Prosperity Building.

　　Fang Ping walked straight into the company.

　　This time, Distance finally had a proper receptionist desk. When Fang Ping came in, the new office staff did not recognize him. Fang Ping was just about to be stopped when Li Chengze walked out to meet him.

　　“Mr. Fang…”

　　“Let’s talk inside.”

　　Fang Ping did not stop and entered Li Chengze’s office.

　　Once they have entered the office, one of the staff at the office area asked in a soft voice, “That guy earlier must be our old general manager, right?”

　　“Yes. He’s the one. Genius in MCMAU. The champion in the last National Championship.

　　“Last time, Rising East Company was acquired by us because General Manager Fang had defeated Rising East’s old general manager.

　　“General Manager Fang was only Rank-1 last time. I heard that he is already Rank-2 now.”

　　“Rank-2?” Someone said suddenly. Their company’s general manager was surprisingly young. He had not even finished his freshman year yet.

　　“General Manager Fang does not come here often. However, our company has not made much profit all this time… I wonder if General Manager Fang is here to…”

　　Some of the employees were slightly worried though some were more confident. “It’s fine. We will earn some money sooner or later.

　　“General Manager Fang has a good reputation, especially in MCMAU where his network is doing great. The e-commerce platform that we started previously is being adopted by the MCMAU for internal use.

　　“Think about it, guys. Without a good reputation, would MCMAU use our platform?

　　“Obviously, General Manager Fang does not only focus on short-range goals…”

　　Even though a few of them were speaking, their voices were extremely soft, as if afraid to make a noise. All of their gazes were fixed on Li Chengze’s office.

　　…

　　In the office.

　　Fang Ping took a look at the information and said after a moment, “Already expanded to Southern Contribution District?”

　　“Yes. The branch placement for food delivery platform and express delivery points has taken place in the Southern Contribution District.

　　“Since the day you defeated Wei Dongsheng and showcased your ability in the championship, many people have started to hear about you. The troubles that we faced in the past have disappeared on their own.”

　　“My ability then was only that of a Rank-1…”

　　Fang Ping thought for a while before saying, “A few days later, the martial arts universities’ Rank-2 ranking list may be updated. When that happens, I may be able to qualify in the top twenty. You can spread the news to the public.”

　　“Rank-2 ranking…”

　　Li Chengze was in a daze. He already knew that Fang Ping had achieved breakthrough to Rank-2.

　　However, Fang Ping had just broken through not long ago, and the Rank-2 ranking list could only qualify a hundred people currently.

　　There were 100 thousand people in martial arts universities across the nation. Rank-1 and aspiring martial artists made up the majority, making up nearly 90% of the students.

　　Rank-2, however, made up most of the remaining 10%. Close to ten thousand people.

　　With a further decrease in proportion, Rank-3 martial arts university students were only about a few thousand strong, scattered throughout various martial arts universities. These people were the cream of the crop.

　　The allowance of the ranking list was only a hundred people. Had Fang Ping already shot up to the top of Rank-2 from Rank-1 so soon?

　　Fang Ping chuckled and said, “Rank-2 may be nothing, but martial artists in the Rank-2 ranking list are at least on equal footing with the abilities of ordinary Middle-stage Rank-3 martial artists. I believe that other people can understand this point as well.

　　“If martial artists of Upper-stage Rank-3 and above came looking for trouble… they will have to think twice. I, an MCMAU rising talent, am not someone they can meddle with.

　　“My instructor is a Peak Rank-6 martial artist. I also have Grandmaster powerhouses behind my back.”

　　Draping himself in a glorious flag was Fang Ping’s specialty.

　　There was no need for a thorough explanation. Just mentioning it in passing would do the job. A Peak Rank-6 and a Grandmaster…

　　Operating a tiny company with perks like this. Who in their right mind would look for trouble?

　　If Fang Ping was a Rank-1 martial artist, people would most probably doubt his claim about his martial arts university instructor.

　　However, he shot up to the top of the Rank-2 ranking list in such a short period of time. Even MCMAU leaders would treasure a talent like this. Any educated person would be able to understand this point.

　　After Li Chengze heard what he had said, he quickly prompted with a look of excitement, “What you are trying to say is…”

　　“Expanding!”

　　Fang Ping spoke under his breath, “Before this, our progress was too little, too slow!

　　“From now onward, carry out the expansion throughout the whole Magic City!

　　“Have you formulated any budget?

　　“If we would like to place our branches throughout the whole Magic City, how much funds do we roughly need?”

　　“Are you referring to both express delivery and food catering?”

　　“Yes.”

　　“It will be sufficient if we have another 20 million!”

　　Li Chengze was rather enthusiastic himself as he quickly reported a figure.

