In Nanjiang.
In the suburbs of Auspicious Peace City, at the White Mountains range.
At present, the military took over the surroundings around the mountain range. Many soldiers could be seen working on this desolate piece of land.
This would soon be an important military zone in which Nanjiang had its construction officially ordered to start.
In the middle of the land, a pit measuring around ten meters deep jutted out.
Under the pit, a vortex the size of a human head was continuously stirring up the space around it. Dirt splattered everywhere. A strong flow of energy particles kept gushing out from the vortex.
Above the pit.
Zhang Dingnan, Liu Polu, and another five or six Grandmasters arrived at the destination. All of them shared the same expression—eyes tightly mashed together in silence.
Guardian of the south cardinal, Wu Chuan, was among them too.
In Magic City, the Rank-9 who used to keep guard had returned. With the current shortage of Rank-9 in Nanjiang, he, as the guardian of the south cardinal, was obligated to keep guard here.
After an unknown period passed, Zhang Dingnan finally opened his mouth. “Vice-chancellor Hu will return in the afternoon. The 4th Military Department Deputy Commander Zhou will arrive in the afternoon too. One Rank-9, one Rank-8, five Rank-7, along with ten or twenty Rank-6, we’ve reached the limit. Bring more, and the passageway will collapse.”
Next to him, Wu Chuan said after a moment’s contemplation, “Why don’t you stay here and take command over the overall situation from above...”
“Guardian Wu, you must be pulling my leg.” Zhang Dingnan gave a small smile. “Our key event is in the Catacombs!”
Wu Chuan swallowed the rest of his words. The turning point would indeed take place in the Catacombs.
After saying that, Zhang Dingnan shifted his gaze to look at the group of people farther away and sighed lightly. “No matter how dangerous it is, we’re stronger than them. The Rank-6... I’m afraid they’ll be in grave danger there.”
Wu Chuan’s eyebrows furrowed slightly. This time around, 7 Grandmaster-level powerhouses would be sent into the Catacombs.
All 7 of them would have to attack at the same time.
It was impossible to get more Grandmasters. They could only let Rank-6 powerhouses enter the Catacombs. On one hand, they keep guard over the passageway and prevent the passageway from getting destroyed. On another, their purpose there was to clear off low-level opponents that come their way. When the Grandmasters engaged in fights, they would not have the time to deal with the low-level fighters as dealing with them would still cost them combat strength. Even if they could defeat the low-levels in a single blow, it would still delay the Grandmasters.
However, it was not viable to ignore those low-level opponents completely either. If the passageway was destroyed, everyone would get trapped underground.
Wu Chuan did not respond. Liu Polu glanced in the same direction and sighed too. “We’ve reached the end of martial arts. Let’s place our lives in fate’s hands.”
Every time the Catacombs were opened up, the Rank-6 powerhouses would always be the first to rush in. For them, their path of martial arts had reached their end.
The Catacombs posed a great danger, but they also provided opportunities.
If they survived, they might achieve a breakthrough.
“Where is Li Changsheng?” Zhang Dingnan asked suddenly after realizing Li Changsheng’s absence from the group.
Amused, Liu Polu answered, “You’ll find out soon.”
After he said that, somewhere far away in the air, an elderly man with flowing white air approached them using Flight Step. Underneath his feet was his sword.
“My old fellas, I’m here!”
Li Changsheng flew over via Sword Step, looking naturally elegant like a deity. Laughing, he asked, “How’s this?”
Zhang Dingnan and the rest were stunned simultaneously!
This hair...
“How’s it? I spent 3000 bucks on my white hair extension. I wasn’t scammed, was I?”
Zhang Dingnan felt so incredulous that his head felt like it was about to explode. Wu Chuan laughed bitterly and said, “Changsheng, do you...”
‘Do you have nothing better to do?!’ was what Wu Chuan wanted to say.
However, Wu Chuan swallowed that after contemplating it for a while.
Both Wu Chuan and Li Changsheng were students of the old vice-chancellor. Although Wu Chuan looked young, he was actually older than Old Man Li.
Li Changsheng enrolled in MCMAU after Wu Chuan graduated.
Li Changsheng from ten years ago stood out as one of the most impressive in the era. Although he was merely at Peak Rank-5, his combat strength was extremely strong. He remained at Peak Rank-5 only to hone his golden body.
Who would have expected him to encounter the Sky Gate City-lord before completion?
Since then, he had never recovered. Despite breaking through to Peak Rank-6, his Mentality was severely damaged. He could not manage a Stage Two Mentality expulsion at Peak Rank-6, what more at the Grandmaster level.
