Chapter 311: Ephemeral

　　The South Area.

　　The Energy Room.

　　…

　　In the atrium.

　　While Song Yingji helped a student through her application, he could not help but turn his gaze toward the innermost room through the tunnel.

　　“That kid has been in for four days. He’s really putting everything down this time.”

　　He thought back to several days ago when someone entered the door, his arrogant bearing and bragging of his ample wealth.

　　“Old Song, give me a VIP room. Deduct 1500 credits off my account first, I’ll pay you back later if they’re not enough!”

　　He looked and sounded so arrogant that Song Yingji wanted to bash him in.

　　Ten credits were required for one hour in the Energy Room.

　　That was the normal rate. The VIP rooms Fang Ping mentioned do exist. They were exclusively for instructors–or middle-ranked martial artists, it should be said–to cultivate in, though.

　　The energy stones incinerated in the normal rooms were those of the lowest purity.

　　The stones used in the VIP rooms were purer but not as high as 90%. If stones of such purity existed, they could be absorbed into the human body directly instead of being used during the cultivation process.

　　The room Fang Ping had booked had a rate of 20 credits per hour.

　　Four days had passed. The time he had paid for with his 1500 credits was almost up.

　　“If I stop his energy supply now, this kid will definitely make life hard for me when he reaches Rank-6…”

　　Song Yingji shook his head, smiling wistfully. Fang Ping’s time was up.

　　If he had cut off his energy supply this moment and interrupted his cultivation, this guy, judging from his personality, would definitely seek revenge against Song Yingji. Even Tang Feng had been the object of his wrath countless times, as well as his daughter.

　　“I’m only afraid that… This kid would stay for who knows how long and not own up to anything when he comes out.”

　　Song Yingji did not know what to think. Would the kid not pay his debts?

　　He had certainly looked wealthy the time he had first come several days ago. Song Yingji, too, had thought that 1500 credits were quite a lot. He did not expect Fang Ping to hole himself inside the Energy Room for days, though.

　　As his mind wandered, him standing in boredom, Fu Changding, and some other kids walked in.

　　“Instructor Song, he isn’t out yet?”

　　“Nope.”

　　Fu Changding said wearily, “The National Rank-1 Championship will be commencing soon. We’re waiting for him to hold the opening ceremony.”

　　Fang Ping had always been the sole force pushing the National Rank-1 Championship. The two vice-chancellors did not have any hand in it, as with Tang Feng and other instructors.

　　Now the Martial Arts Society was the sole organizer of the championship. If the president Fang Ping did not appear, the Society would be in a difficult position.

　　Liang Fenghua was the only vice president on campus out of the five presidents, but he was not willing to show up in this manner and unwilling to steal Fang Ping’s glory, so everyone could only wait till Fang Ping was finished with his cultivation.

　　On the topic of the National Rank-1 Championship, Song Yingji asked, “How many people have signed up?”

　　He was quite curious about that.

　　Fu Changding said, still surprised, “Completely out of our expectations. Even I was shocked. The only criteria we set for the contestants is that they must be Rank-1 martial artists. There are no other requirements. Due to that, more than 30 thousand people have signed up since the end of last month!”

　　“More than 30 thousand?”

　　Song Yingji froze. “That many?”

　　The contestants were martial artists, not average civilians! Most martial artists had their own jobs. The Championship was obviously going to span a long period of time, but so many people had signed up despite that.

　　Fu Changding grimaced. “You don’t say. We didn’t expect anything like that to happen. Many martial artists have piled up into Magic City. The municipal government has asked us to hold it immediately. They’ll file a ban if we don’t proceed with the event immediately.”

　　Tens of thousands of martial artists were flocking into Magic City. Them, plus the already substantial number of martial artists in Magic City…

　　Magic City was probably housing the largest martial artist cluster worldwide right now.

　　The municipal government dared not give them more time to prepare. If this continued, the people flocking into Magic City would increase, to the extent of a hundred thousand martial artists.

　　Add in their relatives and other martial artists coming to watch, there might be more.

　　The municipal government would have themselves a headache-inducing problem when that time came.

