Chapter 342: A Victory Within Expectations

　　South Capital Martial Arts University vs Magic City Women’s University.

　　In a time when female martial artists were rarer, the Magic City Women’s University students caused an uproar when they went on stage.

　　As for SCMAU… They were faced with a much colder reception.

　　Chen Yaoting seemed unfazed. Fang Ping, on the other hand, sighed. “This lack of popularity… Old Chen, you have to invest when it’s important.”

　　Chen Yaoting kept his silence.

　　Fang Ping coughed softly. “I’m serious. During this age, if you don’t put your name out there, you won’t attract potential students no matter how good the quality of education in your school is.

　　“SCMAU doesn’t have much of a name. Even if it manages to be one of the top ten, I would choose other schools in the top ten that are more famous, given that everything else is the same.

　　“The future belongs to the youth. Young people nowadays have the privilege of a better cultivation environment compared to ours, and progress faster than us…”

　　Chen Yaoting said blandly, “You aren’t even 20 yet!”

　　‘You say all that as if you’re much older!

　　‘A better cultivation environment? Have you bypassed the golden time to cultivate or something?’

　　After his retort, Chen Yaoting suddenly asked, “How do I invest?”

　　Fang Ping’s attention was captured instantly. He laughed. “First, we’ll have to look at the strength of your students. SCMAU’s weaker, but it’s not obvious this match.

　　“Second, you have to hype the place up. The audience downstage should be all hyped and excited when the members from your SCMAU goes up the stage.

　　“Third, if you’re weaker, you can do an MCWU and shove some handsome boys and pretty girls on stage to distract the audience’s attention.

　　“Fourth, you can put more effort into online promotion–-the Internet is the fastest way to spread information at this time. Write some promotional passages about SCMAU. For example, you can write about how XXX who seemed mediocre before has advanced three ranks in a year and reached Rank-5 his second year after entering SCMAU…

　　“Fifth, shout more of those flashy slogans. “We’ll Crush CCMAU After Three Years, MCMAU Will Bow Down to Us After Five Years”, “We’re Fighting for Number One”, that sort of thing. Shout them until the entire nation has heard of them!

　　“Even if everyone knows that you’re weaker than us two universities, it will make everyone think that SCMAU’s third place behind CCMAU and MCMAU!

　　“Sixth, as the university closest to Capital City, and one of the most renowned universities in the North, go challenge CCMAU more often! Don’t care about winning or losing. If you dare to challenge them, everyone will remember SCMAU’s name beside CCMAU’s. You’re hyping yourself up by borrowing CCMAU’s popularity…”

　　“What immoral actions!”

　　Chen Yaoting exclaimed. He did not deign to reply to Fang Ping.

　　But then… The old man thought about it. Could his grandson do something like this?

　　Whatever, he could just hire someone professional to do it if he could not. SCMAU had talents good at this in spades.

　　Fang Ping curled his lip. Whatever. If he did not want to heed his advice, so be it.

　　Fang Ping turned away from Chen Yaoting and toward the stage.

　　SCMAU’s first starter on the stage––also the strongest one––was Chen Haoran.

　　Chen Haoran, an upper-stage Rank-4 martial artist, would be facing a middle-stage Rank-4 girl from the MCWU. incidentally, she was the girl that had scolded Qin Fengqing.

　　…

　　The two martial artists started soon after.

　　After a while, Fang Ping was suddenly extremely dissatisfied. He bellowed, “Male and female martial artists are the same! Are you two playing around in the arena?”

　　After he said that, Chen Haoran, who had been holding back before, suddenly let go. His speed and strength both increased threefold, and he defeated his opponent in less than ten moves.

　　Fang Ping curled his lip, got up, and left.

　　Chen Yaoting did not say anything while he left, but he said after to his granddaughter, who was watching from beside him, “He’s a good man, but he’s in the middle of finetuning his martial arts abilities, so he probably won’t consider entering a romantic relationship.”

　　Chen Yunxi looked slightly flushed. She said softly, “I know.”

　　“Of course, as a martial artist, you must fight for it when he’s worth it!” Chen Yaoting smiled serenely. “Of course, you have to be skilled enough. If you aren’t, you’ll be at a total disadvantage. This Is unbefitting of our martial artists’ style.

