Once he got the ball rolling, it did not stop.

　　Over the next few days, Fang Ping often went to watch the Tan brothers cultivating their stances.

　　Those few days benefited him greatly.

　　The Tan brothers were very approachable, too. As long as he did not get in the way of their cultivation, he could watch however he liked.

　　When they were resting, Fang Pong would ask some questions and they would give him proper answers, too.

　　Stances were a half-open secret, and there were no tricks or tips involved.

　　It all came down to time and persistence!

　　What they did not know, however, was that Fang Ping was no ordinary person.

　　When others practiced their stances for a longer time, they would consume plenty of Vitality and they would feel mentally exhausted, too. They would have no choice but to stop and rest.

　　It usually took them a day or even two to recover completely.

　　What about Fang Ping?

　　If he ran out of Vitality, he just had to make it up with more Wealth!

　　If his Mentality was low, he just had to make it up with more Wealth!

　　While the Tan brothers were already at a stable stance, they only maintained their stance for half an hour every day.

　　It was not that they could not go any longer. It was just that it took too much Vitality and Mentality, so they would be out of action for quite a few days later.

　　Their Vitality was one thing. At least it could be recovered through health foods and pills.

　　However, once low-ranked martial artists exhausted their Mentality, there was almost no way to get it back.

　　What about Fang Ping?

　　At his rate of progress, it would be a miracle if he could just last 20 minutes at once.

　　However, he spent his Wealth like it was nothing.

　　Once he reached home every day, he would start cultivating from 7 pm onwards.

　　After using half an hour to cultivate the Methods of Honing, he would practice his stance for more than 4 hours!

　　Fang Ping almost never rested until 12 am.

　　If it were not for the fact that he needed his sleep, Fang Ping would hold his stance until daybreak.

　　His Vitality and Mentality were always at their fullest, and he consistently practiced his stance for long periods of time. One round of his cultivation had the same effect as half a month or even an entire month’s worth of the Tan brothers’!

　　A few days later, Fang Ping already found himself on the verge of the first level.

　　…

　　On Saturday night, it was time for Fang Ping to ask the brothers for advice again.

　　Tan Hao was still oblivious, but the look in Tan Tao’s eyes had changed.

　　This guy was somewhat terrifying!

　　Two days ago, he had been asking about basic knowledge, but now he was talking about how to reach the first level, the stable stance.

　　After holding it in for a good while, Tan Tao could not help but ask, “Fang Ping, you aren’t about to make a breakthrough, are you?”

　　Tan Hao’s mouth fell open, and he said hoarsely, “A breakthrough?”

　　Fang Ping laughed awkwardly, “No, I was just asking.

　　“Truth is, I’ve been practicing my stance for a while now, but I never had anyone explain it to me before, so I only ever knew half of it.

　　“With you guys teaching me now, I went back to make sense of it again, and I found that I could understand some of the stuff I didn’t use to. It’s been really rewarding!

　　“I haven’t made a breakthrough yet, but I think I’m almost there now.

　　“I really have to thank you two for it. If you have time someday, let me treat you to a meal.”

　　Whether the Tan brothers did not care, or whether they were just generous that way, the fact was they had helped Fang Ping tremendously.

　　Without the brothers, Fang Ping would not have anyone to point out his mistakes for certain movements. Alone, it would have taken him several months to reach the first level.

　　“So you really are gonna break through…”

　　Tan Tao muttered. When he looked at Fang Ping again, there was a tinge of jealousy in his eyes.

　　As long as someone else did not make a breakthrough in his stance, the brothers did not really care even if he did have higher Vitality than they did.

　　It did not matter if their Vitality was several calories higher!

　　They had a martial artist father, after all, so they knew more than others did.

　　Their stance was at the first level now. Once they entered a martial arts university and learned the Methods of Honing, they would have a teacher and access to the schools’ resources.

　　The chances of them becoming a martial artist within a year were very high.

　　However, for guys like Fang Ping with slightly higher Vitality, unless their Vitality was scores higher, what did it matter?

　　Even Zhou Bin, with a Vitality of 125cal, did not count for anything.

　　Once they entered university, they would have to start training their stances from the beginning. It would take them forever and a day to achieve a stable stance that they could cultivate with their Methods of Honing.

　　It was quite likely for the brothers to become martial artists and hone all their limbs into one before the others had a chance of breaking through.

　　However, that was in the past!

　　Now, Fang Ping was on the verge of breaking through to the first level. That meant he would be on the same starting line as the two of them.

　　Tan Tao wallowed himself in envy for a moment before he said politely, “Oh, you don’t have to treat us. We’re all kind of busy now.

