Wei Bin had to be carried off the arena too.

　　The three from the Eight School Alliance all received Fang Ping’s signature moves, launched at full force, to the face. Although they appeared to fare better than those injured in the morning, this – coupled with their preexisting injuries – set them back into a position worse than Bai Yin and the others.

　　…

　　“He has already defeated three in a row.”

　　Fu Changding did not know what to feel about that in his spot backstage.

　　If Fang Ping defeated all five opponents in a row, there was no need for him to go onstage.

　　That sounded nice in theory, but not getting their time to shine after arduous preparation and everything could get frustrating as f*ck!

　　Zhao Lei kept silent. His expression suggested that he did not care either way.

　　Fang Ping could do everything he wanted. Fight whoever he wanted. He would not get a chance to show himself in the arena no matter what.

　　There were three people ahead of him. Zhao Lei was certain that the Eight School Alliance would not be a match for the three of them.

　　…

　　Fang Yuan sat downstage, stupefied.

　　Was Fang Ping that strong?

　　In everyone’s eyes, Fang Ping had defeated three from the opposite team (including their leader, no less) with zero effort.

　　Three battles later, and not even a scratch mark could be seen on him.

　　“He isn’t boasting…”

　　Fang Yuan muttered. Her face later broke into a smile. “That’s good too. The stronger he is, the better…”

　　…

　　In the back row, Wu Zhihao stared at the others for a while before saying, “Did Lord Guan the Second (TN: Refers to Guan Yu, a legendary general during the Han Dynasty) come to life again?”

　　Fang Ping’s aggressively swift strokes while wielding the fengzuidao reminded him of the late Lord Guan the Second.

　　Liu Ruoqi corrected him. “That’s a fengzuidao. Huang Zhong (TN: Another general during the Han dynasty) used that, not Guan Gong (TN: Another nickname for Guan Yu.)”

　　“And you got hung up on that immediately…”

　　Wu Zhihao had nothing to say to that. He then complained, “This guy is seriously too OP!” (TN: OP means ‘overpowered’, a popular slang used in online role-playing video games community when the person or group it too powerful.)

　　“He is!”

　　No one objected to that. Fang Ping really was; he could not have defeated three opponents in a row that effortlessly otherwise, even when his Vitality could replenish itself.

　　…

　　In the arena, Fang Ping swallowed two more Rank-1 Vitality Pills.

　　He had consumed six of them during the three matches, exhausting his supply.

　　He had lots of normal ones left, though, and four more Rank-2 Pills too.

　　“They’re wasted.”

　　Fang Ping muttered under his breath. They were indeed wasted on him. Their only purpose was to supply a little more Vitality, which then helped hone his bones and vessels during the process.

　　Zhang Jingdong from the Eight School Alliance went on the stage, feeling listless.

　　It was not them that had no spirit.

　　It was the matter of them being against an OP opponent that they had no way of beating!

　　Fang Ping’s Vitality returned to his peak once again three battles later.

　　Their instructor’s words surfaced in Zhang Jingdong’s mind once again. Although Fang Ping’s Vitality was replenished, he would be tired out with battle. There were limits to his physicality.

　　Although the Eight School Alliance was destined for defeat, they could not be singlehandedly taken out by Fang Ping!

　　This was no longer only a matter of victory and defeat. If the five of them were really taken out by one person, they might as well relinquish their name!

　　…

　　Zhang Jingdong committed his instructor’s words to memory while he changed his weapon to the D-class alloy staff his instructor had acquired recently.

　　He stood in stalwart defense upon his appearance onstage!

　　He aimed to chip away at Fang Ping’s stamina!

　　Yes, an abundance of Vitality could increase one’s stamina, but the two were not the same.

　　Now, what he was going to do was to while Fang Ping’s stamina away!

　　He was not as swift as Fang Ping, though!

　　Fang Ping came at him with his saber just as he retreated, hacking downward from up high.

　　Zhang Jingdong took it, gritting his teeth, and dodged him by stepping further backward.

　　Fang Ping was relentless in the way he pursued his opponent.

　　He lifted his saber and hacked as soon as he caught up.

