Chapter 74: Martial Arts Universities! Grandmaster!
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
1st June, Children’s Day.
Also known as Sister’s Day, as Fang Yuan had dubbed it.
Fang Yuan had been pestering Fang Ping to celebrate the festival with her all morning, something that Fang Ping found to be simultaneously humorous and irritating.
Fang Ping knew what was on the girl’s mind.
A celebration meant presents.
Fang Ping had, indeed, prepared a present for her.
So, as expected, when Fang Yuan opened her mouth to ask for presents, Fang Ping handed her a “chocolate bean’.
Fang Yuan stared at the “chocolate bean” in Fang Ping’s palm, her smile gradually disappearing. At last, she gritted her teeth and said furiously, “This is the gift you’ve prepared for me?”
“Yes.”
“Isn’t this one of the chocolate beans I gave you a few days before?”
Fang Yuan was even more furious.
‘I gave you a whole packet, but now you’re only giving me one single bean!’
She would have accepted it grudgingly if he had given her the entire packet.
Would anyone else give someone a single bean as a gift?
Fang Ping smiled. “This is not an ordinary chocolate bean. It tastes super good.
“Am I, your brother, short of money?
“No!
“The reason why I’m giving you only one bean...”
“It’s because you’re stingy!” Fang Yuan continued exasperatedly.
She had not seen a Blood and Qi-replenishing Pill before. That was why she did not know what the “chocolate bean”, as she had assumed, really was.
One pill costs thirty thousand yuan in the market.
Fang Yuan could only take the Blood and Qi-replenishing Pill in her current state. Even a normal Vitality Pill would be overkill.
Actually, in the case when some families wanted to primp their kids in advance, they would give them Qi-replenishing Pills or Blood-replenishing Pills most of the time.
Without a certain financial base, it was impossible to use the Blood and Qi-replenishing Pills at this stage. Taking them a day before the Gaokao would be more practical.
Fang Ping had 18 pills in his possession. They worked on students with Vitalities below 150cal.
For Fang Ping and those martial artists, they only served as Vitality supplements.
Blood and Qi-replenishing Pills could no longer increase their Vitality limit.
This would work well in creating a foundation for Fang Yuan’s Vitality, though.
Fang Ping did not explain himself even in the face of Fang Yuan’s complaints.
The girl was extremely stingy. If she knew that this was a Blood and Qi-replenishing Pill, she probably would make Fang Ping sell it immediately. She would probably feel pained if she had known that she had eaten a couple thousand yuan in one bite.
Despite her complaints and displeasure, the girl still raised her head and asked, “Is it really tasty?”
“Really!”
“You miser!”
She cursed again before pinching the “bean” with her fingers and tossing it into her mouth.
After chewing on it for a while and finally swallowing it, she was even more dissatisfied. She huffed. “It doesn’t taste good at all!”
Fang Ping was not offended. He looked at her with a grin.
After a while, she still showed no reaction. He did not feel it strange.
Pills did not work immediately.
There was a process of absorption and digestion after consumption. Also, the effects of the Blood and Qi-replenishing Pill were not too strong. Fang Yuan would probably not pay attention to any small changes that would happen.
Fang Yuan was still young, though, and her Vitality was low. Taking a Blood and Qi-replenishing Pill at this time would cause certain side effects.
...
The side effects quickly made themselves known.
When lunchtime came, Fang Ping decided to treat his sister to KFC.
He had ordered a full table of dishes, but Fang Yuan could only stare at them and wail desperately. “Fang Ping, I really wanna eat them, but why don’t I have an appetite at all?
“Was my belly filled with anger toward you this morning?”
She really, really wanted to eat, but her stomach felt bloated, and she did not have an appetite at all.
On the rare occasion when it was Fang Ping’s treat, she could only watch him eat. She was frustrated to the brink of tears.
Fang Ping laughed mentally at her plight. ‘Serves you right for selling my things and plotting to drain my fortune every day!’
