In the next few days, from the 27th of March to the 1st of April, Fang Ping honed his bones and recovered by himself.

　　However, he was only able to complete honing his sternum in those five days.

　　He would need 8 months to reach higher-stage Rank-3 if he went on at this rate.

　　Actually, this was astonishingly fast. By the time those 8 months had passed, it would only be the end of the year.

　　Fang Ping was not satisfied, though. All the martial arts prodigies he knew progressed very fast.

　　Old Wang notwithstanding, Qin Fengqing had already reached Peak Rank-3 when Fang Ping was only at Peak Rank-1 in January ’08. Qin Fengqing achieved Rank-3 last July, and from then till Peak Rank-3, it had only taken him eight months.

　　This included the cultivation period after he had entered Peak Rank-3.

　　Xie Lei had entered Rank-3 in October ’08, and now he was at higher-stage Rank-3. It had only taken him about half a year.

　　Those martial arts prodigies progressed exceptionally fast in this period.

　　Fang Ping was a thrice-honed martial artist, so his speed should not normally have been this slow. He appeared to be progressing slower than Xie Lei; the fellow had probably encountered a stroke of luck.

　　“How do those Rank-5 students cultivate?”

　　Fang Ping was really curious. How on earth did those Rank-5 students do it?

　　Wang Jinyang was almost going to be a junior. Could he enter Rank-5 before his graduation?

　　Maybe he could. However, Fang Ping found it hard to believe that Wang Jinyang could enter Rank-6 before he graduated, though.

　　“They all had opportunities of their own!”

　　Fang Ping exclaimed. He had his system, but the others had wealthy families to support them and other opportunities as well. It was not so easy to pull ahead even if he wanted to.

　　…

　　April 1, Wednesday.

　　Fu Changding scooted next to Fang Ping as soon as Fang Ping entered the classroom. “The Ranking’s refreshed. You’re only on number 18. They’re looking down on you!”

　　Fang Ping turned his head to look at him. Aside from an “Oh” he said nothing else.

　　“You’re not angry?”

　　Fang Ping was not in the mood to entertain him. Would his friend be angrier if he didn’t see Fang Ping on the list next month?

　　He had told Chen Yunxi of his advance to Rank-3, but unlike the others, she was a taciturn soul who did not spread secrets, so no one else knew that he was already at Rank-3.

　　Most of the instructors in MCMAU knew. They were not fond of gossiping, though, which was why Fu Changding and the others all assumed that Fang Ping was still at Rank-2.

　　“Fang Ping, out of the top 20, 6 of them study in MCMAU—aside from you, there are 5 others.

　　“3 of them are in the top 10. Do you want to challenge them and change your Rank?

　　“I know they’ll be joining the special training class as well when the schedule is rearranged…”

　　“Oh.” Fang Ping was non-commital.

　　“I think a showdown is inevitable if we end up in the same class.

　　“When the class monitor is chosen, for example, there’ll be some credits given out. Are you willing to watch them be snatched away from you?”

　　“Mm.” Again Fang Ping did not commit himself.

　　“Fang Ping, does that mean you’ve already prepared to challenge them?” Fu Changding said excitedly, “I’ll bring our classmates along, then, for support…”

　　Fang Ping glanced at Fu Changding. After a moment, he asked,

　　“Why are you so excited about it?”

　　The day had only just started and this fellow was already setting targets up for him. Something was not right.

　　“Uh…”

　　As Fu Changding struggled to find words, Tang Songting said mildly from beside him, “He was challenging people in the Martial Arts Society two days ago and got beaten up by No. 8 on that list, Chen Pengfei.”

　　Fang Ping said in astonishment, “You’re quite brazen. You went to challenge one of the top 10 martial artists in the Rank-2 Ranking?”

　　Rank-2 martial artists had to hone 126 bones in total.

　　Rank-1 martial artists who had honed their lower limbs would have to hone 93 bones in Rank-2 before they could be considered middle-stage martial artists. Those Rank-1s who had honed their upper limbs would have to hone 95 bones in Rank-2 before they could reach middle-stage.

　　Fu Changding had 71 bones honed in mid-February. Less than 50 days had passed since then. He was progressing swiftly and had already honed 88 bones – three days per bone, on average.

　　He was still not at the middle-stage, though… and now he was courting death, challenging a martial artist even stronger than Gu Xiong.

　　Fu Changding said sheepishly, “No such thing, Chow Chow just likes to set me up.”

