Chapter 351: Breakthrough Was Not A Good Thing

　　At the end of the small group matches, participants did not need to draw lots.

　　The draw was done to know the time of their matches. Having one more day for recoveries would give them a greater advantage.

　　This time, no one cheated. Several Grandmasters joined together to mutually supervise each other. For an injured martial artist, an additional day would be provided to give them time to recover. Both Fang Ping and Li Hansong went on stage to draw lots. Both teams were among the top in the small groups.

　　Fang Ping looked at the disfigured Li Hansong and could not help but say, “Could you please wear a ski mask, you look hideous!”

　　As soon as he finished speaking those words, the surroundings were suddenly a little quiet.

　　Hu Yong, who had just joined in the fun, almost gritted his teeth!

　　It really was him!

　　The chancellor of ESNNU had not left yet. The losers group did not need to compete for now, but because the rankings had not been determined yet, he had to wait.

　　At this moment, the chancellor of ESNNU also stared deeply at Fang Ping.

　　Sometimes, just a word could cause a great reaction!

　　Martial artists would rarely wear ski masks.

　　To some people however, they might be used to this kind of thing.

　　Fang Ping’s babble indicated that he did not care about this at all, and had long been used to it.

　　Fang Ping was a little surprised. Looking around, he saw everyone looking at him strangely. Fang Ping suddenly thought of something, and his expression turned grave instantly!

　　What the heck were you looking at!

　　What were you all thinking of?

　　Li Hansong’s face was almost split in half. What was wrong in asking him to wear a ski mask?

　　Looking sideways at Qin Fengqing, Qin Fengqing was looking straight ahead, acting as if he did not know anything.

　　Fang Ping cursed in his heart. The innocent man knew he was innocent.[1] What was the point of looking anyway? After all, this was not done by him.

　　“Draw lots!”

　　The powerhouse from the Education Ministry interrupted everyone’s gaze. This sort of small matter should be discussed afterward.

　　Fang Ping did not speak anymore and quickly picked a lot. He opened up the number slip, shrugged and said, “Day after tomorrow.”

　　Old Wang certainly had his share of good luck. If he were to fight tomorrow, he might not be able to recover from his injuries. However, if it were the day after tomorrow, even if he could not heal completely, at least he could make some degree of recovery.

　　Since they would compete on the day after tomorrow, tomorrow’s match would naturally be between Li Hansong and Yao Chengjun.

　　At the side, Li Hansong looked at Fang Ping and then at Yao Chengjun, and suddenly asked, “What do you say?”

　　Yao Chengjun said in a deep voice, “For the school, not the individual!”

　　“You fought him before, I haven’t.”

　　“You have lost, what’s the difference?”

　　Li Hansong smiled a little self-deprecatingly. That was true, having lost to Wang Jinyang, his alleged Invincible Rank-4 were now just empty words.

　　Glancing at Fang Ping again, Li Hansong sighed lightly. Let it be since matters had become like this, what was more important now was the school!

　　The next moment, Yao Chengjun and Li Hansong swallowed many pills, and suddenly their momentum changed!

　　Under the stares of the audience, three looming portals appeared above the heads of the two. The three portals disappeared in a flash. Then, immediately after that, five transparent Celestial Bridges suddenly appeared on their bodies!

　　The Celestial Bridges that were originally arranged separately gradually fused together!

　　Several Grandmasters at the side quickly acted and gathered together the energy particles around them!

　　In front of the Grandmasters of CCMAU and First Military School suddenly appeared countless Vitality Pills and energy stones, which were then shattered under the shock of their Mentality, and countless Vitality Force and energy emerged.

　　…

　　Fang Ping’s expression turned grave!

　　‘What did this mean?

　　‘What did this actually mean!

　　‘If you were to break through to Rank-5, I would not stop any of you. However, both of you broke through in front of the crowd out of the blue. What exactly did you wish to demonstrate?

　　‘What could be the point?

　　‘Were you trying to show that the reason the two of you lost was not that you couldn’t defeat us, but rather you didn’t want to breakthrough?

