“He’s very strong!”
NMAU’s effortless win against SSUST, thanks to Wang Jinyang easily ending the battle with five strikes, was out of many people’s expectations.
Was NMAU strong?
It was average.
It was not NMAU that was strong. It was Wang Jinyang himself.
Before the competition, most had assumed that Wang Jinyang was not at Yao Chengjun’s level, was about as skilled as MCMAU’s Chen Wenlong at most, except for Fang Ping and the few in his circle.
They dared not assume that after Wang Jinyang defeated the upper-stage Rank-4 president of the SSMAU Martial Arts Society.
Some of the powerhouses on the list like Chen Wenlong probably could not do that.
Wang Jinyang’s opponent was not weak. He was the strongest student in a martial arts university. An upper-stage Rank-4 martial artist like him should not be compared to more average ones.
...
On the second floor.
Li Hansong remained impassive. When he saw Wang Jinyang walk down the stage, he turned and left without a word.
On the other side, Yao Chengjun stood straight, gazing downward intently. He too turned and walked downstairs.
Fang Ping had wanted to leave as well when Tang Feng came up to him and said to him in a low tone, “Can you win if you come across him?”
“Of course.”
Fang Ping’s reply was to the point. He laughed. “If he’s only as strong as he showed us, he’s far from being my match. SSUST’s too weak. They couldn’t let him show what he’s truly capable of.”
“You’ve just entered Peak Rank-4...”
“It’s fine. Relax, instructor.”
Fang Ping was much more cordial toward the Big Lion recently. He said with a laugh, “When it comes to the worst, I should be able to tire Wang Jinyang out at least. Why, did you think that Senior Chen and the other seniors can’t crush NMAU?”
“You’re right.”
Tang Feng nodded and said, sounding regretful, “NMAU’s weak overall. They should be able to stay in the top ten, but it’ll be difficult for them to advance further.”
Fang Ping nodded. He said, also with regret, “Pity he’s now President, or we could’ve gotten him to transfer to MCMAU.”
Tang Feng was speechless. In his dreams.
Wang Jinyang was the poster boy of NMAU. If Fang Ping had really dared to persuade him, the few Grandmasters in Nanjiang, including Zhang Dingnan, would show up for a fight.
Fang Ping was unruffled. He said while they walked down the stairs, “I won’t watch anymore battles. They’re boring.”
Fang Ping found watching the following battles meaningless after he saw NMAU’s.
Even if there were powerhouses in other schools, they had their limits. The strongest out of them all would not be a match for Chen Wenlong. Fang Ping was sure of that.
If he were not here, Chen Wenlong would be MCMAU’s strongest. If he was unable to suppress those students from other schools, wouldn’t MCMAU be too weak?
Tang Feng did not think he was being arrogant. MCMAU had that level of confidence in itself.
...
Wang Jinyang got famous on the Internet after that battle in the morning.
“It’s only now that I know Sun City has birthed two prodigy martial artists. MCMAU’s Fang Ping and NMAU’s Wang Jinyang are both from Sun City!”
“I heard that they graduated from the same high school too.”
“One’s the president of the MCMAU Martial Arts Society, and the other’s president of the NMAU Martial Arts Society. And they’re both at Peak Rank-4... Sun City has good Fengshui.”
“Say, is Wang Jinyang or Fang Ping stronger?”
“Wang Jinyang, I think. The school he defeated, SSUST, is much stronger than XMAU...”
“Fang Ping could be stronger. He has become the Martial Arts Society president in an elite school. I think he’s stronger?”
“Will they come across each other?”
“...”
Who was the strongest Rank-4 martial artist? This had also become a hot topic.
Was it Li Hansong? Yao Chengjun? Wang Jinyang? Fang Ping?
Out of the four of them, Li Hansong was the only one who had not fought a battle yet, but everyone remembered his past battles. The CCMAU Martial Arts Society president was bound to be strong.
Liu Shijie from SNMAU, Qin Ze from CCMAU, and Chen Wenlong from MCMAU were also discussed.
Fang Ping’s five-tier theory was also spread wide.
What tier would those Rank-4 martial artists be on?
...
Sun City.
Fang Yuan had just finished watching the battles. She took a look at the discussions online and pouted, seemingly dissatisfied.
‘My brother is definitely the strongest!’