　　Tang Songting snorted. He hated the nickname that Fu Changding, the as**hole, had given him!

　　“He tried to show off and got his a** handed to him. A few days ago, the vice president of the Martial Arts Society, Qin Fengqing, fought with the president. Qin Fengqing claimed loudly that he was unbeatable among Rank-3 martial artists, that Zhang Yu was only Rank-3, and he would beat Zhang Yu so hard that he would be calling for his daddy.

　　“The result…Vice President Qin had to be carried out of the club.

　　“Fu Changding was there too, and he decided to follow in Vice President Qin’s infamous footsteps, saying that no one in Rank-2 could beat him…

　　“That would have fine but then he said that the Rank-2 Rankings were useless and that they were only for the sake of appearances…well, you know the result.”

　　Fang Ping stared. He asked, incredulously, “And you aren’t dead ?”

　　That was just asking for it!

　　Were these fellows really so reckless now?

　　Fang Ping knew of Qin Fengqing’s claim; he had been there.

　　However, Qin Fengqing was also a Peak Rank-3 martial artist, which is why he had the guts to make such an outrageous claim.

　　Fu Changding was only a lower-stage Rank-2 martial artist. Even if he was set on dying, this was still not the way to go about it, surely?

　　Fu Changding said morosely, “Don’t listen to his lies. Who said that Rank-2 would be unbeatable? I said that I would be when I entered Peak Rank-2…

　　“Those guys completely ignored my three little words, ‘Peak Rank-2’.

　　“And then that Chen Pengfei, he was also in the Martial Arts Society then. Damn it, that bully riled me up intentionally!”

　　Fu Changding huffed indignantly, “One can lose everything but not dignity. Could I possibly leave after that with my tail between my legs? So then we fought!”

　　“You were beaten up. You can’t call it a fight,” Tang Songting jeered.

　　Fu Changding said in exasperation, “Who got beaten up? I landed some hits on him too!”

　　“Yes, aren’t you embarrassed that you got your butt smacked in front of so many people…”

　　“Blrgh!” Fang Ping almost choked to death on his saliva. He asked at once, “What’s with that?”

　　“Shut up!” Fu Changding immediately got flustered.

　　Tang Songting continued with a grin, “Fang Ping, you’ve been elusive these few days, so you wouldn’t know about it. It’s already spread everywhere.

　　“Chen Pengfei knew that he was much stronger than Fu Changding, so he didn’t really want to do much to him.

　　“What’s worse though, Chen Pengfei spanked his a** a few dozen times with the flat of his blade. Didn’t you realize he’s only been practicing holding his stance for the past few days?”

　　Fang Ping immediately bent to look at Fu Changding’s rear, after hearing that.

　　Fu Changding was furious. He glared at Tang Songting vindictively and shifted his hips, ill at ease. He said dryly, “Everything’s settled… I hit him too!”

　　Fang Ping could not help but crack up. He asked, “And now you’re encouraging me to go give him some trouble?”

　　“What do you mean, encourage?” Fu Changding retorted indignantly, “Let me ask you, if they really want to elect a class monitor, will you fight for the position?”

　　“Depends on what I can gain from it.”

　　“And that’s enough. When martial artists see benefits in something, they’ll definitely go for it. Chen Pengfei is ranked No. 8 while you’re at No. 18. Do you think he’ll just relinquish the position to you like that?” Fu Changding argued, “So, you’re already destined to fight him. I was only reminding you of that. It’s nothing personal.”

　　“I might not be able to take him on. Depends on the situation.”

　　Fang Ping did not say anything more. If he were in the higher stage of Rank-3, Chen Pengfei would have to be incredibly foolish to go head to head with him.

　　Right now though Fang Ping was only at the lower stage of Rank-3. If there were indeed any benefits, Chen Pengfei might very well not regard Fang Ping’s Rank-3 abilities as anything to fear.

　　The few of them chatted for a while. Fu Changding was restless. He asked, “Fang Ping, you’re improving way too fast. I have only honed 88 bones now, which means that I need to hone 38 more before I can enter Peak Rank-2. I’ll need at least four months for that. I’ll probably reach my goal in August or September.

　　“I’ll have to wait till the start of the semester to break through into Rank-3…”

　　They were not considered to have achieved three Ranks in a year since they were already martial artists before they entered university.

　　If they entered Rank-3 at the start of next semester, that would only count as having achieved two Ranks in one year.

