Outside the meeting room.
Some of the students with Fang Ping had gone to get their injuries seen to, and some had gone to replenish their Vitality. Qin Fengqing, on the other hand, was not in a hurry to leave.
Seeing that Fang Ping was still deep in his thoughts, Qin Fengqing grinned and asked, “What are you thinking about?”
“Nothing.”
“Don’t want to go back?”
“I don’t know.”
Fang Ping shook his head. He really did not know.
“I’m worried I might die here, but I’m afraid that if I go back, some will say I’m a coward. We’re all people who care about appearances after all.
“At the same time, I’m thinking about how Instructor Wu and the others on mission with us didn’t make it. We couldn’t even get their remains back. At the very least, I should wait until the enemy retreats to hunt for their bodies.
“But then I’m also thinking about how I’d be leaving while none of you are, and I’m stronger than you all. Don’t they say that with great power comes great responsibility?
“Also…”
Fang Ping shook his head lightly. “Sometimes I feel that human nature is so complicated I can’t even understand myself. I really don’t want to die here. I’m too afraid of death and there are many, many things that I haven’t accomplished. If I were to die, wouldn’t my parents be devastated and my younger sister be terribly upset?
“But now, middle-rank martial artists are everywhere; even high-rank ones aren’t rare. As a Rank-3 martial artist, am I of any use here?
“Sometimes I wonder if I wouldn’t make a greater impact if I waited to get to Grandmaster level and then came back. If I die though that won’t happen.
“But what you said is also true. If you don’t fight, and I don’t fight, and all of us wait to come back when we’re Grandmasters, is there any hope for mankind?
“You tell me…why are humans be so complicated!”
Qin Fengqing did not raise any objections, chuckling as he said, “No need to get all worked up; don’t think so much. If you want to stay, then stay; if you want to go, then go. It’s not like you didn’t fight or that you didn’t kill anyone. Leaving is good, staying is also fine, no one will say anything.
“As for Instructor Wu and the others, they deserve a thumbs-up for their sacrifices here today—their lives were not a waste!
“How would you know if they regretted it or not?
“It’s not their first time going out on missions. The moment we entered the Catacombs, which one of us didn’t think that we might die? Did you really think that we were here to play around and defeat monsters to level up?
“It’s understandable though since it’s your first time here.
“That’s fine. Later on, when your friends and close ones die…”
“Get lost!” Fang Ping swore angrily, “You’ll jinx me!”
Qin Fengqing said leisurely, “Jinx you? I’m not putting a jinx on you, I’m just stating facts. Bluntly speaking, which of the martial artists who stay a little longer in the Catacombs hasn’t experienced the death of friends?
“Take me for example. At the start, I also had a few good friends, but now, I mostly go on solo missions.
“Where are my friends?
“They died.
“The first time I came down to the Catacombs, I came with a team. The leader was a rank higher than me. If he hadn’t died, he would have graduated already.
“At the time, the b.a.s.t.a.r.d was always beating me up and yelling at me, saying I was as stupid as a pig!
“Motherf*cker, if it weren’t for the fact that this jerk was one rank higher than me, I would have killed him.
“In the end… Alright, he did end up getting killed by someone.
“Before his death, he was still swearing at me. Of course, I was also swearing back at him…not long after that, he died.
“At the time I was dazed and upset. I didn’t want to believe it either. One moment I thought about getting revenge for him, then I thought about killing all the creatures of the Catacombs, and a moment later I thought about never entering the Catacombs again…
“After that, I got used to it.
“However you want to look at it, once you get used to death, you’ll be fine…”
Fang Ping’s expression turned dark, asking in no very good humor, “Are you trying to comfort me?”
“Bullsh*t, why would I be comforting you?” Qin Fengqing snorted in contempt. “You’re a motherf*cking Rank-3 martial artist, not a child who hasn’t killed anyone. What’s there to comfort? Get over it yourself.
“What I mean by telling you all this is that as humans, we should just treat life and death as part of the package. Don’t think too much about it; if you died a minute later, I wouldn’t find it odd.
“So before that happens, shouldn’t you split the rewards?”
Fang Ping’s expression was black as thunder, frighteningly so. Qin Fengqing clapped him on the shoulder heavily, his eyes glinting dangerously as he said, “You didn’t think you’d have it all to yourself, did you? Don’t cross the line, brat. Even that son of a b*tch w.a.n.g Jinyang isn’t as bad as you!”
“Get lost!”
“Don’t be ridiculous. Split the goods, and after that, if you want to leave, then leave; if you want to stay, stay. Worse comes to worst, if you die and I’m still alive, I’ll make your parents my G.o.dparents to make it up to you, how about that?
