Chapter 409 - There Must Be Dreams
January 20th.
Just as Fang Ping had predicted, on this day, Sino Nation published the Rank-6 rankings.
So far, the charts for all the ranks were complete.
Fang Ping did not make the Rank-5 rankings, but he did not care too much and did not pay much attention to it.
However, for the Rank-6 rankings, MCMAU had several people who were on the list.
The rankings for middle and low-ranks were different from that of high-ranks, in that it only featured the top 100.
As for MCMAU, this time there were many people on the list.
Tang Feng, ranked sixth in the Rank-6.
Lu Fengrou, 8th.
Luo Yichuan, 37th.
The Peak Rank-6 who was guarding Magic City’s Catacombs, the fat-faced old man Zhang Jianhong, also ranked 64th on the rankings.
MCMAU currently had only 6 Peak Rank-6s except for Old Man Li, and 4 were on the list.
The two Peak powerhouses of the School of Social Sciences and the School of Production failed to make the list.
This also meant that there were more than one hundred people in Peak Rank-6.
Fang Ping was a bit puzzled that Tang Feng ranked 6th whereas Lu Fengrou was ranked 8th.
Lu Fengrou’s Mentality-Vitality Fusion was reported to the Education Ministry.
Despite this, Tang Feng was ranked higher than Lu Fengrou. Obviously, when arranging the rankings, the government believed that Tang Feng was stronger than Lu Fengrou even with the Mentality-Vitality Fusion.
Was that possible?
Old Man Li had said before that Tang Feng was stronger than Lu Fengrou. Even without the Mentality-Vitality Fusion, Tang Feng could enter the forefront of Rank-6.
Now, the powerhouses arranging the rankings clearly thought the same.
Was Big Lion that strong?
Four people entered the top hundred of the Rank-6 rankings, two of whom entered the top ten. This time, MCMAU had indeed reflected the strength of a Best Elite University.
In the Rank-6 list, CCMAU also had 4 people on the list, with only one in the top ten.
Their ranking was not high, at the 9th position.
Fu Changding’s grandfather, Fu Guosheng was also included in the list, but he was not too high up either, even lower than Luo Yichuan, and ranked 48th.
Of course, being able to enter the top 100 showed that Fu Changding’s grandfather was not weak.
In the Rank-6 rankings, Fang Ping had never heard of those who were ranked above Tang Feng and were most likely from the older generation.
There were two men from the Military Department, one in the sectarian world, and the other two were with only names and no power attribution, indicating that they were free martial artists and had not joined any institutions.
…
Martial Arts Society.
Nowadays, there were very few people in the Martial Arts Society. They either were in Nanjiang or were cultivating in the Southern Area.
At this moment, on the side of Martial Arts Society, the idlers of middle-ranks, apart from Fang Ping, were only Qin Fengqing.
Both of them had just broken through and were not in a hurry to cultivate.
Qin Fengqing was not in a hurry, mainly because he had spent all his credits and for the past few days, he had depended on himself to absorb energy for nourishment.
Both of them were free, and although Qin Fengqing did not want to see Fang Ping, at school, he did not have many friends, he could not even find anybody to chat with.
Walking past Martial Arts Society, seeing that Fang Ping was also idle, Qin Fengqing stopped by to take a look.
At the same time took the chance to voice his complaints.
“Everything has not proceeded smoothly recently. Fang Ping, I suspect that it is all because of you. Your bad luck has passed on to me.”
Qin Fengqing sighed, and Fang Ping smiled indifferently. “What did I do to you? Tell me, what’s wrong with you?”
Qin Fengqing sighed. There were a lot of things that reeked of bad luck.
Finding a job was not smooth-sailing.
He had submitted his curriculum vitae to Nanjiang, but Nanjiang had rejected him, he was so furious.
He also sent it to the Military Department, the Department of Investigation Services, the House of Guardians…
They were all rejected without exception.
Qin Fengqing was bewildered, what was wrong?
He was also a martial artist at Peak Rank-4, so what made him so unattractive to the recruiters?
The South House of Guardians had agreed eagerly before and was even agreed on by the Rank-9 guardian himself that it was not a problem for him to work at the House of Guardians.
But when he submitted his curriculum vitae, the other party actually rejected him!
Qin Fengqing’s body ached with anger. Wu Chuan was not out of the Nanjiang Catacombs yet. He had told the South House of Guardians that the guardian had personally agreed to it but they gave him the cold shoulder.
Of course, Qin Fengqing did not bother to tell Fang Ping that he was rejected for work as this guy would make fun of him.
Qin Fengqing did not talk about this, but instead about the Rank-4 list. He complained. “I am at Peak Rank-4, is there anybody worthy of being my opponent in Rank-4? As a result, I am only ranked 96th in the rankings. How much do they look down on me?