　　“At middle-stage Rank-3, you’re lagging behind too much. Cultivate diligently…”

　　After that, the old man fished a wooden box from his pocket and held it out to his granddaughter. He smiled, his love for her evident in the shine of his eyes, and said, “Don’t let anything hold you back.”

　　Chen Yunxi opened the wooden box somewhat curiously. Inside was an energy stone the size of an egg.

　　Chen Yunxi’s mouth went wide. A cultivation-aiding energy stone?

　　It was so huge! It would have to weigh 200 grams at least!

　　It could fetch at least two hundred billion in the market!

　　“Granddad, this… You should give this to Second Older Brother…”

　　“If he wants this, then he should go acquire one himself. This is Granddad’s gift to you. You’re not an SCMAU student, so Granddad’s not being unfair…”

　　Chen Yaoting shook his head. He had gotten this from the Catacombs. If his descendants wanted it, they should get one themselves.

　　His granddaughter was slightly lacking in terms of skill. And she was a girl, so he should take care of her more.

　　Chen Yunxi had wanted to say something when Fang Ping, having previously disappeared to who knows where, appeared in front of her.

　　He looked intently at the wooden box in her hands for a while before saying with good humor, “Keep this. Don’t disappoint Old Man Chen. With this energy stone, you won’t have to worry about your Vitality before you enter Rank-4. Keep it!

　　“If you find it inconvenient to take around, I can help you with that…”

　　Chen Yunxi did not let him. She kept the wooden box instead. She said, nodding, “Granddad, I’ll accept it.”

　　Fang Ping was somewhat disappointed. ‘I didn’t want yours. I just want to keep it for you. Or test its purity at most! Won’t you be exhausted, keeping it yourself?’

　　Fang Ping moved his eyes away from the wooden box. He eyed Chen Yaoting, thinking, ‘A Grandmaster is a Grandmaster after all! How rich you are, to just take a cultivation-aiding energy stone out just like that!’

　　He would have missed it if he had not felt the power surge in the air. If that stupid girl Chen Yunxi did not want it, she would have missed out!

　　Better than letting Old Man Chen use it on bolstering SCMAU’s strength; Chen Yunxi was someone from MCMAU, at least.

　　“Old Man Chen, have you seen cultivation-aiding energy stones the size of a human’s head?”

　　Chen Yaoting smiled but did not say anything.

　　“Old Man Chen, gift Yunxi with that next time. This is not enough for her. Yunxi can cultivate in MCMAU’s Energy Room, she can burn energy stones there to help her cultivate, I’ll allow it this time…”

　　Chen Yaoting eyed him. Humans could cultivate using cultivation-aiding energy stones directly.

　　Rank-3 martial artists were too weak, and they could not absorb too much energy in one go. They would have to absorb and convert the absorbed energy themselves.

　　MCMAU’s Energy Room exuded energy, so the people using it could save a lot of effort.

　　SCMAU did not have the means to build an Energy Room, as the costs of building one were extremely high.

　　Fang Ping said that he would allow Yunxi to cultivate in the Energy Room using her own cultivation-aiding energy stone. It was not hard to grant permission, but the average person did not have that privilege.

　　Chen Yaoting would not thank him, though. He smiled serenely. “This is the concern of MCMAU alone.”

　　“You’re right. Old Man Chen, when can you deliver to us the head-sized energy stone?”

　　Chen Yaoting pretended he did not hear. ‘Get out!

　　‘Head-sized? Do you know how heavy an energy stone that size would be?

　　‘More than 10 kg!’

　　If a stone that size appeared, even Grandmasters would want it. Also, highly pure energy stones so huge were rare, unless one was in the depths of an energy ore mine.

　　Fang Ping felt regret once again, seeing his lack of response. ‘I haven’t seen one so big before, either. It’ll be nice if he took one out just to broaden my horizons.

　　‘Forget about that. This was also my first time seeing an energy stone as big as an egg!’

　　“Don’t waste time here. Yunxi, let’s go back to MCMAU in the afternoon. I’ll tell the school about that. Go cultivate in the Energy Room.”

　　“This afternoon?”

　　Chen Yunxi was surprised. The competition was still ongoing!