“If you split the loot with me 50-50, I’m happy to marry your sister as well…”
“Go to h.e.l.l!” Fang Ping cursed, expression thunderous. He gave a snort. “Even if you die, I won’t. I’ve calculated the odds before. Every time you enter the Catacombs, your chances of death are about 80%, while mine is just 20%, so it’s more likely you’ll die first.”
“Tsk, do you believe the chances of you becoming part of that 20% are higher?”
“I don’t.”
“Very well, let’s make a bet. If I die before you, I lose 1 billion to you…”
“If you’re dead, who am I supposed to collect the debt from?”
“Is that so?” Qin Fengqing pondered this for a while before saying thoughtfully, “People can cry off their debts if they’re dead. I actually forgot about that.”
In the process of talking about so much related to death and dying, both young men found they were able to regard loss of life with a more normal outlook.
Fang Ping’s mood had also slowly improved. He said as he walked beside Qin Fengqing, “If you want to split the profits with me, you might not get as much as you have now.”
“What do you mean?”
“Idiot, I don’t even want to bother with this splitting of profits anymore. You’ve taken three energy hearts worth 900 credits, right?
“Based on what you said about splitting it 30-70, I’d need to have at least 2100 credits. Do you think that between three poor beggars without weapons, there’s any loot worth 2100 credits?”
Qin Fengqing paused. Was there?
With an average of Rank-4, did they even have 700 credits each?
For 700 credits, at the very least, the other party had to be carrying a cultivation-aiding energy stone of 23 grams and above…
Qin Fengqing seemed to have suddenly thought of something as he lifted his head, looking at the sky. “The sun is really strong. Fang Ping, let’s just say farewell here and never meet again!”
After saying that, the fellow hurried away.
Fang Ping remained where he was and yelled, “You’re the one who didn’t want to split with me, so don’t regret it…”
The next moment, Qin Fengqing had come back to where Fang Ping was, his expression betraying his indecision as he asked, “How much do you actually have? Also, 30-70 was me cracking a joke. You thought I was for real? Think about it yourself. If it weren’t for me, could you have killed three Rank-4 martial artists?”
Fang Ping could not be bothered to answer him. ‘If it weren’t for me, you couldn’t have killed three Rank-4 martial artists either. It’s six of one and a dozen of the other.’
Without further dissembling, Fang Ping brought out his acquisitions from the military bag. There were 7 basic energy ores of varying sizes, part of which had come from the corpses he had looted.
Qin Fengqing held them in the palm of his hand to evaluate them, and said, “They’ll exchange for 100 credits, more or less.”
Fang Ping then brought out a few smaller cultivation-aiding energy stones. Qin Fengqing took them and examined them carefully, rapidly calculating a price.
“Seems to be about 40 grams, which is 1200 credits. Including the earlier 100 credits, that’s 1300 credits…”
Once he had reached this point in his calculations, Qin Fangqing conveniently took off the next minute.
“I’m off. Let’s just split things like this, Brother Qin is not a calculative person!”
Fang Ping rolled his eyes. ‘I knew you were going to run. That’s fine, I’ll remember the debt you owe.’
“Based on the 30-70 split, I should have a share of 1500 credits. You owe me 200 credits, 6 million, plus the previous 4 million, that’s 10 million. Qin Fengqing, this time I’ll remember it in detail!”
“Whatever you say!”
Qin Fengqing could not care less. Did he have to pay back what he owed?
What a joke!
‘When people die, the debt is canceled. Who knows when I might die, so who cares how much Fang Ping wants? As long as I’m still alive, I won’t be paying back any money.’
In addition…where did that 4 million come from?
When had he ever borrowed money from Fang Ping?
He did remember owing Zhang Yu over a million, but he had not planned on paying it back. If Zhang Yu dared to ask him back for it, then he would find Zhang Yu and challenge him to a duel. The Martial Arts Society had deducted a lot from what he was allocated, and that son of a b*tch Zhang Yu had not yet paid him his wages!
As for Fang’s few million though, Qin Fengqing racked his brain. ‘When did I borrow it?’
…
Qin Fengqing’s departure could be considered silent acquiescence to how he and Fang Ping had divided the spoils.
Now that he had his loot in hand, the system had calculated his Wealth points, which had only increased by 28 million.
Before going on this mission, Fang Ping had over 40 million Wealth points remaining, but even after this increase of 28 million, he still had only slightly more than 45 million now.
“I’ve used up too much!”
Fang Ping shook his head lightly. Although the fight had only lasted 15 minutes, he had fought continuously through it without stopping. He had not just pulled a big move once or twice, he had done so from the moment he joined the fight, all the way until the end.
He had used up more Wealth points in this than if he had single-handedly killed three Rank-4 martial artists. He would not have been constantly making outbursts if he were battling Rank-4s on his own.
However, the previous combat scenario had not been good. Being surrounded by so many people, Fang Ping had no choice but to continuously pull big moves the entire time.