　　‘And the Grandmasters had already prepared this beforehand, everything was ready. Was this not discussed long ago?

　　‘Then why were you spitting up all these nonsense, pretending to be reluctant, saying that it was for the sake of the school!’

　　“Damn it!”

　　Fang Ping scolded them in his heart but was not negligent. He moved his Mentality and quickly pulled away the Vitality Force and energy particles to supplement his consumption.

　　The Grandmasters of CCMAU and First Military School looked at him one after another. Fang Ping did not seem to notice. After the large battle, he had also consumed a lot. Now that he had free energy stones and Vitality in front of him, why would he need to waste his own wealth?

　　He wanted to be thick-skinned and start absorbing, there was not anything that everyone else could do about it.

　　This was at the outside world, not inside their Energy Room and Vitality Pool. If Fang Ping were to absorb energy to restore himself, could he be flogged for that?

　　They chose to break through outdoors, also for demonstration and prestige purposes.

　　Since Fang Ping was unhappy, he had to absorb something. It was really hard to say anything against that.

　　Several grandmasters were neither able to laugh or cry. They could only take out more Vitality Pills and energy stones again and smashed them to replenish the vanishing Vitality and energy.

　　As a result… Very quickly, these Grandmasters realized that they had underestimated the jerks from MCMAU!

　　Qin Fengqing did not even fight, yet this little jerk at this moment was also inhaling the Vitality and began to hone his internal organs.

　　Wang Jinyang seemed to hesitate at first, but as he saw that both of them are doing it, after a moment’s hesitation, he smiled apologetically at several Grandmasters and joined those who were cultivating. Nanjiang University was too poor. Every bit saved, counted.

　　The faces of several grandmasters remained unchanged, but their sights were constantly hovering over these people.

　　Very nice, they were thick-skinned enough!

　　Martial artists must fight, the word “fight” was used most vividly by these people!

　　As the two schools were wealthy, they did not say anything. Just absorb it, let us see how much you could absorb!

　　Fang Ping whispered while absorbing energy and Vitality quickly, “Why are you standing there, quickly start cultivating. This is equivalent to a free Vitality Pool and an Energy Room. Some Grandmasters are helping to remove impurities. The results would be better. Are you guys idiots?”

　　Chen Wenlong and the others looked at each other, feeling a little embarrassed.

　　It was indeed tempting.

　　To go to the Vitality Pool or the Energy Room, with this type of pure Vitality and energy, would be much more expensive than usual. To cultivate now for a few minutes will probably be worth tens of millions.

　　Taking this into consideration, Chen Wenlong and the others hesitated for a while and joined the ranks of those who were cultivating.

　　The face of the grandmaster of CCMAU was turning black with anger, and he glared at Fang Ping. You little brat had the guts. You could not get it, so you were thinking of pocketing and bringing it away.

　　Fang Ping pretended not to see it. It was you all who insisted on doing it this way.

　　By breaking through to Rank-5 in front of everybody, were you deliberately provoking us?

　　Since you decided to breakthrough here, for me to cultivate here, would surely not be impermissible.

　　At the side, both Li Hansong and Yao Chengjun were unconcerned about all these. The five Celestial Bridges were constantly merging to form a closed loop, and this took time, and it was not a one-time thing.

　　…

　　Outside the stage, the audience had not left.

　　As the group of people on stage who were drawing lots suddenly became silent, everyone was a little surprised.

　　At this time, the commentator who had not said much today exclaimed, “A prodigy is worthy of a prodigy. One failure would not be enough to defeat them. Both Li Hansong and Yao Chengjun have accumulated deep Vitality. At this moment, their five internal organs have been honed to the extreme. Perhaps it’s from the stimulation of their defeat that they are beginning to move towards Rank-5!

　　“After today, there will be two more Rank-5 prodigies from among the students of the Universities and Military Schools!”

　　Offstage, the audience started bustling with excitement.

　　“Rank-5?”

　　“They had reached Rank-5 already?”