At that thought, Fang Yuan opened her QQ. On her QQ list were several dozen chat groups––Yuan Ping Club Chat Group 1, 2, 3...
“Sisters, flood the forums! The number Rank-4 martial artist is my brother, and the vice president of our Yuan Ping Club is the strongest!”
Fang Yuan repeated her words in all the groups.
Soon, the groups erupted.
The groups of girls were all bored, and so they were enthusiastic in doing as she said. Soon, the Yuan Ping Club members online appeared in various forums.
“Yuan Ping Club is the strongest!”
“Our vice president is the number one Rank-4 martial artist!”
...
Posts like those took over the forums in the blink of an eye. Many were confused. Where did this Yuan Ping Club come from?
...
Fang Ping did not pay much attention to the happenings online.
It was not yet the time to hire a water army to hype him up. It was not too late to start doing that after he had truly defeated another team. The time was not right yet.
He had appeared to be relaxed, but he did not go anywhere else after the NMAU battle ended, staying at the hotel to cultivate instead.
After his breakthrough into Peak Rank-4, Fang Ping no longer focused on elevating his rank, turning his focus to honing combat techniques instead.
These couple of days, the combat techniques he was focusing on mainly (Flight Step, Maha Punch, and Royal Decapitation) were progressing quite well.
He knew in his heart, though, that he had been practicing higher-ranked combat techniques for far too little time.
He had only started to touch upon them in September. It had only been three months since then.
Wang Jinyang and the others had cultivated higher-ranked combat techniques for more than a year.
Fang Ping was naturally inferior to them in terms of combat technique prowess.
Fang Ping was stronger in that he had a higher Vitality, better physicality, and was able to bounce back in a shorter period of time.
The main advantage he had-–which incidentally was also the one he was most confident of––was the result achieved after nurturing his saber these couple of days.
He had been nurturing his saber ever since learning the Strength Accumulation Technique and Outburst Magnifying Technique from Old Man Li. He had channeled copious amounts of Mentality and Vitality into his saber; he had not unsheathed it once the past two months.
“This saber is a last resort. I’ve saved it to kill a Rank-5... I still have to depend on myself.”
In his hotel suite, Fang Ping thought about it seriously. Could he defeat the other three without unsheathing his saber?
He eyed his stats interface. Ever since entering Peak Rank-4, his strength had seen a steep increase:
Wealth: 920000000
Vitality: 3100cal (3229cal)
Mentality: 672Hz (699Hz)
Bones honed: 177 bones (100%), 6 bones (90%), 23 bones (30%+)
Storage space: 1m3
Energy Shield: 10000 Wealth/minute
He had spent many Wealth points these couple of days, some on his combat technique practice and some at nurturing his saber.
“Pity that I haven’t been able to achieve a breakthrough in my Mentality, otherwise... A Mentality over 700Hz would increase my strength by a lot.”
Currently, he had no way to increase his physicality, Vitality, and Mentality even if he wanted to.
He had reached the peak of Peak Rank-4 in terms of hardware.
“My mastery of my combat techniques is weak... But then Rome wasn’t built in a day.”
Fang Ping shook his head. He thought of how he could not use his saber willy-nilly, and how his odds of winning against Yao Chengjun and the others were difficult to determine.
‘Why didn’t the system give me some way to speed up my mastery of combat techniques? I wouldn’t have to worry so much then.’
Fang Ping thought greedily. He did not spend too much time thinking about it, though. He got up and started cultivating.
...
Fang Ping did not continue watching the battles, but he was not completely out of touch with the outside world either. The latest news from the outside world would be conveyed to him immediately.
On the afternoon of the 5th, YMS achieved a hard-won victory over ZMAU.
YMS was the weakest out of the three military schools. Although they too had 5 Rank-4 martial artists on their starter team, three of them were at lower-stage and the other two middle-stage, weaker than SSUST.
ZMAU had only two Rank-4 martial artists, but one of them was at middle-stage. The result was out of everyone’s expectations: the middle-stage Rank-4 martial artist had battled the YMS Martial Arts Club president and won and had nearly defeated the other two middle-stage Rank-4 martial artists as well.
The remaining Rank-4 martial artist in ZMAU fought the injured middle-stage Rank-4 martial artist from the other school, and it ended in a tie.
The three Peak Rank-3 next up managed to tire out a Rank-4 martial artist. ZMAU had persevered until YMS’ fourth starter went on the stage.