“I, Qin Fengqing had encountered countless high-ranks, killing a large number of Rank-6, and I ended up as 96th. How is this ranking determined?
“Complete nonsense!
“Do I need to challenge them one by one?
“Let’s not talk about this, Fang Ping, you are too much. Why is my channel barred for the school credit loan?
“Everyone can take a loan, but I can’t. Are you doing it on purpose?”
Fang Ping said with a straight face, “This is not my doing. It was assessed by the system. You are a high-risk borrower! Not only the risk, but your credit is also not good, and your payments are often overdue. Before this, you took a loan a few times, and the platform had to personally collect the debts from you, only then did you repay the credits.
“Think about it yourself, would they still lend to you?”
“Wasn’t that because I had forgotten?”
Qin Fengqing was speechless. “I was so busy. Who remembers to pay the debts every month, I thought it was supposed to be paid once a year…”
Fang Ping chuckled. He would forget when he needed to pay back his debts, yet he was proactive when he was borrowing.
He was too lazy to pay attention to him. This guy deserved it if he couldn’t get the loan.
Even if he could borrow it, he would waste it quickly.
After talking for a while, Qin Fengqing thought for a while and said, “There is one more thing, just as unlucky, do you remember the tigress?”
“Tigress?”
Fang Ping thought for a while, then asked suspiciously, “You mean that Zhou Qiyue of Magic City Women’s University?”
“Correct.”
Qin Fengqing sighed. “It is this woman who had been entangled with me recently and is annoying.”
Fang Ping’s mouth twitched and could not help saying, “Entangled with you? How?”
“How else?” Qin Fengqing said helplessly, “She sent me a message saying that she wants to swap pointers on martial arts with me, treating me as a fool. Was it comparing notes or was she seizing the opportunity to have something happening between us?
“All women are like this. If we were to compare notes, she will surely pretend to be injured and ask me to send her back. She might also stay in the hospital for a while and ask me to visit her every day.
“Women are troublesome!
“Say, why did she get entangled with me?”
Fang Ping did not know how to reply. The comparing notes that Zhou Qiyue said… Could it really be a discussion?
Shaking his head, Fang Ping did not say much, let Qin Fengqing worry about it himself.
The two were chatting when Chen Zhenhua walked in.
Chen Zhenhua rarely came to Martial Arts Society.
This time Fang Ping was slightly surprised when he suddenly came, got up to his feet, and asked, “Dean Chen, why are you here?”
Chen Zhenhua looked like he had a lot on his mind. He sat down and complained. “Lion Tang is gone, and Dean Li can’t be found. Both Vice-chancellor Wu and Vice-chancellor Huang are gone. Vice-chancellor Liu is still recovering from his injuries. Dean Luo has gone Nanjiang, Dean Hu went to Capital City for some matters yesterday…
“MCMAU is so big. There is no one in charge. Everything is thrown at me!
“Some of the other teachers are having closed-door training, some are cultivating, this is madness!
“I can’t even pull them out!
“But now it’s the end of the term, and the final examination is coming. With thousands of students, how can I handle it alone?
“Can’t the Martial Arts Society also bear a bit of responsibility?
“It will be it if nobody else is around, but you two still have time to chat, can’t you help?”
Fang Ping was stunned for a while, and then asked, “The final examinations?”
He did not know about this!
He knew that MCMAU had the end of term final examinations, but he had entered MCMAU for three semesters and did not participate in any of the examinations even once.
During his freshman year first semester, he was preparing for the first Martial Arts Championship, and thus did not participate in the examination.
In the second semester, when the examination had begun, he had entered the Catacombs, and when he came out, the examination had ended.
Now, this was his third semester.
But this semester, no one had asked him to take the examinations.
Fang Ping had forgotten about it, Qin Fengqing was even more terrible than him, and he asked dumbfoundedly, “MCMAU has final examinations?”
This time, it was Chen Zhenhua’s turn to look dazed.
These two… were they really MCMAU’s students?
Fang Ping… Well, let’s not talk about Fang Ping for the time being.
Qin Fengqing was a student who was about to graduate!
Fang Ping was also shocked!
He was a senior!
He was about to graduate!
Yet he did not know that MCMAU had a final examination!
At least Fang Ping knew, he just did not participate.
Seeing the two looking at him, Qin Fengqing said feeling depressed, “Why are you looking at me. I didn’t know. During the first two semesters of my freshman year, I left early due to some family matters and nobody informed me about it.
“During my sophomore year’s first semester, the bastard Wang Jinyang came and provoked me, and I was injured and hospitalized.