If it was not because of that, he might have achieved the golden body state a long time ago.
Once Li Changsheng entered the state of the golden body, the current vice-chancellor of MCMAU, Wu Kuishan, might not necessarily be his opponent.
Old Man Li ignored them and caressed his long white hair. Laughing, he said, “The brat isn’t wrong. Powerhouses should be like me! We should look good at the very least!”
The crowd could not decide between laughing or crying. Zhang Dingnan facepalmed himself and said, “Calm down, don’t let us mistake you as one of the Catacombs martial artists and cut you down.”
“It might not reach that point. After all, it’s hard to tell who gets to cut who down!” Old Man Li chuckled before he continued. “When do we go in?”
“In three days. We’ll wait for the passageway to be slightly more stabilized.”
“Got it. I’m leaving now!”
After throwing his line at them, Old Man Li sword-stepped his departure away with his sword still sheathed.
Looking at his leaving silhouette, the crowd shook their heads and resumed staring at the vortex below in silence.
...
In the Capital City.
Fang Ping picked up a call from his younger sister.
“Fang Ping, I feel like my Talent has increased recently!” Fang Yuan beamed with joy. She was obviously excited to tell him the news.
Amused, Fang Ping asked, “How do you know?”
“My cultivation is speeding up now!” Fang Yuan said as-matter-of-factly. “Fang Ping, an improved Talent is so useful! Now that my Talent is stronger, I realize that my Vitality recovers faster when I cultivate!”
The explosion of energy particles in Auspicious Peace City took place near Sun City. Its effect on Fang Yuan was obvious.
Her cultivation sped up at a much greater speed than before.
“Is that so? Perhaps that’s true. But you shouldn’t get a big head about it. Before this, your Talent was at 160. Now, it should be at 170 at most. It’s still impossible for you to be on par with me. Yet, I’m sure there’s hope for you if you’re diligent enough...”
Fang Ping gave her a few lines of encouragement. Fang Yuan said excitedly, “Then, I’ll keep working toward that. Fang Ping, it’s so OP to have great Talent! No wonder you cultivate so quickly. It already feels fast for me at 170. You’re almost 700! That means an hour that you spend cultivating is equivalent to a few days of our cultivation!”
“Around that, I guess. Otherwise, how could you go around announcing to the entire world that your big brother is the most talented martial artist in the world? Did you watch the competition?”
“Uh-huh, I saw. You’re amazing!”
“Then, keep watching tomorrow. Right now, your big brother hasn’t even maximized his true potential yet. I’m just fooling around with them. Tomorrow, you’ll see how strong your big brother is!”
“Really?” Fang Yuan asked somewhat suspiciously. “Then, why didn’t you go up against five of them today...?”
“Are you nuts? Do you not know Wang Jinyang? He’s the one who taught me the basics of martial arts. I’ve got to give him some face. If I defeated them alone, think about how terrible he’d feel. He might just cry.
“Also, we live in Nanjiang. I can beat anyone up one against five except Nanjiang. The Governor of Nanjiang has invited your big brother to be the deputy governor. So, I gotta be polite no matter what.”
“Oh, I get it. You’re doing them a favor.” Fang Yuan understood what her old brother was facing immediately. It was no wonder Fang Ping did not beat Nanjiang into a pulp.
Thinking about that, Fang Yuan continued chatting with the phone at her neck while typing in the group.
She informed the people in Yuan Ping Club that the reason her big brother did not beat Nanjiang Martial Arts University into a pulp was to give Nanjiang some face; not because he could not.
‘Family or not, we all share the same hometown. Everyone, let’s not spread this around. It’s good to be informed and keep this within us.’
After sending that message, Fang Yuan asked, “Fang Ping, you’ll come home after the competition, right?”
“We’ll see.”
“...”
After chatting a while longer with his younger sister, Fang Ping hung up the phone.
Now that the Nanjiang Catacombs opened up, the excitement for the championship had subsided.
Old Man Li, had he returned from his closed-door training?
Lu Fengrou, had she returned from the Catacombs?
This pair of old man and old woman was not giving anyone peace of mind!
The instructors from MCMAU were either old, uninterested, or clumsy idiots like Tang Feng. They give nothing but headaches.
Fang Ping gently rubbed his temples. It seemed like he had been away far too long this time around.
It was time to go home!
...
December 19th.
The Semi-finals were supposed to take place. However, since NMAU withdrew from the competition, the position of the winners was set—NMAU was the third runner-up and the First Military School was the second runner-up.
Now, all that was left was the Finals to determine the champion and the first runner-up.
