Martial Arts Society.
Qin Fengqing’s continuous glaring was making Fang Ping uneasy, so he said angrily, “If you keep looking at me, I’m going to beat you to death!”
“You owe me for my hair!”
Qin Fengqing had a look of indignation on his face—I trusted you!
Fang Ping grunted, “Like hell I owe you. You shaved it off yourself, what does it have to do with me? Did I force you with a knife to shave it off?”
“Last time you...”
Qin Fengqing broke off his sentence suddenly, a look of grief and frustration on his face. He scoffed and did not say another word.
What could he say?
It was he who wanted to shave his head, should he have said that Fang Ping deceived him?
The point was not that he shaved his head, he was just really upset that he even got rid of the stubble on his head.
After a moment of silence, Qin Fengqing mumbled, “Is Vice-chancellor Wu still at school?”
“He should be.”
Fang Ping shot him a look—he knew what he wanted to do. He sighed resignedly, “But if you went there, you might get beaten to death. I had no choice, but you brought this on yourself, and if you want the Vice-chancellor to help you with imperishable substance...You should just call him dad.”
Qin Fengqing’s expression became dark, and he quickly sneered and said, “Whatever, I’m too lazy to pick a fight with you. Actually, I don’t want to recover since I can increase the speed of my cultivation and reduce consumption.”
“See, I wasn’t lying to you, right?” Fang Ping laughed and nodded sincerely as he said, “It is still a good thing to just consume a few less cal of Vitality. What is important is that we can preserve our life at the right time, isn’t that the principle?”
Qin Fengqing was quiet, and at that moment, Huang Jing stepped in.
When he saw Qin Fengqing’s bald head, Huang Jing sighed softly. He did not know if it was some form of paternal care acting out, but he instinctively reached out a hand and rubbed the shiny bald head, sighed and said, “Don’t be so stupid next time.”
Fang Ping had goosebumps as he watched. If Old Man Huang wanted to rub his bald head he should just say so, he did not need to add comforting words that sounded so fake.
At first, Qin Fengqing was slightly touched, then his expression changed and he scoffed!
This old man was a crook!
He was present when Fang Ping was deceiving him, why did he not say anything?
And now he was acting like the good guy!
He shook his head and did not give Huang Jing the chance to continue touching his head.
Huang Jing felt a little regretful—it was quite fun to touch a bald head. No wonder Li Changsheng kept holding on to Fang Ping’s head previously.
Fang Ping did not waste any time. When he saw that Huang Jing had arrived, he took out the map of the Magic City Catacombs and said, “Mark the place clearly, and explain in detail what rank the monster is, how strong it is, and if there are other monsters around. Tell me everything.”
After he said it, Fang Ping looked very serious and said, “Don’t give me any nonsense information, I am not scared, but this time Vice-chancellor Huang will be going down with the rest of us. If you’re willing to cause the death of the Vice-chancellor, you can do as you see fit!”
The comments did not sit too well with Huang Jing.
‘All of us would be together, why only kill me?
‘What about you?’
Could Qin Fengqing act as he pleased? If even he got killed, would Qin Fengqing even still be alive?
Fang Ping’s words seemed to suggest that he and Qin Fengqing would not die, yet Huang Jing has the highest probability of becoming a casualty.
Suddenly, Huang Jing felt reluctant to follow them ok their trip. He sighed and said, “Why not we wait for Li Changsheng to come out.”
“Don’t.”
Fang Ping immediately said, “We don’t know how much longer Teacher Li is going be in his closed-door training, we can’t just be lazing around during this time.”
Huang Jing sighed, he was not idling around, was he?
Fang Ping saw this and said, “The reason for killing the monster this time is to create a Divine Weapon. Vice-chancellor, if you have a Divine Weapon, won’t your strength increase tremendously? Last time in the global Rank-7 rankings, you only ranked 725, that’s too low.
“Just look at Vice-chancellor Chen, he is ranked third in the world. This difference... I think it is the Divine Weapon that makes the difference.”
Huang Jing grumpily said, “He is a Peak Rank-7, I am only at Middle-stage, how are we the same?”
“Vice-chancellor, how do they differentiate between the Early-stage and Middle-stage for Rank-7?”
“Two things: Mentality and honing the skull.” Huang Jing did not mind sharing more about these things with him and explained, “You should know how to enter into Rank-7, once the Sanjiao Gate closes, and there is Mentality-Vitality Fusion, then Mentality will become corporeal.
“Once Mentality becomes corporeal, the strength will skyrocket, then it’s just combining the Vitality Force, and fusing it to become Celestiality, then it would become stronger.”
