Fang Ping was not too concerned with the progress of the club.

　　For the time being, he was doing deliveries within the university compound. For a group of elite university students, doing something as trivial as this was really no trouble at all.

　　Fang Ping did not need to keep things too formal. In reality, it was difficult to set constraints for these students anyway.

　　They were not his workers nor did they receive any wages from him. Right now, they were all motivated by enthusiasm.

　　Having too many restrictions and constraints was not necessarily a good thing.

　　…

　　After a period of preparation, the Distance E-Commerce Platform unveiled its services for MCMAU internal resource exchange on February 14th.

　　As it had only just begun, Fang Ping had yet to charge any sort of fee. The exchange of resources happened directly online, then the club members would deliver the goods to the various customers.

　　Certain students were in a great hurry, so a considerable number of them spent a few credits in exchange for a Normal Vitality Pill and waited for their goods to be delivered to their doorsteps.

　　Many people gave the new system a try, so the platform received hundreds of orders on that first day itself!

　　Overall, the outcome was quite good. As the system was still in its initial stages, everyone was still rather worried and did not dare to make bulk transactions yet. Regardless, this was still a good start.

　　At night, Fang Ping treated everyone to a meal.

　　This time he did spend a hefty amount, using the 50 thousand yuan funding allocated by the university for the club’s first month to give everyone a treat.

　　He booked ten tables for over a hundred people.

　　To the students who were just aspiring martial artists, a feast that cost 5 thousand a table was definitely a luxury.

　　Fu Changding and the rest found it slightly hard to believe. Was Fang Ping really willing to fork out so much money?

　　They did not know about the club funding. At the moment, only the Zhou Yuehong, the club’s office director, knew about the allocation given by the university. The rest of them thought that Fang Ping had paid with his own money.

　　After dinner, nobody got drunk, unlike what usually happened in normal universities.

　　Most martial artists, especially aspiring martial artists, abstained from alcohol and tobacco.

　　Certain martial artists did not care about this. Once they had achieved ranks, alcohol and tobacco were not considered a big taboo.

　　Nonetheless, to keep their minds clear, there were not that many martial artists who smoked or drank regularly, as alcohol had a numbing effect on the nervous system.

　　Without this drinking culture, taking leave after the event was much simpler. All they had to do was to bid farewell and go their way

　　…

　　On the road outside the university.

　　Upon observing an unusual amount of gaiety and happy couples everywhere, everyone suddenly realized something.

　　“Today is Valentine’s Day?”

　　The words slipped out of Fu Changding’s mouth. Everyone exchanged glances and there was silence for a while.

　　Due to their dedication to martial arts, there were not many of these students who could spare the time to pursue love.

　　Everyone who had entered MCMAU had sacrificed blood and sweat for the sake of their craft.

　　“It’s just a festival for foreigners, why bother?” Fang Ping retorted disapprovingly. That said, Yang Xiaoman and the rest of the girls were still slightly envious of all the ladies around them who were bearing fresh bouquets.

　　In MCMAU, it was exceedingly rare for students to be in relationships.

　　Fu Changding was definitely more romantic by nature than Fang Ping. He left the group abruptly and returned very soon with a bouquet of roses.

　　“One for you, one for you…”

　　He distributed a rose to each one of the ladies in the club. There was plenty left over as there were only a handful of women who had joined.

　　Seeing this, Fu Changding distributed the roses to the men as well, chuckling, “It’s a celebration. Let’s just join in the fun.

　　“For now we won’t let romantic relationships hold up our martial arts journey. When we achieve success, we can have any partner, man or woman, that we desire!

　　“There’s no need to be jealous. Do you really think MCMAU students won’t be able to find their other half?”

　　Everyone cheered up after hearing these words and felt much less dejected.

　　Even though the couples by the road continued with their public displays of affection, these students from MCMAU had set their eyes on higher goals. Even if they could simply go and found themselves a partner, they would not do so.

　　Fu Changding joked for a while before sticking a rose on top of Fang Ping’s head. Grinning, he teased, “Fang Ping, what kind of a girlfriend are you looking for next time?”

