Chapter 70: Who Cheated?
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
In the late-night of May 11th, the undergrounds of South Sky shook as the grandmasters rushed forward to suppress the tremors.
That night, however, Fang Ping noticed nothing abnormal. It was not until dawn that Fang Ping went to school and learned of the news from the discussions among the students.
Thankfully, there had been a forewarning from the grandmasters and the masses managed to evacuate in time, greatly reducing the potential casualties amongst the public. Only a few people who refused to leave their homes were affected. Although there were not many casualties, there was heavy property damage.
...
Fang Ping did not think too much of the matter but was faintly aware of the tension that permeated the atmosphere.
Sun City that did not have many martial artists. Fang Ping had encountered many unfamiliar faces while roaming about on the road. This was not a normal phenomenon and it was not until the return of the governor of Nanjiang that the tense atmosphere gradually eased.
...
The next time Fang Ping got in contact with Wang Jinyang was on May 17th. This time, it was initiated by Wang Jinyang himself. He had not been able to contact Old Wang before and eventually, Fang Ping sent a text message and did not call again.
Wang Jinyang sounded tired across the phone.
“I had a few tasks to deal with these past few days and it was not convenient to carry my phone around...” he explained briefly upon picking up the phone.
Having justified his reason for not answering his calls, Wang Jinyang then asked, “You mentioned in your message that you wish to cultivate combat techniques?”
At Scenic Lake Gardens.
Fang Ping avoided Fang Yuan who was in the midst of happily decorating her room and made his way to the window sill.
“Well, isn’t Brother Wang the one who was always talking about real combat? That’s why I want to cultivate combat techniques but there’s no one to guide me...”
Wang Jinyang frowned slightly.
“Of course, combat techniques must be cultivated! However, Vitality cultivating and bone-honing should be your main focus.
“For an aspiring martial artist, I don’t recommend you to cultivate your combat techniques for now so as not to delay your breakthrough.
“It’s not too late to cultivate combat techniques after you’ve broken through as a martial artist and enrolled yourself into Martial Arts University...”
Hearing this, Fang Ping noted that Wang Jinyang must not have known about the results of his physical assessment yet. After a brief thought, Fang Ping answered, “Brother Wang, my Vitality has already reached 149cal in the last physical assessment.
“Two days ago, I completed the preliminary bone-honing process and my Vitality broke through to 150cal.
“For the time being, I am not yet ready to breakthrough as a martial artist and since the speed of my Vitality elevation and bone-honing has slowed down, I thought about trying to cultivate my combat techniques...”
“What?”
Wang Jinyang, who had always been the embodiment of calm, was shocked then. He was actually somewhat impatient considering he had many things to deal with recently. Not to mention the fact that Zhang Qingnan had not yet returned kept him worried.
The president had also fallen into the catacombs and even though he had not officially succeeded him, Wang Jinyang was already serving as president and was dealing with the affairs of the martial arts society.
Wang Jinyang had already seen Fang Ping’s message beforehand but compared to the others, his was a small matter. Not only that, the fellow seemed to be aiming high by thinking of cultivating combat techniques which was why he had waited until he had somewhat resolved the other matters before calling Fang Ping back on this day.
When he heard that Fang Ping had completed the preliminary bone-honing process, he was stunned.
“You are saying that you have completed the bone-honing?” he asked with disbelief.
How long had it been since he met Fang Ping!
Wang Jinyang first met Fang Ping in early April when they were at the bus station and Fang Ping’s Vitality then had not been more than 120cal. Even after he had accidentally consumed the pills, it was still around 120cal. It had only been one month since then.
With a bit more than a month’s time, Fang Ping told himself that he had completed the breakthrough of the limit cap on his Vitality and the preliminary bone-honing process. Now, he was even starting to prepare to cultivate combat techniques...
Wang Jinyang thought he had already seen all of society!
It was not that he had never met a genius before. He was considered a genius himself. When he first entered the Martial Arts University, his Vitality was only around 120cal which was not that high. It was like Fang Ping’s when he had accidentally consumed the pills.
With all the resources and opportunities given to him, it took him only 3 months to raise his Vitality from 120cal to 150cal! This elevation progress was enough to leave people shocked and in awe.
It had taken Wang Jinyang quite a long time to break through to Rank-1 and he had only managed that when he was almost with the first half of the semester in his First Year.
