Chapter 357: Returning to MCMAU

　　At MCMAU.

　　“All hail MCMAU!”

　　“All hail the President!”

　　“…”

　　The moment the participating team returned to MCMAU, the entire school grounds burst into a wave of excitement!

　　The prodigy who hacked above his ranks!

　　Fang Ping took the entire world by storm on his own and defeated both First Military School and CCMAU one after the other. The atmosphere at the current MCMAU could not get any crazier!

　　What defines ruthlessness?

　　This does!

　　What defines invincibility?

　　This does!

　　From the start to the end, he was never defeated!

　　From this day onward, Fang Ping from MCMAU was regarded as the number one prodigy. His name was not just well-known among students but graduates and casual martial artists alike. Everyone knew.

　　Among the people below 30 years old, Fang Ping might not have achieved the highest rank. Yet, when it came to combat strength and progress in cultivation, he almost reached his limits.

　　Fang Ping’s presence was not just overpowering in school. In the outside world, he continued to dominate. With his prowess, he easily emerged as the champion and led Magic City Martial Arts University to become the number one university!

　　This time, it was an official title allocated from the government!

　　Before this, CCMAU called themselves number one. The outside world generally recognized them as number one too. However, it was not an official title given by the government.

　　For the first time ever, the government attempted to rank the martial arts universities and MCMAU emerged as the champion. Such honor sent both teachers and students of MCMAU into a frenzy. Some of the more elderly martial artists burst into tears of joy!

　　For the old vice-chancellor, his greatest life’s wish was to pacify the Catacombs.

　　Followed by his second wish—he wished to see MCMAU surpass CCMAU and that CCMAU emerged as the university that took down the Catacombs!

　　Yet, he was never able to witness this until the day he lost his life fighting in a foreign land.

　　It might be a mere championship with a ranking given by the government; it might not truly mean MCMAU was stronger than CCMAU. Even so, this achievement managed to spur up thousands of emotions among their teachers and students. It was certainly a milestone-style turning point for them!

　　From the day MCMAU obtained its victory, MCMAU was now positioned as number one, regardless of any other reasons others might have!

　　…

　　Outside the school archives.

　　Wu Kuishan personally led a bunch of people to welcome Fang Ping and his team.

　　Fang Ping got out from the car with his hand holding onto a golden plaque with engravings that read—Best Elite University!

　　This was the award from the championship!

　　This plaque around the size of a book meant great significance. It stood for financial allocations that would be 9 billion more than last year. It also meant greater student enrollments in the coming year— it meant there would be more excellent students enrolling. It also meant they would have more resources to hire middle-ranked instructors.

　　It also signified that for this entire year, MCMAU reigned over CCMAU in reality as well as in name!

　　“Well done. Superbly done!

　　“Thank you for bringing fame to MCMAU!

　　“Thank you for making MCMAU the best university!

　　“Pride belongs to MCMAU and all of you here. With everyone here as your witness, Fang Ping and his team’s names will be etched in the MCMAU school archives!”

　　Wu Kuishan announced MCMAU’s decision loudly!

　　Therefore, Fang Ping and his team’s names would be recorded in the school archives.

　　When it came to MCMAU’s school archives, not everyone could leave their names in it. Those who qualified to leave their names were Grandmasters or fighters who fought and died in the Catacombs or those who contributed greatly to MCMAU.

　　For the past few years, few living people could make a mark in the school archives.

　　All of them were martial artists who had great contributions in the Catacombs, with no exceptions.

　　Yet, Fang Ping and his team did not enter the school archives by making a name for themselves in the Catacombs. He led MCMAU in the quest to obtain the recognition as the Best Elite University. His contributions and achievements were in no way lesser than his predecessors.

　　“With everyone here as your witness!”

　　Behind Wu Kuishan, a group of elderly martial artists cheered loudly!

　　MCMAU was finally honored with the recognition as the best martial arts university!

　　The first milestone in their dream to surpass CCMAU was achieved—this was the glory shared by everyone in MCMAU!

