Villa No.8.
When Fang Ping arrived, it was the first time he had felt out of place at the villa.
There were quite a few people present. Zhao Xuemei and Chen Yunxi were there, as well as a few other youngsters—three boys and a girl. Fang Ping did not know them.
Lu Fengrou was resting on the sofa; she seemed to be taking a nap.
The moment Fang Ping came in, Lu Fengrou said lightly without opening her eyes, “You’re here.”
“Yes.”
“Get to know each other.”
After Lu Fengrou said this, the three boys and the girl all turned to look at Fang Ping.
“Ye Qing, School of Weaponry junior student, Upper-stage Rank-3.”
“Liang Fenghua, School of Weaponry junior student, Peak Rank-3.”
“Liang Huabao, School of Weaponry soph.o.m.ore student. Liang Fenghua is my older brother. I’m Upper-stage Rank-3.”
“Liu Mengyao, School of Production junior student, Upper-stage Rank-3.”
The three boys and the girl introduced themselves one by one.
Ye Qing looked grave and stern, with punk hair that stood straight up. He did not look as if he would be an easy person to go up against. Fang Ping’s impression was that people with this sort of hairstyle were usually rather p.r.i.c.kly and rebellious.
The two Liang brothers seemed more straightforward. Both brothers had managed to get into MCMAU; one was Peak Rank-3, and the other was Upper-stage Rank-3. Their abilities were not weak either.
Liu Mengyao looked much gentler. Perhaps it was because she came from the School of Production and was not as fierce as the girls in the School of Weaponry.
Fang Ping said hurriedly, “Fang Ping, freshman student, Upper-stage Rank-3.”
Upon hearing this, everybody stared at him quite a while longer, including Zhao Xuemei and Chen Yunxi.
Fang Ping had actually achieved Upper-stage Rank-3!
“Junior, you truly are incredible…”
Before Liang Fenghua could finish complimenting Fang Ping, Lu Fengrou interrupted and said, “It’s enough that you’re acquainted with one another. You are all students I’ve accepted in the last few years. Including Fang Ping, Xuemei and Yunxi, I’ve accepted 15 students in recent years.”
Fang Ping was aware of this; Lu Fengrou had mentioned it before.
However, Fang Ping had never seen his own seniors as he was younger than them by a year.
Lu Fengrou continued speaking, “Out of 15 students, 6 have died.”
Fang Ping’s eyes narrowed slightly. When he first entered as a freshman, if he recalled correctly, Lu Fengrou had said 4 died. One was Rank-4, and the other three were Rank-3.
Not even a year had pa.s.sed and two more had died?
Lu Fengrou’s tone was calm as she said, “Another two have been crippled and have gone home to take care of their families. Of my students, only the 7 of you are left.”
“Instructor…”
Liu Mengyao’s eyes reddened all of a sudden. Choking slightly, she faltered, “Senior Zhang and the others…”
Lu Fengrou said with some weariness, “I said from the very beginning, if you’ve been injured, don’t go to the Catacombs anymore. They didn’t listen, and now seventy percent of their bones are broken. Now they’re in wheelchairs and can look forward to growing old in the comfort of their homes.
“Today I’ve brought you all together to tell you that enough have died.
“In these four years, I’ve accepted 15 students, and not even half are left.
“Next semester, I won’t be accepting any more students; I might not accept any more even in the foreseeable future.”
In the span of a short four years, one student after another had died. Among all the instructors, she had lost the most students.
Lu Fengrou lifted a hand and rubbed her temple. She looked at Ye Qing and said, “You and Zhang Longshan went out to do a mission together. Did you sense anything fishy?”
Ye Qing knitted his brows slightly at this and shook his head after a pause. “I don’t think so. Our luck was quite bad. We met a small team of scouts led by an Upper-stage Rank-4 martial artist. Senior Chen was killed in action, Senior Zhang was heavily injured, myself and two others got lost as well. In the end, Senior Zhang managed to escape, but he couldn’t cultivate anymore…”
Lu Fengrou said tiredly, “Are you all too extreme or is somebody sabotaging me?
“They’re dying one after another!”
Everyone could find nothing to say.
Lu Fengrou sighed, then suddenly turned toward Fang Ping, Zhao Xuemei and Chen Yunxi. “The three of you will be going to the Catacombs for the first time this round. It will be highly dangerous.
Fang Ping, keep your wits about you and stay vigilant. Don’t die.