　　Song Yingji did not mind the ban that much. He asked, “With so many people, the championship won’t be easy to organize, and the venue…”

　　“The municipal government has agreed to rent the stadium to us for free, and we’ve also rented some other venues. The qualifiers don’t need to be too formal. We’ll hold qualifiers for half a month, and only the winners will advance to the second round.

　　“MCMAU only has to hold the battles between the top 100 contestants.”

　　Fu Changding smiled. “It will decide who’s going to be the top 100 Rank-1 martial artists in the nation. If the ranking is acknowledged, so is the MCMAU-organized Rank-1 Championship. Fang Ping has said that he wants to hold Rank-2 and 3 Championships too next semester…”

　　“This kid…”

　　Song Yingji shook his head with a chuckle. “This president’s being so good at his job, he’s taking over governmental tasks.”

　　Refurbishing the lower three ranks’ ranking lists, shaping the championship he was organizing into one that would decide the nation’s top 100… As the person behind this championship, Fang Ping had large ambitions.

　　If everything happened as he had wished, MCMAU’s reputation would be enhanced by the day. Surpassing the ancient, established CCMAU also would also seem much more plausible.

　　Whether all that would happen would depend on the aftermath of the championship, though.

　　Fu Changding laughed as well. “After Fang Ping stepped up to be president, MCMAU students are busier than ever. Chen Yunxi has led a team to South Capital Martial Arts University. Their students are on the verge of tears.

　　“Zhang Chao led one to Beijiang Martial Arts University, and Huang Qiao to Donglin Martial Arts University…

　　“MCMAU students are everywhere in the nation right now.”

　　“Why are you not headed to CCMAU?”

　　Song Yingji asked, a smile on his face. Fu Changding’s grandfather was high up in CCMAU’s ranks. He was not a Grandmaster yet, but he was one of the most respected in the school, given that Grandmasters were exceptionally rare anyway.

　　Fu Changding shook his head. “Fang Ping said that Rank-3 students are not enough to fight against CCMAU. He’ll form a Rank-4 team when the time comes.

　　“Or he won’t need to. Everyone will meet during the Martial Arts University championship, anyway.

　　“Now the Rank-4 martial artists are all busy honing their skills. They can’t make time to battle outside of campus for now.”

　　Fang Ping was against martial artists in the lower three ranks going down to the Catacombs. Without that, friendly battles were also a good way to strengthen one’s skills.

　　Rank-4 martial artists could not only go down to the Catacombs, but there was also a championship tournament at the end of the year for them to take part in. That was why Fang Ping did not restrict Rank-4 students that much.

　　Song Yingji asked again, as he was bored anyway, “How many Rank-3 students are there? There are quite a lot of new Rank-3 students coming down to the Energy Room, I’ve observed.”

　　“We’ve just done a headcount two days ago. There are now 78 Rank-3 students. We also have two more Rank-4 students–we’re at 11 now.”

　　Fu Changding continued. “There’s been a good increase of Rank-2 students. There were only about 500 of them, but quite a lot of students have broken through to Rank-2 recently. According to recent statistics, we’re at close to 800 students.”

　　“There’s so many already?”

　　Song Yingji appeared to be slightly surprised. There had been only about 500 not long ago!

　　“Credits are easier to acquire now, we have the credit loaning system in place, and now that Fang Ping’s… Abusing the Rank-1 students, everyone’s giving their all so that they can advance to Rank-2.”

　　The word “abuse”, said by Fu Changding, cracked Song Yingji up.

　　Fang Ping did not shower too much attention on the aspiring martial artists and the Rank-2 and 3 students.

　　The most unfortunate bunch was the Rank-1 martial artists, who incidentally were also the majority of the school’s students. There were almost 4000 of them.

　　The two men chatted for a while before Fu Changding looked at the time. “Instructor, I’ll take my leave now. If he comes out of isolation, please inform him of the current happenings on my behalf.”

　　“Sure.”

　　“…”

　　After Fu Changding’s exit, Song Yingji turned toward the room inside the tunnel once again. The kid would not be thinking of honing the entire heart in one go, would he?

　　That was not easy!

　　Out of the countless geniuses in Sino Nation, all of them had been at Rank-4 for a long time, without exception.