　　Fang Ping did not remove the rose on his head. Instead, he took the rose that Fu Changding had passed to him earlier and stuck it behind Fu Changding’s ear. Chuckling, he replied, “A more mellow one. She does not need to have very strong abilities, but I hope that she’s a martial artist so we share something in common…”

　　As he was talking, Yang Xiaoman looked at both Fang Ping and Fu Changding oddly. She gave them a peculiar stare and asked, “You’re giving each other roses. Is that how you show your gay affection to each other?”

　　“Oh, go away,” Fang Ping retorted good-naturedly. He did not continue with this topic but asked instead, “Did you achieve your breakthrough to Rank-2?”

　　Yang Xiaoman could not be bothered to talk about relationships at the moment either. She smiled when she heard what he said, but replied with some dissatisfaction, “If not for my injuries, I would have achieved breakthrough long ago!

　　“It’s not too late now though. I must attempt to complete honing all of my limbs by the end of my freshman year.

　　“We must strive to break through to Rank-3 in our sophomore year!”

　　There were 64 bones in the upper limbs and 62 bones in the lower limbs. Whether one chose to hone upper or lower limbs as a freshman, after achieving Rank-2, the number of bones honed would still be more than 60.

　　There were less than 5 months before the end of the freshman year and less than 7 months before the start of the sophomore year.

　　To complete the bone-honing process within this timeframe, one would need to hone an average of 10 bones per month, using 3 days per bone.

　　With sufficient resources, that was possible.

　　With insufficient resources, however, that would be extremely difficult to achieve.

　　At the very least, the amount of Vitality spent would be tremendous.

　　Replenishing Vitality after achieving Rank-2 required the use of Rank-1 Vitality Pills because Normal Vitality Pills would not be very effective.

　　At one pill once every 3 days and 10 pills a month, that was 60 Rank-1 Vitality Pills in just half a year at a retail price of 18 million.

　　Vitality pills were not the only things needed. Bone-honing Pills were also necessary for speeding up the process. It would be absolutely impossible to achieve peak Rank-2 within a semester if one did not have more than 20 million. Even 30 million was considered fairly normal.

　　Fu Changding lamented, “Martial arts cultivation gets more difficult as we progress. By the time we achieve Rank-3…we have no choice but to enter the Catacombs.”

　　The Catacombs missions were the ones that earned students the most money.

　　Pigs might fly if one was still depending on ordinary missions to complete cultivation after achieving Rank-3.

　　When the time came, they could either enter the Catacombs to earn credits or rely on their families to support them.

　　After expressing his feelings, Fu Changding looked at Fang Ping and enquired, “It’s been a month since you broke through to Rank-2. How many bones have you honed now?”

　　Fang Ping had achieved Rank-2 at the end of the championship.

　　It had been a month since, and everyone was curious about his bone-honing progress.

　　Before Fang Ping could say anything, Yang Xiaoman commented suddenly, “Zhao Lei has honed 71 bones. I’m sure you have honed more than him?”

　　There were altogether 126 bones in all four limbs. Zhao Lei had honed 71 bones so far, and his progress was definitely not considered slow.

　　Everyone had earned a lot of credits last semester, so their cultivation speed was currently fairly rapid.

　　Yang Xiaoman had just achieved breakthrough yesterday but had not started honing her bones yet.

　　Fu Changding’s progress was similar to that of Zhao Lei.

　　Everyone achieved their breakthrough at roughly the same time with Fang Ping only a few days ahead of them. Even so, he was a thrice-honed martial artist, so everyone guessed that he had perhaps honed around 75 bones.

　　Looking at their curious faces, Fang Ping grinned and replied, “96 bones.”

　　“How many?”

　　“You must be joking!”

　　It had just been a month since Fang Ping’s breakthrough. Honing 34 bones within a month—did he really think they were idiots?

　　“What? You don’t believe me? I’ve used 10 Body-honing Pills to hone my body over the last few days and used more than 10 Rank-1 Vitality Pills to replenish my Vitality. I’m sure all of you know that my Vitality replenishes very quickly, so I can cultivate uninterrupted. Is it so very surprising, how fast I can progress?”