“During the second semester of my sophomore year, I happened to be entering Rank-3 and was constantly in closed-door training.
“When I was in my junior year, I started to enter the Catacombs, and I was not in school at the end of the term.
“I really didn’t know that we have a final examination…”
Chen Zhenhua was suddenly very resigned and gave up. These two were more terrible than the other!
One probably forgot about it, and the other did not even know about it.
Chen Zhenhua who was extremely helpless had no choice but to say, “Nonsense, there is naturally a final examination, and they are divided into martial arts examination and social sciences examination.
“Moreover, every year the school will give some credits as a reward.
“Many students, because they are still in training, are unable to take on missions, so they earn some credits during the examination.”
Qin Fengqing’s eyes instantly lit up, and he quickly asked, “Credit reward? Dean, how much is the reward for seniors here?”
“Senior year… none for senior year.”
Chen Zhenhua said with a twinkle in his eyes, “The seniors have passed the stage of needing subsidies, and many students are not in school, so the seniors get no subsidies.”
COMMENT
Fang Ping did not ask about his sophomore year. He did not place much importance on this little amount of subsidy now.
If it were before, he would have asked about it and would have gone to take part in the examination.
But now, with a reward of at most one or two hundred credits, he did not care too much.
Qin Fengqing was a little disappointed after hearing those words. He was now very poor and had finally found the opportunity, but the seniors did not have subsidies.
When they reached this stage, there was little school support.
When Fang Ping had just broken through to Rank-4, the school still gave a lot of credit subsidies.
But once he broke through Rank-5, there were none anymore.
According to the school, the subsidy for the middle-ranked was only given once, but once the Rank-4 entered the Rank-5, there was no reward.
For those lower Rank-3 martial artists and below, there was a lot of support provided. For those middle Rank-3, the school encouraged self-reliance.
Chen Zhenhua explained, and said, “Since you two are so free, arrange some people to help me assess the freshman students.
“This year there are a lot of freshman students. Many instructors are not in school now and the others are in a critical period. There is a shortage of manpower, help me solve the problem.”
COMMENT
Qin Fengqing was not interested. “I am busy, I want to cultivate…”
“No nonsense!”
Chen Zhenhua was getting a headache now and scolded him. “You just broke through to Peak Rank-4. You have the free time to stroll around, yet don’t have time to help the school solve some minor problems?
“If you don’t do it, I would suggest they remove you from the post of the Martial Arts Society deputy president!”
Qin Fengqing withered at the words.
He received a huge salary from the Martial Arts Society, and all of them were paid in advance. Last time, Fang Ping had refused to pay him but later, to prepare for the second Martial Arts Championship, he had still paid him in the end.
Now he had used up all his money. If he were removed from his position, with Fang Ping’s character, he would definitely look to collect the debt from him.
“Alright then…”
Qin Fengqing nodded, and then suddenly his eyes lit up. “Teacher Tang is not in school?”
“Yes, lately he had gone to the Catacombs for his closed-door training.”
The energy concentration in the Catacombs was higher than that of the earth. Tang Feng did not want to waste energy stones for cultivation, thus he went to Magic City’s Catacombs a few days ago.
Qin Fengqing raised his eyebrows, Tang Wen… she was a freshman, right?
The Big Lion beat him up once last time and had forcefully said that he had taken advantage of Tang Wen, which was unreasonable.
Later, he bullied him again and sent him flying once.
Now… it seemed that the opportunity was there!
Qin Fengqing immediately smiled and said, “Okay, Dean Chen, I will take it on. It’s a small matter, I will be the examiner for once!”
Chen Zhenhua glanced at him, Fang Ping also looked at him, this guy seemed to be asking for trouble.
As soon as he asked whether Tang Feng was at school, Fang Ping had guessed what he was up to.
Since he was unable to defeat Tang Feng, he was trying to take it out on his daughter, which was also something that Fang Ping thought about.
Now, as Fang Ping had managed to sway Big Lion to get his full support, it was not good for him to continue harassing Tang Wen.
But looking at Qin Fengqing, was he trying to pick a fight?
This guy, had he not been beaten enough?
COMMENT
Once Tang Feng was back, he would come for him.
Without bothering whether this guy would die or not, Fang Ping also nodded. “Alright, I will arrange for Rank-3 students in the school to take charge of the assessment of freshman students.”
Fang Ping thought some more and said, “If Dean Chen needs to cultivate, you could put all these trivial matters aside.
“The rankings of Rank-6 had been released. You and Dean Hu…”
Chen Zhenhua’s face was slightly stiff, he did not want to mention the subject.
Out of MCMAU’s six Peak Rank-6, it was indeed shameful that only he and the Dean of the School of Production did not make the list.