As he said this, Huang Jing looked at Fang Ping and said, “Your Celestiality is not strong enough.”
“What?”
Fang Ping was shocked and so Huang Jing explained further, “Let’s put it this way, you can compare your Celestiality to the sharpest weapon, just like your Bandit-slaying Saber...”
“Chaos-vanquishing Saber.”
“Fine, Chaos-vanquishing Saber, the Chaos-vanquishing Saber in your hand, how much strength could you wield? If you were to place it in the hands of an aspiring martial artist, then how much strength can it wield?”
Huang Jing laughed and said, “That is why, the Celestiality that you are refining now is still Celestiality, the source is the same as with us. But its power is as different as day and night. It would still be alright as you provide for the Celestiality Cultivation Room, since the source of the strength is still there, that hasn’t changed.
“But to use Celestiality in a fight, if I were to release a hundred coulomb of Celestiality, I can cut down a Rank-7, what about you?”
Fang Ping frowned, the last time he exploded at the Peak Rank-6, it was about a hundred coulomb too, but in the end, the Peak Rank-6 martial artist did not even die.
If he were to release an explosion on Tang Feng, he might not die, let alone a Rank-7.
Huang Jing did not continue on this topic. Instead, he said, “After you enter Rank-7, the cultivation will be divided into two stages.
“Number one, the cultivation of Mentality.
“Number two, the honing of the skull.
“I’ll tell you this, actually when we first breakthrough into Rank-7, we do not hone the skull, but we work on our Mentality. After achieving Mentality-Vitality Fusion, then only can we use the strength of the Vitality to nurture our Mentality.
“In simpler terms, if your Mentality is at a level of 1000Hz.
“At 1000Hz to 2000Hz, that is Early-stage Rank-7.
“2000Hz to 3000Hz, that’s Middle-stage.
“If it’s Upper-stage, Mentality would clock in at 3000Hz and beyond.
“And during that time, only then we will start honing the skull. As long as we start honing the skull, then we can be considered as a Peak Rank-7.
“But, some people hone a lot, some not as much. Within Peak-Rank-7, there will be a substantial difference.
“When the whole skull is honed, we will enter into Rank-8 immediately. Our bone marrow will automatically complete honing, and we will refine our golden body, and become a true golden body powerhouse!”
“Only hone the skull during Peak Rank-7?”
Fang Ping was a bit surprised, he touched his chin and said, “Then it looks like I’m very amazing!”
Huang Jing ignored that and said, “Li Hansong from CCMAU, once he entered Rank-7, he could do away with the Peak Rank-7 state, and focus on cultivating his Mentality. When his Mentality reaches 3000Hz, and he produced a qualitative change, it will then induce the recovery of the cranial bones, and he will immediately enter Rank-8.”
“Why must the Mentality reach that level?”
Huang Jing laughed and said, “Put it like this, Mentality is an enhancer, an enhancer to start the human body’s evolution process. If your Mentality is not at that stage, then you would be unable to complete the evolution process, and be unable to induce the natural honing of the bone marrow and refine the golden body...”
“But I can already refine the golden body? Teacher Li is about there as well...”
Huang Jing replied exasperatedly, “Don’t make a special case as one that is common, the both of you are problematic, you know it yourself. Normal people cannot do this...”
“Oh.”
Huang Jing continued saying, “That is why after you seal the Sanjiao Gate, you will either enter into Rank-7 or become an abnormal Rank-8, we can’t tell as of now.”
“An abnormal Rank-8?”
Fang Ping was speechless as Huang Jing laughed and said, “About the same as Li Changsheng, but you are probably a little ahead of him. If I am not mistaken you have not honed the bone marrow of your skull...”
“You even know about this?”
“Of course, if you did hone it, you wouldn’t be as how you are now...” Huang Jing thought about it before he continued saying, “The pull of the Mentality is actually to induce the recovery of the bone marrow of the skull and further initiates the other bone marrow of the body. It’s not that easy to explain. When you reach that state you will understand.
“If your Mentality is not at 3000Hz, then you should not be able to induce it. This probably has something to do with the brain core, the brain core is too weak.”
Fang Ping gave it some thought before saying, “So you are saying that my Mentality is not strong enough, so I would not be able to completely hone the bone marrow of my skull, or I lack the enhancer to initiate it, so I’ll just be a fake Rank-8?”
“Right.”
Huang Jing nodded his head and said, “Just like Li Changsheng, his Mentality is not at 3000Hz, maybe not even 1000Hz, so he cannot even be considered a Rank-8. But after the Mentality-Vitality Fusion, the speed of growth for the Mentality is also faster, his Vitality is stronger now, more than 30000cal.