　　“But, where did you get so many Vitality Pills…”

　　Fang Ping had already sold countless Vitality Pills!

　　“It was a gift.”

　　“Who was silly enough to give you something like that…”

　　As Fu Changding spoke, he suddenly thought of something and asked in a small voice, “One of the Grandmasters?”

　　“What do you think?”

　　“Think, my arse!” Fu Changding pouted. True, relationships required the support of others, but he still felt it was rather unfair.

　　Fang Ping had always claimed that he was poor, yet he had a Grandmaster backing him up. How could he consider that poor?

　　Zhao Xuemei had been quiet this entire time. Now she asked, with visibly mixed feelings in her expression, “Have you really honed 96 bones already?”

　　During the championship, she had been injured far worse than Yang Xiaoman and had not yet fully recovered at present.

　　She would have to wait until next month before she could breakthrough to Rank-2.

　　If she did manage to achieve Rank-2 next month, how about Fang Ping then?

　　If he kept up honing a bone a day, by next month, surely he would be able to complete honing all his limbs.

　　The skill gap between Fang Ping and everyone else was slowly widening. It would come to the point where the difference was so great it would be impossible to catch up.

　　Fang Ping could understand some part of Zhao Xuemei’s feelings. He smiled at her and offered, “It’s not a big deal if the three lower ranks go by a bit faster.

　　“The perfect time to catch up would be after achieving the middle three ranks or even the upper three ranks!

　　“Wang Jinyang has already achieved Rank-4 early on. By the time I am at Rank-4, he may still be a Rank-4.

　　“By the time I become a Grandmaster, he might still be a Rank-4, for all you know.

　　“That is why I say, don’t concern yourself with these things when you’re in the lower three ranks.”

　　“Middle three ranks…”

　　Everyone present sighed. It was not easy to achieve the middle three ranks. It was only Fang Ping who kept boasting about becoming a Grandmaster.

　　…

　　After chatting further for a while, everybody went back to campus.

　　After Fang Ping returned to his dorm, he rested for a bit before going to the training room once again.

　　Even though he had been busy building his online platform for the last few days, he did not neglect his cultivation.

　　He had consumed 10 of the Body-honing Pills that he had exchanged with the university.

　　His Wealth expenditure was even more shocking.

　　This was why he was able to hone 96 bones in such a short time.

　　After a quick look at the system, Fang Ping could not help but sigh. Martial arts cultivation was a massive gold consumer. The Grandmasters out there certainly had consumed as much.

　　Wealth: 13000000

　　Vitality: 400cal (439cal)

　　Mentality: 380Hz (399Hz)

　　Bones honed: 96bones (90%), 110 bones (30%)

　　Upon returning to the university on the 4th, in the span of 10 days up until today, Fang Ping had honed 26 bones and depleted his Wealth of almost 14 million.

　　This was also after he used his Vitality constantly to nourish his bones to cut down on expenditure.

　　Out of a total of 126 bones in all limbs, right now Fang Ping had 30 final bones left that he had not yet cultivated.

　　Based on his current progress, he stood a good chance of completing the honing of all his limbs before the end of the month.

　　Of course, he needed to make sure that he had enough Wealth, or he would have to delay a few days and rely on himself for nourishing.

　　“Without Wealth, I may not be able to maintain my Vitality peak condition consistently in future, which means my cultivation speed will slow down considerably after that. If danger threatens, then the risk will be even greater.”

　　Fang Ping was so used to replenishing his Vitality with Wealth that he would feel quite insecure if he ran out of resources.

　　If it ever came to that, even with the sharpest dadao, Fang Ping would no longer be able to use his ultimate move without fear, if he did not have Vitality.

　　Fang Ping put these thoughts aside and continued cultivating for a while. After that, he went into the shower for a bath.

　　In all honesty, he was not taking a bath, he was spending money!

　　Every bath he took cost him millions. Was there anyone who was behaving more extravagantly than himself?

　　…

　　Second day. 15th of February. Sunday.

　　There were no major classes in university, but Fang Ping still woke up very early.

