World’s Best Martial Artist

When Fang Ping saw Tang Feng, he pulled a long face and muttered, “What, you again?”

Did MCMAU have so few instructors?

Why was Big Lion everywhere?

MCMAU had 20 Rank-6 instructors, as well as a ton of Rank-5 instructors!

Why was it that Big Lion was in charge of this class every single time?

As if he had heard Fang Ping’s grumbling, Tang Feng shot a look at him out the corner of his eye before marching up to the stage and announcing, “This is MCMAU’s second time holding special training class this year!

“The first time, we fought for the glory of MCMAU!

“This time, we fight for the survival of humanity!

“This is a first for MCMAU—holding two special training classes within such a short time. It also means that the situation is getting more and more serious.

“I think every student here today knows what we will be facing in the future.

“In the past, Rank-2 martial artists like you would not normally have been deployed to the Catacombs, but now, we have no choice but prepare ourselves!

“Our homes, our country, and the sky above our heads…you’ve probably dismissed those casual words in the past.

“But now…”

Tang Feng raised his voice suddenly. “Today, we can say with certainty and resolve that we, the martial artists of this generation, fight for our homes and our country!

“Since ancient times, it has been said that those who fight for home and country are the most heroic of all warriors.

“In the thousands of years that have passed since then, only martial artists from the past century deserve such an accolade!”

This Tang Feng was not quite as cold, stern, or inhuman as he had seemed before…

“Martial artists are unafraid to fight, and must fight!

“Martial artists from our university have never cowered in the face of battle! This year marks the 50th anniversary of MCMAU’s founding!

“In these 50 years, 3 Grandmasters, 928 middle-Ranked martial artists, and 512 Rank-3 martial artists from MCMAU have died in battle!

“Every year, at least 10 Rank-3 students die in battle. Close to 20 middle-Ranked martial artists die. In the last 15 years, one Grandmaster has died on the battlefield!”

…

Fang Ping was dumbfounded. 3 Grandmasters in MCMAU had died, as well as so many middle-Ranked martial artists?

A martial artist was not the equivalent of an army.

Every middle-Ranked and Rank-3 martial artist was bolstered by countless resources. They were all prodigies and illustrious heroes.

Even so, close to a thousand martial artists from MCMAU had died in the past 50 years!

“MCMAU has established a Martyr’s Shrine in honor of these brave warriors. It’s located on the top floor of the school archives.

“Originally I wanted to bring you up there so you could see whether the sacrifice made by your ancestors and comrades have been worth it!

“But then I decided against it.

“Right now, all of you still don’t really comprehend or understand.

“You’ll only see list after list of names you don’t recognize, while you listen to me telling you what they have sacrificed and what they’ve done…

“No, at present none of you have the right to know about them or to remember them yet!

“One day, when you think that you finally understand why you are fighting and for whom—when you can answer these questions, then you may go. Only then will you understand what the Martyr’s Shrine stands for!

“To die in the Catacombs in battle is the highest honor a martial artist can hope for!

“Our generation of martial artists, we fight to the death! We do not retreat! We do not surrender!”

Tang Feng’s words were deafening.

Fang Ping and everyone else remained silent.

“So, when you join the special training class this time, you must be determined to fight to the death! You must be willing to give up your lives!

“Can you do that, all of you?”

“Yes!” Someone bellowed. Tang Feng chuckled and said mildly, “Perhaps.”

Did the students here today truly understand?

They did not!

Right now they could declare confidently that they would fight to their deaths!

When they entered the Catacombs and experienced the reality of battle, some would lose heart and shrink into cowardice. Would there really be a future for mankind then?

The previous competitions, the missions…to Tang Feng, they were just child’s play.

He did not say anything more. His exhaustion was obvious—not physical but mental.

“Everyone should now be clear about the objective of the special training class.

“No class monitor will be elected, and there will be no rankings. Even so, I hope that the class will be able to establish some structure; at the very least, you must form your own teams.

“Martial artists are not individual entities.

“You need a team of comrades whom you can trust to watch your back, whom you can depend on for survival.

“A team of 100 people will be very obvious in the Catacombs.

“I suggest you form teams of less than 10 people each.

“When the larger group is scattered, your respective teams must stay as organized as possible. That will increase the odds of your survival.”

