Outside the Catacomb.
The martial artist guarding the entrance froze for a moment when he saw Fang Ping and Qin Fengqing exit the door.
“You’re back?”
The two of them had only entered the previous day!
The martial artist’s face fell slightly. “Did something happen inside?”
Fang Ping shook his head. “Nope.”
“Then, you?”
“We completed our mission, so we came out. There’s no place to eat inside. What should we do instead, stay there?”
The martial artist’s face soured.
He liked the spirit of these young people, and so he had admired Fang Ping and Qin Fengqing.
Now, the two of them balked before the prospect of suffering... Qin Fengqing had not been like that.
As he reflected in his mind, he heard Fang Ping ask, “Qin Fengqing, how are you gonna spend the ten thousand credits you got this time?”
“Stop asking me. You have more than ten thousand too.”
The martial artist froze. What were the two kids talking about?
“You’re talking about credits?”
Fang Ping said as he waved goodbye to him, “Mm, credits. We didn’t earn much this time. Both of us got less than 30 thousand between us. Next time we come down here, we’ll only leave after we earn 100 thousand credits!”
The martial artist froze completely.
The two of them had stayed only for a day.
But then... Fang Ping told him that he had not earned much, only less than 30 thousand of MCMAU credits. In more direct words, less than 900 million yuan!
“Did they rob someone?”
The martial artist murmured as he watched the two of them leave.
Were credits so easy to earn these days?
They had only spent a day to earn more than ten thousand credits! That was enough for an aspiring martial artist to enter Rank-4 quickly.
One could nurture a Rank-4 martial artist by spending copious amounts of money, hundreds of millions.
As long as the subject had some innate talent and was not completely useless.
‘Are the Catacombs safe now?’
The martial artist’s thoughts wandered. ‘Should I make a trip down there too?’
‘Have the fellows inside all become rich?’
As he thought, the door to the alloy house opened once again. A group of about a dozen people walked in. Every one of them was injured and bloodied.
An instructor from East Sino Nation Normal University led the group. When he sensed the guard’s eyes on him, he said, relaying his somewhat pessimistic outlook, “The situation in the Catacombs is getting harder to deal with than before. We met groups and groups of middle-ranked martial artists everywhere we went. Ah, if this goes on, anyone at the three lower ranks won’t be able to come down anymore.”
The guard was baffled.
The two young men had looked well. Their clothes were still new, and there were no visible wounds. All of it, and they were talking about how they had earned tens of thousands of credits and were planning on how they should spend them.
‘You’re... Not pulling my leg, are you?’
“Fang Ping and Qin Fengqing just now...”
“Oh, the two of them...” The ESNNU instructor shook his head. “They robbed a higher-ranked martial artist’s lair, I think. They earned a lot this time.”
The guard shut up.
‘I’m gonna stop talking.
‘The two kids robbed a higher-ranked martial artist’s lair in a day?’
...
MCMAU.
The freshmen were still celebrating. The Devil King Fang Ping had finally left the school. What a cause for celebration!
It was the freshmen new to the Martial Arts Club who had told them of this news. Rumor was that Fang Ping and Qin Fengqing, another hard-to-deal-with *sshole in the Martial Arts Club, had shouldered their backpacks and left together.
They went to complete a mission, so it would definitely be at least half a month before their return.
What happened instead...
What happened instead was that someone saw Fang Ping and Qin Fengqing on campus before the freshmen had finished rejoicing!
At this moment, Tang Wen and the others were nearly beaten to death by all the other freshmen!
You told us that Devil King Fang Ping had left!
You told us that he was not on campus!
Did you think that you’re invincible just because you’re at upper-stage Rank-1?
How dare you deliberately make us lower our defenses?
...
In the canteen.
Tang Wen was also feeling wronged when she caught sight of her classmates’ hostile glares. She raised her head to look at Gu Longfei and Luo Sheng.
The three of them were the only ones in their year to have joined the Martial Arts Club.
It was Gu Longfei who had told her of Fang Ping’s departure.
Gu Longfei’s face went dark. He said indignantly, “I saw them leave with my own eyes!”