Many set their sights on YMS.
They seemed to be the weakest school in the winners’ bracket.
December 6th was the day the last two battles in the first round were held, between four schools in the Eight School Alliance.
Changjiang Martial Arts University would battle Taishan Martial Arts University. They were equally strong; they had fought until the last men from both teams remained onstage. TMAU managed to win with a small advantage.
The afternoon, Capital Mining Martial Arts University fought Donglin Martial Arts University.
DMAU won with a slight advantage, but the four universities were almost equal in terms of strength. Their team members were injured too, which added to the suspense of the battle results later.
The first round ended with the conclusion of the two battles on the 6th.
They would rest for a day, and the losers’ bracket would fight on the 8th.
The losers’ battles were straightforward. On the 8th, ten schools would face off one another in five battles, and the first five loser teams would be determined.
On the 9th, one of the winners would get a bye[1], while the other four would battle, determining the top three schools in the losers’ bracket.
On the 10th, one school would get a bye, and the remaining two schools would battle, and the winner would have to battle the team that had gotten a bye previously before they could reach first place in the losers’ bracket.
If one team was lucky enough to get a bye two consecutive times, it would only have to battle twice.
If one team was unlucky, it would have to battle four times until it could get first place.
...
Five battles were held on the 8th. The battles between the losers were extremely dramatic, satisfying the audience.
At last, ESMAU, BMAU, ZMAU, MCWU, AND CMMAU won.
The results were quite surprising.
BMAU had defeated CMAU, a school in the Eight School Alliance, and MCWU had gotten lucky, winning against SSUST, which had been heavily dented by Wang Jinyang. ZMAU fought more and more valiantly. After losing to YMS before, they won against DMAU with a team that only had two Rank-4 martial artists!
CMAU, SSUST, DMAU, XMAU, and TMAU exited the competition.
SSUST had suffered the heaviest blow of all. SSUST, with an upper-stage Rank-4 martial artist on the team, ended up being one of the first schools to exit the competition. Their vice-chancellor was furious.
The fact that two schools in the Eight School Alliance ended up being eliminated early was out of many people’s expectations.
They had teams perfectly equipped with Rank-4 martial artists but were eliminated by schools where their full team was not fully comprised of Rank-4 martial artists, embarrassing themselves in front of the entire nation.
The two schools did not stay to watch the following matches. They went home on the day instead, too embarrassed to stay in Capital City.
On the 9th, the MCWU got a bye, whether it was due to the extra leniency toward them or sheer luck. ZMAU and CMMAU lost and exited the competition.
On the 10th, BMAU got a bye. ESMAU defeated MCWU and advanced to the next round.
...
On the 11th.
It was the day of the losers’ finals.
Fang Ping, who had stayed in his room for the past couple of days, was forced by Qin Fengqing to leave for CCMAU.
On their way there, Qin Fengqing said to him, excitedly, “Do you know, you’ve missed out on so much drama! Yesterday, after ESMAU battled MCWU, they started a huge group brawl!”
“They?”
“The two schools!”
Qin Fengqing’s urge to gossip was off the charts. He divulged to him, “Both ESMAU and MCWU are in Magic City and are near to each other. Yesterday, the ESMAU team was being a little aggressive. The ESMAU president did... Did that to Tiger Zhou...”
“Tiger Zhou?”
“That tigress president over at MCWU, Zhou Qiyue, her top burst to shreds yesterday after taking a hit...”
Qin Fengqing laughed uproariously when he got to that point. “You don’t know, it was so dramatic! The tigress doesn’t have on armor like ours, so after her top disintegrated, she had to fight with only her bra on, hahaha... I almost laughed to death! That guy from ESMAU was preparing to tear her clothes to shreds again, and she was so furious that she admitted defeat.
“The MCWU students aren’t happy with that, so more than 100 students went to ESMAU and scolded them for being underhanded.
“The people at ESMAU used your words against them, saying that male and female martial artists are the same, and then they just started fighting while in the middle of their argument. It was only suppressed after their instructors showed up.”
Fang Ping’s face went dark. “ESMAU best not enter the top ten. I haven’t disintegrated a woman’s clothes before. I am not going to shoulder the blame for this!”
He was not kidding. If the blame got put on him this time, he would be known as the Master of Underhandedness.
He only beat up female martial artists without shredding their clothes!