　　Fu Changding thought his progress extremely slow when compared to Fang Ping.

　　He thought himself slow, but Tang Songting said distantly, “I’ve only honed 75 bones.”

　　He was a lot further from his goal compared to Fu Changding. He would have to wait until the end of the first semester during his sophomore year to enter Peak Rank-2.

　　The difference between once-honed and twice-honed martial artists was slowly becoming evident now. The results were different although they had cultivated in the same manner.

　　Having listened in on their conversation, Zhao Xuemei said abruptly from her seat in the front row, “I’ve only honed 70.”

　　The difference was far greater.

　　Zhao Xuemei was already a martial artist before entering university, and she had already honed a limb. This meant that she had only honed 40 bones in the many days in school.

　　At 40 bones in 7 months, she would need about a year to enter Peak Rank-2.

　　This was typical of an MCMAU elite student—entering Peak Rank-2 at the end of their sophomore year and Rank-3 at the start of their junior year.

　　Those who could enter Rank-3 before their junior year were considered exceptionally good.

　　Those a level lower than Zhao Xuemei and the others, who managed to enter Rank-3 before graduation, were considered good students too.

　　Fu Changding and the few other twice-honed martial artists had a chance to enter Rank-4 before graduation. They were the truly distinguished students.

　　Without Fang Ping, they would not think their progress slow. No one would regard themselves as inferior when they could enter Rank-3 or 4 before their graduation.

　　Now though, they considered themselves to be progressing too slowly.

　　Fang Ping noticed Zhao Xuemei’s dejectedness. He said, somewhat ruefully, “Don’t compare yourselves to me. I’m different from you.

　　“My family’s poor, so I have to be even more excellent…”

　　“Tsk!”

　　The entire group’s expressions turned to scorn. Fu Changding swore, “Say that you’re poor again and we’ll all beat you up!”

　　“Really…”

　　“The instructor’s arrived.”

　　The few of them ended their chat when the instructor entered the room.

　　Fang Ping thought helplessly, ‘I really am poor. Why won’t you believe me?

　　‘I’m poor, so I have to work harder. You all have to understand that.’

　　…

　　The lecture almost put Fang Ping to sleep.

　　The Basics of Martial Arts course was really basic.

　　So much time had passed, yet the instructor talked about practicing the firm stance, honing bones at Rank-1, and the fundamentals of basic combat techniques.

　　Fang Ping felt that he was somehow unfairly excellent. Except for the few of them, the other freshmen were still working hard to get to Rank-1.

　　Truth to tell, they were all prodigies even in the world outside. They would not be in MCMAU otherwise.

　　“It seems I’m already so outstanding.”

　　Fang Ping sighed softly. ‘That really doesn’t give the others a chance. That’s why everyone dislikes me; they’re jealous.’

　　The lecture ended in a sleepy haze.

　　Fang Ping was way more enthusiastic during the afternoon’s Natural Geography course. He was so into it he surprised everyone around him.

　　Fang Ping not only jotted down notes, but he was also proactive in raising his hand to ask the instructor questions.

　　In fact, he had asked questions for half the session.

　　Social sciences were sidelined in martial arts universities. The geography instructor was a martial artist, too, but he was only at lower-stage Rank-2.

　　In MCMAU, only the social sciences instructors would be at that Rank.

　　Most of the time, everyone would be dozing off in this class. The instructor was thrilled to hear Fang Ping’s questions. The two of them chatted so enthusiastically that they almost forgot they were in the middle of class.

　　…

　　“So that’s how simple it is to pinpoint a direction.”

　　Fang Ping felt he had gotten a lot out of the class by the time it ended.

　　It would be fine even if there was no sun.

　　It would be fine even if there was no North Star in the sky.

　　If his compass malfunctioned, even then everything would be fine as well.

　　“I can orient myself just by observing which way the plants grow, their growth density, and also the rings of trees…”

　　Fang Ping felt he had learned a great deal. Fu Changding, who had just come over, asked abruptly, “You don’t have a sense of direction?”

　　“B*llshit!”

　　“You’re scared of getting lost in the Catacombs?”

　　Fang Ping kept quiet.

　　Fu Changding exclaimed in astonishment, “You’re done for. Don’t lose us if we go in, or you’re going to get yourself lost. What the instructor taught us earlier about finding our direction is based on the assumption that there’s a Sun.

　　“Plants follow the direction of sunlight, which is how you orient yourself.