He swore that he had seen Fang Ping and Qin Fengqing leave with his own eyes. They had brought their weapons and had backpacks. This was not the case with typical short missions. When a martial artist brought their backpacks, they would normally leave for a long journey!
“But he’s back now!”
Tang Wen looked pessimistic.
As Tang Feng’s daughter, someone who had a Peak Rank-6 martial artist as her father, she should have been living a happy life in the School of Weaponry.
Tang Wen quickly realized that she had too unrealistic a fantasy.
It was now exactly a month since she had entered MCMAU.
Tang Wen felt close to death from all the torture she had been forced to withstand.
Her father did not show any concern while the Martial Arts Club tortured her. The Club stormed dormitories randomly at night, and hers were stormed the most. Not by Rank-2 martial artists, but by her Rank-3 seniors, who always started with a solid beating every time they made an appearance!
This alone was fine. Other students could choose their own missions, but hers were directly assigned to her by the Club.
The Club told her that skilled people should work more difficult missions. Her father was a tiger, so she could not be content with being a puppy.
Tang Wen tried to get information out of her seniors after suffering from such treatment...
Senior Yang had asked her, with due sympathy, why she did not go to CCMAU instead.
‘I was beaten black and blue more than once just because I’m your dad’s student. They haven’t laid a hand on you directly yet because you’re too weak.
‘Wait till you’re at Rank-3 or 4. You’ll discover that... You’ll be in deeper sh*t than you’re now!’
Senior Zhao had told her not to fear and to cultivate diligently. So what if she got beaten, just get up and face the music if she was not dead.
Tang Wen was not feeling positive.
Her father had brought her serious trouble. If she had known, she would have gone to CCMAU.
The honest Luo Sheng reassured her. “It’s nothing. The President isn’t that scary. It’s been so long since we’ve started out here, but the President hasn’t bullied the freshmen once. My dad said that the freshmen have had it better since the President took up the mantle.”
Tang Wen rolled her eyes to the ceiling. She grinded her teeth. “Because your dad hasn’t bullied him before!”
“Your dad did that?” Luo Sheng looked surprised.
Tang Wen said, helpless, “I asked my dad. He said that Fang Ping holds grudges like he hoards wealth. He could hold anything accountable, no matter how small the matter is. He can’t beat my dad, so he bullies his students. Now it’s my turn.”
“Then just let your dad...”
Before Luo Sheng could finish, Tang Wen sighed. “My dad said that young people should solve their own problems between themselves.”
“If I can’t defeat Fang Ping, I can only accept my fate.
“Fang Ping was a freshman last year too. I’m only a year later than him. Fang Ping can catch up to other people and become President, then I can also catch up to him and defeat him next year.”
Luo Sheng and Gu Longfei turned sympathetic glances toward her.
‘Then you can only continue to suffer under his treatment.’
Fang Ping was already at Rank-4. Middle-stage Rank-4, no less!
Following the speed he was going on, he would be at Rank-5 the next year, would he not?
‘You, Rank-5 next year?’
Tang Wen said, somewhat indignantly, “I’m reaching Peak Rank-1 soon. Rank-2 will be within this month!”
It was already October.
The two men did not speak. She was going really fast.
Fang Ping and the other seniors had broken through at the end of the semester. They were still at Peak Rank-1 during the National Championship.
Now the three of them were already almost at Peak Rank-1. They had hope of entering Rank-2 at the end of the month.
They were progressing faster than the previous year’s students.
Fang Ping had spent a semester to advance to Peak Rank-1 from Rank-1, but then later he also advanced to middle-stage Rank-4 from that point in the same amount of time! How in the world was this possible?
The three most distinguished freshmen of the ’09 batch looked toward one another and together, let out a long sigh.
Geniuses found it hard to live, too.
....
In the Martial Arts Club.
Everyone there was also perplexed by Fang Ping and Qin Fengqing’s abrupt return.
When they heard of Fang Ping and Qin Fengqing’s earning of a huge sum of several thousand credits, they showed no emotion except for envy.