　　Today, Lu Fengrou wanted to take him to the MCMAU Essence District, and he was looking forward to it.

　　The shore of the Safe Haven.

　　Lu Fengrou arrived earlier than Fang Ping.

　　She said nothing upon seeing him but headed towards the south of MCMAU. The southern seafront area had always been off-limits to new students.

　　Although it was in the university compound, the security for that area was extremely tight. Usually, new students were not even allowed to go in.

　　Fang Ping followed Lu Fengrou. After a while, he could not help asking, “Instructor, what exactly is there in the south of MCMAU?”

　　“You will know when you arrive,” Lu Fengrou answered.

　　“Could it be the entrance to the Catacombs?” Fang Ping made a subconscious guess.

　　Lu Fengrou answered indifferently, “The Catacombs entrance is not in MCMAU, but it’s very nearby. There is a tunnel in the southern area where you can reach the Catacombs entrance directly. Do you want to take a look?”

　　“Haha, forget about it. I’m not planning to do that right now.”

　　“Don’t ask then.” Lu Fengrou ignored him and continued walking.

　　Along the way, they met quite a few instructors and students.

　　Upon seeing Lu Fengrou, the students behaved normally while the instructors would greet her and hastily make way to avoid her. Their attitude made Fang Ping feel indignant; Lu Fengrou was quite popular in the university after all.

　　After walking for more than ten minutes, both of them came to a halt in front of a large gate.

　　The southern area had been partitioned off by the university by a towering perimeter wall. Members of the Martial Arts Society, as well as a few instructors from the university, would patrol the area daily.

　　The gate had been constructed in the section of the wall between the university area and the southern area. A martial artist stood guard there.

　　A bald, middle-aged hulk of a man saw Lu Fengrou escorting Fang Ping towards the gateway and laughed loudly, “Lu Fengrou, this is the new student that you’ve taken in? A little bird told me he’s planning to challenge Zhang Yu at the end of the semester. Right now though, he’s not quite at that level yet.”

　　Lu Fengrou said impatiently, “What nonsense. Open the gate. What concern is it of yours?”

　　The man was not offended by this. He merely grinned and observed Fang Ping for a moment, chuckling as he opened the gate, “This kid’s progressing well. Even so, the lower three ranks and the middle three ranks are two very different matters.

　　“It’s not impossible to achieve Rank-3 this year. However, Zhang Yu is a Rank-4.

　　“Just surrender when the time comes. Don’t injure yourself and delay things.”

　　Fang Ping smiled without responding.

　　Although he did not know who this instructor was, the fact that he was able to talk to Lu Fengrou in this manner indicated he should be somewhere between Rank-6 to Peak Rank-6.

　　Boasting in front of an instructor with such high ability would not benefit him.

　　When the man saw that Fang Ping was not about to say anything, he said unenthusiastically, “Students nowadays are getting more and more boring. Forget it, just go in. Next time you can come alone, there’s no need for your instructor to escort you here.”

　　“Thank you, instructor.”

　　“Go on.”

　　The man did not pay any further attention to him. He slouched into his chair and started humming a little tune.

　　Fang Ping heard what he said and quickly caught up with Lu Fengrou who had gone on ahead of him. The moment he crossed the threshold, he was in the southern area of the university.

　　As soon as he set foot in the area, Fang Ping heard the sound of roaring waves!

　　He raised his head for a look. The area several kilometers ahead of him had no perimeter walls, nor any other form of enclosure. It led straight to the sea!

　　Lu Fengrou stood still, smiled faintly and asked, “Don’t you feel that your vision has been broadened?”

　　“In MCMAU, the university’s gate allows you only a single view.

　　“However, that is an artificial construct. Only nature can truly make humans feel like specks of sand.

　　“The ocean keeps surging forward with great momentum, and the waves never stop pounding against the shore.

　　“When mankind conquers the stars and the sea someday, that is probably when we will stop fearing the Catacombs.

　　“Even Grandmaster powerhouses would not dare to claim that they have conquered nature…”

　　Lu Fengrou sighed a little before she continued striding forward. Fang Ping traced the distant coastline with a glance, before quickly moving to catch up with her.