　　Zhang Jingdong retaliated. Fang Ping gave however much he got in return, fighting back with strike after strike.

　　…

　　“Fang Ping’s Vitality… it’s over 300cal even if it doesn’t replenish itself.”

　　Liu Huarong sighed from his seat downstage. Chen Xueyan said with an air of seriousness, “It’s not only that. It’s probably at 320cal.

　　“I asked around about Fang Ping. He’s thrice-honed!”

　　“Thrice-honed?”

　　Liu Huarong was surprised, but then he managed to revert into some semblance of understanding, saying, “This makes sense, in retrospect. Saying that someone is thrice-honed means that he would have had a Vitality of over 200cal in the aspiring martial artist stage. Only aspiring martial artists who have achieved this can be said to be thrice-honed!

　　“The masses may not know much about this. Everyone only needs to know that thrice-honed martial artists have higher Vitalities and toughest bones among those in their ranks.

　　“Everyone, don’t try this rashly. In the colossal Sino Nation, less than five people succeed in thrice-honing every year. It isn’t necessary to attempt honing your bones more than one time.”

　　Liu Huarong ended his explanation with a warning.

　　If they had to reveal everything to the public gradually, they should also fill the public with regards to certain information that they had no idea of.

　　The existence of thrice-honing, for example…

　　There was no need to inform the public of this in the past, but there was no harm in letting them know of that now.

　　The audience downstage erupted in an uproar after his words.

　　Most of them had not known that it was possible to accumulate such a high Vitality in the aspiring martial artist stage!

　　Tan Zhenping had not come to his senses even after a while.

　　An aspiring martial artist could have a Vitality of over 200cal?

　　Was he, a martial artist whose Vitality was 250cal, considered as a Peak Rank-1 martial artist, then?

　　Also, none of the competing martial artists he had seen today had lower Vitalities compared to his! No, everyone’s was higher than his!

　　The explosive power behind their moves was despairing, too – all of them could kill him with a blow!

　　…

　　The action onstage intensified once again.

　　Zhang Jingdong had already lost his long staff. He persevered despite his bloodied hands. He was currently running circles around the arena with all his might.

　　“Puff…”

　　Some spectators in the front rows could even hear his heavy panting.

　　Zhang Jingdong no longer cared about his image. Sometimes he rolled on the floor in an attempt to dodge Fang Ping’s strikes. Sometimes he got hit and was catapulted outward. In that case, he would go with the flow and get a hold on the sides of the arena so that he could roll back inside the arena and continue his game of tag with Fang Ping.

　　The training clothes he was wearing were currently in tatters. Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth, no matter how often he made to swallow.

　　Fang Ping’s forehead was slightly beaded with sweat. He had to rest for a moment. He was faster than the other, yes, but the other had given up entirely on putting up a defense while running around with everything he had.

　　Fang Ping, on the other hand, had to concentrate lest the other retaliated suddenly. He was less alert than the other when this was factored in.

　　After chasing him around for a while, Fang Ping said, exasperated, “You’re gonna die if you don’t surrender now!”

　　He was right. Zhang Jingdong had withstood several strikes of his. The wounds on his body were so numerous they blended in with one another. He would bleed to death if the fight went on.

　　Zhang Jingdong’s face blanched, but he kept on dodging Fang Ping without a word.

　　A Grandmaster from the Eight School Alliance sighed minutely from his seat on the second floor, “Surrender.”

　　Zhang Jingdong had already demonstrated his tenacity. He was severely hurt, to the degree that he would die in the arena if he did not surrender, as Fang Ping had said.

　　After this Grandmaster had surrendered on his behalf, Zhang Jingdong lost all spirit. He slumped on the floor with a bang.

　　Several medical staff came onstage to carry him down.

　　The referee looked at Fang Ping with a complicated expression. He asked loudly, “Fang Ping, are you staying?”

　　Fang Ping fumbled around in his pocket. He then said, somewhat sheepishly, “Nah. I’ll give the people after me a chance.”

　　The powerhouses on the second floor had sharp eyes. Someone chuckled almost instantly. “He’s short on pills!”