Fang Yuan’s Vitality was not high enough. The Blood and Qi-replenishing Pill took effect as soon as she had taken it. Without exercise and training to expend the excess nourishment, how could she possibly feel hunger?
An abundance of Vitality felt like being stuffed full of food. No matter how tasty the food in front of her, she could not eat.
He was lucky that Fang Yuan did not know what was on his mind. She could have clawed him to death, if she had known.
He did that deliberately!
Fang Ping knew of the side effects of the Blood and Qi-replenishing Pill perfectly well.
It could not be considered a side effect to someone like Fang Ping, actually, as he could easily digest the pill while Fang Yuan would have to wait for a few days for the sensation to subside.
The girl would have a poor appetite for those few days.
...
Making a fool out of his sister was fun, but he could not bully her all the time.
In the afternoon, after his meal, Fang Ping, in an act driven by his conscience, brought the little girl to the amusement park.
There were no big, grand rides in Sun City’s amusement park, but there were smaller entertainment facilities.
Most of Fang Yuan’s resentment dissipated after an afternoon of fun.
She almost had a breakdown when she returned that night to discover many tasty dishes made by her mother and her repeated lack of appetite.
She complained to Li Yuying. “Fang Ping tapped my Hunger point!”
Fang Ping laughed so hard he almost sprayed the contents of his mouth out.
Hunger point, what the heck. This girl was creative in creating new terms.
Li Yuying did not believe her, naturally. When she noticed that her daughter was not eating, she said crossly, “It’s because of all the junk food you eat! Pingping, you’re not allowed to give her money for junk food!
“I’m confiscating all the junk food in your room!
“How can you grow taller when you’re only eating junk food and not normal meals?”
Not only Li Yuying was furious, but Fang Mingrong also supported the confiscation of junk food from Fang Yuan’s room. His daughter was choosing to eat junk food over rice. How could they possibly let this go on?
While the couple demanded answers from their daughter, Fang Ping’s face was almost submerged into the bowl he was holding.
He feared that he would burst with laughter at any time.
Fang Yuan had prepared to rat him out to his parents, but she ended up being the one who was scolded. Her secret stock of food was even confiscated.
The girl’s head was drooping, as she was filled with confusion. She started to doubt herself.
She did not know why she was suddenly uninterested in food, either.
She had blamed this on Fang Ping because she subconsciously felt that Fang Ping was the only one who would push her down the drain.
Fang Ping did not do anything to her, did he?
She had not heard of martial artists depriving people of the ability to eat.
At the sight of the many dishes on the table, she just could not muster her appetite. She was not hungry, but she was not sick, either.
“Was this really because of the amount of junk food I ate?”
Fang Yuan thought this the right explanation, too, which made her angrier.
...
Fang Yuan’s lack of appetite was the main subject of focus of her parents during the next few days.
Li Yuying would glare at her daughter ferociously and force her to eat, mouthful by mouthful.
Fang Ping laughed every time he caught sight of her despondent face.
The girl acted as if every meal was the bane of her existence.
It was only after three days that the side effects of the pill dissipated and her appetite returned.
This made her parents more certain that they had discovered the reason behind the incident. Junk food was indeed the culprit!
Their daughter had regained their appetite after not eating junk food for three days. What would the reason be if it was not this?
Fang Yuan herself was also convinced that this was the reason.
The family did not think too much of it. A martial arts family would probably have discovered the true reason long ago. In that case, Fang Yuan would also have come for Fang Ping’s hide long ago.
After the daughter’s problem was solved, Fang Ping’s Gaokao loomed on the horizon.
Fang Ping was not that nervous compared to his parents, who found themselves unable to sleep due to nerves.
Fang Mingrong had just begun working for the Department of Education a week ago, and so was reluctant to take leave. Li Yuying, on the other hand, took a week off to take care of Fang Ping.
...
June 7th came in the blink of an eye.
On the morning of that day, everyone in Fang Ping’s family escorted him to the school for his exam.