All in all, he had consumed close to 23 million in Wealth points, which was the equivalent of replenis.h.i.+ng 23000cal in Vitality on the battlefield as he fought. This was comparable to what all the other Rank-3 martial artists had consumed in total.
“That’s all right though; I had more impact on the battle than all of the others combined.”
Fang Ping had not taken any credit for killing so many martial artists of the three lower ranks, but everyone had seen with their own eyes that Fang Ping had killed about half of them by himself.
“Keeping the energy ores now is just a waste. I’ll see if I can sell them and exchange them for something good.”
After thinking about this, Fang Ping turned and headed for the barracks. The Military Department had a logistics center here.
Besides, he could be considered to be on a mission for the Military Department. The Military Department also gave allowances here, and right now, naturally, the more Wealth points the better.
…
The Military Department’s logistics department.
Fang Ping handed over his martial arts license. Very soon, the middle-aged soldier in charge of logistics smiled and said, “Just now the teacher-in-charge of MCMAU’s mission, Teacher Chen, came over to give a report. He mentioned you specifically, saying you had done well.
“In terms of resources, the Military Department can’t give you much as we’re now preparing for battle, but we are awarding you 500 military points.
“In addition, you had previously also brought backs news about East Sunflower City, so the Military Department is rewarding you with 3000 points…”
Fang Ping was stunned for a moment. He could not resist asking, “Then that means I now have 3500 military points? So if I joined the Military Department now, wouldn’t I have a military position of at least commander-in-chief?”
Fang Ping did have an understanding of military points.
If credits from martial arts universities represented money for martial arts university students, then points from the Military Department represented honor and military positions.
The seniority of military positions in the Military Departments was a little difficult to differentiate in reality, but under normal circ.u.mstances, martial arts university students would usually take up positions in three ranks—master commandant, commander-in-chief, and general.
Commander-in-chief was not considered a junior position. At the very least it would be held by a Rank-4 martial artist, though Rank-5 martial artists were also not uncommon.
At Rank-6 with sufficient military achievements, one could hope to become a general and oversee a city.
There were actually still a few more ranks beyond this, but these were mostly nominal positions. When one entered the realm of the Grandmasters, one’s responsibility was mostly to battle against powerhouses. Commanding armies and the like were tasks usually left for those below the higher ranks.
A single Grandmaster powerhouse was comparable to a large army. Rather than be restricted by the military, it was better to fight solo.
Nanjiang’s Zhang Dingnan had previously promised Fang Ping that he could return to Nanjiang to take up the role of commander-in-chief—but only upon graduation.
Right now though, Fang Ping was just a university freshman.
3500 points from the Military Department was already extremely high. 3000 points and above implied that once he joined the Military Department, he could become a commander-in-chief straight away. Previously Yao Chengjun had also held the t.i.tle of commander-in-chief.
If he acc.u.mulated more than ten thousand military points and was sufficiently powerful, Fang Ping could become a general in charge of overseeing a city.
Of course, it was not easy to acc.u.mulate military points.
East Sunflower City was an accident, so Fang Ping had only truly acc.u.mulated 500 points. However, these 500 points were from him and Qin Fengqing joining hands and slaughtering three Rank-4 martial artists as well as dozens of Rank-3 martial artists.
If he had to take on a single Rank-4 martial artist by himself, he might not have been able to do it.
If he wanted to acc.u.mulate ten thousand points, Fang Ping would have to kill close to a hundred middle-rank martial artists at the very least.
The logistics department’s officer laughed at Fang Ping’s comment. “Of course, the Military Department would welcome powerhouses like you to join in our ranks, Student Fang. If you really are considering it…”
Fang Ping gave a dry cough. “That’s alright, I haven’t thought about it yet. I’ll consider it again once I graduate.”
Officers of the Military Department were stationed at the Catacombs all year round.
Fang Ping did respect them, but he definitely would not be able to get used to constantly waiting around in the Catacomb, restricted by military rules.
A lot of the Military Department’s powerhouses would also shake off the constraint of military life later on and single-handedly sweep through the Catacombs. The Military Department viewed these infractions rather more leniently and was not so strict in enforcing restrictions.
The middle-aged soldier was not surprised at Fang Ping’s non-committal answer and smiled as he gave Fang Ping his subsidy for this mission.
It really was not very much—just three Rank-3 Vitality Pills worth 120 credits in MCMAU.
However, at this point, the Military Department had limited resources and whatever the students looted was considered their own. This was different from the Military Department’s own martial artists carrying out missions.
Fang Ping did not say much either as he had predicted this earlier.
Three Rank-3 Vitality Pills also increased his Wealth points by over 2.5 million, bringing him back up to nearly 50 million Wealth points.
