Chapter 203: Old Man Li Who Almost Became a Grand Master

　　Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

　　Logistics department.

　　Fang Ping probed around sneakily for a moment. Old Man Li held his head, unsure of whether to smile or not. “Lie on the floor and crawl in. I’ll pretend not to see you.”

　　Fang Ping smiled dryly. “I desperately needed money the last time…”

　　“So you lied to me?”

　　“I didn’t mean it that way, I just thought…”

　　“That’s enough, stop spouting nonsense. Tell me, what are you doing here?”

　　“Teacher, I have credits now. I just retrieved 1180 points!”

　　Fang Ping’s face was filled with pride, this was the most credits he had ever accumulated.

　　Aside for tonight, Fang Ping had collected all the credits over the past 18 days.

　　“You’re rich now huh? Fine, tell me, what do you want to buy?”

　　“60 Rank-2 Vitality Pills.”

　　Old Man Li gave him a surprised look and asked, “Are you sure you want Rank-2 pills?”

　　“Yes.”

　　The difference in wealth points earned from Rank-2 Vitality Pills was not that far off as compared to normal Vitality Pills. It was possibly even more.

　　However, Rank-2 pills were not very popular and were difficult to sell.

　　That was in the past, things were different now. Chen Yunxi, Fu Changding, and all those other people were Rank-2 now. When they were in desperate need of Vitality Pills, Rank-2 pills sold well.

　　In the past, when everyone was Rank-1, the Normal Vitality Pill that Fang Ping had exchanged for almost did not get sold. Herein was the proof.

　　Thus, he had to improve by following the trends that changed over time and adjust to the needs of the customers.

　　“59 pills.”

　　Fang Ping was speechless before exclaiming, “Teacher, I did not ask you to take special care of me this time. I have exchanged more than a thousand credits, so it’s not too much to ask you to give me just one more pill for free, is it?”

　　This time he did not dare to continue blabbering or try to continue lying to the old man.

　　The old man had not been in a good mood lately, so Fang Ping did not dare to push him.

　　Having said that, he had more than a thousand points and was only missing 20 points. He could not believe that the old man would not even overlook this.

　　Old Man Li huffed, but he did not say anything. He retrieved 60 Vitality Pills and tossed them at Fang Ping. “If this happens again, I’ll break your leg!”

　　Fang Ping smiled cheekily. The old man was old and was just looking for entertainment.

　　“You said you’d give it to your club members, but if you just turn around and sell it instead, then you would be unjust! How can you spout such nonsense when you’re not exactly a saint yourself?!”

　　Old Man Li seemed a bit angry. Then, Fang Ping continued, somewhat embarrassed, “Teacher, I’m short on resources now. Rest assured, when I’m a bit more generous then I’ll definitely give it to them. When I’m stronger, I can earn more.”

　　“Get lost!”

　　Fang Ping quickly scurried away. The last time he was there, he almost offended the old man. This old man was at least a Rank-5 or 6 and was even one of the strongest of the peak Rank-6s.

　　He controlled the logistics department, and not just the exchange office either. If Fang Ping offended him, then he would be in big trouble.

　　…

　　Once the pills had been exchanged, the credits gave Fang Ping 23.8 million wealth points. The pill exchange gave him a difference in points of 6.2 million. Now, it stood at exactly 30 million wealth points.

　　At that moment, Fang Ping’s wealth points skyrocketed again.

　　Wealth: 49 million

　　Vitality: 600cal (639cal)

　　Mentality: 440Hz (459Hz)

　　Bone-honing: 132 pieces (90%), 74 pieces (30%)

　　‘Until now, I’ve only honed 6 bones. On average, it takes about 900 thousand wealth points to hone a piece of your skeleton. For now, when you hone a piece of bone, the increase in Vitality is capped at nearly 10cal.

　　‘There are 45 pieces of the torso left …’

　　Fang Ping did a quick calculation. There were still 19 pieces left in order to complete the bone-honing of the ribcage. Honing the whole system would require 34.2 million wealth points.

　　‘After I finish honing the ribcage, I can finally reach the middle stage of Rank-3. Now, I have enough wealth points to start honing the spine.’In terms of cash, I haven’t been using it lately, so I still have 14.6 million. After selling this batch of pills, I will have about 50 million.’

　　‘I could try buying some pills to help with the body-honing, then I can reach the middle stage quickly.’

　　…

　　With his head full of thoughts, Fang Ping ran straight toward the dormitory again.