In the President’s Office.
Fang Ping reclined on his chair, lips pulled up in a small smile. “After my return to campus, I discovered that the freshmen seemed to have let go of their inhibitions although I’ve only left for a day.
“How about this. The Martial Arts Championship will be held soon. Register the names of all Rank-1 students, no matter if they’re new or old!
“I’ve got an idea. There’s a national ranking list keeping track of all Rank-3 martial artists in the country.
“There’s nothing like this for Rank-1 and 2 people, though.
“This time, I want to create a national Rank-1 ranking list. There are more than a million Rank-1 martial artists all over the country. I’m being quite lenient toward us MCMAU students. I’ll only rank the top 100 Rank-1 people in the country. If there are less than 10 students from MCMAU on there, all Rank-1 students will be asked to find a mine somewhere and dig in!”
Chen Yunxi’s face showed her confusion.
Mining?
Fang Ping explained. “This is to prepare for future ore mine excavation. The miners have to be fast and agile. Many years later, everyone will thank me.”
Chen Yunxi said, unsure, “They’ll really thank you?”
“Of course, when that time comes, everyone will understand that whatever I do is for them and for their future.
“When that time comes, they’ll know how lucky they are to have a President like me.
“Li Hansong and the others from CCMAU, have they thought about this?
“When students who don’t know how to mine enter the Catacombs, how can they escape from higher-ranked creatures within seconds, mine the ore, and run away fast?”
Chen Yunxi’s confusion persisted.
Fang Ping laughed when he saw her expression. “Don’t know what I’m saying? That’s right. Geniuses are often not understood by society, but that’s fine. Some of those contributions of mine, I’m fine with being the only one who appreciates them.”
“Oh.”
“Right, has your grandfather agreed to sponsor us?” Fang Ping asked when a matter came to his mind.
Chen Yunxi said, her face belying her embarrassment, “My grandfather, he...”
“What did he say?”
“He...”
“Say it.”
“He said, the next time he sees you, he’s... He’ll nail you into the ground and not release you until a month has passed.”
Fang Ping’s expression darkened pitch black. He harrumphed dismissively. “Call on the Martial Arts Club to form a Rank-3 team and head to South Capital Martial Arts University for a friendly match. Tell them to not return unless they win!”
He had so much power in his hands, it would rot if he did not use it somehow.
After that, he looked at Chen Yunxi and said, “You go too. You’re the captain. You have to win this time and win beautifully. If you lose, that means you went easy on the other team.”
Chen Yunxi was close to tears. ‘Is this appropriate?
‘Me fighting my grandfather’s students?’
“Mm, that’s all for now. Go, prepare. Do well. I believe in you, Yunxi. Work hard and try to achieve Rank-4 as soon as possible.”
Fang Ping looked at the time. “I want to cultivate during this period of time. Don’t come to me if there isn’t anything important. After this round of cultivation ends, I might step into higher-stage Rank-4.
Chen Yunxi’s expression faltered. She nodded. “I know. About South Capital Martial Arts University...”
“You don’t want to go?”
“I’m going!”
Chen Yunxi bit her lip. She would just go. Who did she have to fear? Her grandfather was being the unreasonable one here; everyone had sponsored some amount, so he might as well sponsor too.
...
“Achoo!”
At the same time.
South Capital Martial Arts University. Old Man Chen sneezed. His brow furrowed. “Who’s talking about me?”
Grandmasters did not get sick. Which little brat was scolding him?
...
Villa No. 8.
Lu Fengrou said heavily, “The heart is the most difficult to hone among the five internal organs. After the heart is honed, the honing of the other five internal organs and six viscera will be much easier.
“Heart-honing is actually a process of energizing it.”
Fang Ping inclined his head slightly. He said, “This I know. You said before that human and Catacomb martial artists are different. Where is the difference?”
“The hearts of Catacomb martial artists transform into energy stones. Those of humans do not.”
Lu Fengrou explained. “The ‘energizing’ we say indicates a transformation into a motor instead of an energy stone.
“This is because the direction we are heading to is not the same. Their hearts will undergo a thorough energization.