Also, keep an eye out and see if what happens is truly an accident, or if someone is specifically targeting me…”
Fang Ping’s heart gave a quick jump. He blurted out hastily, “Instructor, that can’t be, right?”
Lu Fengrou said wryly, “Who knows? In the last few years, I’ve offended many people.
“The year something unfortunate happened, I did many things. On the surface, n.o.body minded, but who knows what they really are thinking.
“Also, some people are worried about me achieving a breakthrough to Grandmaster level and causing a lot of trouble that might involve mankind—a great offense indeed!
“Perhaps letting my students die is a way of hurting me so I can’t breakthrough and become a Grandmaster. Naturally, this means I won’t be able to drag humanity into any danger.
Bartering a few Rank-3 martial artists’ lives in exchange for the future of mankind—I ask you, is this sort of high moral integrity high enough?
“So, stay clear-headed, all of you. They might not go so far as to kill you in broad daylight, but underground in the dark, who knows what could happen?
“Moreover, could evil sect martial artists actually be middlemen for evil sects? Do they exist in other realms?
“We’ve been at war with the Catacombs for so many years. Although neither party can communicate well, research in the last few years has enabled us to pretty much figure out what everybody wants to convey. It’s not impossible for someone to be a spy for the Catacombs.
“There are many prodigies among my students. One prodigy’s death is even more worthwhile than the deaths of ten mediocre people.
“At any rate, there are all sorts of possibilities.
“Each of you had better grow some brains and think very carefully before you do anything. There are only 7 of you. How many more have to die?”
Lu Fengrou sighed and continued, saying, “Remember. When you enter the Catacombs, don’t simply trust anyone!
“That is a lawless world—to us humans at least. Other than the strongholds, other places there have no laws.
“Humanity has no way of withstanding a powerful enemy like the Catacombs. However, this might only be limited to the overall situation. Martial artists have died one after another in the Catacombs. Who knows how they died?
“I don’t like to think ill of other people, but I have to now. In these few years, too many people have died.
“Especially on my side; the number of people dying is increasing.”
Fang Ping and the others fell silent.
“I’m just reminding you all of one thing. Don’t let anyone else die. Fenghua, don’t go to the Catacombs for now. Get ready to breakthrough to Rank-4. When you graduate, go take a position in the government, and don’t go to the Military Department.
“Huabao, Mengyao, the two of you prepare to breakthrough to Upper-stage Rank-3.
“Ye Qing, you’re close to Peak Rank-3. Recently the situation has been unstable, so don’t go to the Catacombs.
“As for Fang Ping and the girls, you three have never been to the Catacombs so you must go, but…remember one thing. You only have a future when you’re still alive!”
Lu Fengrou said very seriously, “In university, other instructors will tell you that you must be willing to fight, that you must not be afraid of battle, and that you must not run from it!
“When you go to the Catacombs, the Military Department will tell you that it’s better to die standing than to live kneeling.
“However, remember what I said. People who set themselves up to die are idiots. If you already know you can’t go up against them, you must not be foolhardy in the name of so-called courage.
“I’m not worried about Fang Ping. Xuemei and Yunxi, both of you must remember—after you enter the Catacombs, you must follow Fang Ping. Don’t give me any rubbish about all this “death before retreating in battle” nonsense!
“If Fang Ping runs, you two must run faster than him…”
Fang Ping was speechless when he heard that. ‘Is Old Lu praising me or being sarcastic?
‘When have I ever run away?
‘Back then I was the Upper-stage Rank-3 who battled a Peak martial artist; I was so recklessly brave I made an absolute mess of things. When did I become this Runaway Fang you’re talking about?’
Zhao Xuemei and Chen Yunxi exchanged glances. Lu Fengrou ignored this and looked at Fang Ping, saying curtly, “I don’t care about other people. Humans are selfish. If they die, it’s their loss, but remember to bring your comrades back unhurt!
“If you abandon even your comrades, then you’re not wise, you’re despicable!
“Remember what I said. Of course, if you do encounter dangers in which you’ll face certain death, escape however you can and forget about it. Play it by ear.”
Fang Ping nodded, his expression serious. “Instructor, I haven’t reached that stage yet.”
Lu Fengrou continued rubbing her forehead. After a while, she said, “The rest of you, go back now and work hard in cultivating. Fang Ping, stay behind for a while.”
The other students did not linger. They bid her goodbye and left.