After breaking through Rank-1, he then broke through by leaps and bounds, breezing through to Rank-2 and then to Rank-3. Wang Jinyang became the record holder in Nanjiang Martial Arts University for the shortest time taken to breakthrough.
For aspiring martial artists, nurturing Vitality was tough work. It was different from bone-honing that it cannot be rushed or sped up.
For bone-honing, the progress could be sped up as long as you had enough resources and if your Vitality was strong enough.
On the other hand, even with lots of resources, raising Vitality must be done slowly or the body might get hurt during the process due to bodily limitation.
Now Fang Ping was telling him that he had already finished nurturing his Vitality...
Fang Ping noticed Wang Jinyang sounded surprised and even a little proud. He smiled and said, “I only just completed it and it’s thanks to Brother Wang. If it wasn’t for you giving me those books on Cultivation Methods and the pills last time...”
Wang Jinyang cut him off.
“There is no need to bring that up now. So, you have really completed the Vitality limit breakthrough and also the preliminary bone-honing?”
“Yeah.”
“You can now find the opportunity to breakthrough as a martial artist since your Vitality has reached 150cal and you have completed the bone-honing.
“Of course, the risk from going through the inhumane transformation for the first time is quite high.
“If you can wait until after you’ve entered the Martial Arts University to breakthrough but that doesn’t mean you can’t become a martial artist now if you want. For people like us, there are risks but they are not as big as you may expect.
“You’ve got guts anyway and since you’re not afraid of dying, it’s not as if you can’t breakthrough by yourself...”
Fang Ping’s expression darkened. What did he mean by that? Saying that he was not afraid of dying?
Wang Jinyang did not care for what Fang Ping thought and quickly added, “But now that you have brought up the idea of combat techniques, I suppose you have also seen what I said in the book.
“150cal is the limit for regular people but it’s not the limit we are after!
“For aspiring martial artists, the higher you elevate your Vitality, the more helpful it’ll be later on.
“The reason why I was able to quickly complete honing my limbs was because I had high basic Vitality.
“When I was an aspiring martial artist, I did my bone-honing twice so that I could raise my Vitality and increase my body’s strength...”
“Honing bones twice?”
“Exactly. Full body bone-honing twice, when most regular people can only go through it once without being able to continue further.
“When I completed my bone-honing the second time, it was a full-body honing.
“With my limbs honed faster compared to others as well as my Vitality being stronger than theirs, my breakthrough came much faster. Not only the limbs but my progress was also faster than others when it came to honing my torso bones at Rank-3.”
“Are there any requirements for honing the bones twice? I find the speed of bone-honing now to be very slow...”
“Consume a pill! The Bone-honing Pill! The Bone-honing Pill can help increase your bone-honing speed.
“Not only that, if you still have money, you can buy some Body-strengthening Elixirs and use it with a bath. It can help elevate your body’s strength.
“Bone-honing Pill, Body-strengthening Elixir, Vitality Pill for bone-honing, body strengthening, and nurturing Vitality respectively.
“By going through with that, you will be able to reach 150cal quickly.
“When all the standards are met, you will then naturally go through the second round of bone-honing...”
Fang Ping hurriedly asked, “Where can I buy the Body-strengthening Elixir? Also, Brother Wang, how high can one’s Vitality reach after honing the bones the second time?”
“You can’t get the Body-strengthening Elixir here in Sun City because not many people use it.”
Although the Body-strengthening Elixir could improve physical strength, for most aspiring martial artists, it was not a matter of their body strength not being enough but rather that their Vitality was insufficient!
Their typical daily training would be enough to prepare them for their Vitality increment.
The ones who would usually use it were the people who wanted to nurture an even higher level of Vitality. They tended to have their Vitality and body strength raised to the absolute limit.
At this point, the Body-strengthening Elixir was the only thing they could use to enhance their body strength and thus, help them to adapt to the high-level Vitality.
Wang Jinyang finished with a final thought.
“How about this, I’ll set aside some Body-strengthening Elixir with the school for you. It’s not cheap though so I’ll need you to pay for it. My cultivation is using up a lot of money lately...” Old Wang said sheepishly.
Last time, he had received Fang Ping’s kindness. If it was another time, he would have given Fang Ping the same kindness.
Right now, however, he really did not have any more money.
He had just broken through to Rank-3 some time ago and had used up all his resources after spending them on some pills.