　　“But there’s no sun in the Catacombs. I’ve heard that there’s only a gigantic orb of energy ore down there which is equivalent to the sun.

　　“Although it’s the same as the sun in that it rises and sets, and provides energy for thousands of species to grow…the energy that the ore emits is equally distributed. It means that there’s no side of a plant that faces the dark. All you’ve just learned is useless!”

　　Fang Ping was dumbfounded.

　　Yes, that made sense.

　　Fu Changding gave Fang Ping a sympathetic look. He patted Fang Ping’s shoulder and said pityingly, “Remember, you must move together with us. If you get lost, you won’t be able to find your way back.”

　　A person without a sense of direction would definitely get lost in a place where there were no means to pinpoint direction unless there were some landmarks that could be referred to.

　　Fang Ping gritted his teeth. “I do have a sense of direction. I’m just not so good at navigation! Also, don’t the Catacombs have buildings? What do you mean, no landmarks? That energy “sun”, so to speak, can also be a landmark. There’s no need to worry.”

　　“I hope so. I’m only afraid that ‘sun’ will always be above your head.” Fu Changding’s words came as a blow

　　to Fang Ping; the possibility had not even occurred to him. Realizing that he had taken the matter for granted, he nodded. “I’ll ask what it’s like at night.”

　　If the orb was truly overhead all the time, he would have to be exceptionally careful.

　　Fu Changding grinned after Fang Ping hurried off. “Who would have thought you’d be in such a position now!”

　　He had assumed before that Fang Ping was stronger than him in every way possible, but now it seemed to him that Fang Ping had some weaknesses of his own as well.

　　…

　　That night, the students in the special training class gathered together for the first time.

　　The roster this time differed from the last one in that it now mostly consisted of freshmen and far fewer familiar faces. Most of the class were strangers to Fang Ping and his friends.

　　There were nine people from Fang Ping’s group involved this time—Fang Ping, Zhao Lei, Fu Changding, Yang Xiaoman, Chen Yunxi, Zhao Xuemei, Tang Songting, Li Zhaoxu, and Jin Lei.

　　Out of the 10 people from the previous championship team, Xu Yikai was the one who had not entered Rank-2 yet. He had only just achieved Peak Rank-1 a few days ago.

　　This was related to the severity of the previous injuries the team had suffered. During the championship finals, Xu Yikai held his own against a seriously injured Fang Wenxiang, but he too had suffered heavy injuries in the process. His recovery had taken more time compared to the rest.

　　The remaining 91 people were all from different grades. Fang Ping did not know any of them.

　　He might not, but Fu Changding and the others knew quite a few of them. They were members of the Martial Arts Society; in fact, Fang Ping was the only non-member in the entire group.

　　Jin Lei and the rest had joined the Society after entering Rank-2.

　　According to Fu Changding, 99 of the 100 students were members of the Martial Arts Society.

　　The only outlier was obvious.

　　Fang Ping did not care. He curled his lip. “I’m not going to be anyone’s minion!”

　　Why would he join the club now? If he joined at higher-stage Rank-3 or Peak Rank-3, at worst he would be a vice president. Maybe he could even be the president.

　　Apart from the chance to be a pawn under the name of the Martial Arts Society, what other benefits would joining up yield?

　　Fu Changding and the others had joined long ago, but they had only gotten three normal Vitality Pills in the course of seven months. They had to do uncredited work for the Society sometimes as well.

　　These tasks included refereeing for battles between students, campus maintenance, daily patrols…there was a lot to do, and they had to attend meetings on top of it.

　　Although Fang Ping liked free benefits, this sort of effort was too much for him. He might as well cultivate in peace.

　　“We’d like you to become the president immediately…pity there’s no way to do that.”

　　“There might be.”

　　Fang Ping wondered if he could tire Zhang Yu out with his excessive Vitality after he reached Peak Rank-3. If he won, he could be the president for a while. It might be doable.

　　Yang Xiaoman said, exasperated, “Talk about being the president only after you defeat Qin Fengqing, He wanted to be the president too, but no one’s seen him for a few days. He’s probably still recovering.”

　　“Eventually.”

　　“When’s ‘eventually’? Qin Fengqing will be a senior next semester. Are you going to wait until he graduates?” Yang Xiaoman retorted.

　　Fang Ping disregarded her words. How could a common person read the mind of a great man?

　　His goal was not to defeat Qin Fengqing, it was to become a Grandmaster. Even Old Wang was merely an afterthought.