　　“Sure enough, they are geniuses. Why does it feel like it is easier to break through compared to eating and drinking. The two of them had broken through, what about Fang Ping and Wang Jinyang?”

　　“It’s not clear. Was it because they had won that they became complacent?”

　　“…”

　　The outsiders were looking at this for excitement, the insiders looked at it with envy and jealously.

　　Rank-5!

　　They were able to breakthrough whenever they wanted to. These prodigies were causing people to be jealous.

　　Many people had to spend several years in the low ranks, yet they were so easily breaking through in front of them.

　　What is the concept of Rank-5?

　　Especially if these talented martial artists were to break through to Rank-5, their combat strength might not be weaker than that of the ordinary Peak Rank-5 martial artists.

　　With this kind of strength, looking at the strength alone, to serve as a deputy governor of a province would already not pose too big a problem.

　　Or if they were to enter the Military Department, they might also be able to secure the title of a general.

　　…

　　The audience remained where they were and paid attention.

　　Fang Ping by then had absorbed a large amount of Vitality Force and had recovered his expenditure…

　　He did not continue, although Fang Ping could have taken the opportunity to continue with the cultivation. Since he had recovered, Fang Ping held back and said with a smile, “I won’t cultivate, save a little for CCMAU and First Military School. We cannot let the Grandmasters overspend.”

　　The Grandmasters pretended not to have heard it. Why did you not say this before?

　　Fang Ping did not stay, he walked down from the stage towards the side, and signaled at Liu Dali.

　　Liu Dali ran over quickly and said hurriedly, “President Fang, have they really broken through to Rank-5?”

　　“Not yet, but they’re almost there.”

　　Fang Ping said with a smile, “In fact, they could have broken through before, but they wanted to bring forth the momentum of an Invincible Rank-4. Unfortunately, hey, everyone has seen that the Invincible Rank-4 dream has been shattered, therefore they had to breakthrough. It is a pity.”

　　According to Fang Ping’s opinion, these two people breaking through the Rank-5, was not something good, but pitiful.

　　Liu Dali understood his intentions after hearing him and quickly said, “When will President Fang choose to break through to Rank-5?”

　　“After I have defeated Wang Jinyang. If I defeat him, I would be the invincible martial artist of Rank-4. I was the Invincible Rank-3, and I would be the invincible Rank-4 too. To break into the Rank-5, there’s no rush. It would be too early and would not be a good thing to do.

　　“Moreover, both of them are in their senior year, and I am only a sophomore. There’s no need to rush, I can accumulate more.”

　　Liu Dali was extra attentive this time, and repeated the words with emphasis, “It’s true. They are all in their senior year and are graduating soon. For President Fang Ping, it’s still early. Looking at it this way, by the time President Fang graduates, you might be a Rank-6 martial artist.”

　　“It’s not easy to say, depending on luck. If my luck is good, then it would be the Grandmaster rank. With a lower level of luck, to attain the peak of Rank-6 would not be difficult.”

　　Fang Ping said with a smile, “Of course, it is also gratifying that the two seniors have broken through to Rank-5. Tomorrow, everyone will be able to see the battle of the Rank-5s. But having only attained Rank-5 would not necessarily mean a big gap compared to previously. ”

　　“If President Fang enters the final, you would be up against the Rank-5 powerhouses. Do you have the confidence?”

　　Fang Ping said with a smile, “Confidence is inevitable. In fact, in the previous competitions, I didn’t go all out, it was mainly to wait for the seniors to enter Rank-5. Now that the seniors had given me this opportunity, MCMAU will not disappoint but will carry on our legend!”

　　“President Fang is worthy of being an Invincible Rank-4 powerhouse. Then we will expect President Fang to provide us with more surprises.”

　　“Will do.”

　　Fang Ping smiled indifferently, and Liu Dali continued to flatter him. Even though Fang Ping and Wang Jinyang had not fought each other yet, whether his Invincible Rank-4 title was true to his name was still obvious to see.