　　“It would be a long time until MCMAU’s turn. Wasting time here is meaningless. We’re different. At our current stages of cultivation, we’re both on the verge of breaking through. You should enter Rank-4 as soon as you can.”

　　Chen Yaoting showed his support. “Go cultivate in MCMAU. The competition will go on for a few more days, and MCMAU won’t lose before the fight for the championship begins.”

　　“MCMAU will win in that, too, within expectations.” Fang Ping interjected.

　　Chen Yaoting continued to play deaf. Conversing with Fang Ping was exhausting, as the kid liked to interrupt him.

　　After seeing the two men’s united front, Chen Yunxi thought about it and nodded. “Fine, then. I’ll return first. I’ll return before the finals.”

　　Fang Ping nodded. He did not stay for long as well. His body flickered, and he disappeared in the air once again.

　　Chen Yaoting laughed at the sight. The kid had a really sharp nose for it. He was sure that the kid would appear once again if he took another energy stone out now.

　　“His Mentality’s quite strong.”

　　Chen Yaoting murmured. If this kid succeeded in erecting an unbeatable front while at the middle ranks, he would definitely have no problem ascending to the higher ranks.

　　MCMAU had indeed got themselves a treasure.

　　…

　　The battles during the morning ended within expectations.

　　Although the higher-stage Rank-4 Chen Haoran did not defeat all five of his opponents in one go, he bested three MCWU students consecutively with an obvious advantage.

　　The two Rank-3 martial artists left were effortlessly defeated by the second starter on the SCMAU team.

　　Seven average martial arts universities had advanced to the current stage now, but Fang Ping thought that all of them, except for NMAU, had no chance of advancing to the top ten.

　　The first afternoon battle was between CCMAU and Donglin Martial Arts University.

　　Li Hansong did not start this time. The first starter was Qin Ze, another martial artist on the top 100 ranking list.

　　Although he did not match up to Li Handong, he was much stronger than the average Peak Rank-4 martial artist.

　　DMAU knew that it was highly likely that they could not win, so they did not fight too seriously this time in order to conserve their strength.

　　Qin Ze defeated his five opponents alone. Fang Ping left after watching this match; there was no point to it.

　　…

　　The results of the next four battles, in the course of the next two days, were as expected.

　　Nine States Military School, MCMAU, SCMAU, and CCMAU advanced smoothly.

　　The two battles on 4th December were SNMAU versus BMAU in the morning, and First Military School versus ESNNU in the afternoon respectively.

　　Both two battles were much more turbulent than the ones before.

　　…

　　The second floor of the gymnasium.

　　Vice-chancellor Feng from Xishan Martial Arts University was not present, so Fang Ping naturally chose to go up to the second floor rather than stand in the crowd filling the first floor.

　　He was not the only one there. Wang Jinyang, Li Hansong, and the others were all there.

　　Some other teams were watching there too.

　　On stage, Liu Shijie from SNMAU was battling the President from BMAU.

　　Liu Shijie, Peak Rank-4 martial artist, was forty-eighth on the ranking list. It was a pretty high ranking.

　　SNMAU was one of the strongest schools in the Eight School Alliance. They had ranked third in the previous National Championships, only after the Big Two.

　　Fang Ping watched for a while and turned toward Wang Jinyang with a smile. “If NMAU comes across SNMAU, you’ll be in serious trouble.”

　　Wang Jinyang was extremely skilled, but his victory against Liu Shijie (if he did win) would not be an easy one. There were four more Rank-4 martial artists on the SNMAU team beside Liu Shijie, too, with one at upper-stage and another at middle-stage. Wang Jinyang might not be able to defeat them singlehandedly.

　　Wang Jinyang nodded, but he later replied with a laugh. “It’ll be troublesome, but I should be able to do it.”

　　Liu Shijie was strong, but he was not Wang Jinyang’s match. Wang Jinyang was confident of that at the least.

　　Even Qin Fengqing was confident. “If we come across Liu Shijie, put me on stage. I’m not bothered about fighting for a spot on the ranking list––if I defeat him, I can enter the Rank-4 ranking list as well.”

　　“You?”