“In that kind of situation, the speed at which he nourishes his Mentality is ten times faster than the average Peak Rank-6, so he can very quickly achieve the 1000Hz that he has now.
“As to when he can cross over to Rank-8, we’ll have to look at the situation.”
Fang Ping nodded his head and laughed, “3000Hz of Mentality, it doesn’t sound too difficult to me. I will be achieving it soon anyway, and I haven’t entered Rank-6.”
Huang Jing paused for a while, not making a sound. His words were logical.
Fang Ping did not boast anymore and said, “Then has Vice-chancellor Chen begun honing his skull?”
“He has not merely started, but he is at the last stage of the honing. He has already achieved more than 3000Hz Mentality a long time ago. Of the twenty-nine pieces of his skull, he has at least honed twenty-five and above. If nothing goes wrong, he will be able to complete his honing very quickly and enter into Rank-8.
“And together with his Divine Weapon at hand, his combat strength would be formidable...”
“Vice-chancellor, we only need to kill some high-ranked monster beasts and monster plants to get a Divine Weapon. Why is it that not more people have it? Even though a Rank-8 may not be able to kill another Rank-8, but it would not be too hard to kill a Rank-7 right?”
Huang Jing was a little vexed as he said, “How is it that you think that way? Do you think that just because you say it then you can kill a high ranking monster? What if it roams in a pack, then how are you going to kill it? And a Rank-8 may not be able to kill a Rank-7 beast, those beasts are pretty strong.
“Moreover, in a typical situation, unless it is as a last resort, or the chance is right, we would not usually go after these beasts and monster plants.
“And, a Divine Weapon might not exist, as it requires heart and brain core...”
Huang Jing frowned and said, “Many times, just when the beasts or the monster plants are about to meet their death, they will self-destruct their brain core or their heart core. In other words, sometimes even after killing a high ranking beast, you may not be able to get the Divine Weapon.”
Fang Ping was doubtful as he asked, “Aren’t there brain and heart cores in the Pressure Room at MCMAU?”
Huang Jing shook his head and said, “Actually those in the Pressure Room are the imperfect ones, which includes heart and brain cores that were not totally destroyed after self-destruction. Or just one part of it, like one beast that only left behind the heart core or the brain core.
“And in regards to the fusion of the Divine Weapon, according to theory, you could use the brain and heart cores of two different beasts to fuse. But it does not show good affinity, and the chances of an explosion are very high.
“So, it is best to fuse the brain and heart cores of the same beast.
“After completing the initial casting, you can add some extra ingredients, then only move on to the forging.
“For example, you fused a Rank-7 Divine Weapon, then later on you when finding a few suitable ingredients, you can add into it and continue the forging process, and you may be able to forge a Rank-8 Divine Weapon.”
“So, the rank of the Divine Weapon depends on the rank of the beast that the heart and brain cores are from?”
“You can say it like that. Of course, sometimes there may be incidents, like some powerhouses who used a certain Divine Weapon for a long time, after putting in the effort and paying the price, you can upgrade it to a higher rank. And there are a few powerhouses who live for a very long time...”
Huang Jing said softly, “If they hold onto a Divine Weapon for a long time and maintain it for years, there could be a qualitative change that could lead to the upgrade of the Divine Weapon, this happened before as well. But the time needed for this to happen was very long.”
“I see!”
Fang Ping nodded and then looked uncertainly at him and said in a low voice, “Vice-chancellor, can you kill a Rank-7 beast?”
Huang Jing was not offended by the question and, after pausing for a while, he said, “If it is an Early-stage Rank-7, then I still have the confidence to do it. But if it is a Middle-stage one... then it would be tough, and if it was a Peak Rank...”
Huang Jing said with resignation, “Then you should run, I am not a match for it. An Upper-stage one is still fine, I will still be able to hold it for a while. After you guys run, I’ll leave later, that wouldn’t be a problem.
“But if we met a Peak Rank-7, then you two would be the death of me!”
Fang Ping did not dare take any risks. He immediately looked back at Qin Fengqing and said, “The Catacombs that you went into, what was the strength of the monsters that stayed there? Did you see the body of the monster?”
Qin Fengqing subconsciously rubbed his bald head, thought about it before replying, “Actually, I only went one round about the perimeter, but that mine was not very big. According to my calculations, it might have been an Early to Middle-stage Rank-7 monster.
“You could still feel its force, but it wasn’t too strong... Yup, it was not as strong as Old Man Chen!”
“Old Man Chen?”