　　…

　　Just as Song Yingji was guessing what Fang Ping was doing…

　　In the cultivation room, Fang Ping was focusing all his attention on moving a blood vessel from inside the heart carefully.

　　This was a difficult task. Every time he restructured the heart, he had to muster all his focus.

　　Not much of his Vitality was used

　　He was in the Energy Room, too, so his Vitality could be filled to full capacity without his replenishing it.

　　The process was taking a toll on his Mentality, though.

　　It was precisely because of his strong Mentality that he could persevere even after cultivating for days without rest.

　　“I’ve dissolved the membrane between the left atrium and left ventricle. I don’t think I’m considered a human anymore…”

　　Fang Ping muttered while wiping his sweat.

　　Were there human hearts that looked like this?

　　Human hearts had two atriums and two ventricles. Now his left atrium and left ventricle had become one.

　　After dissolving the membrane between the two chambers, Fang Ping felt his Vitality flowing faster. The average human could not withstand such a swift flow.

　　If one who attempted this was really an average human, he would have died of blood backflow.

　　For martial artists, though, an unrestricted flow was actually better for cultivation.

　　“Next, I’ll shatter the membrane between the right atrium and right ventricle, turning four chambers into two chambers, and unite the two chambers into one, turning the heart into an empty container. Lastly, I’ll construct a wide energy tunnel myself.”

　　Fang Ping was actually progressing quite fast, what with his dissolving of one membrane. He had already walked one-quarter of the path toward upper-stage Rank-4.

　　He was still a good distance away from the complete honing of the heart, the mark of upper-stage Rank-4, though.

　　“Now I know why Wang Jinyang and the others spent so much time on this stage.

　　“After I complete the honing of the heart, I might be able to enter Peak Rank-4 and catch up to Old Wang in a short time.”

　　Fang Ping was not that far away from Wang Jinyang right now, he thought.

　　One was at Peak Rank-4 while the other was at middle-stage Rank-4. The difference was not as big as he had thought it to be.

　　“Go on. This time I have to unite the four chambers at least. I won’t go out otherwise!”

　　Fang Ping summoned his determination. He would put his all in it and complete the process in one go!

　　He had spent too many credits and even that seemed to be not enough, but Fang Ping put it out of his mind for now. He would deal with it after he was out. Also, Old Song owed him a fair bit of money; he could ask him to pitch some in when the time came.

　　…

　　At the same time.

　　NMAU.

　　More than a hundred students packed up and got ready to depart toward Magic City.

　　Wang Jinyang appeared serious. “Although this is only a championship, NMAU must give their all! Everyone, there’s not much time left for us, or you!

　　“If you’ve entered Rank-3, that’s fine. There are many opportunities for you.

　　“If you’re not there yet, you have too few opportunities. NMAU isn’t a renowned martial arts university. There is much we lack.

　　“If MCMAU’s willing to shell out money and resources and offer prizes for the top 100 martial artists, then we should seize every chance we have to become stronger!”

　　The National Rank-1 Championship MCMAU was holding was now the biggest championship nationwide. It was also the one that attracted the most attention.

　　Since ancient times, in the martial arts, one’s rank is of vital importance.

　　Many martial artists were concerned about the ranking and the fight for a place on the list.

　　At the same time, the awards offered for martial artists who had gotten on the ranking list was also something that everyone had their eyes on.

　　MCMAU was wealthy indeed. All martial artists who succeeded in getting into the top 100 would be awarded a Rank-2 Vitality Pill and a Rank-2 Bone-honing Pill, which cost about 1.5 million yuan total on the market.

　　On this alone, MCMAU had spent 150 million.

　　The top ten, top three, and first place all would receive prizes which cost up to 200 million yuan in total.

　　To Rank-1 martial artists, they were solid prizes. As long as one got into the top 100, they would have the pills they needed to break through into Rank-2. The Viscera-shielding Pill was optional; not all feared pain, unlike Fang Ping.

　　If one got into the top 10, they would be awarded one of those too. The top three would be awarded a D-grade alloy weapon.

　　The first place would not only be rewarded pills and a weapon, but he would also have the chance to cultivate in MCMAU’s Energy Room.