When Fang Ping walked into the gym, he saw the people from CCMAU rubbing their fists or palms together in anticipation. Shaking his head slightly, Fang Ping said, “I’m making it short. After getting number one, I’m going back to MCMAU immediately!”
Chen Wenlong and his friends were about to invite Fang Ping over for a tactical discussion. However, after hearing what Fang Ping said, they swallowed their words.
Huang Jing was present too. After seeing what went on, he said, “How’s the nurturing of your saber going?”
He was not very sure even though he was a Grandmaster. With Fang Ping continuously immersing the saber at his waist with his Mentality, he would not be able to feel any difference unless he had a forced breakthrough.
“If Iron Head Li doesn’t want to die, he’ll have to admit defeat. If he doesn’t, I’ll chop the iron head off his shoulders. If any of the Grandmasters try to stop me, you must remember to speak for me, sir!”
Fang Ping had already made up his mind—this time, he would defeat his opponent with one strike of his saber!
If Iron Head Li could not block Fang Ping’s attack, the Grandmasters would be forced to make a move. If they took any action, it would mean that they broke the rules! They would be obligated to pay the penalty!
Huang Jing could not help giving a silent chuckle. Smiling lightly, he said, “If you manage to cut him down in a single strike and anyone from CCMAU makes their move, I’ll stand up for you.”
Rules were meant to be followed, after all.
During the last fight, the vice-chancellor of Xishan Martial Arts University paid Fang Ping 5 Resurrection Pills before interrupting the competition. CCMAU was much more affluent than Xishan.
“Wait and see, sir!”
Fang Ping’s face beamed with confidence after saying that. He took a Midair Step forward immediately and leaped onto the battle stage, shouting, “Li Hansong, on stage, now!”
Seeing that, Tang Feng glanced at Huang Jing’s direction and asked, “Can he do it?”
After all, Li Hansong reached a breakthrough to Rank-5.
Fang Ping’s injuries had yet to heal completely. It might not be possible for him to repeat the move he used against Yang Jinyang yesterday. Even if he could, Fang Ping’s injuries would worsen. The cons outweighed the pros.
Huang Jing mumbled under his breath, “I’m not sure. But seeing how confident he is, I’m sure he’ll think of something.”
Yet, Huang Jing could not help worrying about the short time since Fang Ping started nurturing his saber. It had only been a little more than two months.
He might yet have nurtured it to have much of an effect.
After all, Fang Ping was only Rank-4 and had been eagerly cultivating to increase his ranks.
...
Seeing Fang Ping on stage, Li Hansong did not dillydally and leaped onto the battle stage too.
Looking at Fang Ping, Li Hansong said in a low voice, “You haven’t recovered from your injuries. I don’t want to take advantage of you...”
“Nonsense!” Fang Ping interrupted him immediately. “I wanna rush back to MCMAU now. I’ve no time to waste on you. Li Hansong, if you admit defeat, you’ll save us both from a fight and save time!”
“You—!”
Li Hansong’s anger flared.
Despite losing in a streak to Wang Jinyang and Yao Chengjun, it did not mean that he was weak. After all the matches he had, he triumphed among his group in terms of least injuries suffered.
Especially now that he achieved a breakthrough to Rank-5, he stabilized a lot more since the last few days.
With his current state, Li Hansong did not think that he would lose even if he had to fight Yao Chengjun who was Rank-5.
He chose to surrender previously for fear of descending in his rank due to how unstable he was back then. His choice was further supported by the knowledge that there were still more participants from CCMAU.
Fang Ping suffered severe injuries yesterday that the Grandmaster from CCMAU had determined that Fang Ping would not be able to reuse the same move from yesterday.
Under such circumstances, how in the world did Fang Ping find his blatant form of confidence?!
“Not admitting defeat, are you?”
Fang Ping did not mean what he said. He would not expect anything less from his opponent. Of course, his opponent would not choose to surrender—he would be a complete moron if he did.
The moment his sentence ended, before the referee started the match officially, Fang Ping’s left hand held the sheath of his saber and his right hand gripped the saber’s hilt. Then, he roared, “Then, don’t blame me for hacking you down!”
Whoosh!
The instant his voice rang, a streak of vigor shot up into the sky!
At this moment, Chaos-vanquishing Saber had yet to leave its sheath. Fang Ping released his Mentality Shield and pulled out a small part of his saber!
His surging vigor drove the trembling void into a greater magnitude.
Standing at the opposite end, Li Hansong’s face paled immediately!
Not just him. Currently, a few spectating powerhouses’ expressions changed too!