　　Fang Ping laughed. “Cut that out. We know everything about each other. Unless Liu Shijie doesn’t retaliate and just lets you hack him to shreds… You’re still a little far from beating him.”

　　Qin Fengqing said disdainfully, “You’re underestimating me, aren’t you? If the battles between the top ten aren’t confined to the arena, do you think Liu Shijie will win against me?”

　　Aside from his trademark One Sword Style, his speed was also one of his strong points.

　　If he and Liu Shijie had faced off directly, he might lose, but Qin Fengqing was very confident that he was faster, more patient, and had higher stamina. Liu Shijie would definitely lose at the end.

　　The people present did not pay his words much attention, save for Wang Jinyang, who asked curiously, “Qin Fengqing, you’re improving really fast! You’re already at upper-stage Rank-4…”

　　“Of course!”

　　Qin Fengqing said gleefully, “Just you wait! I’ll surpass you soon!”

　　When Wang Jinyang had been at Peak Rank-1, he too had been at Peak Rank-1.

　　When Wang Jinyang had advanced to Peak Rank-3, he had just entered Rank-3.

　　Now Wang Jinyang was at Peak Rank-4, and he caught up, having entered upper-stage Rank-4. The distance between their ranks was shortened again.

　　“I hope so.”

　　Wang Jinyang laughed. Qin Fengqing was still so confident in himself.

　　As for if Qin Fengqing could catch up to him… If everything went as expected, he would be a Rank-5 martial artist after the competition. Maybe he would be at some rank higher than that.

　　Qin Fengqing was still quite far away from Rank-5.

　　They went off-topic, but then Li Hansong said, “BMAU’s not weak, they’ve always been straight to the point. Their hesitation this time might be because they want to save some strength for the coming matches.

　　“The most eventful battle will be the one before the top ten’s competition, when the losers fight for the final seat. It should be more exciting.”

　　Fang Ping nodded. “The results of the losers’ bracket would depend on the performance of previously-eliminated Eight School Alliance members and BMAU. The other universities are weaker. BMAU has fewer Rank-4 team members, but the number of Rank-4 members is no longer important during this most important moment.”

　　Li Hansong said, after consideration, “The following matches will be Changjiang Martial Arts University versus Taishan Martial Arts University, Capital Mining Martial Arts University versus DMAU, NMAU versus South Sino University of Science and Technology. Among these six, three will have to enter the losers’ bracket. Also, First Military will be pitted against East Sino, so the latter will probably be relegated to the losers’ bracket as well. If NMAU doesn’t want to be challenged by the schools in the losers’ bracket, Junior Wang will probably have to show his strength.”

　　If NMAU had won against South Sino with only a slight advantage, or if someone on the NMAU team was injured, there was a high possibility they would be challenged by the schools in the losers’ bracket first during the top ten’s competition.

　　Wang Jinyang smiled wordlessly. He would surely give it his all the next day, or else NMAU would definitely be challenged.

　　While they talked, Liu Shijie had defeated three people in a row. He did not stay onstage.

　　The upper-stage Rank-4 martial artist in the SNMAU team went onstage after Liu Shijie. He had practically pulverized the two students from the opposing side (one was at lower-stage Rank-4 and the other Peak Rank-3), and the battle ended quickly soon after.

　　Fang Ping yawned. The difference between different martial arts universities was obvious.

　　The first round was always strong versus weak. The weaker schools did not give their all, too. The battles looked bombastic, but they were boring to Fang Ping and the others.

　　…

　　With the afternoon came the battle between FMS and ESNNU.

　　The latter school was not weak. They had five Rank-4 martial artists in their arsenal. No upper-stage ones, though––three were at middle-stage while the remaining two were lower-stage.

　　But then… The battle was even more boring than those before!

　　Yao Chengjun was the first one up the stage. ESNNU had hyped themselves up a lot before, but they mainly dodged around onstage, avoiding direct hits. They would stay onstage for a minute or two before they took a move to the face and flew out of the arena. They did not even need to shout out their words of surrender.

　　“They’re faking it!”

　　Fang Ping cursed in a low voice after watching two matches. East Sino had thrown away their dignity just to save their strength. Could they not give their all against Yao Chengjun just for a few matches?

　　Five battles have passed. Yao Chengjun defeated the ESNNU team without breaking a sweat.

