Chapter 262: Only Appearances?
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Beihu Province.
Yunmeng Lake.
When the car entered Beihu, Fang Ping murmured, “Is it wise to choose Beihu as our first stop?”
He gently touched his glaive that was next to him. This was where Lord Guan the Second died in battle. However, it was still quite a distance from the Military School.
“I’m not Lord Guan the Second, that’s got nothing to do with me. Plenty of people use sabers.”
Fang Ping exhaled and continued driving until his car arrived at the Yunmeng Military School.
While Yunmeng Military School might not be considered famous in the outside world, it was one of the Big Three military schools. If it was considered a martial arts school, it would still rank quite highly among the martial arts universities. It might even be comparable to the Big Two.
While the military school had plenty of powerhouses, they still had less Grandmaster-level powerhouses as compared to the Big Two.
…
When he got out of the car, he was not in a hurry to issue a challenge.
He reached the front gate of Yunmen Military School. Compared to MCMAU, the military school was a lot smaller and simpler.
The only thing that felt slightly imposing were the soldiers armed with spears who surrounded the outskirts of the school. To regular people, this may seem more intimidating. The martial artist guards at martial arts schools did not have the same effect as most people would not be able to identify martial artists based on appearances.
Fang Ping walked up to the sentry booth and looked around for a bit before speaking, “h.e.l.lo comrade, could I take a look inside the school?”
The soldier on duty replied meticulously, “Non-military school students are not allowed to enter. If there’s someone you need to find, you can register yourself at the sentry booth and we will ask someone to pa.s.s on your message.”
“Then could you help me find…”
Fang Ping thought for a bit and felt somewhat fl.u.s.tered. ‘Would it be appropriate for me to find someone like this? Would I challenge them to a duel the minute they come out from the gate? There would be no style at all!’
After thinking, Fang Ping said suddenly, “Forget it, I’ll come back later.”
As Fang Ping left, he took out his phone and called w.a.n.g Jinyang.
“Brother w.a.n.g, what is the procedure for declaring challenges?”
w.a.n.g Jinyang paused for a moment and replied, “It depends on your own opinions. If you want to properly issue a challenge, you would have to follow the rules of the martial arts world. First, pa.s.s your challenge letter to Yunmen Military School and wait for them to make the arrangements. However, this method takes a long time. The military school might have to contact MCMAU before they can make a decision. Moreover, considering the circ.u.mstances, the challenge might still be rejected. If you want to do it the fast way, then it’s simple. Just bring along your saber, stand in front of the school’s gates, and shout ‘Is there anyone in Yunmen Military School who dares to challenge me?’ Chances are a fight will start pretty quickly.”
Fang Ping laughed dryly, “That barbaric?”
“You have to be barbaric. Otherwise, why would people accept your challenge when they are going on with their lives just fine? You want a breakthrough and to gain momentum, but others might not think that way. You want to be known as an invincible Rank-3, but the military school’s martial artists might want that too. They want to keep a low profile. Therefore, I still think you should use the second method. That way, it’s simple and it won’t take a long time. It won’t trick you or disregard you. It will be a fight where you can go as hard as you can. Only then will it be a useful battle. Otherwise, formal battle arrangements might deceive you. Understood?”
“Is that so?” Fang Ping groaned. “Yes, I know.”
After thanking him, Fang Ping hung up the phone.
Turning to look back at Yunmeng Military School, Fang Ping inhaled deeply. Fine, the barbaric way it is then.
If he had to go through the conventional application, who knows how long the procedure will take. His summer break was packed with plans.
No wonder Old Man Li had said before that all he had to do was block the door.
If he were to block the door of a martial arts school and a military school, it would be the biggest form of humiliation. Their powerhouses were not afraid of war, nor would they shy away from it. Even if they thought Fang Ping was not worth fighting, they would not evade him.
“Seems like me and Old w.a.n.g are the same. I’ll be screaming at people to fight me in the future.”
‘Yunmeng Military School, the strongest person in Rank-3. Your position is no.14 in the national Rank-3 ranking, 5 spots below me. However, you are incredibly strong. The purpose of my journey here is to achieve a breakthrough to peak Rank-3, and to acc.u.mulate momentum for Rank-4… And it’s better to not use a yanyuedao…’
When he was done thinking things through, the sky had already turned dark. Fang Ping chose not to battle today.
He decided to find a place to rest for the night and compose himself before returning to the school.