　　He had originally intended to find Chen Yunxi, but after contemplating for a while, he recalled that Bai Ruoxi had recently been injured. Seeing that she had also been affected by the incident, he decided that now was not a good time to go over.

　　He decided not to look for Chen Yunxi and instead headed straight to where Zhao Lei was.

　　Zhao Lei was also a rich owner.

　　…

　　“You’re selling it to me?”

　　Zhao Lei frowned slightly. He looked at Fang Ping and asked, “You’re not honing yourself?”

　　“I use Rank-3 ones.”

　　“But you exchanged for Rank-2 pills?” Zhao Lei was speechless.

　　“I did it so I could sell them. Aren’t you guys using Rank-2 pills? The market price is 700,000 for one pill. I’m selling this batch for 42 million. I’ll even give you a 10% discount, so just 38 million is fine.”

　　Zhao Lei was too lazy to bother with the discussion. He continued reading his book as he replied, “I can’t afford it.”

　　“Your father is a Rank-5, and you’re saying you can’t afford just a few of these pills?”

　　“So, you know my father is a Rank-5 as well. Since you already know this, then tell me why exactly I should buy them. I have enough credits of my own, and my dad supported me with some pills as well. Other than me, no one else in this family is a Rank-2 martial artist, so one else can use the pills, understood?”

　　Fang Ping suddenly felt helpless. Zhao Lei was not wrong.

　　He could use his own credits to get some pills, while his family also supported him with some. Without any other Rank-2 martial artists, there would be no need for Rank-2 Vitality Pills.

　　Normal ones, however, could be used for the daily restoration of Vitality.

　　If Rank-2 pills were used for daily restoration, it would be a waste of money.

　　“Then buy 20 pills?”

　　Zhao Lei’s head hurt slightly. He said, “The market price for Rank-2 pills is exorbitantly high. Do you think I’m a fool? 20 credits. I can use 600,000 to buy 20 credits myself. Why should I buy it from you at a higher price? Fang Ping, were you just trying to show off, thinking we did not know how to figure out the calculations ourselves? Normal Rank-1 pills can be put up for discussion, but you’re using the market price of Rank-2 pills to unsettle people. Do you have no shame?”

　　Fang Ping suddenly had a moment of revelation. He gulped. “I forgot.”

　　He kept thinking that Rank-2’s market price was 700,000, so even after a 10% discount, it would still cost 630,000. It just dawned upon him that the prices of Rank-2 pills were indeed extortionately high!

　　In MCMAU, even if you had no credits, all you had to do was spend 600,000 to exchange for a pill.

　　As such, only a fool would buy one at a higher price.

　　This was different from normal and Rank-1 pills.

　　“I forgot…” Fang Ping’s face turned a bit green. Because of the Rank-2 Vitality Pills, the system had already awarded itself with 500,000 wealth points.

　　This meant that if he sold it for anything below 500,000, he would not even have to think about earning a single wealth point.

　　However, with a value of 600,000, asking for anything above 500,000 should be fine right?

　　“Then…550,000?”

　　“I’ll take it for 500,000, nothing more.”

　　“In your dreams!”

　　Fang Ping huffed before turning away and walking off. This bastard! To think that he was trying to drag it to such a low price.

　　…

　　Fang Ping spent the afternoon peddling the Rank-2 Vitality Pills. He even headed to where Lao Sheng was.

　　With some difficulty, he finally sold them at 520,000. Fang Ping sighed, he had only earned 1.2 million wealth points this time.

　　In terms of cash, he only had 31.2 million. It was not as high as the value of the credits.

　　He had 1180 credits. After including the extra pill Old Man Li gave him, he had 1200 credits. Usually, he would be able to earn more than 36 million.

　　‘What a huge loss!

　　‘I must be stupid! Why did I think of exchanging for Rank-2 pills?’

　　Fang Ping was in agony over his carelessness, he had lost 5 million in one fell swoop. To make matters worse, he had even lost a considerable amount of wealth points in the process.

　　If he had instead exchanged it for 400 Normal Vitality Pills, he would have had a value of at least 35 million.

　　“This is the first time I’ve experienced such a huge loss. Really, what a loss!”

　　Losing five million was already quite painful, but he had even lost 5 million wealth points alongside that.

　　As a result, he had lost tens of millions in one fell swoop.

　　This was the first time Fang Ping had made such a huge loss from reselling pills.