Someone immediately asked, “Instructor Tang, must we join teams?”

Tang Feng replied mildly, “Of course not. The backbone of a team is the trust you have with one another. If you’re forced to join one, you’ll hold the team back.

“You can certainly proceed on your own. But you have to remember— in the Catacombs, your enemies are everywhere.

“Can you go without rest or sleep, and remain vigilant at all times?

“Even if you can do that, if you are critically injured, who will save your life?

“When you feel that you can move freely about in the Catacombs alone, then it won’t matter if you have a team or not.

“The Grandmasters go on their own most of the time. They can do it, but can you?”

The student who had asked the question fell silent. Tang Feng continued, “A team cannot be formed in a day. Your team members don’t have to be from this class. You can recruit anyone, assuming that you think that they can survive in the Catacombs. You can even recruit civilians.

“Of course, you’ll be at a disadvantage if you bring civilians into the Catacombs, but if you want to court death, we won’t stop you.

“I suggest that you find teammates of similar prowess so you can become stronger together and improve as a whole. Only then can a team last and form camaraderie.”

Once done, Tang Feng brought up another topic.

“Aside from forming teams, you must increase your understanding of the Catacombs before you venture underground.

“From tomorrow onwards, from 7 to 8 pm every night, an instructor will teach lessons for an hour about the Catacombs.

“These lessons will include the geography of the Catacombs, its inhabitants and culture, an introduction of the species and valuable objects there, and the locations of the forts in the Catacombs…”

Fang Ping suddenly asked, “Instructor, humans have forts in the Catacombs?”

Tang Feng felt uneasy as he observed Fang Ping. He did not like these sorts of devious brats; he constantly had the feeling that he would be sold down the river at a moment’s notice.

Tang Feng snorted in response to Fang Ping’s question. “Of course. Without forts, what would we do? Battle on the surface world?

“There are forts at every Catacomb entrance, cities even!

“Of course, they are military in nature. They were created to aid the war effort in the Catacombs. Mankind sacrificed a great deal to build those cities.

“There are very few of these cities, however. Most of them double as barracks and are patrolled by soldiers.

“There’s a battalion of troops stationed inside the city, and one stationed outside. Both battalions take turns. The garrison that you know is actually made up of both these battalions.”

There were many military squads in Magic City.

If the number of troops in the Catacombs were calculated according to the number of troops in the surface world, then the troops in Sino Nation would be only half that number.

Fang Ping curled his lip. ‘Damn it, I was only asking a question, what are you snorting away for? Making sure your nose isn’t congested?’

He eyed Zhao Lei who was next to him. Zhao Lei’s expression turned black as thunder. He glared at Fang Ping from the corner of his eye, fury blazing in his eyes, daring the other to try and beat him up once more.

Fang Ping did not look at Zhao Lei again, but continued, “Is there a sun in the Catacombs?”

Tang Feng furrowed his brow. “Wait till you’re in class to ask these questions. I’m only briefing you of the following arrangements!”

This brat asked too many frivolous questions. Did he not hear the announcement that there would be hour-long class sessions every night?

“Will there be practical combat classes then?”

“Fang Ping, shut up, and let me finish!”

Tang Feng was on the verge of losing patience with this boy. Could his questions not wait until after the briefing was done?

Tang Feng had nothing much more to say. He shouted to get everyone’s attention, and informed them immediately, “Apart from an hour’s practical combat classes daily, there will be Catacomb knowledge supplemental classes as well. The special training class will also organize practical training sessions, including wilderness survival training.”

“Survival, like surviving on a lone island?” Fang Ping asked again.

“Out!” Tang Feng was completely done with Fang Ping. His nostrils practically billowed smoke in fury.

Fang Ping sighed softly. ‘I was only testing your patience, but now I’ve discovered that you don’t have much.’

He had confirmed that the Big Lion had no hopes of becoming a Grandmaster for the time being.

This was not a bad thing, as it meant that he himself could catch up to the older man and eventually give him a beating.

How could one become a Grandmaster without being tolerant?

With those thoughts in his head, Fang Ping patted Zhao Lei’s shoulder and rose to walk out from the room.