　　“He had taken six Rank-1 Vitality Pills. Maybe he’s already at his limit after that.”

　　“Rank-1 martial artists are quite weak. Maybe he’s really at his limit.”

　　“That might be for the better. If he goes on, the Eight School Alliance is going to end up without any dignity.”

　　“I don’t think so. Maybe this kid is scared of being the subject of several shameless old men’s grudges…”

　　Someone said teasingly. No one took it as the truth save for Tang Feng, who muttered, “This brat is as devious as they come. He may not be short on pills.”

　　Would Fang Ping advance to the stage without due preparation?

　　He, Tang Feng, would be the first one to doubt Fang Ping’s actions!

　　Fang Ping was practically the epitome of cunningness in his eyes.

　　His giving up suddenly was probably a gesture to preserve the dignity of the Eight School Alliance, as the person had said.

　　The Alliance was made up of eight second-tier universities, after all; they had more than a dozen Grandmasters on their side.

　　If Fang Ping had singlehandedly demolished their team of five, the Grandmasters would probably express their displeasure at him, even if they did not hold any grudges against him.

　　His defeat of four opponents not only demonstrated his skill but showed that he knew to stop when appropriate.

　　…

　　Fang Ping sauntered down the stage effortlessly.

　　He had exerted a lot of his Vitality, but he ended up with no injury. The sole contestant who had walked down devoid of injury was Fang Wenxiang, CCMAU’s last one to walk up the stage.

　　Fu Changding walked toward him, somewhat tearful. “You’ve finally come down!”

　　‘It’s finally my turn to show off!’

　　Fang Ping reminded him, “Don’t be rash. The last person in a team won’t be that easy to defeat.

　　“Wei Bin’s extremely skilled too, but I was stronger.”

　　Fu Changding rolled his eyes. He did not deign to reply to him as he hoisted his spear and walked up the stage. From the other side, Cai Qinghai from the Eight School Alliance marched up, depressingly solemn.

　　He was the only one left in the Alliance.

　　No one could cheer for him!

　　The other four were sent to the medics.

　　…

　　Backstage.

　　As Fang Ping came in, Bai Ruoxi chuckled. “Are you really out of pills?”

　　“Yes, really!”

　　Fang Ping vented his sorrows. “The school only gave me 5 Rank-1 Vitality Pills. I’ve used up all of them and even filled the gap with one of my own. Instructor Bai, the school must pay for this. I’m not gonna manage to go on otherwise.

　　“If the school supplied me with 20 pills, I’ll puncture a hole in CCMAU’s team!

　　“If the school gives me ten, I can do four more matches at most…

　　“If there’s none, I can only do one. As you guys saw, my Vitality’s draining too fast.”

　　Bai Ruoxi had not said anything to that before a recently-arrived Tang Feng humphed, “If only!”

　　“Instructor Tang, you’re being a little unreasonable here. Here I am, fighting for MCMAU. The school can’t possibly ask me to risk my life and exhaust my resources at the same time, can they?

　　“I come from a poor family, unlike Zhao Lei and Yang Xiaoman.

　　“My parents are both civilians. They toiled day and night just to get me into a martial arts university. They’ve become frailer than others in their sixties when they’re ten years younger…

　　“I’m representing the school, but they don’t even compensate me with pills…”

　　Fang Ping was devastated!

　　“How can MCMAU treat the poor students who contributed to the school like this?”

　　The MCMAU team was embarrassed, somewhat. He was not wrong.

　　Fang Ping had saved them the effort when he had thrashed four opponents in a row. Although they had lost the chance to shine, they had saved their pills, at the very least.

　　MCMAU should really compensate him more when he had fought so valiantly.

　　Tang Feng was made speechless. He said, after a while, “We’ll give you 5 Rank-1 Vitality Pills later…”

　　“5?”

　　Fang Ping was devastated. He cried painfully, “5 is not even close to enough! We have two more rounds after at least…”

　　“You’ll take the rear!”

　　Tang Feng humphed. Fang Ping was strong, but he was also greedy!

　　The strength of all four teams was clear. They could rearrange their order later. Putting Fang Ping last meant that he would make fewer appearances on the arena.