　　Noticing how excited these old men and women were, Fang Ping gave a small cough. He was about to speak a few lines when Wu Kuishan snatched over the plaque immediately and roared, “Time to put up the plaque!”

　　With his hands holding up the plaque, the crowd behind him overtook him and followed the vice-chancellor into the school archives to put up the plaque on display.

　　“I… The heck!”

　　Fang Ping exclaimed in anger. Internally, Fang Ping cursed, ‘This Wu Kuishan was too calculating. Let me speak a few words!’

　　What a good time it was to buy popularity! Right now, all Fang Ping needed to say was, “What good is CCMAU anyway? MCMAU will soon surpass them in every single aspect.”

　　“While I’m still in this university, I’ll make sure Grandmasters increase to more than double digits.”

　　“Improve instructors’ benefits.” or

　　“Train up more middle-ranked students”…

　　It did not matter that some bragging was included. Looking at how agitatedly excited everyone was, nobody would suspect a single word he might say.

　　Yet… This Wu Kuishan was so terrified of having Fang Ping’s popularity overtaking his that he would not even give Fang Ping that chance!

　　After a brief cursing fest, Fang Ping had no choice but to follow everyone into the school archives.

　　…

　　After a long while in the school archives, the welcoming ceremony finally ended.

　　Neither Wu Kuishan nor Huang Jing stayed back. They headed to the Southern Area, perhaps to visit the late old vice-chancellor’s grave and inform him that MCMAU finally earned its name as the Best Elite University.

　　…

　　Fang Ping was slightly exhausted after dealing with all that.

　　For the past few days, Fang Ping had been fighting against powerhouses. He felt tired too. Furthermore, he suffered severe injuries. Despite being rich in Vitality, he was a little exhausted now.

　　Yet, no matter how tired he was, there were still things that he had to deal with.

　　It was at this moment that Fang Ping lamented about the price of being in power—endless responsibilities.

　　If he was just a normal student, he could simply sink into bed and sleep without a care in the world the moment he reached the university.

　　He was not!

　　Now that the Nanjiang Catacombs opened up, there were a lot more to keep Fang Ping busy as the president of the MCMAU Martial Arts Society,

　　…

　　In the Martial Arts Society.

　　Endless strings of greetings followed Fang Ping as he marched into the Martial Arts Society.

　　“Good day, sir.”

　　“Thanks for your hard work, sir.”

　　After winning two annual championships for MCMAU and defeating other prodigious martial artists, Fang Ping’s fame peaked in school.

　　When the financial allocations were increased in the coming year, everyone knew they would be able to afford a much better quality of life.

　　Fang Ping presented them with glory and practical benefits. Now, even if Fang Ping acted more aggressively in school, nobody would bat an eye. They might even expect him to.

　　Fang Ping nodded slightly in response. While Fang Ping was on his way, Chen Yunxi trotted over swiftly.

　　With no time to lose, Fang Ping cut straight to the point. “Gather all members above Upper Rank-3 for a meeting. Also, tell Qin Fengqing to hand everything in honestly. If he refuses to come back, I’ll order for his arrest outside!”

　　Chen Yunxi was rendered speechless. ‘Senior Qin had better turn on his phone. If he really doesn’t return, he should just wait and die!’ Chen Yunxi thought.

　　When Fang Ping mentioned ordering for Qin Fengqing’s arrest, she did not think Fang Ping was joking.

　　Martial arts universities had every right to do so!

　　Martial arts universities had the right to issue missions to the outside world. In fact, they were connected to the missions system in the Department of Investigation Services and Military. If Qin Fengqing got listed as wanted…

　　Chen Yunxi could not bear to think about how Qin Fengqing would end up.

　　Without further ado, after Fang Ping entered the Office, Chen Yunxi hastened over to the martial arts office and started working on her tasks.

　　A martial artist’s efficiency was not something to underestimate.

　　…

　　15 minutes later.

　　All the members who were above Upper Rank-3 in school arrived were present before Fang Ping.

　　Including Qin Fengqing!

　　Currently, the expression on Qin Fengqing’s face was as dark as charcoal, obviously unhappy.