After shredding the other person’s top, the ESMAU president still wanted to shred off her bra too. This was a true showing of lecherousness. Fang Ping would not take the blame for that!
Qin Fengqing said jauntily at the face of Fang Ping’s suffering, “You don’t get to decide that. Now the ESMAU students are all Fang Ping said this, Fang Ping said that. Your reputation is completely ruined!”
Fang Ping said, disdainful, “Someone would have to believe them first. My reputation is better than yours. I’ve committed this incident to memory. ESMAU better pray to not come across me.
“And you. Zhou Qiyue, someone close to you, was demeaned like that, and you just stand there laughing at her?”
Qin Fengqing frowned. He said, speechless, “There’s nothing between us. Don’t say things like that.”
“I’m not running my mouth.” Fang Ping said, expression serious, “The more one loves you, the more she hates you. Although Zhou Qiyue scolds you every time you see each other, I see adoration and love in her eyes. She definitely has her eyes on you.
“Now her top’s been shredded off and you’re praising that action instead of condemning it. Qin Fengqing, I’ve thought you to be a better man than you are.”
Qin Fengqing looked unwell. He gritted his teeth. “Cut the crap, I don’t even know her that well...”
“Really? Don’t forget, you’ve almost caused their deaths. They should hold a huge grudge toward you, and enemies seek revenge every time they meet. Did she, though? If she’s weaker than you, then it’s more possible that she’s avoiding you.
“How many times have you met, though?
“She scolds you every time she sees you because she wants to attract your attention and show her love for you.
“But then now you’re laughing so happily at her plight. Zhou Qiyue would probably be so dejected if she saw you. You haven’t met her today, have you?”
Qin Fengqing’s expression soured again. It seemed... it seemed like he had not.
“Ah, her top disintegrated in front of the subject of her affections, who in turn was laughing at her! Anyone would be dejected.
“Qin Fengqing, a man like you would hurt a woman’s feelings so much!”
Qin Fengqing’s face went pitch black. He said unhappily, “It’s only a top. It’s not a big deal. Martial artists don’t wear much while cultivating anyway, and... And it isn’t as if all her clothes are gone...”
“That’s to say you don’t really mind? If I were you, I would’ve gone and crushed everyone in ESMAU. You can tolerate something like this, but I can’t.
“You like being cheated on, but I don’t...”
“Cheated on?”
“Romantically!”
Qin Fengqing was confused. Was it that serious already?
‘I’m really not close to Zhou Qiyue!
‘Why am I being cheated on already?
‘Also, regardless of my closeness with Zhou Qiyue, there’s still something wrong with his words. There are so many bikini-clad babes on the beach and women who swim in public pools. Aren’t all their men being cheated on if everything’s like what he said?’
Fang Ping advised him earnestly. “Qin Fengqing, you’re different from everyone else. Martial artists, especially female ones, are more traditional. Now she’s suffered from such an embarrassment in public. If Zhou Qiyue can’t recover from you, it’ll be you that killed her! You’re being so cold-blooded!”
“Seriously?”
“I’m serious. Very serious. Qin Fengqing, you’re so merciless!”
“I... I was only watching. It was not me who did it...”
“Other people can watch it. Who are you? Zhou Qiyue’s lover! You watched too and did not say a single word supporting her. How dastardly is that?”
“Lover...”
Qin Fengqing was confused once again. ‘I don’t know her well, really!’
“I’ll... I’ll comfort her, then? But I... I don’t know what to say...”
“The best way to do that is to avenge her. Every female loves a good hero. If you avenge her, she will stop hating you.”
“Revenge?”
“Yes, wait till ESMAU and BMAU’s battle ends to completely crush ESMAU’s president without hesitation in front of everyone! Leave nothing behind, not even his underwear! Only that is befitting of a true man!”
“This isn’t a good idea...”
“Let his underwear stay, then!”
Fang Ping was grinding his teeth together while saying that. The people over in ESMAU really did not want to live! They dared to let him take the blame!
“Then if...”
“Are you a man? Whatever. If you don’t want to do it, so be it. Men as hesitant as you are the most undependable! Expect to stay single till the end of your life!”
Qin Fengqing thought hard. Should he really do that?
It was not a good idea... Or was it?
[1] in the case of odd numbers, a team will be chosen via random draw to get a bye, which is to automatically advance to the next round