After some thought, Fang Ping brought out all of the energy ores he had collected as well as the three Vitality Pills and asked, “Sir, I have all of these, is it alright if I exchanged them for a Rank-6 beast hide armor?”
Collectively, all these items were worth close to 40 million.
However, the officer in front of him glanced over what he had and gave a rather forced smile, “Student Fang Ping, we actually have not killed many Rank-6 beasts. Not only that, these really can’t be exchanged. According to the exchange requirements from MCMAU, a Rank-6 leather armor from a Rank-6 creature is worth between 5000-10000 credits.”
“Then what about a Rank-5 set? Last time, I exchanged a set of Rank-4 leather armor for 500 credits. A Rank-5 one wouldn’t be too expensive right?”
Fang Ping could understand why a Rank-6 armor was costly. Depending on the status of the wearer, a Rank-6 creature would practically allow them to achieve a golden body.
“Rank-5 is usually more or less 1000-3000 credits…” After looking over what Fang Ping had laid on the table, the middle-aged officer considered for a moment before saying, “I can only let you exchange these for an early-stage Rank-5 creature’s leather armor…”
Fang Ping was slightly hesitant. He gritted his teeth, then abruptly took off his tattered coat and removed the slightly damaged inner armor that he wore under it, placing them both on the table. “Could I exchange these for a middle-stage Rank-5 one? This inner armor is a little damaged, but it can still be used after some repairs.”
Right after that, something occurred to Fang Ping. He took out a pair of gloves from his military bag and said, “This is a pair of gloves I exchanged last time; they’re made from C-cla.s.s alloy and the hide of a Catacombs creature. I’ve never used them before. I’ll soon be entering Peak Rank-3 and I’m not used to using these either…
“If I put all these together, would it still not enough to exchange for leather armor made from a middle-stage Rank-3 creature?”
The officer looked at all the items for a bit, taking a moment to make some calculations, before finally nodding. “Alright, but the energy ores are really very helpful for your cultivation. Student Fang Ping, are you sure you want to exchange them for the leather armor?”
“Yes, I’m sure.”
Fang Ping nodded. His body was now covered with old wounds, many of which were caused by his leather armor being pierced through. This caused Fang Ping to feel rather emotional.
Scars were marks of battle on a man’s body. Before Peak Rank-6 though, such scars were very hard to clear up and made his body rough to the touch.
Seeing that Fang Ping was sure about his exchanges, the officer offered no further opinion.
At this point, Fang Ping was one of a handful who would exchange cultivation-aiding energy ores and pills for leather armor. There were actually very few martial artists who would do this.
…
A few minutes later, Fang Ping received his hide armor, which looked more like a military vest.
It had no sleeves. A martial artist’s two arms were generally not vital; injuries that penetrated the internal organs were, however.
Fang Ping was still fairly satisfied. He tested the feel of it and wanted to try stabbing at it with a saber, but he was afraid he might stab through it, so he could not bring himself to try.
With the hide armor in hand, Fang Ping’s Wealth points had increased a little more, officially reaching 50 million.
According to what the officer had said, this hide armor was worth close to 2000 credits if he were to exchange it at MCMAU.
After a simple calculation, Fang Ping thought that he was really quite well-off.
On their own, just his one saber and hide armor were worth over one billion.
Among the Rank-3 martial artists, few had more luxuries than he did right now.
Swiftly putting on his new hide armor, Fang Ping walked out of the logistics department, mumbling to himself, “This trip to the Catacombs has been pretty profitable.”
He had a few less Wealth points now—50 million left out of 80 million.
However, he had honed the majority of his bone marrow, and he had exchanged items for new equipment. As for his Combat Techniques, he had improved quite a bit. Fang Ping felt that the five consecutive slashes for his Manic Explosion could be cultivated completely soon. Moreover, his current proficiency at Combat Techniques was much better than before.
It was hard to improve in certain things like Combat Techniques based solely on theoretical instruction, as weaknesses could only be discovered through true combat.
“I’ll probably be Peak Rank-3 soon.”
The difference between Upper-stage Rank-3 and Peak Rank-3 martial artists lay in their const.i.tutions, Vitality, and the merging of both these elements.
Fang Ping’s const.i.tution had actually met the necessary standard much earlier. Now, he just had to combine both const.i.tution and vitality. Once he could achieve punching with force without leaking Vitality, then he would be a Peak Rank-3 martial artist.
“The problem is my gathering of force. What Qin Fengqing told me previously is also the case for a Peak Rank-3 martial artist. I more or less can comprehend these things now so I shouldn’t be too far away from Peak Rank-3.”
After he had returned to the small area where the accommodations were, Fang Ping’s steps faltered slightly upon seeing someone packing up to leave.
“Should I go back?”
That fellow Qin Fengqing had not given him an answer to this question. To say that he could leave if he wanted to was utter nonsense.