...
On the rostrum.
The CCMAU’s Grandmaster’s expression on his face changed again and again. After a long pause, he finally asked with his eyebrows furrowed, “He only nurtured his saber for two months, right?”
This saber could not reach this level if a Rank-4 martial artist only nurtured it for two months!
“Two months!”
Huang Jing was equally astounded. Nodding, he said, “It’s equivalent to two-months’ nurturing by a Rank-6 martial artist!”
Saber-nurturing Techniques were not meant for everyone as they were laden with restrictions.
Firstly, a good weapon was not something easily obtainable. No matter if it was a Longevity Sword or a Chaos-vanquishing Saber, they were both the crème de la crème of all weaponry.
Secondly, not everyone had the time and energy to nurture it.
It required consuming a great amount of Vitality Force. Unless someone found themselves in the position similar to Old Man Li—a powerhouse with no hopes of increasing in rank—everyone would prioritize achieving greater breakthroughs in their ranks first.
Thirdly, not everyone knew the approach to saber-nurturing, which was usually an inherited secret.
Fourthly, even if someone was willing to nurture a saber or sword, the sword or saber that they nurtured might not achieve the results they expected without extreme beliefs and force.
...
“Admit defeat!”
Fang Ping bellowed again. The piercing energy from his saber shrouded the entire battle stage through its sheath. It was so powerful that some audience outside of the battle stage felt the chilling spirit from the saber even though their Mentality Shield was on!
Golden rays shone above Li Hansong’s head as he blocked the sharp Qi from Fang Ping’s blade energy.
Li Hansong glared bleakly at Fang Ping and snorted. “In your dreams!”
Fang Ping wanted him to surrender before unsheathing his saber? It would not be that easy!
“I only wish to end external enemies, but since you’re not going to surrender, you can’t blame me for this! It’s no big deal. I’ll just start over in nurturing my saber again. Who I am today, is much stronger than who I was yesterday!”
After saying that, Fang Ping raised his head to look at the referee.
Suspended in midair, various expressions flashed across the referee’s face. After a short pause, the referee shouted, “The match begins!”
“Attack!”
Whoosh!
Following Fang Ping’s roar, the ringing explosion in the air traversed the entire gym, causing obvious ripples across everyone’s Mentality Shield!
A surge of vigor sliced across the horizon and trailed along with Fang Ping’s saber as his saber was unsheathed. As Fang Ping landed his slash, the flash of vigor became one with the saber and surged into the ground!
Li Hansong’s body had long appeared golden!
He had half a mind to dodge the attack but he was firmly locked down by the saber’s blade energy!
No matter how familiar Fang Ping was with Saber-nurturing Techniques, what was the point of nurturing this saber if he could not make sure his attacks hit? It would be wasteful no matter how strong it was! Fang Ping, of course, would not be unprepared to deal with that!
Layers of Mentality Shields, although thin, wrapped themselves tightly around Li Hansong—there was no way for him to escape!
“I don’t believe it!”
Li Hansong’s angry roar rang across the horizon!
He did not believe and refused to believe that as a Rank-5, he could not take one slash from Fang Ping!
At this moment, golden rays radiated. Li Hansong rejected the idea of defending himself. Blinding rays of red and gold exploded into the air from his Iron Fists as he leaped at Fang Ping’s approaching saber!
At this moment, a Grandmaster had already flown across the air toward them!
A piercing screech rang as the aftermath of the Grandmaster’s flight, sending painful trembles into the audience’s eardrums!
Although the Grandmasters managed to set up Mentality Shields, they could not cover all of the locations. Currently, the noise came from up high. Unless they used Mentality Shields that was completely sealed up, the shield would not cover everyone!
“Break!” Li Hansong bellowed as his fists blasted forward!
Boom!
... Crack...
A crisp sound echoed as the B-class alloy gloves shattered into pieces!
At this point, Fang Ping’s blade energy continued its descent. Li Hansong’s fists exploded into a shower of flesh and blood. His pale gold skeleton started to give out audible, loud cracks!
Li Hansong roared again; this time, in desperation!
Golden rays started radiating once more. For the first time, Li Hansong raised his head in a stance that looked like he was about to face Fang Ping’s attack head-on!
“Enough!” A cold shout came from the Grandmaster-level powerhouse in the air as he waved his palm to smack Li Hansong out of the battle stage!
“Crash!
A loud explosion sounded as the blade energy landed on the ground, gouging out large pieces of alloy!
As though directed by someone, the alloy pieces flew toward the same direction until they reached the Mentality Shields, lost their momentum, and started falling to the ground slowly.