Soon after, Fang Ping got into the car and drove off.
…
Yunmeng Military School, Front Gate.
Proudly holding his glaive, Fang Ping spoke loudly, “Magic City Martial Arts University, freshman, Fang Ping. I’m here to challenge Yunmeng’s Rank-3 students. I will not refuse anyone. I hope I can learn from you!”
His voice echoed throughout the school.
…
Inside Yunmeng Military School.
Someone began to shout angrily, “Does he think that there’s no one in Yunmeng?”
“How dare he bully us!”
“Year after year, people try to use Yunmeng Military School as a target to show their power. Every year, someone comes to challenge us. Let’s beat this b.a.s.t.a.r.d to death!”
“…”
The angry roars were loud. At the gate, Fang Ping suddenly felt a bit uneasy.
What extreme rage!
Did people come here to challenge them every year?
When he thought about it, it made sense. Fang Ping was not the only one who wanted to acc.u.mulate momentum.
In the next few moments, a dozen young men and women wearing military vests began to appear at the school gates.
None of them looked friendly. One of them spoke loudly, “Fang Ping, how dare you block the gate of my Yunmeng. Are you mocking us thinking that there’s no one here?”
Fang Ping stopped moving, and said plainly, “Anyone below Rank-3 is not allowed to fight. To fight or to flee, decide for yourself!”
“b.a.s.t.a.r.d, I’ll fight you!”
In the next moment, a burly guy in a military outfit walked out. He was br.i.m.m.i.n.g with Vitality and had a strong fighting spirit. With a face full of rage, he said, “Yunmeng Military School, junior, Yao Changyu!”
Fang Ping glanced at him and said calmly, “You’re too weak. Are you sure you want to fight?”
“Shut up!”
The moment he spoke, his military boots. .h.i.t the ground. The next moment, he held his fists together and swung them straight toward Fang Ping’s head!
With his right hand holding the glaive, Fang Ping remained still. His left hand was sealed, and with a loud sound, his left fist suddenly shot out!
Boom!
With a loud bang, Yao Changyu was struck by his fist. He flew backward and fell onto the ground!
“Those who are below upper-stage Rank-3, you are not my opponent. Don’t embarra.s.s yourself!”
Fang Ping spoke again loudly, “Is there no one at Yunmeng?”
Yao Changyu, who had fallen on the ground, turned red. A few people behind him hurried over to pull him up. One of them shouted, “Wait a moment, we’re just regular students of Yunmeng. Yao Zhangyu only represents himself!”
When Yao Zhangyu was defeated with one blow, Yunmeng had already lost one-third of its honor.
These people were not upper-stage Rank-3 martial artists. If they continued forward, all they would do is lose Yunmeng’s face.
It did not take long before another group of men and women appeared. They were not as young as the first batch of students. Some of them were middle-aged martial artists, and it was apparent that they were the instructors of the military school.
All of them were in military uniforms, and their faces were cold.
The leader of the group was a middle-aged martial artist who glanced at Fang Ping and spoke, “For challenges, you could have followed the rules. Fang Ping, you blocked Yunmeng’s school gates. If you dare to do it and dare to own up to the consequences. prepare yourself!”
“Naturally, I’m an invincible Rank-3. I have no fear!”
“Good!”
The middle-aged martial artist said no more and turned to say, “Zhu Wenlong, you will fight him. You can only succeed, and you’re not allowed to fail!”
Out of the crowd, a young man with dark skin walked out. He was holding a long spear.
Walking out to the front gates, the dark-skinned youth spoke coldly, “Zhu Wenlong, a peak Rank-3 martial artist!”
Fang Ping frowned, and said calmly, “You’re listed as number 46 in the Rank-3 ranking. You’re not the strongest Rank-3 in Yunmeng. Do you really want to be the one to fight?”
“Do you dare to fight me?”
Fang Ping suddenly pulled out his changdao and stuck it to the ground.
“Fine, I’ll defeat you before fighting the strongest Rank-3 powerhouse of Yunmeng!”
Before he even finished speaking, Fang Ping stomped and rose from the ground. The surface of the concrete floor cracked in an instant!
Seeing that he had abandoned his glaive, Zhu Wenlong’s eyes flashed with rage. Fang Ping really thought that he was an invincible Rank-3!
The moment Fang Ping stepped on the ground, Zhu Wenlong’s long spear whistled and a burst of air shot out. The crackling sound rang across dozens of meters.