　　‘Listing me as wanted! Fang Ping is too cruel!’

　　Initially, Qin Fengqing considered going into hiding. He was almost ready for Nanjiang. Yet, before he could depart, the public announcement system in MCMAU rang loud and clear, demanding Qin Fengqing to hurry over for a meeting at the Martial Arts Society or suffer punishments as an evil sect follower as MCMAU would list him as wanted to external parties!

　　This time around, hiding was no longer a viable option for Qin Fengqing. The Rank-6 instructor near the Vitality Pool was already glaring at him in full hostility like he was ready to bury Qin Fengqing.

　　Terrified, Qin Fengqing hurriedly explained that it was all a misunderstanding. Then, under the instructor’s scrutiny, Qin Fengqing had no choice but to head back to the Martial Arts Society.

　　Once everyone arrived, Fang Ping, who was long ready for this, opened his mouth and announced, “Qin Fengqing left the team before the championship ended. He lacks the vision to see the overall picture, the willingness to contribute to MCMAU, and the sense of collective honor…

　　However, since he realizes his mistakes on time—a stumble may prevent a fall—this time, his rewards from the championship will be the same as those on the reserves team!”

　　In other words, 1000 credits were deducted.

　　The expression on Qin Fengqing’s face darkened immediately. He said, “I’ll return to you the alloy pieces, alright? When I left, you’ve already defeated Li Hansong with a slash from your saber. It was a sure win! Does that count as leaving early?”

　　“Nonsense!”

　　Fang Ping told him off. “What if MCMAU lost? Who’s going to shoulder that responsibility? If I didn’t have the energy to spare and Senior Chen couldn’t defeat Qin Ze, could you deal with this responsibility? This was a fight involving getting the award of Best Elite University—tens of billions of subsidies and wishes of countless teachers and students from MCMAU. Qin Fengqing, are you making a joke out of this?

　　“How can you let the old vice-chancellor down that way?

　　“The old vice-chancellor spent his entire life wishing for MCMAU to surpass CCMAU. At such a critical moment, if we lost, where would your conscience be?

　　“How could you forget the big picture for petty benefits like that?

　　“If we didn’t win in the end, even if you’ve returned to MCMAU and handed in those alloy pieces, believe it or not, the MCMAU’s High Grandmasters would set up a warrant to capture you and bring you back to school!

　　“Qin Fengqing, do you understand your mistakes now?”

　　Everyone glared at Qin Fengqing. Qin Fengqing said in a sorrowful tone, “I understand now… My mistake is that I shouldn’t have stolen your things!”

　　‘I’m such an idiot!

　　‘I’ve already told myself, anything that belongs to Fang Ping, even if his cash fell at my feet, I mustn’t pick them up!

　　‘How could I forget?

　　‘It’s still alright to take someone else’s things. But if it’s Fang Ping… I’ll die!’

　　Fang Ping continued speaking impassively, “Nonsense! I don’t think you’re truly aware of the mistakes you’ve made. The alloy pieces were never meant for me. I planned to donate all of them to the Martial Arts Society.

　　“Furthermore, this has nothing to do with the alloy pieces! Money is merely an external possession!

　　“Martial artists of our generation should fight whenever we’re needed. I’m still not talking about the alloy pieces; it’s about the sense of belonging in MCMAU that you obviously lack!

　　“Abandoning your teammates … If you’re in the military, you’d be considered a defector and be shot to death!”

　　Qin Fengqing lowered his head unhappily. ‘Sure, whatever you say. If I argue now, it’d get more troublesome.’

　　Fortunately, Zhang Yu started consoling Fang Ping. “President Fang, it’s probably just a thoughtless mistake on Qin Fengqing’s part. I don’t think he meant to run away because of fear…”

　　Fang Ping raised his hand slightly and said, “I’ll let it slide this time. If there’s a next time, your punishment will be dire!”

　　After saying that, Fang Ping no longer cared to mention Qin Fengqing. He looked around until his gaze landed on Ye Qing. He nodded at Ye Qing and said, “Congratulations on your breakthrough, Senior Ye.”