　　The others from MCMAU could not stay spectators for longer, not when that went against their initial goal.

　　Fang Ping curled his lip at that.

　　5 pills were quite a lot when he would be taking the rear.

　　As they chatted, they did not neglect to observe the fight unfolding in front of them.

　　…

　　In the arena.

　　Fu Changding was so furious he could spit blood!

　　“F*ck, why aren’t you the leader?”

　　“Wei Bin, that misleading fool!”

　　Fu Changding was really, truly furious.

　　Cai Qinghai was stronger than he could have predicted!

　　Elevated stance! Here was another person who had achieved an elevated stance!

　　That aside, Cai Qinghai wielded no weapon but his legs!

　　His outbursts were almost comparable to Fang Ping’s when using his legs. A kick was backed up by 60cal at least. Fu Changding had put his focus elsewhere for a while and had his spear swept away by a single kick as a result. His arm was almost broken by that kick!

　　Fu Changding was truly furious. He wielded a spear, that was right, but most people tend to forget that he was learning leg combat techniques at the same time he learned how to use a spear!

　　Cai Qinghai was quite good, but he was not bad either.

　　Fu Changding appeared to be rid of all burdens the second his spear was gone. He started to compete in leg strength against Cai Qinghai!

　　The two of them were even. They used their legs as their weapons as they clashed repeatedly.

　　Fang Ping massaged his legs on reflex. He was dazed. “Does that not hurt?”

　　“Fu Changding’s practically green in the face. What do you think?”

　　Tang Songting teased and laughed, “He can’t lose. He can’t retreat. If he can’t even defeat one person when you’d defeated four just now, his reputation would be tarnished. This guy’s prideful. He won’t surrender even if his legs were broken.”

　　Yang Xiaoman drawled, bored, “Cai Qinghai’s good, but his Vitality’s going to be exhausted even when Fu Changding loses – if the two of them go on like this, that is. I don’t think that there will be another guy who bounces back three seconds after taking a pill!”

　　Cai Qinghai was really quite skilled. Fu Changding was not particularly outstanding among the team, but that did not mean that he was weak.

　　He had put every other martial artist in a disadvantageous position during the school allocation.

　　He had completed his missions despite the female ornaments that posed as his teammates. Better than Yang Xiaoman, even.

　　How could someone like that be considered weak?

　　Cai Qinghai had shown that he was skilled enough when Fu Changding was cornered by him into ruining his image.

　　The two of them were competing in Vitality. Determination. Pain tolerance.

　　The one who yielded first would be the loser.

　　Luckily, there was a limit to the Vitality of Rank-1 martial artists. There were no full-force Vitality outbursts, and Cai Qinghai had exhausted his entire reserve first after more than ten kicks aimed at each other.

　　The first technique he had used to sweep Fu Changding’s spear down to the floor had used up a lot of it.

　　…

　　A few minutes later, Fu Changding hobbled backstage, pride on his face.

　　“I won!”

　　“Mm.”

　　“Not bad.”

　　“Why did you spend such a long time walking a path as short as this?”

　　“Old Fu, you’re not in pain, are you?”

　　“…”

　　Fu Changding affected an air of nonchalance. “It’s nothing. It’s just a minor injury.”

　　Fang Ping aimed a slight kick at his shin out of a sudden. Before he could say anything, Fu Changding collapsed to the floor, whimpering loudly.

　　Fang Ping was embarrassed. He said dryly, “You’re trying to blame me, are you?”

　　“Ow! It hurt! Fang Ping, you put so much force in it stealthily. How unscrupulous of you!”

　　Fu Changding would rather die than admit that he was on his last legs, and so he insisted shamelessly that Fang Ping had made his injuries worse in secret.

　　Everyone did not know whether to cry or laugh at his performance. Fang Ping’s expression darkened as well – this guy had indeed put the blame on him!

　　Outside, the sound of the referee announcing “MCMAU wins!” rang all around the stadium.

　　After this afternoon battle, the leader of the MCMAU team Fang Ping was the center of everyone’s attention. Fang Ping’s name was etched in the memories of all for the first time.