　　“Why don’t we wait until the Martial Science Exam is over? Then we can all have a meal together.”

　　Fang Ping’s Vitality was by no means low, and apparently he was decent at cultural studies too.

　　There was an extremely high chance he would make it into a martial arts university.

　　Once they made it through, all of them would be students of martial arts universities. In that case, it would be a good idea to share a meal then and strengthen their bonds.

　　They had no time to spare right now, and Fang Ping was pretty busy himself.

　　After he expressed his thanks one last time, Fang Ping left ahead.

　　Once he was gone, the brothers went downstairs and looked for Wu Zhihao.

　　Rough Tan Tao grabbed Wu Zhihao’s collar and said angrily, “Lil Wu’zi, you lied to Lord Hao again!”

　　Wi Zhihao looked utterly perplexed, and his confusion turned to fury. “Get lost and let go, you idiot! You think I’m scared just cuz there are two of you? If you got the balls, take me on, one-on-one!”

　　“One-on-one, my foot!”

　　Tan Hao swore but soon he let go anyway, saying in a slightly upset tone, “Didn’t you say Fang Ping’s family wasn’t all that well-to-do?

　　“But his stance has been improving at a blistering rate lately, and he’s full of Vitality.

　　“Logically speaking, that shouldn’t be possible.”

　　Wu Zhihao huffed, “Is that all?”

　　In the past, he had also been suspicious and confused by this.

　　Now, however, Wu Zhihao thought he had half an idea about it.

　　While the others were not paying them any attention, Wu Zhihao said in a whisper, “I think that kid has a patron!”

　　“Who?”

　　“Senior Wang!”

　　Wu Zhihao’s eyes were bright as he said, “The last time, when Senior Wang came to school, he had asked for Senior Wang’s number.

　　“I think they even met up!

　　“I don’t know exactly what they talked about, but I’m guessing it’s highly likely he got Senior Wang’s support.

　　“Why else do you think he’s improving so quickly?”

　　“You mean Senior Wang Jinyang?”

　　The brother exchanged a glance and read shock in each others’ eyes!

　　Wu Zhihao did not know the details, but their father was a martial artist, so they had some insider information.

　　Just a few days ago, that man, the craziest prodigy Sun City had seen in the past ten years, had single-handedly killed a Peak Rank-2 Martial Artist!

　　How old was Wang Jinyang?

　　He was a freshman at university, only 19 years old!

　　If he could kill a Peak Rank-2 Martial Artist, how high must Wang Jinyang’s rank be?

　　Peak Rank-2? Rank-3?

　　He was so impressive that even their father had told them to lick his boots as much as possible once they got into Nanjiang Martial Arts University!

　　Yes, they were told not to approach him, but to lick his boots.

　　If Wang Jinyang was already at such an unbelievable level in his first year of university, there was a high chance he would reach the middle-ranks by the time he graduated!

　　Once someone like that graduated and entered the world of politics, he would be a commander at the very least.

　　The one who helmed a prefecture was a commander.

　　The one at the provincial-level was a governor.

　　Sun City was just a county-level city, and its numero uno was not even a governor.

　　With a couple more years of experience, it would be possible for Wang Jinyang to become a governor.

　　How could they not suck up to a guy like that?

　　The brothers were both green with envy. Did that punk Fang Ping really get on Senior Wang’s good side?

　　When he saw their reactions, Wu Zhihao said in a low voice, “Well, that’s what I think, anyway. It’s pretty likely.

　　“That’s why it doesn’t matter how jealous you two are. Besides, Uncle Tan is still a martial artist too, so there’s nothing for you two to be jealous about.

　　“I should be the one getting jealous here!”

　　“You know nothin’!”

　　Tan Hao cursed at him. Even if his father was here right now, the old man probably would not dare to mention Wang Jinyang in the same breath as himself.

　　One was a Rank-1 Martial Artist approaching 50, while the other was a 19-year-old Rank-2 or even Rank-3 Martial Artist.

　　How could they be compared?

　　The old man was pinning all his hopes on the brothers now. As for himself, aside from the daily cultivation to prevent his Vitality from dropping, he no longer actively cultivated.

　　Cultivating cost money, okay?!

　　If all three of them were cultivating based only on the old man’s meager benefits, they would have gone bankrupt long ago.

　　Wang Jinyang was different, however. He was young, had a high rank, and he was still a student too, which meant he could obtain resources more easily.

　　With him backing Fang Ping, Fang Ping was probably eating Blood and Qi-replenishing Pills like they were candy.

　　Of course, that was merely a hypothetical situation. Even if Fang Ping did have that many pills to eat, he would not be able to digest it so quickly.