　　Ye Qing nodded slightly in reply. He did not spectate the championship this time. Previously, he lost to Monk Jiese and had a rough patch in his quest to be an unbeatable Rank-3. However, he had recovered recently for the past few days and achieved a breakthrough to Rank-4 as Fang Ping and his team competed in the championship.

　　“Currently here with us are 12 Rank-4 and 32 Upper Rank-3 martial artists. That totals up to 44 people. It seems like we’ve recovered a lot in spirits.”

　　Fang Ping was in a good mood. At the beginning of the school semester, there were only 9 Rank-4 martial artists with the strongest among them at Upper Rank-4.

　　Today, there were 12 Rank-4 martial artists. Among those who were present, two had yet to return from outside. This meant that in the past three months, 5 people achieved a breakthrough to Rank-4.

　　Meanwhile, Fang Ping and Chen Wenlong were both Peak Rank-4. Qin Fengqing and Zhang Yu were both at Upper Rank-4 while there were a few people who were at Middle Rank-4 too.

　　Their manpower was twice as strong as the beginning of the semester!

　　At the same time, there were only 51 Rank-3 martial artists before.

　　Now, there were already more than 30 people who were above Upper Rank-3. The total number of Rank-3 martial artists broke the records at 150. Knowing this improved Fang Ping’s spirits immensely.

　　After saying that, Fang Ping glanced at Zhao Lei who was hiding at the corner. He smiled and said, “Zhao Lei, you’re not bad yourself. You’ve finally reached Upper Rank-3. How’s Fu Changding’s progress?”

　　“Just a little bit more. However, there’s hope to achieve Upper Rank-3 before the end of the month,” answered Zhao Lei truthfully. Now that the troublemaker Qin Fengqing had already behaved himself, Zhao Lei knew he should not mess about. Otherwise, if Fang Ping found something on Zhao Lei, he would go after Zhao Lei instead.

　　“Hmm, that’s not bad. I heard that the transfer student is doing well too. Tang Wen and a few others achieved Rank-2 too; they’re advancing faster than us when we first started.”

　　Fang Ping said with a smile, “MCMAU will only get better, and stronger. Let’s all work together toward the betterment of MCMAU’s facilities!

　　“Of course, the purpose of this gathering isn’t to give praise.

　　“Our main topic is the uncovering of the Nanjiang Catacombs in the early afternoon yesterday. Once the passageway into the Catacombs is stabilized tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, we’ll be able to enter.

　　“The uncovering of the Catacombs is both a crisis and an opportunity. I’m sure everyone is aware of this.

　　“As a resident of Nanjiang, I’ll make a trip back for sure, no matter to kill my enemies or to seek opportunities.

　　“I gather everyone here today to ask for your opinions—is there anyone here who would like to join me?

　　“Of course, I’m not forcing you to. The Catacombs are newly uncovered and are, therefore, very dangerous. Even if all of you are above Upper Rank-3, it’ll still be very dangerous…”

　　“I’ll go!”

　　Qin Fengqing was the first to respond. Fang Ping ignored him. Of course, Qin Fengqing would go. It goes without saying.

　　Chen Wenlong opened his mouth to speak after a moment’s consideration, “I’ll return to the Military Department. There are still some jobs to be completed here at the Magic City Catacombs. Also, I’m about to break through to Rank-5…”

　　“Don’t force yourself, Senior Chen. As I said, you’re not obligated to join in. It’s more important that Senior Chen focuses on his breakthrough. There are Rank-5 martial artists from both CCMAU and First Military School anyway. We need a Rank-5 from MCMAU to show up anyway. I won’t be choosing to break through for now.”

　　The honing of his internal organs was still rather lacking. Previously, he caused the Celestial Bridges to be rather unstable. Therefore, it is better to wait.

　　Chen Wenlong exhaled in relief, nodded, and kept quiet.

　　Zhang Yu, Xie Lei, and a few others spoke up one after another too, choosing to join Fang Ping. It was quite a rare opportunity. A martial artist should not be afraid of anything. If they were truly afraid, they might as well just skip going to the Catacombs altogether.