“Ours turn into an entrepot.”
Fang Ping nodded in understanding. “That means that this honing enables our hearts to absorb external energy quicker and transform them into the Vitality we need, which accelerates the speed of our recovery again...”
“Right, this process of transformation is the honing process. The heart is an intricate organ. You learned about human anatomy before. You should know that the heart is divided into several chambers. The left and right atriums, and the left and right ventricles.
“The honing process unites all of those atriums and ventricles into one!”
Fang Ping’s brow furrowed. “The intricacies of the heart is a mark of the evolution of humans. Mammals and reptiles both have two atriums and ventricles. Amphibians have two atriums and one ventricle. Only fish have one atrium and one ventricle.
“Now that we unite all of them into one, aren’t we relapsing?”
Lu Fengrou smiled calmly. “How do you know that intricateness means evolution. Everything with the most reach is simple. From simplicity to intricateness, and from intricateness to simplicity. Isn’t this a manner of evolution too?
“An intricate heart is ideal for the average person, but for us martial artists, powerhouses who strive to be on the top, they’re not.
“Also, did you think that uniting the heart would be easy?
“There are many vessels inside of the heart. Remaking the heart is actually an extraordinarily difficult process.
“You need to hone those vessels one by one, untangle them, and reorder them around the united heart chamber so that they no longer twist and turn in a convoluted way.
“Next, you have to use your heart’s Celestial Bridge to erect a new energy pathway.
“Do you understand what I’m saying?”
Fang Ping said after he thought about it for a while, “You’re saying that I have to unlatch the membranes and vessels in the heart chambers, reorder them outside the united chamber, and build a new energy vessel in the hollow chamber?”
“You can understand it like this.”
“This is too dangerous.” Fang Ping said, unhappy, “Instructor, who thought of this cultivating method? If someone breaks a few vessels, they’ll die, right?”
“It’s not that serious. There’s some degree of danger, but people won’t die from this.” Lu Fengrou laughed in the middle of speaking. “As for who cooked this up, how would I know. You can ask if you have the chance. Rumor is that martial artists of the first generation have all dissipated in the air.”
Fang Ping curled his lip. ‘I’ll ask when I die.’
“That’s why everyone spends so much time at middle-stage Rank-4. This is indeed a hard task. The other four internal organs aren’t that complicated, are they?”
“No. The heart is the source. The other four internal organs are inferior to it.”
“That’s good to hear.”
After some consideration, Lu Fengrou said, “Your Vitality flows without end, so the honing process will be easier for you. Continuous cultivation is better than chipping chunks off gradually. On many occasions, the process starts being dangerous when the flow of one’s Vitality is paused.
“When one is in the middle of honing and has just moved a vessel from its original position, his Vitality suddenly stops flowing. You can imagine how agonizing that is. As for you, you can suffer less.”
“I see. I understand.”
Fang Ping nodded. He asked a couple more questions and got a general grasp on the process of honing the heart and the details he should take care of.
This was the difference between having a mentor and having none. This was also the difference between the strong and the weak.
In an average martial arts university, the Rank-3 instructors had not gone through this themselves, and so would not be able to relay it in detail even if they knew how it went.
The honing of the five internal organs was not something to be taken lightly. It was dangerous to hone if one did not know of the intricacies of the process.
After they were finished with cultivation talk, Lu Fengrou asked, after a moment’s thought, “Have you discovered any trace of my father this trip down the Catacombs?”
“No.”
Lu Fengrou sighed softly. She did not ask more.
Her father had not appeared in the previous battle despite how bloody it was. He was either at the periphery or... dead.
The possibility of the latter happening was higher.
If he was not at the outskirts, had he entered the center areas?
Or was he in the center mountains?
Countless higher-ranked beasts roamed there too. The possibility of him surviving was extremely low.
“Go, cultivate by yourself.”
Lu Fengrou felt unmotivated. Her daughter was already dead. Her father... Had he left her too?
Fang Ping quieted down too. He stepped back lightly and left. The possibility of Lu Fengrou’s father surviving was most probably quite low.