He was not assigned to take the exam at Sun City No.1 High School, but he was assigned to the experimental middle school, which, incidentally, was also Fang Yuan’s school.
On their way there, they saw parents taking their children to the examination venue from time to time.
Most families were represented by either the father or mother.
Families like Fang Ping’s, where both parents and even a younger sister came along, were rare.
Looking at his family’s faces, wrought with nerves, Fang Ping was resigned yet heartened.
When they arrived at the school gates, Fang Mingrong left first, as he had to go to work.
His mother and Fang Yuan were reluctant to leave. Looking at the crowd outside the gates, Fang Ping could not help but think of the attack in Auspicious Sun City that had happened last month.
Now Fang Ping would not be afraid even if he was attacked once again.
He had achieved a certain level in his cultivation of the Basics of Leg Techniques.
Fang Ping felt that he would have an 80% chance of winning if he had to face the woman from before.
Of course, the woman was burnt to ashes a long time ago. Fang Ping had no chance to prove himself.
He was not afraid, but he could not allow his mother and Fang Yuan to be harmed.
It took a while for him to successfully convince Fang Yuan to take his mother home early.
Lakeview Gardens was quite near to the experimental middle school, so there was no need for her to wait for him in front of the school.
...
Only after Fang Yuan and his mother had left did Fang Ping enter the venue.
“It’s the last hurdle!”
Outside the venue, Fang Ping muttered.
The Five Stages of the Martial Sciences Exam.
Since his transmigration, this phrase could be heard everywhere.
Now he had successfully passed the previous exams.
He would have no problem entering a martial arts university if he did not do too bad in his cultural studies exam.
Although his Vitality was exceptionally high, it did not guarantee an entrance to a martial arts university.
He was not even at Rank-1. Studying in a martial arts university definitely had its perks – this could be seen from how Wang Jinyang, a Rank-3 martial artist, refused to graduate.
Resources, mentors, cultivation method manuals... He needed all of these.
It was impossible to walk far on the Path without a guide.
Fang Ping would not have come this far if he had not befriended Wang Jinyang – even if he cheated using the system.
The Methods of Honing, the pole-standing manual, combat techniques... Even if he had succeeded in obtaining them himself some other way, he would have done something wrong practicing them alone.
Besides that, martial arts universities kept a lot of secrets.
Wang Jinyang and the others seemed to know a lot.
Tan Zhenping, though. Fang Ping had gotten to know him after meeting him quite a few times afterward due to his father’s occupational affairs. Tan Zhenping was old, but he knew little.
With those thoughts in mind, Fang Ping entered the venue and sat down, waiting for the invigilator to distribute the papers.
“Martial arts universities!”
This phrase was the only thing in Fang Ping’s mind.
...
At the same time.
Nanjiang Martial Arts University.
Wang Jinyang was officially the next President of the Martial Arts Club of Nanjiang Martial Arts University.
It was initially planned that he inherits the post the next semester after Shen Quan’s graduation.
Shen Quan was currently deep in the depths of the Catacombs, though. Zhang Qingnan had not returned yet.
The Nine Grandmasters had sealed the entrance to the Catacombs. Before Governor Zhang left, he had searched around the entrance, but he failed to discover any trace of the two men.
He was a busy man. He could not possibly assist in the search for an extended period of time.
The other Grandmasters were similarly occupied. Everyone was busy, plus access to the Catacombs was limited after the sealing of the entrance.
Unless... Unless he, Wang Jinyang, became a Grandmaster himself, he would have to ask someone else for help.
“Grandmaster!”
As he assumed the presidency, all he could think of was those two words.
He was not close with Shen Quan, but the President had taken great care of him after his induction into the club.
Not to mention Zhang Qingnan, who was his introductory mentor.
Even though it was possible that they had ended up dead in the Catacombs, he was set on going down to see it for himself, to avenge their deaths, and to let them rest in their homeland in peace.