　　“I’m really stupid!

　　“No wonder I felt something was off. I was too short-sighted and was blindsided by my recent success.

　　“I have to reflect upon myself!

　　“This shouldn’t be the case. I can’t believe the other group of martial artists had brains.”

　　What hurt him the most was the fact that everyone had brains and was capable of calculating the value on their own.

　　After all, martial artists were supposed to be as dumb as lions.

　　He did not think that they would have figured out that you could exchange 600,000 for 20 credits, then exchange the credits for the pills instead of buying them at the market price.

　　It was the same situation for the normal Vitality Pills as well. 3 credits were 90,000. Previously, when Fu Changding and the others had requested a 12% discount, Fang Ping still managed to earn a small profit. However, at 90,000, it was already a bad price.

　　“No wonder whenever I asked for 90,000, no one wanted to buy it anymore.”

　　At 90,000, it already cost the same as if they were to buy the pills at school. The only reason no one complained was that the pills Fang Ping sold did not cost more than that.

　　However, with a 12% discount, it was considered to be cheaper than buying the pills at school.

　　As for the ones he sold to Chen Yunxi… it seemed to be less than a 10% discount.

　　“The plan failed.”

　　Fang Ping reflected on himself for a bit, then decided to stop thinking about it. Every mistake made was a lesson in disguise, so he just had to be more cautious next time.

　　Even so, the situation was not that bad. After all, it was the first time his wealth credits had exceeded the 50 million mark and reached 50.2 million.

　　‘It’s time to carry out the task given by the teacher. It’s a good thing I still have 1000 credits.’

　　At that thought, Fang Ping suddenly pulled out the scroll he was holding in his arms.

　　‘Couldn’t they have just given me a photo? Why did they just give this thing instead?’

　　Fang Ping muttered and opened the scroll to take a look.

　　He furrowed his brows. ‘So handsome?

　　‘No, it’s a girl…?’

　　Looking at the drawing of a handsome guy with long hair, Fang Ping was suddenly unsure of the person’s gender.

　　‘It’s a guy?

　　‘It’s a guy with long hair…’

　　Fang Ping suddenly had a bad feeling and immediately rushed to the logistics department.

　　…

　　“You have credits again?”

　　“No, teacher, I just lost a lot of money. Forget it, we can talk about that later.”

　　Fang Ping did not beat around the bush and unfurled the scroll to show him the drawing. “Teacher, do you know this person?”

　　Old Man Li looked at it, then gave Fang Ping a strange look and replied plainly, “Lu Fengrou gave this to you?”

　　“Yes.”

　　“1000 credits, and you accepted it just like that?”

　　Fang Ping’s expression paled as he nodded. “Yes, I accepted it.”

　　“Heh heh.”

　　“Teacher, do you know this person?”

　　“Yes, I do.”

　　Old Man Li yawned. “Not only is he an enemy of Lu Fengrou, but he is also an enemy of mine, and many others. He is the city lord of Sky Gate City, a Rank-9. It’s nothing. Once you reach Rank-9, just kill him, that’s all. You have to kill him sooner or later anyway.”

　　“He’s a Rank-9 Grand Master?” Fang Ping’s face turned pale.

　　‘I accepted a task involving a Rank-9 Grand Master, and I only asked for 1000 credits!’

　　“Wrong, he’s a Rank-9, but he’s not a Grand Master,” Old Man Li corrected him.

　　Calling someone a Grand Master was a compliment due to how much blood, sweat, and tears those people sacrificed for the sake of humanity.

　　As for the creatures from the Catacombs, you could only call them a Rank-9.

　　“Rank-9!”

　　Fang Ping suddenly knew that Lu Fengrou was not talking about a Master or a Grand Master!

　　“The city lord of Sky Gate City is a Rank-9?”

　　“That’s right.”

　　“Then…there are stronger people in the Catacombs?”

　　“Most of them are probably considered around Rank-9. After all, Commander Li did not lose when he fought his opponent, so they are probably just a bit beyond Rank-9. The city lord of Sky Gate City is only considered a lower-ranked Rank-9. Young man, I’ve got a good feeling about you. You have hope.”

　　Old Man Li gave him some words of encouragement. However, whether or not Fang Ping could kill his opponent…

　　Old Man Li did not care about that. How many more years would it be till Fang Ping reached Rank-9?

　　10 years?

　　20 years?

　　30 years?

　　It was hard to tell.

