facing peak Rank-4’s royalty, I won’t be afraid anymore. At least I will have the confidence to defeat them!”
Fang Ping suddenly felt tired listening to him talking to himself.
‘The only reason I have an aura like this is that I truly think I am invincible.
‘What’s up with you? You can even pretend so well after lying to yourself.’
“I’m heading to the governor’s house now...”
Fang Ping sighed and looked a bit drained. ‘He can deceive himself to the point of such confidence. Old Wang is amazing!’
“It’s all fake. Once you pop it, the bubble disappears. I hope Old Wang can see the truth and understand himself. Otherwise, if he gets beaten to death, he wouldn’t even know how he died.”
Fang Ping shook his head. ‘If Wang Jinyang went to face Yao Chengjun and Li Hansong in his current situation, I wonder if he would get beaten to death.’