…
The moment they left, Lu Fengrou leaned back on the sofa. She contemplated in silence for a while before saying, “The date for entering the Catacombs has been decided. You’ll officially go in on June 20th. Tang Feng will be in charge!”
At this, Fang Ping asked at once, “Instructor Lu, isn’t Instructor Tang your rival?”
Lu Fengrou rolled her eyes and said impatiently, “Lion Tang…how do I put it—he might not have the highest IQ, but his character is still alright. With him in charge, he won’t purposely target anyone or get anyone killed. Do you understand?”
“Yes, I understand!”
Fang Ping heaved a sigh of relief. By saying this, Lu Fengrou meant Big Lion was still quite reliable.
Lu Fengrou continued, “With Lion Tang in charge, you’ll be safe as he has the strength of a Peak Rank-6. Still, unless it’s absolutely a last resort, don’t get separated from him.”
“Alright.”
“If you do run into extreme danger, find a way to contact my father in the Catacombs…of course, the probability of finding him is very low. The Catacombs are huge. I don’t know where he is either; furthermore, the Catacombs are so dangerous. Is he still alive or not…”
Lu Fengrou gave her head a slight shake. She had not received any news of her father for a year now since he had entered the Catacombs.
At the beginning of last year, she had seen him once. After that, she had heard nothing more about him. Lu Fengrou really did not know if he was dead or alive.
Even though she was uncertain of her father’s whereabouts or if he was even alive, Lu Fengrou still tossed a pocket watch to Fang Ping. “My father left me this. It has his picture in it. If you meet him, you can ask him for help. If you don’t meet him, then let it be.”
Fang Ping solemnly took the pocket watch. This was a Peak Rank-7 Grandmaster’s token. If it was in the cards that they met, there might be some benefits to be gained.
“Also…remember, you can carry on protecting Xuemei a little. As for Chen Yunxi, if you run into any trouble, you can run with her.”
“Ah?”
“She’s the only girl in the Chen family’s third generation. Old Man Chen has six or seven grandsons but only one granddaughter. He most probably would have arranged something. If you run with her, you’ll be safer than if you follow other people. Previously when I asked you to protect her, I was actually telling you that her chances of survival are higher than yours.”
“Understood!” Fang Ping answered happily. If he really ran into trouble, there was a way out now.
Lu Fengrou thought for a moment, then said, “Try to avoid the MCMAU Grandmasters. Aside from the old vice-chancellor, stay away from the others.”
Fang Ping was completely befuddled.
What did that mean?
Lu Fengrou said wryly, “Our MCMAU Grandmasters, including Wu Kuishan, insist on putting country and mankind first, and others second. Do you get what I mean?”
“Not really.”
“Idiot!”
Lu Fengrou scolded him, furrowed her brows and said, “It means that for the greater good, they’d be willing to sacrifice the lesser portion, and you are part of what’s considered the lesser portion.
“It’s still unclear what’s going on with you. Who knows what they’re thinking?
“Of course, this probability is not very high. After all, you’re an MCMAU student, your Mentality’s not weak, and you have hopes of becoming a Grandmaster. In the overall scheme of things, they would probably choose to protect you too.
“But what I’m worried about isn’t this, it’s…”
Fang Ping hastily asked, “What are you worried about, Instructor?”
Lu Fengrou’s eyes brightened, then darkened. A moment pa.s.sed before she said, “For humanity, for the greater good, it’s best that I, Lu Fengrou, don’t become a Grandmaster.
“To become a Grandmaster, your essence, spirit, and soul must be as one.
“Many of my students died. Perhaps I was damaged by this so my essence, spirit, and soul are not completely whole. Naturally, this means I can’t talk about achieving a breakthrough.
“These are just my own conjectures, but it’s not impossible.
“Anyway, just be more careful. Even if they wanted to block my way to a breakthrough for their so-called greater good, they won’t attack anyone on purpose. But there’s still a chance they won’t save you if you’re dying, or they might just give you a more difficult mission.”
Fang Ping was dumbfounded. What did this mean?
To prevent Lu Fengrou from achieving her breakthrough, these Grandmasters might purposely sit on their hands and watch her students die? It would not come to that, would it?
From Fang Ping’s point of view, it did not matter if it was Huang Jing or Wu Kuishan…of course, he was not actually familiar with these people.
Fang Ping felt only that these Grandmasters were fighting hard for mankind, standing on the frontlines of battle to protect their country and getting heavily wounded in the process.