Fang Ping’s fists flashed red with the glow of Vitality. Without evading, he let out a roar as his right fist shot toward the head of the spear!
Bang!
The sound of impact hitting against metal rang out. Zhu Wenlong’s long spear shook. In a second, Fang Ping had already appeared before Zhu Wenlong. With his left fist glowing red, he sent a punch flying to Wenlong’s throat.
Zhu Wenlong was unafraid. With a cold huff, he pulled back his long spear and swept it at Fang Ping’s waist.
Fang Ping did not even look at it. There was no retrieving his Vajra Punch. He could not get away!
He!
A roar escaped his lips. The speed of his punches increased by a third!
Zhu Wenlong raised his left elbow to block Fang Ping’s blows while continuously swiping his long spear at him.
Neither of them retreated nor evaded. Both of them had decided to go head to head.
Bang! Bang!
Two loud sounds rang out. Fang Ping’s fist had connected with his left arm, and his other hand hit Zhu Wenlong’s long spear again.
Zhu Wenlong feet hit the ground and he took a few steps backward. The places on the ground where he had stepped on were cracked.
…
“Wenlong’s Vitality is not as strong as Fang Ping’s, and his body is weaker too. If they were to fight head to head, he would not be his opponent.”
At that moment, the middle-aged person in military uniform who had spoken up earlier shook his head slightly and said, “This boy from MCMAU, his Vitality strength is over 1000 cal!”
The faces of a few people behind him dropped.
The middle-aged man in military uniform continued, “His bone and physical strength are stronger than most peak Rank-3 martial artists. Look at the toughness of his fists and his explosive Vitality. He even managed to slightly deform a D-cla.s.s alloy with his punches. However, his Vajra Punch has yet to be fully cultivated. Otherwise, Wenlong would not have just been thrown a few steps backward. He might have even sustained some internal injuries. Even though his performance among Rank-3 is not bad, he still can’t be compared to Chen Jiaw.a.n.g.”
As he spoke, a tall boy stood behind him. He was intensely watching the battle between Fang Ping and Wenlong.
Someone said, “I heard Fang Ping was good at using Manic Explosion. Now he’s using his fists instead of his saber. I’m afraid he might be thinking of training his fists to achieve a collective punch and enter the realm of peak Rank-3.”
A few people nodded, but the middle-aged man shook his head. “It’s not that simple. Looking at his Vajra punch, it might be powerful, but I’m afraid he’s only started learning it not long ago. If he doesn’t use a saber, he might not be Wenlong’s opponent.”
The crowd stopped talking, the situation had changed.
…
“You want to defeat me with fist techniques? Do you really think you’re invincible?”
Zhu Wenlong might have been thrown backward by his punch, but he was not hurt at all. Like a dragon, his long spear shot forward. It was as if it had come alive like a dragon or a snake. It circled Fang Ping’s neck repeatedly.
Fang Ping’s fists danced in a flurry, landing repeated blows on the long spear. However, he did not seem to gain too much of an advantage.
“My Vitality is not refined enough!”
“The strength of my fist is not powerful enough!”
“Otherwise, with a Vajra punch, it would have shaken his insides and hit him hard!”
“Collective punch…”
Fang Ping focused his Mentality on his fists to continuously replenish the flow of Vitality and refine its transition.
After a moment, Fang Ping’s expression s.h.i.+fted as he focused his Mentality on Zhu Wenlong’s long spear. This peak Rank-3 martial artist had managed to do the collective punch or the collective force. The long spear shot out with great power.
Fang Ping quickly observed his opponent’s flow of his Vitality strength and the distribution of energy particles. Out of battle, he could not observe it. If the opponent was too powerful, Fang Ping would not have the opportunity to observe. However, Zhu Wenlong and his power were on par at that moment, and Fang Ping was able to observe it.
His fists struck relentlessly. At first, Zhu Wenlong was still able to block his blows effortlessly. However, his expression soon changed.
The strength of the explosive Vitality of Fang Ping’s fist techniques was not much different than the last. However, the strength that had previously been dispersed was gradually condensed, making each hit more powerful than the last.
He!
Zhu Wenlong roared again, grabbing his long spear with both his hands and brandis.h.i.+ng it with such speed that some martial artists below upper-stage Rank-3 could not even see his next move.
Fang Ping, on the other hand, was having an increasingly harder time trying to block his blows. His forehead glistened with sweat.
…
The periphery.
A student furrowed his brows and asked, “This is the standard of martial arts universities’ number 3?”