However Sino Nation was so big, there were many Rank-6 martial artists, and also there were still some of the older generation left. It was reasonable that he did not make the top hundred rankings.
Fang Ping was not prepared to prick his heart. He meant that all the Peak Rank-6 had hoped to become Grandmasters. It was a priority to look for ways to become a Grandmaster at this juncture.
Fang Ping also suspected that if the government wanted to subsidize the Rank-6s, they would probably prioritize the powerhouses on the rankings.
Not to mention the sectarians, those from the martial arts universities and the Military Department, were all probably the main beneficiaries of the subsidies.
If Chen Zhenhua’s strength was stronger, it would be best to challenge those in the rankings to prepare for the future.
Fang Ping explained all this.
Chen Zhenhua pondered for a moment and nodded. “It also makes sense, if there are pills or other things that can help to increase Mentality, it is indeed worth a try.”
Analyzing things in his mind, Chen Zhenhua did not say anymore.
Leaving the assessment of freshman students to the Martial Arts Society, Chen Zhenhua left quickly.
As soon as he left, Fang Ping saw that Qin Fengqing was about to speak and smiled. “Qin Fengqing, this time the assessment task is given to you.”
Qin Fengqing was overjoyed and said quickly, “No problem!”
Fang Ping saw him leave happily and observed a moment of silence. He had better take it easy.
This year’s freshmen consisted of many children of MCMAU’s instructors.
Tang Feng’s daughter, Luo Yichuan’s son, and the children of several Rank-6 instructors were also there. If Qin Fengqing was to stir up trouble in the examinations… Haha, if he was beaten to death after, nobody would be blamed, he asked for it after all.
…
Fang Ping did not care about the final examinations of MCMAU’s students.
For a group of students who were mainly aspiring martial artists and Rank-1 martial artists, it would be enough for the Rank-3 students to assess them.
At this time, Fang Ping was busy communicating with NMAU, SCMAU, and CCMAU, to prepare for the policy of platform integration.
This matter had already started its preparation during the Martial Arts Championship.
Fang Ping wanted to collect more raw materials for MCMAU and sell them to these foreign students. That was not at the cost price but double that.
It was alright at CCMAU, but there was a demand in other schools. Even if the price was doubled, it would still be cheaper than if they were to buy it by themselves. For other universities, the supply of pills and weaponry was not enough.
Even CCMAU was similar to MCMAU in the past, and the supply of pills was not enough for students to fully satisfy their cultivation needs.
After the reform of MCMAU, the difficulty of obtaining credits was reduced. Even if the price was double the previous price for external supply, it was the same as the current price of CCMAU.
If CCMAU felt that the supply of pills and weapons was insufficient, it would still be possible for them to exchange with MCMAU.
Fang Ping was also in communication and consultation with several parties for matters like combat tactics and interchanges between the instructors. Fang Ping was preparing to turn the e-commerce platform into a modern martial arts exchange community.
Now as they were entering 2010, 3G networks had been promoted for more than a year, and many smartphones supported 3G on the market.
With the convenience of communication, Fang Ping felt that it could make the communication of martial arts easier.
In the past, to consult on the doubts of martial arts, everyone was using face-to-face communication, and it was not always possible to find someone to consult.
Now, Fang Ping felt that mobile video chats, audio chats, were actually valuable things, not just simply for chatting idly.
By making the communication of martial arts convenient, there would be great gains for martial artists.
Coupled with the fact that the government was now promoting the nationalization of martial arts, the news of the Catacombs would be disclosed at any time, and more and more people would enter the martial arts world in the future.
Nowadays, ordinary people’s understanding of martial arts mainly came from martial arts training courses, and there was barely any information on the internet.
While Fang Ping was preparing to build an e-commerce platform, he would also build a relatively professional martial artists exchange community.
The government was doing this, but many times, the government did not necessarily do it any better than the private ones.
“When I first entered the school, I wanted to be the largest martial arts resource distributor… Now it seems that it may not be impossible.”
As Fang Ping had communicated with the schools, he felt a sense of accomplishment in his heart.
Some of the fantasies of the past were no longer fantasies, and he had already taken the first step.
As far as the express delivery company was concerned… Fang Ping thought that maybe sending deliveries into the Catacombs one day, would not be a fantasy anymore.
“We must still have dreams, otherwise we would be no different from salted fish.”
…
As Fang Ping was bustling about, the lunar New Year’s Eve was getting closer and closer.
MCMAU was about to start its winter break.
On January 28th, all the students and instructors who went to Nanjiang also returned.
This time, the people who had gone to the Nanjiang Catacombs, stayed in the Catacombs for almost a month. Between the time when they went and when they came back, the changes were not insignificant.