　　ESNNU had not suffered from much negative criticism, and Yao Chengjun got more famous. Yao Chengjun, third place on the Rank-4 ranking list, had bested five Rank-4 martial artists in a row. That was a bigger achievement compared to Fang Ping’s win against Xishan.

　　There was an uproar for Yao Chengjun being the first place in the ranking.

　　Curious outsiders, who only watched for fun, found him especially strong after seeing his effortless win against those Rank-4 martial artists.

　　That, combined with his current ranking, solidified many people’s opinion that he was the number one Rank-4 martial artist.

　　Fang Ping did not say it out loud, but he said it many times to himself. He absolutely must fight against FMS this time. The first place on the Rank-4 ranking list belonged to him!

　　…

　　December 5th.

　　NMAU would fight against SSUST in the morning, while YMS was slated to fight against ZMAU in the afternoon.

　　Fang Ping went to watch the matches again.

　　The former was the most titillating battle in the first round. As one of the Eight School Alliance schools and one of the old top ten schools, SSUST would definitely not admit defeat easily just to deliberately save their strength.

　　NMAU had Wang Jinyang in their ranks, but he was only one person. Under that circumstance, SSUST had a shot in winning.

　　They had five Rank-4 powerhouses in their team, and the strongest was at upper-stage. This was the source of their confidence.

　　Wang Jinyang had not battled in recent times, and so his name was at the lower part of the ranking list. This was also something that SSUST would seize on.

　　Fang Ping was not the only one who came to watch. Many others did, including people from both the winners’ and losers’ brackets. Almost everyone came.

　　Among the seven martial arts universities, NMAU was the biggest variable.

　　…

　　The battle commenced soon after.

　　Even the number of Grandmasters gathering on the second floor was higher than before.

　　This battle decided if NMAU could get a seat in the top ten. If they lost or achieved victory with difficulty, there would be little hope.

　　“Start!”

　　After the referee’s command, Wang Jinyang’s aura expanded to his limit!

　　As everyone blinked, confused, his changdao seemed to be enlarged infinitely. A ray of light the color of blood flickered into appearance and descended from the sky!

　　Bleurgh!

　　His opponent, the president of SSUST’s Martial Arts Club, an upper-stage Rank-4 powerhouse, almost could not react on time before he was felled with a single hack of his saber. Blood flowed profusely out of his chest and shot out in rivulets!

　　Bang!

　　As his blood ran all over, he suffered a huge blow and flew out, only to land heavily on the ground!

　　Whew!

　　The air in the room became heavier.

　　Many looked on, solemn. Wang Jinyang from NMAU was unexpectedly strong!

　　The upper-stage Rank-4 powerhouse failed to withstand one move and was so heavily injured he could practically say goodbye to this championship.

　　On the second floor, SSUST’s vice-chancellor looked stern.

　　They had indeed underestimated Wang Jinyang somewhat. Wang Jinyang had laid a serious blow in order to establish his reputation. He would do that in the following battles too if everything went as expected. If SSUST continued to compete, they would have to leave the competition early.

　　The second battle proved his inference correct.

　　After the second starter went onstage and the command was sounded, Wang Jinyang’s changdao, once again, swooped down so swiftly it could not be seen, and his opponent ended up like his predecessor. He fell down under the arena in the same manner, his body covered by blood!

　　“He’s very strong!”

　　Fang Ping’s brow furrowed. Wang Jinyang, this mutated martial artist, was indeed much stronger than the average Peak Rank-4 martial artist.

　　He would not need to see this battle to the end. NMAU would definitely win.

　　When one was as strong as Wang Jinyang currently was, the number of Rank-4 martial artists against him made no difference––if they were not powerhouses equally strong.

　　Fang Ping stopped watching when Wang Jinyang felled the third martial artist with one move. There was nothing to see. Their level of skill? That would have to wait until they came across one another to ascertain.

　　Less than three minutes later.

　　The referee shouted loudly, “NMAU wins!”

　　This battle had ended the soonest. Countless people had been making guesses before that. Could NMAU win? Would the battle between the two parties be difficult?

　　The truth told everyone the answer. A Rank-4 martial artist and another were really not the same.