Could these people really do something as cruel as what Lu Fengrou said?
Lu Fengrou said somewhat wearily, “As long as you’re cautious, it’s fine. It’s hard to say. After all, if I do achieve breakthrough, I’d definitely have to go to the Catacombs. If I don’t die, others would.
“If I die, it’s no great loss, but what if others die?
“If a Rank-9 powerhouse or a lord of a city dies, I’m afraid a ma.s.sive war won’t be far away.
“Would it plunge people into misery and suffering?
“Maybe!
“But there are some things that I’d want to do even if I knew the consequences. I’m not as virtuous as them. I’m not capable of caring about what mankind does. I only know that I have revenge to take!
“Anyway, that’s the situation. If you meet these old b.a.s.t.a.r.ds in the Catacombs, don’t get close to them if there’s no reason to.
“Grandmasters aren’t human. Who knows if they still have humanity left in them?
“That includes my father. Who knows what he’s thinking?
“Perhaps I’ll only be able to understand when I become a Grandmaster. As for you, remember, your life is your own. I’ve given you so much advice now. If you still die, don’t blame me.”
Fang Ping said sorrowfully, “I wasn’t too scared at first. After what you’ve said though, Instructor, I’ve become a little scared now. It feels like there are enemies everywhere, and everybody wants my life.”
“That’s right.”
“Teacher, in that case, do you have anything that could protect me? For example, a scroll that seals the strength of one blow, or a single-use weapon that could grant you one outburst as powerful as that of a Grandmaster, or…”
Lu Fengrou merely stared at Fang Ping while as he spouted his nonsense. A long moment pa.s.sed before she said, “I would like that too. If something like that truly exists, you give me some alright?”
“Instructor, don’t you have pills? Could you give me some? Let me have some three to five hundred Resurrection Pills…”
Lu Fengrou gave a mocking laugh and said lazily, “I don’t have Resurrection Pills, but I do have something good to give you.”
After saying this, Lu Fengrou produced a medicine bottle from the drawer and tossed it to Fang Ping, saying, “I’ll give you these Vitality Outburst Pills!”
“Vitality Outburst Pills?”
This was the first time Fang Ping had seen Vitality Outburst Pills.
“They aren’t good for much. Their only use is that after taking them, your Vitality will boil… No, it’ll blaze!
“With blazing Vitality, your outburst will be much stronger!”
“I think I’ve seen the effect of this pill on television before…”
“Television is also based on reality. After you use the Vitality Outburst Pill though, all your Vitality will be burned up and exhausted. If you can’t kill your enemy by then, you might as well wait to die.
“Of course, that might not necessarily happen to you, so I’m giving them to you.
“If you meet a Rank-4 or -5 martial artist, you can try them. Even if all your Vitality is used up, you won’t die. You can replenish your Vitality, can’t you?”
As she said this, Lu Fengrou seemed to remember something and added, “The Vitality Outburst Pill burns up all the Vitality in your entire body at once. If you don’t manage to replenish enough of your Vitality to keep you alive, you’ll die. Do you still want it?”
“A pill of certain death?” Fang Ping muttered. The meaning behind these words was very clear. The pills would burn up all of his Vitality at once. Even if the enemy did not die, he would become a dry corpse.
“It’s not necessarily certain death. If you’ve killed the enemy, stopped your Vitality outburst and taken a lot of Vitality Pills, you might not die, but your vigor will be seriously damaged.”
Lu Fengrou carelessly delivered this phrase, then said, “There are three pills in that bottle. If you’ve taken them and not died, you can prepare some more for yourself in future.”
Fang Ping smiled and said, “Instructor, please give me a few more. After all, if others took it, they’d die…”
These pills were good!
After Lu Fengrou had given him three pills, his Wealth points instantly shot up by 4.5 million. What did that imply?
It meant that these Vitality Outburst Pills might not sell for lower than 2 million a pill.
Lu Fengrou snorted and ignored Fang Ping. These were not mainstream pills. They were a limited item from the start. Of course there would not be many of them.
Ordinary people could not buy them at all. Pill companies did not specially manufacture them either. The Military Department had created some, and she had obtained these three pills from them.
“Stop talking nonsense. Starting from tomorrow, cultivate your Combat Techniques. Leave now.”
“Instructor…”
“Leave!”
Fang Ping was helpless; all he could do was to leave. Still, he now had 4.5 million wealth points. He could manage for a little while.