In the coming second, two figures appeared.
Chen Yunxi was picking up her first piece when she noticed that Qin Fengqing was frantically collecting the pieces too. Chen Yunxi was confused.
Fang Ping asked her to pick up the pieces. So, did he ask Qin Fengqing to do the same?
Qin Fengqing snatched up all of the pieces with his butt raised like he gave no damn about keeping up appearances. Seeing that, Chen Yunxi hesitated for a while before deciding to stop picking up the pieces. ‘Well, I guess I can let Senior Qin hold onto those pieces,’ she thought.
Meanwhile, Qin Fengqing had neither the time nor heart to care about what was going on. He gathered all of them in his pocket in no time and sprinted away without another word!
He was going to head back to MCMAU first!
There were at least 200 catties!
What in the world!
That meant twenty thousand credits!
Of course, these A-class alloys were still unwrought and therefore, not of desirable quality. Yet, no matter how cheap they get—even if at half of its price—they were still worth ten thousand credits at least!
He was rich!
So what if Fang Ping deducted his 2000 credit reward? Qin Fengqing could not care less about that anymore!
Qin Fengqing went for it in a single breath. The moment Fang Ping ended his match, Qin Fengqing had already leaped across the iron fence and used Flight Step at an impressive speed!
Not many people noticed him as everyone’s focus was currently on Fang Ping!
It was beyond everyone’s expectation that a Rank-4 Fang Ping would overpower a Rank-5 Li Hansong in such a crushing manner.
Just one slash!
Using just one slash, he shattered Li Hansong’s Iron Fist that forced Li Hansong into attacking with his head instead. If the CCMAU Grandmaster did not butt in, Li Hansong would really get slashed to death.
“He’s damn powerful!”
At present, it was no longer the ordinary folk who voiced out their amazement. Several Rank-5 to 6 martial artists could not help calling out in awe too.
Was this Fang Ping’s real strength?
He achieved the ability to cut down a prodigy above his rank with a single slash!
Should they single out Fang Ping from the Four Prodigies?
When Fang Ping mentioned that he was the best among the Rank-4s, nobody took his words seriously. Yet, now... Everyone believed him!
“Victory goes to Fang Ping!”
The roar from the referee brought everyone back to reality.
...
On the rostrum, the CCMAU Grandmaster had already returned to his seat. Nobody spoke.
Huang Jing did not bring up the matter on the penalties because Qin Fengqing had already obtained them and hit the road.
Meanwhile, on CCMAU’s side, nobody spoke of detaining Qin Fengqing.
That was considered payment for the penalty.
Otherwise, Qin Fengqing would not even make it out of CCMAU with that much A-class alloy. It was still forgivable if he made off with C-class alloys.
As for whether Qin Fengqing would give them to Fang Ping or MCMAU, it was beyond CCMAU’s control.
...
On the battle stage.
Fang Ping’s face was as dark as coal. ‘Qin Fengqing, such nerve!’
However, now was not the time to think about Qin Fengqing.
Li Hansong stood at the edge of the battle stage like his soul had left his body. He was still on the battle stage. Fang Ping said in a low voice, “Senior Li, it’s time for you to go down!”
Li Hansong lifted his head to look at Fang Ping. Li Hansong’s hands looked like a jumbled up mess of flesh and blood, having no resemblance to what they used to look like.
“Fang Ping... Am I really that weak?”
Every fight that Li Hansong had, he lost them all.
He lost when he was Rank-4, and then lost again at Rank-5. He did not just lose a fight to anyone—he lost to another Rank-4! It was a cold, hard blow to Li Hansong.
“No, you’re strong, alright. Very strong... But, I’m stronger!”
Fang Ping stood with his back arched and exclaimed, “Just now, I could have cut down a Rank-6 with my saber!”
It did not matter whether others believed Fang Ping; Li Hansong did.
Li Hansong felt a bit better. He heaved a small sigh, turned around, and descended the stage. There would always be someone better than him. This year’s Championship would affect his life forever.
‘I guess, I’m not the strongest.’
Somewhere far away, a few Grandmasters from CCMAU’s expressions were similarly solemn. They all wished Li Hansong could walk away from this setback and emerge as his stronger self.
...
Three minutes later.
The referee announced in his loudspeaker voice, “Victory belongs to MCMAU!”
The Second Annual Championship had officially ended!
Fang Ping stood proudly as he left behind an undefeated legacy!
Behold, Fang Ping!
Emerging prodigy, the undefeated;
Taking his generation by storm, his fame spreads unimpeded!