　　Eventually, with Fang Ping included, 9 Rank-4 martial artists and 24 martial artists above Upper Rank-3 chose to head to the Catacombs together.

　　As for the rest, they were either too close to getting a breakthrough, or unable to join in because they had other businesses to attend to.

　　All 33 of them were above Upper Rank-3. Honestly, it was considered quite a feat.

　　Fang Ping was suddenly overwhelmed by a sudden hesitation. These people were the sharpest students in MCMAU. If all of them were to die in the Catacombs, MCMAU would suffer great declines for years.

　　After brooding on it for a while, Fang Ping looked at Liang Fenghua and said, “Senior Liang, you should stay back and await your breakthrough to Upper Rank-4.”

　　Liang Fenghua’s eyebrows creased in confusion. He nodded hesitantly but he did not say anything in reply.

　　“You too, Senior Zhang.”

　　Zhang Yu opened his mouth to speak but hesitated. Fang Ping continued, “After our departure, you should work together with Senior Liang and manage everything that concerns the Martial Arts Society. Our Martial Arts Society must continue to operate. Since Senior Chen isn’t on campus, once Qin Fengqing and I leave, we need you to watch over the Martial Arts Society as an Upper Rank-4 martial artist.”

　　Zhang Yu stopped protesting after hearing that. He nodded and agreed with Fang Ping’s plan.

　　“Chen Yunxi, you don’t have to go too. You’ve just broken through to Upper Rank-3…”

　　Chen Yunxi mumbled, “So is Zhao Lei! I promise I won’t slow everyone down…”

　　Fang Ping’s eyebrows furrowed slightly. After thinking about it for a while, he said, “Suit yourself. When the time comes, follow the main team. Nobody is allowed to leave your posts without permission.

　　“We’ll depart tomorrow. Everyone, go get ready. I’ll head off to the instructors’ side and make sure our plans are in sync.”

　　After saying that, Fang Ping noticed Qin Fengqing was pitifully staring at Fang Ping. Fang Ping said disapprovingly, “What are you looking at? I mean it when I said to cut down your rewards. 1000 credits it is. We’ll see who dares to give you even one credit more!”

　　Pain was etched all over Qin Fengqing’s face. 1000 credits! He messed up, for sure!

　　That was 30 million!

　　Returning them to Fang Ping should have been enough!

　　However, at this point, Qin Fengqing was well aware that it did not matter anymore. No matter how much he tried to argue, Fang Ping currently dominated the Martial Arts Society. Now that he led the team that earned the university the name of “Best Elite University”, all the instructors in the universities would side with him. Qin Fengqing would not be able to achieve anything no matter who he decided to go to.

　　However, with the last shred of hope in mind, Qin Fengqing still asked quietly, “Let’s share this evenly. Give them to me and I’ll give you half…”

　　“Who do you think I am? I’m Fang Ping!” Fang Ping told him off. “Don’t come up with nonsense like this. If you want credits, go get them in the Catacombs. Alright, I’ve got business to attend to. Stop disturbing me!”

　　After throwing this statement at Qin Fengqing’s face, Fang Ping marched out.

　　‘Who’d want to split it with you?’ Fang Ping thought. The credits belonged to the Martial Arts Society the moment the university allocated it. What belonged to the Martial Arts Society belonged to Fang Ping. Even if he did not embezzle them, it was still useful when trying to buy someone’s hearts. ‘You, Qin Fengqing, are very wasteful of your credits. It makes no difference whether I give you or not.’

　　The fellow would go rampant with whatever little credits he had. He would even treat the Vitality Pool like a hotel.

　　Moreover, Qin Fengqing just achieved a breakthrough to Upper Rank-4. He should not be lacking too much in terms of cultivation resources. If Fang Ping gave it to him, Qin Fengqing would surely squander it away, potentially upgrading his B-class changdao to A-class in the heat of the moment.

　　Fang Ping would not squander his credits away in the same manner. If Zhang Dingnan did not give Fang Ping the saber, Fang Ping would have continued using his B-class yanyuedao until he was Rank-6.