　　Fang Ping gaped at him. Since the establishment of Distance Ltd, he had invested more than 15 million.

　　Despite that, even now, the branch placement of both areas had yet to be completed.

　　Altogether 6 areas remain in MCMAU. Completing all the branch placement right now would need only 20 million?

　　It was not that Fang Ping was eager to spend his overflowing money, but he had to make some considerations. He was wondering whether certain problems would arise from investing so much money at the early stage…

　　He had always wanted to find someone to conduct supervision—to take full authority. Putting the responsibilities in the hands’ of one person was not Fang Ping’s way of doing things.

　　Short reckonings made long friends. Even so, there was not one suitable candidate that he could find in Magic City to do this job.

　　Even so, he had taken into consideration that it was normal to spend more money early on. Preparation works, platform establishment, and building channels were things that needed money. Spending a little bit more was not impossible.

　　Fang Ping would not show it on his face even if he had doubts in his heart. He heard what was said and replied, “20 million can help us complete the branch placement throughout Magic City. What about the time?”

　　“Somewhere around three months.”

　　“Too slow!”

　　Fang Ping was not impressed. He groaned for a moment before exclaiming, “Pick up the pace. Best if you can settle it within a month!”

　　“This…”

　　“Increase publicity. It’ll just be a bit of extra expenditure. There’s no need to pinch pennies on this.

　　“I will transfer 20 million into the company’s account afterward…

　　“However, I will not invest any more money for the expansion to other areas after this.

　　“We are only doing it on a small scale at the early stage. We don’t have many loans, yet we’re wasting time. When we are doing it on a bigger scale, financing and loans are our solutions to our funding.

　　“When the branch placement in Magic City has been completed, get someone to Nanjiang River City to open up the market.

　　“I have also contacted a few students from Nanjiang Martial Arts University. They will most probably have become martial artists when we get there.

　　“If necessary, you can find Nanjiang Martial Arts University’s Martial Arts Society President Wang Jinyang to come forward and solve the problem. Therefore, you do not have to worry about problems that may arise…”

　　“What about the legal representative…”

　　Developments that involved other provinces required middle-ranked martial artists to oversee.

　　“We’ll consider it if I am still not Rank-4 by then.

　　Fang Ping was not too concerned about it. It would already be a matter of the next semester when he arrived in Nanjiang.

　　At that time, he might be able to achieve Rank-4.

　　It would be fine even if he did not achieve it. There were plenty of channels to solve problems like these. Either look for Wang Jinyang as an affiliate or look for Lu Fengrou. It would just be a small price to pay.

　　Li Chengze was once again in a daze. How much confidence did the boss have to claim that he would consider it if he had not achieved Rank-4!

　　Fang Ping saw what happened and grinned, “What are you looking at? I am already a Rank-3. Even so, do not spread the news to the public. Achieving Rank-3 means that I am still very much a nobody. If I keep my reputation as a Rank-2, I can at least have a chance to appear on the ranking list.”

　　Of course, this would not go on for long.

　　April. The renewal of the ranking list. He would most probably be on it.

　　By the time it was May, Fang Ping would most probably not be on the list anymore.

　　After he had achieved breakthrough, he had also redeemed the credits in MCMAU. The renewal of ranking had been keyed into the system. It was the end of the month now, so the ranking name list might not change. However, Fang Ping would most certainly not be on the list after the next renewal.

　　People who pay close attention to him would know that his disappearance from the ranking list was because Fang Ping had achieved Rank-3.

　　What Fang Ping had to do within this period was to enhance his abilities and become slightly stronger.

　　“Rank-3…”

　　Li Chengze was already struck dumb. Rank-3 just like that?

　　When he first met Fang Ping, Fang Ping was still an aspiring martial artist.

　　That was August year 08.

　　Right now it was not even April year 09. That was too fast!

　　The reason he chose to depend on Fang Ping last time was because he saw that he was an MCMAU student as well as his twice-honed potential.

　　Fang Ping progressed faster than he had imagined. No, much faster than that!

　　Fang Ping ignored him. He fished out a small pill bottle from his pocket and placed it on the table. “There are 5 Normal Vitality Pills here. Your Vitality is not too weak, you must have more than 135cal right now, right?”

　　“Mr. Fang, this…”

　　“Become a martial artist soon. I have promised you last time that I would help you become a martial artist in three years’ time.

　　“Use all 5 Normal Vitality Pills and you will have the opportunity to achieve 150cal Vitality.

　　“Of course, don’t expect that you can twice hone your bones…”

　　Li Chengze explained hurriedly, “I wouldn’t dare to aim for that.”

　　What a joke. Going from 150cal to 180cal was so much harder than going from 100cal to 150cal. Even consumption had increased tremendously.

　　He was not young anymore. Even if he was, he would not continue to grind and wait for an opportunity to become a twice-honed without knowing if that would even be possible.