The reward he received from completing his mission was not little by any means, but not only did he have to use them for cultivation, he also had to save some up as reserves.
Not only that, Zhang Qingnan had still yet to return. While the Martial Arts University was different from past schools in the way that no teachers were assigned to any specific person, Zhang Qingnan was nonetheless Wang Jinyang’s mentor and it was Zhang Qingnan who taught him his Methods of Honing, pole-standing, and combat techniques.
He had to take care of matters regarding Zhang Qingnan.
Hence, at this moment, Wang Jinyang made sure to state things clearly to Fang Ping despite feeling a bit embarrassed.
Fang Ping, on the other hand, did not think too much about it. His relationship with Wang Jinyang was formed on a deal to begin with and it was surprising enough that Wang Jinyang had continued to provide him guidance on cultivation even after the deal was done.
“I shall leave it to you then, Brother Wang,” Fang Ping said immediately upon hearing his words, “Although I’m not sure about the price of the Body-strengthening Elixir needed to fulfill my cultivation.”
“Since not many people use it, it’s not too expensive. It’s even cheaper to exchange it from the school. For now, I’ll get 3 bottles for you for 500 thousand.”
“Alright, I will transfer the money to you later.”
Fang Ping was not hesitant about it either since he had no problems with elevating his Vitality. What troubled Fang Ping was the strength of his body and bones. Vitality could be used to speed up bone-honing but for body strength, it could only be nurtured slowly with Vitality and elevated gradually through training.
As they talked, Fang Ping suddenly recalled their earlier conversation and asked, “Brother Wang, what is the Vitality level needed to start the second bone-honing process?”
“180cal. Of course, this is just my personal experience. I’m not sure about the others.
“Cultivation is not unchanging and is different for everyone.
“You’ll know when you have reached the right point.”
Wang Jinyang did not have much more to say and finally finished, saying, “Regarding cultivating combat techniques, it can’t be explained clearly with just 2 to 3 sentences.
“Look, how about I send you some videos later about cultivating combat techniques, including guiding videos by a professor of the Martial Arts University, and some of my personal opinion...”
After saying this, Wang Jinyang reminded, “Other things like the Methods of Honing, pole-standing don’t count as secrets but for these videos on combat technique cultivation, remember not to simply spread it around!
“What are combat techniques? Clearly, it is the art of killing!
“Even with high Vitality and rank, it does not necessarily mean it has damaging power.
“However, as combat techniques get cultivated to a certain stage, it will surely come with a high damage power, so this should not be simply spread.
“Your Vitality and bone-honing have reached a certain stage now and you definitely can succeed in getting into Martial Arts University. That’s why I am bending the rules and teaching you beforehand...”
“I understand, Brother Wang. Don’t worry, I’ll definitely keep it a secret!”
“Alright then...”
Wang Jinyang did not ask how Fang Ping’s raised his Vitality so quickly.
Everyone had their own opportunity. For Wang Jinyang himself who had moved up 3 ranks in a year was also seen as abnormal in the eyes of others.
Fang Ping’s rapid increase in Vitality might have been brought on by other benefits or it could be that he was simply a genius. There was no need to ask about these things clearly.
Wang Jinyang did not ask for Fang Ping’s secret and neither did Fang Ping ask him for his. For example, what mission did Wang Jinyang went on this time? Or how much Vitality did the Wang Jinyang achieve during his time as an aspiring martial artist? At the very least, it was definitely 180cal.
Last time, Tan Zhenping mentioned that when they first became martial artists, their Vitality was just around 170-180cal which meant that during Wang Jinyang’s time as an aspiring martial artist, his Vitality was not any lower than those who just became martial artists.
Fang Ping found it hard to imagine how Wang Jinyang had managed to elevate his Vitality to 180cal and above in such a short time and without getting help from the system!
Fang Ping had experienced himself that Vitality gets harder and harder to elevate the higher it increases.
By May 3rd, Fang Ping’s Vitality had reached 152cal.
If in the case of cheating the system, with the half months’ time that had passed, Fang Ping’s Vitality had only just reached 160cal.
Fang Ping had significantly improved his Vitality and mental strength:
Wealth: 4650000
Vitality: 160cal
Mentality: 179Hz
Fang Ping was satisfied with these statistics but when compared to Wang Jinyang, it was to say who was the one who cheated.