Zhao Lei was so furious his expression would scare anyone at just a glance. Tang Feng was speechless at the sight. After a while, he bellowed, “Sit down! The briefing starts now. You are forbidden to ask questions without my permission!”

This mentee of his was quite useless; he was practically putty in Fang Ping’s hands.

Zhao Lei would come to class every two or three days with his entire head bandaged. Tang Feng had lost count of how many times his student’s face had been beaten into a swollen mess.

Fang Ping sat down without further ado.

Zhao Lei gritted his teeth. He said under his breath, “Fang Ping, we are not finished!”

“Haha, if your mentor bullies me again, I won’t be finished with you either.”

“You…”

“Stop with all the ‘yous’. Talk to me when you get on the Rank-2 list.”

Zhao Lei was so furious he could hardly stand it, but he stopped talking. Fang Ping was right; he had to prove himself by his skill!

‘Wait till I surpass Fang Ping! I’ll beat this bastard up in front of the whole school until his head is as swollen as a pig’s for an entire year!’

Tang Feng’s ears were sharp enough he overheard the conversation between the two.

He swung his gaze towards Zhao Lei, resigned. Fang Ping, the brat, was already at Rank-3. When Zhao Lei was at Peak Rank-2, Fang Ping might be at Peak Rank-3 already. It seemed likely that there would be more and more bandaged heads in the future.

“In the following lessons about basic Catacomb knowledge, practical combat, and survival, those who obtain excellent grades will be awarded credits.

“Apart from assessment awards, 10 credits will be also awarded everyday…”

“Instructor, how can we get those 10 credits?”

Fang Ping really could not help it this time. He could not help the itch whenever he heard rewards being mentioned; he was not deliberately out to cause trouble.

Tang Feng glared at him but did not scold him this time. He said, “The daily reward will be given at the discretion of the instructor teaching on that day…”

“Not fair!” Fang Ping immediately objected, “I think that’s unfair.”

“Tell us, then. How would you go about it?”

“I… I think that we can let the class vote every day. The one who gets the most votes will have the credits.”

Tang Feng looked at him in surprise. Was he being democratic for once?

The others were surprised, too. If they did it Fang Ping’s way, everyone would have a chance. It would depend on the person’s popularity.

The more popular one was, the higher the odds of getting the reward.

Ten credits every day was quite a lot.

The special training class would go on for a minimum of two months, which meant that there would be 60 days at the very least. That was 600 credits in total!

Tang Feng considered the suggestion and felt it was a good idea. Even if someone managed to monopolize the vote, it meant that there was a student with leadership qualities in the class. In Catacomb warfare, this was a good thing.

As for Fang Ping, Tang Feng felt that the odds of him swaying the vote were very small.

“Sure,” Tang Feng agreed.

Fang Ping rubbed his hands together at that. Yang Xiaoman turned her head from where she was sitting in front of Fang Ping and said quietly, “Are you mad? Isn’t this blindly giving credits to other people for free? Chen Pengfei and the others have a lot of supporters…”

Fang Ping humphed. “Everything depends on skill. Tomorrow morning I’ll go see them one by one and have a nice chat. If they don’t vote for me, then they’ll have it coming!

“If I can sway 50 people to my cause, the 600 credits will be mine!”

Fang Ping made some mental calculations, then said softly, “The 8 of you have to vote for me. I’ll take 200 out of the 300 credits I get every month, and give the rest to you.”

“Do you really think you can get them?” Fu Changding asked incredulously. They had no opinion on sharing the 100 credits Fang Ping would give them every month.

Bluntly speaking, they might as well give up on the thought of getting even a single credit if they tried to fend for themselves—unless Yang Xiaoman and Chen Yunxi used their looks to their advantage.

No one would choose to vote for freshmen over everyone else.

“Of course I can. I only have to persuade 42 people.”

Fang Ping calculated the odds, then directed, “Give me a list of the students in this class. Mark the popular ones.”

He did not need to beat up every one of those 42 individuals.

He could just beat up the key people of several teams and be done with it. From that perspective, there was not much to be done.

Upon seeing his confidence, the others did not say anything more. If Fang Ping could achieve that, it would be ideal. No matter how little their earnings were, at least they would be earning something.

If he was not able to sway the vote, that was fine, too.

The nine of them still had a chance if they worked together. One credit was better than nothing.