　　“When your Vitality has achieved 150cal, I will help you to look for a middle-ranked martial artist to assist you in your breakthrough, if I am still not a middle-ranked myself, of course.

　　“Regarding the pills that you will require when you breakthrough…”

　　Li Chengze immediately replied, “I did store some…”

　　“We’ll see about that.”

　　Fang Ping made no guarantee to sponsor him. You reap what you sow. Li Chengze should at least demonstrate his worth.

　　Currently, he had depleted his worth.

　　Within a year, Fang Ping had already given him 6 Normal Vitality Pills. What you plant now, you will harvest later.

　　“Expand it as soon as you can. Prioritize speed! Also, if any potential sponsors come knocking, call me. I will consider it.”

　　Distance Ltd was still unable to reflect its value. Just judging by the net assets, it had always been at a loss.

　　Whether Wealth would increase or not was dependent on the perceived value of outsiders.

　　“Alright. I will inform you immediately when there’s news.”

　　“…”

　　Fang Ping had also stopped talking. As he was walking out of the company, he thought for a while and murmured, “I should find someone for the sake of checks and balances. Who should I choose?”

　　The company was growing, so was the amount of investment made.

　　Touchwood. If he died in the Catacombs one day, even if his family knew about the company, they might not be able to claim it. By then, others would have taken advantage of it.

　　“Other than that, I hope that a peaceful life like this will remain for a few more years.

　　Fang Ping prayed. If there was turmoil, it would not matter if it was a small-scale one. However, if it was a big-scale one, the business system might be hit hard.

　　At that time, unless they were businesses related to life necessity products or martial artists’ necessity products, every other business would be at risk of closing down.

　　“I have invested 35 million from start to finish. I wonder if there’s anyone who is willing to pay a good price in financing us…”

　　Fang Ping sighed once again. If a wealthy and influential person gave him an estimated amount of billions, by the time the financing had ended, his Wealth would increase immediately by billions more.

　　One great thing about the system was that it would only record the current value. Even after Wealth was dropped to a great extent, the Wealth value would not decrease.

　　What Fang Ping needed to do was to raise the current value to its absolute maximum. The final outcome was not part of his consideration.

　　If the society fell apart, cash would be of little importance. It was the same regardless of who the institutions invested in.

　　As he was thinking about these, Fang Ping’s mobile phone vibrated.

　　Without even looking at the SMS, Fang Ping knew that Chen Yunxi’s money had been transferred into his account.

　　His Wealth had once again increased by another 2 million, making it 24.06 million.

　　His cash in hand had also exceeded 30 million, at a total of 34.6 million.

　　“Transfer 20 million to the company. Left with 24.06 million Wealth, 14.6 million cash, and another 5 Normal Vitality Pills…”

　　The Vitality Pills were from the bottle given by Pan Xiaoyang previously. Fang Ping did not sell them just now.

　　“According to the system on bone-honing consumption previously, honing a bone requires 600 thousand Wealth. The torso only has 51 bones. Roughly 30 million Wealth should be enough…”

　　Fang Ping started calculating. Nevertheless, he had a hunch that this would not go according to his predictions.

　　He did not know about the rib cage and chest bone. However, the spine was one of the most important bones of the human body, second only to the skull.

　　Plenty of Rank-3 martial artists were stuck in a bottleneck when they were cultivating their spine, consuming plenty of their time and resources.

　　Could this part of the system allow him to complete the spinal cultivation quickly at the cost of 600 thousand Wealth to a bone?

　　“I’ll know once I try it out in the future.”

　　After he stopped thinking about this, Fang Ping rushed back to the university once again.

　　…

　　That night, Fang Ping had also received the notice sent by the university.

　　1st of April. The university reorganized special training classes.

　　The special training classes this time were not aimed at the new students. Instead, it was aimed at all Rank-2 martial artists in the university.

　　There were many Rank-2 martial artists in MCMAU, nearly a thousand.

　　It can be said that the Rank-2 and 3 martial artists in Sino Nation from the two elite universities—MCMAU and CCMAU were 10 times more than other universities.

　　Almost a thousand Rank-2, yet not all of them had received the notice.

　　Fang Ping did not know how many people exactly.

　　However, a few Rank-2 martial artists in freshman year had received the notice. As the outstanding ones amongst the new students, it was obvious that they were different from the Rank-2 martial artists who had struggled to achieve Rank-2 in their junior and senior years.

　　“Rank-2 martial artists…”

　　Fang Ping mumbled. ‘Did I have to go?’

　　‘Should I go?’

　　‘I am a Rank-3!’

　　However, it was just listless thinking. He had achieved Rank-3. If even a Rank-2 had to be forcibly drafted, a Rank-3 would be even more so.