“Chen Yaoting. The last time that old man used Mentality to crush me, I felt that he was much stronger than the monster.”
Qin Fengqing explained then angrily ranted, “That old man is truly shameless. He is a Peak Rank-7, and he bullied me, a Rank-4 martial artist...”
The last time he was buried underground for half a day, then he was beaten up badly. This made Qin Fengqing completely unsatisfied and he swore to get his revenge one day.
The Qin Fengqing now still remembered all his grudges, despite having many enemies.
Weak ones were like Fang Ping, the slightly stronger ones were like Tang Feng, and the even stronger ones were like Chen Yaoting.
He would get them one by one someday.
Right, there was also Wang Jinyang.
Qin Fengqing added that on in his mind. Old Wang that bastard, he beat him up before too. It was a shame Qin Fengqing still had not been able to catch up to him, otherwise he would have gotten his revenge sooner.
Huang Jing could not be bothered with him anymore. Regardless of how unhappy he was, it was no big deal unless he began yelling straight into their faces.
After being quiet for a while, Huang Jing said, “If that is the situation, you can still try... but there are no guarantees...”
Huang Jing continued saying, “Let’s do it this way, let me prepare myself. It would be best if Vice-chancellor Wu went, but the detection between powerhouses is strong. If Vice-chancellor Wu went with you, it would be more likely to lure out stronger powerhouses. So it’s better if I go with you guys.”
Wu Kuishan was not too busy, so he could still go, but once he entered the Catacombs, or when he moved with Fang Ping and the others, it would be too easy for him to attract the Rank-8 monsters or the Catacombs powerhouses.
Worse still, it might even be possible to attract the attention of a Rank-9.
All in all, Huang Jing was a more suitable candidate. When the targeted beasts sensed his aura, they might not run away. On the other hand, if they sensed Wu Kuishan’s aura, the probability of them running was higher, the monsters were not idiots.
Both Fang Ping and Qin Fengqing nodded, and Qin Fengqing marked out a point on the map, and suddenly said angrily, “We already agreed to divide the rewards into five. Fang Ping, if you deceive me again this time, I will hang myself in front of your house!”
Fang Ping was shocked, Huang Jing was rather exasperated, could he not grow a backbone?
Revenge is a dish best served cold.
He should say more malicious words!
This guy did not dare to say fighting words and he would rather hang himself in front of Fang Ping’s house, was he that shameless?
Fang Ping was speechless too and only managed to speak after a moment. “Is it really good for you to be so hard on yourself?”
“If you say it like that you are preparing to deceive me!”
Suddenly, Qin Fengqing came around and had an extremely clear mind. In one moment he snatched the map, gritted his teeth, and said, “If you don’t have me, you will never find it! The mark that I made just now was fake!”
Huang Jing massaged his temples, he really wanted to kill these people for fun.
Fang Ping did not know whether to laugh or cry so he said helplessly, “I am not going to deceive you. I promise, if there are any profits from this, however much you need to breakthrough to Rank-5, I will provide, alright?”
“Really?”
“If I lied to you, you can just hang yourself at the front gate of MCMAU, are you happy now?”
“No, I will go to your house!”
“MCMAU is better, are you stupid, not many will know if you do it at my house. However if you hang yourself at the front gates of MCMAU, the whole world will know.”
“That sounds logical.”
“...”
Huang Jing was getting tired listening to the conversation between the two of them.
This was the first and the last time. Next time, he would rather die than to talk serious matters with these two idiots.
Besides that... Huang Jing looked at Fang Ping again.
The guy said that he would provide the resources that Qin Fengqing needed to cultivate... But he did not say if it was to loan it to Qin Fengqing or to give it to Qin Fengqing!
However, when he turned and looked at Qin Fengqing, Huang Jing suddenly realized, even if it was a loan, Qin Fengqing would have no intention of returning it. This guy was not that stupid, the probability of repudiating a debt is a hundred percent.
“Young people these days!”
Huang Jing shook his head, they were not naive at all.
When he thought of the past, their generation was so naive, they did not have that many schemes.
Following that, the others already decided on the time to meet. Huang Jing needed to prepare for a while, and Fang Ping also needed to cultivate his Combat Techniques. Qin Fengqing was preparing to cultivate his Peak Rank-4 to the maximum. He would probably need to breakthrough in the Catacombs, but the time spent in the Catacombs was mostly on running, so he did not have much time to cultivate.
After much discussion, they decided to leave.
Before they left, Huang Jing heard Fang Ping asking him to prepare shirts and hoods of the Catacombs, and he felt exasperated.
Did he have to act as a Catacombs martial artist this time?
Alright then, he would give it a try.