　　The eyes of countless Rank-1 martial artists glinted with longing at the sight of the prizes.

　　Insiders knew that MCMAU would definitely profit a lot this time, despite appearances. Those expenses were nothing; the supposed hundreds of millions spent were the market price.

　　The pills and weapons were all provided by MCMAU at their cost prices, which was one-third the market price.

　　The MCMAU Martial Arts Society had liaised with the school for the rights to acquire them at their cost prices. They had spent only about 100 million.

　　This was MCMAU’s advantage. Other schools could not do this.

　　Although many schools wanted to hold a championship, they were unable to spend hundreds of millions in expenses, and they were unsure if the championships they had organized would garner attention.

　　“We must win!”

　　The NMAU troupe shouted in unison. Wang Jinyang said nothing more. He nodded slightly. The martial artist leading the team led the students to the buses waiting.

　　It was only after their departure that Wang Jinyang whispered, “Is MCMAU plotting to rule over all martial arts universities?”

　　Gu Xiong, the newly appointed vice president of the NMAU Martial Arts Society, said heavily, “Not necessarily MCMAU. I think it’s Fang Ping who wants to. President, has CCMAU reacted to this?”

　　“No.”

　　Wang Jinyang shook his head. He said, after some consideration, “If nothing else goes wrong, CCMAU will bare their fangs during the Martial Arts University Championship at the end of the year. If they defeat MCMAU–after what MCMAU has done now to push their reputation to its peak–MCMAU will fall, and the higher the peak, the more painful the fall.

　　“If Fang Ping doesn’t defeat Li Hansong now, all his hard work at the early stages will amount to nothing.”

　　Skill was what everyone looked at when martial artists were concerned.

　　No matter how flashy one’s orchestrations were, they were nothing if he did not have the skill to back them up.

　　CCMAU was keeping mum while MCMAU was out there spreading their name, but it did not mean that they did not care.

　　Li Hansong was a man who preferred to cut to the chase.

　　If CCMAU defeated MCMAU in an overwhelming victory during the year-end championship, MCMAU’s prosperity right now would not last for long.

　　The rights to produce pills and weapons that MCMAU held were based on MCMAU’s excellent faculty and students.

　　The foundation of a school was its students. If they were not strong enough, it meant that the education they had was inadequate. If that was so, the school had no right to ask for more resources.

　　If they were really defeated, their rights might be taken back.

　　“How about us here in NMAU?”

　　Wang Jinyang sighed softly. “We’ll have to wait and see. We still don’t know when the Nanjiang Catacomb will open. We’ll have to see if it opens before or after the championship. If it opens after, I’ll take part in the championship. If it opens before, NMAU won’t participate.”

　　Gu Xiong said regretfully, “Pity that President’s the only Rank-4 student in NMAU, or else…”

　　“This time, maybe all schools will participate individually,”

　　Wang Jinyang said. Something in Gu Xiong’s eyes flickered. “Who can match the Big Two?”

　　“They might not be the winners. Both CCMAU and MCMAU have Rank-4 students, but not Rank-5 students. The universities in the Eight School Alliance might be able to form a Rank-4 team themselves. Also, one is already enough when he’s strong!”

　　Wang Jinyang’s aura changed when he spoke. He was obviously not talking about the ESA, but himself.

　　If the universities really had to participate on an individual basis this time, NMAU would not need to fear, not with him here.

　　The crux was the time the Nanjiang Catacomb would open.

　　“I hope that the Catacomb will open later… I want to try too. If we, an average martial arts university, defeat the Big Two and get first place, how much will we reap the next year?”

　　Currently, NMAU received a subsidy less than one-tenth of CCMAU or MCMAU’s.

　　About 50000 million.

　　If they had really defeated the Big Two, the education subsidy given to them would at least double in amount, other subsidies notwithstanding.

　　Average martial artists could only rise by stepping on the shoulders of other more renowned schools.

　　“MCMAU did that in the past. NMAU could, too.”

　　Wang Jinyang said this in his mind.

　　He looked afar, to where Ruian was. Wang Jinyang could only hope that the Catacomb opened later, at least until he had finished leading NMAU’s team to fight in the year-end championship.