　　Rather than sticking with other Rank-3 martial artists, it was better to mix in the Rank-2 formation.

　　At least that was much safer.

　　Fang Ping did not believe that the university would endanger or sacrifice so many Rank-2 elites. Comparatively, Rank-3 students were given less attention.

　　“Furthermore, there will definitely be benefits. Rank-3, however, may not be given any. They would be expected to carry out missions by themselves…”

　　Once he had thought it through, Fang Ping decided he was not against joining the special training classes. As a Rank-3, he would naturally be more resistant to the dangers compared to other Rank-2.

　　Once he put the SMS aside, Fang Ping fixed his attention and focused. He continued to perform pole-standing, at the same time attempted to use the system to hone his bones.

　　However, when he started honing his bones, Fang Ping’s face turned green!

　　He was not sure whether it was the large size of the chest bone, or if the system had started to trick him again. Fang Ping’s cultivation had just progressed by 1% before he stopped abruptly!

　　“30 thousand Wealth!”

　　Fang Ping’s expression darkened. It was only 10 thousand earlier. It had increased several times!

　　“Does this mean that a single bone will need 1.8 million? Then it will be nearly a hundred million for 51 bones!”

　　“Who in their right mind pays a hundred million to cultivate to Upper-stage Rank-3!”

　　Fang Ping cursed. The expenditure from achieving Rank-3 and cultivating all the way up to Upper-stage Rank-3 must have cost a lot. However, it would not be to the point of spending hundreds of millions.

　　Not to mention that he had not calculated other things. His Vitality needed to keep in sync with body-honing.

　　One million was enough for ordinary people to go from being an aspiring martial artist to Rank-1.

　　Ten million was enough with much to spare to go from Rank-1 to Rank-2

　　From Rank-2 to Rank-3, consumption at this time was not too great, similar to going from Rank-1 to Rank-2. Actually, Rank-1 and Rank-2 martial artists could be viewed as the same rank. They both honed the limbs.

　　In other words, 30 million is enough for ordinary people to become Rank-3 martial artists. Of course, the time needed was an entirely different matter. It would be normal to spend decades even.

　　On the other hand, consumption would increase immensely going from Rank-3 to Peak Rank-3. It would be at least forty to fifty million.

　　If a Peak Rank-3 martial artist’s resources consumption was turned into money, the value would be nearly 100 million. This was the reason why Sino Nation had provided massive amounts of funding to martial arts universities every year.

　　Most of the funds were used on these martial artists. On the contrary, Rank-1 and Rank-2 did not get as much subsidy.

　　In order to quicken his pace, Fang Ping had consumed an immense amount. It was to the point that his consumption was enough for ordinary people to reach all the way up to Peak Rank-3.

　　Despite all that, he had just realized that the consumption needed at the later stage was even higher.

　　“Does this mean that when I have achieved Peak Rank-3, I will spend at least twice as much money as the average person to the point that not even two hundred million will be enough?”

　　Fang Ping was slightly helpless. If he was rich, he need not care about it.

　　You win some, you lose some. If progressing at lightning speed meant more money would be spent, then he did not mind.

　　There were plenty of wealthy people. No one would think that purely throwing money would mean that one could definitely become a powerhouse.

　　It may be the case for the three lower ranks. After entering the three middle ranks, money would no longer have as much impact.

　　In reality, to cultivate the spine, a Rank-3 martial artist should not depend solely on money but talent as well.

　　Of course, it would be different if there were resources. A person could enter the Energy Room, making it easier to feel the condition of the bone. Hence, it was easier to replenish Vitality. This was also an advantage. However, a typical person could never afford to pay this price.

　　“Having more than 20 million Wealth was only sufficient to hone more than ten bones. It was impossible to even achieve Middle-stage Rank-3.”

　　Fang Ping felt slightly weak. What should he do now?

　　If he had spent all the cash and Wealth that he had, he had hopes of achieving Middle-stage Rank-3. However, achieving Upper-stage would be a far-fetched dream.

　　“One step at a time. I wonder if there are plenty of benefits offered in the special training classes this time. If there are, it will be my chance to achieve Upper-stage Rank-3.”

　　Fang Ping did not continue to hone his bones using his Wealth. There were pros and cons in doing so. He did not have enough Wealth at the moment. In the meantime, he was not carrying out any missions as well.

　　For now, he would use his Vitality to nourish and cultivate. This was done to make sure that he was prepared for the future.

　　Moreover, Fang Ping had taken into account that if he could not achieve Upper-stage Rank-3 at this time, it would be more fitting to use his Wealth to cultivate combat techniques.

　　The difference between Early-stage and Middle-stage Rank-3 was not too obvious. Instead, it was the actual combat skills in combat techniques that were more important.