　　“Why did Senior Wang fancy Fang Ping?”

　　“Hey, it couldn’t be because Fang Ping welcomed him that time, could it? Gah, if we’d known, we would’ve gone instead!”

　　“What a waste!”

　　“…”

　　The brother whined and sighed, while Wu Zhihao said even more sourly, “Don’t mention it anymore. I went too, but it’s not like I got anything out of it.”

　　He guessed that it was because Fang Ping’s Vitality had increased explosively after he consumed that pill. That was probably why Wang Jinyang looked at him differently.

　　Of course, it may also have something to do with Fang Ping’s guts.

　　That guy actually dared to call Wang Jinyang of his own accord. Wu Zhihao had to respect that.

　　Martial artists always had to fight for everything!

　　Many people had heard that line, but not many young people understood it.

　　Now, Wu Zhihao was starting to see a glimpse of the truth behind it. If Fang Ping did not have the competitive spirit and daring to call Wang Jinyang, he may not have earned Wang Jinyang’s support.

　　His hypothesis was not all accurate, but the end result was the same.

　　It was true that Fang Ping would not be where he was now if it were not for that call.

　　At the same time, however, Fang Ping had come prepared with a proposal for a deal.

　　If Wu Zhihao had called, no matter how kind Wang Jinyang was, he would only have given him a few words of advice at most, and not all the support he was showing Fang Ping.

　　…

　　Of course, Fang Ping did not know about Wu Zhihao’s wild guesses.

　　However, this was also part of Fang Ping’s plan.

　　He did not intend to hide every aspect of everything. He had long since set up a scapegoat and planned to throw everything to Wang Jinyang.

　　Nevertheless, that was for after the Martial Science Exam, and not before.

　　Wu Zhihao and the others were already considering it now, so Fang Ping would not deny it even if he did find out.

　　Upon leaving the gym, Fang Ping did not go home. Instead, he went to Scenic Lake Gardens.

　　Everything had arrived over the past few days, and Fang Ping had someone install everything too.

　　At noon that day, Fang Ping had hired a housekeeper to clean the place up.

　　Now that he was here at night, his new house was spick and span.

　　After he walked around the house for a bit, Fang Ping took off his jacket and sat cross-legged on the floor to cultivate his Methods of Honing.

　　These past few days, he had made up an excuse, saying he was cultivating at school. That was why his parents did not suspect anything even though he went home late every day.

　　…

　　Half an hour later, he was done cultivating the Methods of Honing.

　　It had been merely a week since he obtained the cultivation methods.

　　However, Fang Ping’s abilities were improving at a breakneck speed.

　　Wealth: 3240000

　　Vitality: 129cal

　　Mentality: 150Hz

　　His Wealth was a round number because Fang Ping’s parents had given another 200 bucks for his meals and allowance recently.

　　Fang Ping did not really want to accept it, but after some thought, he decided not to decline it.

　　If he declined it now, his parents would be even more worried.

　　He would just take it now. It was not too late to come clean with them after the Martial Science Exam.

　　Last weekend, before he received the cultivation methods, Fang Ping had more than 3.37 million in Wealth.

　　Back then, his Vitality had been 124cal.

　　One week later, his Vitality had increased by 5cal, and his Mentality rose by 10Hz!

　　Based on how quickly Fang Ping had consumed his Wealth in the past, 15,000 in Wealth should have been enough.

　　This time, however, Fang Ping had used up more than 130,000 Wealth. That was almost 10 times more.

　　Still, Fang Ping was pretty satisfied. While he did not spend much in the past, it was also harder for him to increase his maximum limits. He had to rely on training his body on his own, and it was a bit too much for him physically.

　　Now, though, he had the Methods of Honing and his stance cultivation. While he consumed his Vitality and Mentality, his body and his bones were also growing stronger.

　　His Wealth was not only contributing to the growth of his Vitality and Mentality, but also to his overall strengthening.

　　It saved him a ton of time too. Those few tens of thousands were pretty worth it, then.

　　“There are 11 days left until the physical assessment. I wonder how much more I can increase my Vitality before then…”

　　It was already the 19th of April, and Fang Ping could also sense that the higher his Vitality grew, the harder it was to increase it further.

　　He had reached 129cal yesterday, and even after a whole day of cultivation, his maximum Vitality had not increased.

　　‘Looks like I’ll have to wait until my stance reaches the first level so I can cultivate it with the Methods of Honing. When that happens, I’ll probably be able to speed things up.

　　‘My stance will reach the first level in the next few days.’

　　Fang Ping secretly made his own plans. After he freshened up and brushed his teeth, he took his backpack and left, heading toward Lakeview Gardens.