…

Tang Feng did not bother about what was going through everyone’s minds. He merely reminded them of some other matters and future arrangements.

This being the first day, there was no lesson.

Tang Feng was preparing to leave, his mouth dry from all the talking, when Fang Ping suddenly said, “Instructor, aren’t you going to give out the credits for today?”

Tang Feng stopped in his tracks. Fang Ping said loudly, “Class is considered to have started today. You won’t go back on your word, will you?”

Tang Feng was speechless. He said, “Today counts. We’ll vote now.”

“Hello, everyone, I’m Fang Ping. I’ve competed in the MCMAU championships and shed blood for the school. I’ve also helped to obtain 10% of CCMAU’s resources. Next semester, we’ll have even more good things in store!”

Everyone looked totally confused at Fang Ping’s words. Was this even possible?

Fang Ping knew that everyone would not have made arrangements or negotiations on the first day, so the votes would be scattered.

He would vote for himself, and that, combined with the other freshmen’s votes for him, would make for nine votes in his favor. Those votes, plus how he had presented himself, might garner him the credits for the first day.

He could also test and single out the popular individuals via the votes. Tomorrow…no, tonight, he could pay them a call!

Tang Feng did not bother overly much about the proceedings. He looked at the time and ordered, “Quick. Finish this in three minutes.”

Everyone had no choice but to vote.

Fang Ping was still reminding everyone that his name was Fang Ping and that he had shed blood for the school.

Fu Changding and the others had nothing to say to that, but thought, ‘Are you sure you’ve shed blood?’

Fang Ping was watching them like a hawk, though, so they could only vote for him with mixed emotions. This being their first day, they had no hopes of getting the credits themselves.

The voting process ended quickly.

Tang Feng took the ballots, thumbed through them cursorily and announced, “Fang Ping is in first place with 16 votes. Go receive the credits yourself.” After swallowing these words like a bitter pill, he left the class.

Fang Ping, on the other hand, went forward quickly and got his hands on the voting results, so that he could skim through them and determine his targets.

Seeing Fang Ping’s preoccupation, Fu Changding sighed, “I knew it. When benefits are involved, he moves faster than anyone.

“Normally, he won’t even make the effort for one extra sentence. This fellow… He’s beyond saving.”

Chen Yunxi said softly, “Maybe it’s because his family’s poor…”

Fu Changding rolled his eyes. Poor? He was poor too, couldn’t he get some support as well?

As if Fang Ping were considered poor after earning goodness knows how much from selling pills, around 40 to 50 million, not including the rewards he earned from doing missions! In the past half a year, Fang Ping had already earned in excess of 50 million and above at least! How could that be considered poor?

If that could still be called poor, were there any rich people at all in the martial arts universities?

Fu Changding did not continue expressing his opinions on the matter, but changed the topic, “From tomorrow on, we’ll really start to learn about the Catacombs. I’m so excited about it…”

“You guys continue chatting, I’m going back first,” Fang Ping said by way of farewell as he came back from looking at the ballot papers. He left hurriedly after that.

Seeing his rapid departure, Chen Yunxi could not help but offer, “He… He won’t really go looking for the others, will he?”

The others exchanged glances. Fu Changding broke into a jog. “What are you waiting for? Let’s go watch!”

Fang Ping would definitely not relinquish so large a benefit. They had some entertainment ahead of them!

The others responded by following Fu Changding’s lead. Fang Ping, ahead of them, had already gotten his wooden case out from the lockers and was hurrying toward the entrance of the classroom block, case in hand.

He wanted to block the entrance, so it seemed!

These were neither a crowd of aspiring martial artists nor freshmen who had just entered university. They were all Rank-2 martial artists! If this was not putting his life on the line, what was it?

Tang Songting muttered, “Is courting death now a trend?”

Qin Fengqing from the Martial Arts Club did that every day, taunting Rank-4 Zhang Yu.

Fu Changding had followed suit but had come to his senses after being beaten up the one time.

Now, even normally level-headed Fang Ping was starting to be reckless, too!

“Is this the true essence of becoming stronger?”

Tang Songting was deep in thought. Which came first, becoming stronger or risking one’s life?

The logic of this sequence was something one had to figure out for oneself.