　　Rank-3 would be a challenge.

　　Getting to peak Rank-3 would be an even bigger challenge!

　　Even if he were to reach Rank-7, it would not happen overnight.

　　Would the Sky Gate city lord still be alive a few decades later?

　　Would the Earth still even exist?

　　Who knows!

　　Lu Fengrou said to look after Fang Ping, and it was not like he could not do it. However, perhaps…perhaps he also had a trace of hope.

　　Fang Ping’s mental strength exceeded that of ordinary people, so perhaps he could become a Grand Master very quickly,

　　However, the chances of that happening seemed neigh impossible. It was even a bit hard for Lu Fengrou to believe.

　　Fang Ping balked. ‘In any case, I’ve accepted the task. I think I can also reach Rank-9 very soon! It’s not like I’ve had another big loss, is it?’

　　As with regards to the matter of him reaching Rank-9, it seemed to him like it was a given. God put him here to save the world after all.

　　What he was considering now was different from the others. It was not whether he could reach Rank-9, but rather, the fact that once he reaches Rank-9, Lu Fengrou would have only spent 1000 credits to hire a powerful Rank-9 martial artist. What a huge gain!

　　“Good eye! How admirable, he has such amazing taste to invest in me beforehand. I do have to admire him for that.”

　　Fang Ping admired Lu Fengrou. His mentor truly had a good eye.

　　“He actually saw that I was about to reach Rank-9 soon!”

　　Old Man Li glanced at him as his face twitched. ‘How thick-skinned could this boy be?’

　　‘Do you really think reaching Rank-9 is as easy as you say?’

　　“Never mind you bastard. Oh right, if you meet him before Rank-9, you’ll definitely die. So pray that you aren’t that unlucky.”

　　Fang Ping looked at him in confusion. “You said he was your enemy…”

　　“What’s that got to do with you?”

　　“Is the reason you’re old because…”

　　Fang Ping was shocked. Was Old Man Li once a powerful Rank-9? But because of that battle with his opponent, he sustained serious injuries…

　　Images flashed through his mind. Some were tragic, some were of Old Man Li screaming into the distance after being defeated…

　　“Heh heh, you think I’m a Rank-9?” Old Man Li relished the thought. “If I were a Rank-9, it wouldn’t even matter if I were powerless, the Principal and the rest would still treat me like a treasure. Do you think they’d let me waste my time here with you brats? Idiot!”

　　Old Man Li suddenly changed his tone, as if he were mocking himself. “But then again, I was almost there. Just a little bit more, then I would’ve reached Rank-9.”

　　“A peak Rank-8!” Fang Ping exclaimed in shock.

　　“A peak Rank-6. I was almost there.” Old Man Li sighed. “I almost became a Master. If I’d become a Master, I think I could have gotten to Rank-9 in no time. What do you say, don’t you think I was close?”

　　“It’s such a pity that you didn’t become a master…”

　　This time, Old Man Li was not joking. He did feel a twinge of regret.

　　What he said earlier was probably not said in jest either. There were some genuinely huge barriers to becoming a Master.

　　If he had broken through that barrier, it would not have been impossible for him to reach Rank-9.

　　It was a shame that he had been stuck at the peak of Rank-6 for many years that he had already lost the will to fight. At this point, he was retiring.

　　“Peak Rank-6…” Fang Ping felt relieved, but also somewhat regretful. Thus, he assured Old Man Li, “Teacher, maybe you’ll awaken one day and become a Master.”

　　“Nonsense!”

　　The old man laughed. “Do you think a master is a Chinese cabbage? If an old man like me were to become a Master and live a few more decades, I’d still need to have a sudden burst of hot-blooded spirit and go through relentlessly arduous battles. It’s a pity it didn’t happen when I was young! If only I became a Master back then…would I…”

　　Old Man Li suddenly became a bit agitated. With a sudden wave of his hand, he dismissively said, “Get lost! Don’t come here to annoy me!”

　　Fang Ping saw that he was in a bad mood. As such, he decided against spouting any more nonsense and left quickly.

　　The moment he left, Old Man Li sighed. “I’m an old man now. If I’m still alive in a few years, then I should probably enter the Catacombs too.”

　　At this age, if he suddenly wanted to enter the Catacombs after such a long time, it would have a whole other meaning.

　　Even if death was fast approaching, Old Man Li would still slay him heartily. After all, how could a strong martial artist like him die on the sickbed!?