　　Look, Fang Ping penetrated the whole First Military School. Did Wang Jinyang penetrate CCMAU?

　　…

　　The breakthrough to Rank-5 had lasted more than an hour.

　　Until more than an hour later, the Celestial Bridges of Li Hansong and Yao Chengjun formally merged to form a circular closed passage.

　　Then, when they cultivated and absorbed energy and Vitality, the leakage would be much smaller, which was more beneficial to the honing of internal organs.

　　Once reaching Rank-6, the Sanjiao Gate was closed, there would not be much leakage of the Vitality and energy anymore.

　　By then, even if you were catching up in age, the state of your body would not decline unless you suffered from injuries.

　　After the two of them had completed the breakthrough, the Grandmasters were no longer expending the Vitality Pills and the energy stones.

　　Qin Fengqing also opened his eyes at the moment and muttered, “Why, I am just reaching an important juncture in my cultivation…”

　　After saying that, as he felt that the atmosphere was not very good, Qin Fengqing looked around for a moment and laughed saying, “Fang Ping, next time don’t let us cultivate outside, things could easily go wrong…”

　　Fang Ping glanced at him. ‘When I said to cultivate at that time, you were already doing it, okay!’

　　Qin Fengqing did not care much about it, got up laughing, and then respectfully said, “Thank you, Grandmasters, Qin Fengqing will remember this as long as I live. Today as my cultivation is not deep enough, I am lacking the resources. When the day comes that I have achievements as a martial artist, I will repay this kindness!”

　　Those words surprised everyone.

　　Qin Fengqing could still make such remarks?

　　He was much better than that jerk Fang Ping. This kid after finishing with his cultivation and could still say such cynical words.

　　Qin Fengqing saw the Grandmasters’ gratified look and smiled contently. ‘Once I succeed with my martial arts, then I would be at least Rank-9. Wait until Rank-9…Rank 9, then we’ll talk about it again, God knows how long it will take.’

　　As Qin Fengqing had set an example, the others after finishing their cultivation also thanked them one after another.

　　Fang Ping saw this and thought of something, then also smiled and said, “You don’t have to be too polite. The world’s universities are one family. The reason why the Grandmasters are Grandmasters is that they treat the younger generations well, without any prejudices. Although we are students from other schools, we are also considered as students of all the Grandmasters.

　　“The instructors who treat us well will always be remembered in our hearts. We don’t have to tell them. When the day comes when we have achieved something in our martial arts, by killing one more enemy, the instructors will feel extremely relieved, this will be better than us repaying them.

　　“Instructors, you can rest assured that when I am successful in cultivation, I will kill more powerhouses to congratulate the Grandmasters!”

　　Everyone looked at him one after another, and the Grandmasters were silent. What could they say?

　　Fang Ping saw this and smiled. “Instructors, then in the future, I will not be modest with you. If there is anything that I don’t understand regarding the martial arts, can the instructors give me some pointers?”

　　These words were not easy to answer. The Grandmasters were a little bit tired and did not say anything. In a blink of the eye… they stepped into the air and went away one after another!

　　Fang Ping bit his lip. They were stingy!

　　Huang Jing glanced at him and said angrily, “Go back!”

　　Fang Ping was also the first person who could drive away so many Grandmasters.

　　…

　　Today’s competition had a lot to show.

　　Fang Ping defeated Yao Chengjun, and Wang Jinyang defeated Li Hansong. The two prodigies who had a great momentum before had both experienced their first failure in life.

　　However, as the two broke through Rank-5 one after another, their perseverance was amazing. The blow and impact of their failure also became much lesser.

　　This might have been the reason why the two chose to break through, to shift everyone’s focus.

　　Otherwise, because of this defeat, CCMAU and the First Military School would be greatly discussed by others.

　　For this, Fang Ping knew it well.

　　It’s a pity that he had not reached this juncture, otherwise, they would not be given any chance at all. If they broke through, Fang Ping would also breakthrough, and at the same time could still suppress them and anger them.

　　[1] The innocent do not need to prove themselves innocent as it will be naturally done so.