In the martial arts universities’ charts, Fang Ping ranked third in Rank-3, and ninth overall.
Zhu Wenlong had not even entered the martial arts universities’ charts, and he ranked 46th overall. Based on that, there should be quite a gap between him and the top ten. However, it seemed like Zhu Wenlong had the upper hand. Fang Ping was only relying on his stronger physique to hold off the blows. His combat techniques were not that great.
“At this level, he still dares to be c.o.c.ky and call himself an invincible Rank-3? There really is no one useful in martial arts schools!”
“That’s not true. All we can say is that Fang Ping is incompetent. Don’t forget that in the past, all the top-ranking martial artists in martial arts schools were powerhouses.”
Upon hearing this, everyone else nodded.
It was not the first time Yunmeng Military School had been challenged.
As one of the Big Three of military Schools, this was a good opportunity for training. In the past few years, students from martial arts schools and other military schools, as well as disciples from the sect have all come by to issue a challenge before… Though there were very few who only put on appearances, but were actually incompetent.
As for Fang Ping… Looking at him now, he could only be in the top 50 of the rankings. Top 10 still seemed a bit of a stretch.
At the moment, Fang Ping and Wen Long were still fighting. Both were greatly expelling their Vitality. Fang Ping’s Vitality dispersed more and was being consumed at a faster pace than Zhu Wenlong’s. The advantages of his Vitality were slowly dissipating.
However, Fang Ping was not alarmed but was happy instead. At that moment, he had been continuously using his Mentality to identify how Zhu Wenlong’s strength was unleashed and the arrangement of his energy. He was starting to gain from his observations.
Fang Ping muttered to himself, “I see… So this is how the right power is controlled?”
The glow of Vitality on his fists gradually decreased. An outsider would think that he had consumed too much of his Vitality and would not be able to keep up his Vitality strength for long.
However, the middle-aged military-geared martial artists could see that something was different.
Fang Ping of MCMAU truly was a genius. He had started to control the energy of the battle and had stopped consuming his Vitality strength haphazardly like before.
“A genius martial artist!”
The middle-aged man in the military uniform exclaimed. Martial arts schools really had many geniuses.
There were also many geniuses in military schools, but most of them relied on continuous battling and killing to learn these skills.
Fang Ping was still learning and had already started to pave his way to peak Rank-3.
“Wenlong is almost defeated!”
The middle-aged man exclaimed.
Within the next moment, Fang Ping’s fists returned to their normal color. However, the moment he struck the long spear, a bright red light burst out.
With that one blow, Zhu Wenlong’s long spear shook greatly. The knuckles of his hand that held on to the spear split open, and blood spewed onto the body of the long spear.
Fang Ping did not attack him but seized the opportunity to spin his fists, hammering the long spear at a great speed.
Zhu Wenlong quickly backed away but was unable to evade Fang Ping.
In a blink of an eye, Fang Ping had landed a dozen blows. Zhu Wenlong’s grip loosened, and the long spear fell onto the ground.
At that moment, Wenlong’s arms were shaking and blood from his knuckles dripped onto the ground.
Fang Ping’s face was pale. He did not attempt to continue his attacks. He just smiled and said, “You lost!”
Zhu Wenlong’s dark-skinned face seemed to redden. After a moment, he picked up his long spear and said in a m.u.f.fled tone, “Next time when you’re fighting in the Catacombs, let me see your power again!”
“I won’t disappoint you!”
Fang Ping smiled happily. He did not activate his Vitality enhancements… The Vitality that was 1200 cal and above was already part of the original advantage.
Relying on the Vajra punch, his a.n.a.lysis of Zhu Wenlong’s collective force, and the advantage of his bone-honing, he had made Zhu Wenlong, a peak Rank-3 drop his weapon. This proved that not even Zhu Wenlong was worthy to be his opponent.
However, Fang Ping only vaguely knew the collective force technique and was still learning it. He had yet to master it to the point where he could use it in battle and because of that, he could tell that he could not enter peak Rank-3 just yet.
Zhu Wenlong was not too crestfallen. He picked up his long spear, turned, and walked away.
Suddenly, the next person walked forward.
“Yunmeng Military School, Chen Jiaw.a.n.g.”
Fang Ping exhaled softly. Number 14 on the Rank-3 charts, and also the highest-ranking person in Yunmeng Military School. This person was the reason why Fang Ping came here in the first place. He was his target.