World’s Best Martial Artist

It was not Fang Ping’s first encounter with the name, Wang Jinyang.

Yang Jian mentioned him on the very day Fang Ping woke up from his transmigration.

Then, Chen Fan started talking about him. Then, Wu Zhihao. Now, even his class teacher was talking about him too.

The point was, in just a few days, Wang Jinyang’s fame skyrocketed and turned him into a household name although Fang Ping did not know much about him.

Wang Jinyang was a student from an average class. With mediocre results, he managed to enroll in a martial arts university. In this cozy little Sun City, he could be considered a person of notable fame.

Wang Jinyang’s fame cast a shadow over those students who managed to enroll in the martial arts university since last year.

…

After leaving the office, his class teacher’s words rang clear in Fang Ping’s head.

It was true that Old Teach was lending him an extra helping hand this time.

Based on what Liu Anguo said, everyone else was faring better since they had been prepping for the martial sciences exam for the longest time. They knew what they were supposed to know.

However, Fang Ping was different — he signed up too abruptly.

If Liu Anguo did not have hopes for Fang Ping before, he changed his mind after knowing about Fang Ping’s test result today. Liu Anguo believed that Fang Ping could be the next Wang Jinyang, conjuring miracles in the world of martial sciences.

Coincidentally, there were many similarities between Fang Ping and Wang Jinyang.

Both of them were considered mediocre students from average families. Although Wang Jinyang’s decision to sign up for the martial sciences exam was not as sudden as Fang Ping’s, nobody expected Wang Jinyang to pass his exams with flying colors before Gaokao anyway.

Liu Anguo thought that perhaps Fang Ping would have similar topics to talk about with Wang Jinyang if Fang Ping attended. He might even learn something.

Therefore, Fang Ping’s name was included in the list of the welcoming committee this time.

In the corridor outside the school office, Wu Zhihao’s face beamed with joy. He said with a wide grin, “I did not expect Old Teach to be so awesome. Our class is the only class chosen to welcome our guests!”

Indeed, everyone in the welcoming committee was from Year Three Senior (4). Of course, the school arranged for a car and a driver for that purpose.

It was not an attempt to put on airs from the school or the teacher. The truth was, Wang Jinyang’s status would far exceed the teachers’ after he graduated from the martial arts university. Therefore, many teachers would do everything in their power to gain his favor.

Even so, Wang Jinyang communicated his wishes with the school before that he did not want to trouble them and thus would travel to school by his own means.

Eventually, he could not turn down the school’s overflowing warmth and generosity, so he relented by asking for a few juniors to greet him instead of troubling all the teachers.

Despite suspecting that it was a mere attempt at being polite, the school eventually decided to only send students over to prevent any sort of awkward exchange.

Liu Anguo also made a brave decision. Wu Zhihao had the highest chance of passing the martial sciences exam, so Liu Anguo thought he could send Wu Zhihao over for exposure.

When he found out about Fang Ping after that, Liu Anguo thought he could give Fang Ping a chance too.

Then, seeing how both Wu Zhihao and Fang Ping were going, Liu Anguo remembered that Yang Jian and Liu Ruoqi from his class were performing quite well too, so he decided that he might as well send everyone there.

With that decision in mind, Old Liu stood his ground in front of the teaching director’s office early in the morning and he did not budge an inch!

Since the school principal was absent from school, the teaching director was placed in charge of many other affairs. Upon realizing a teacher from the very same school was blocking the office door (and thus, the path to everything else), the teaching director had no choice but to agree with a forced smile.

They were only the welcoming committee anyway. Picking up guests was a simple errand after all. Students from the elite classes might even consider it a chore!

Eventually, welcoming the guests became Year Three Senior (4) class’s full responsibility.

Continuing his sentence, Wu Zhihao told Fang Ping and his friends, “We don’t have to attend class tomorrow morning. We’ll gather in front of the school gate before 9 am and we’ll depart for the station with the school car.

“As for lunch, we’re eating with Senior Wang too.

“In the afternoon, we’ll accompany Senior Wang to school, and our job’s done.”

Yang Jian and Liu Ruoqi nodded. On the other hand, Fang Ping asked curiously, “What’s Senior Wang’s martial arts rank?”

This was a question that Wu Zhihao did not know the answer to. After pausing for a while, he replied in resignation, “I don’t know. Compared to all the social sciences universities, martial art universities are more mysterious. They don’t share a lot of intel with the public.

“Neither of us knows what rank Senior Wang is.

“What we do know is that Senior Wang is only a freshman in Nanjiang Martial Arts University. Although the university is top-ranked in Nanjiang, it’s actually quite average among the nation’s martial arts universities.

“If I have to make a general assumption, I’m guessing he’s around Rank-1 or Rank-2.”

Once he said that, the usually quiet Liu Ruoqi suddenly interrupted. “Rank-1 or 2? Do you guys seriously think that all the students from the martial arts universities are martial artists?”

She left simply after throwing that statement at them.

Once she left, Fang Ping brooded on her words and said, “Does she mean to say that not everyone studying in the martial arts universities are martial artists?”

Wu Zhihao laughed bitterly and said, “Seems like it. I’m not exactly in on the whole story, but I heard that some students from martial arts universities never made it as martial artists after graduation.

“However, things like these are still distant to us for now. We don’t really know what’s going on right now.”

Fang Ping gave a small nod. Now he knew that even if one made their way into a martial arts university, one would not necessarily become a martial artist. It was no wonder the respect people had for martial artists increased by the day.

As for the question of whether Wang Jinyang was a martial artist, it was not easy to judge either.

Despite it all, he was the first person Fang Ping was meeting who had an actual relation to martial artists.

He had always been listening in on the martial artists’ legends, but he was never in touch with any of the real martial artists.

At that thought, Fang Ping was somewhat hopeful now.

…

After having lunch and making some photocopies from Wu Zhihao’s notes, the 50 bucks in Fang Ping’s possession announced its departure officially again.

Without money, he was deeply ashamed by Wu Zhihao buying him a meal.

Of course, Wu Zhihao did not really mind, but Fang Ping would remember this favor forever.

In the few days since his reincarnation, he had been owing a lot of people favors — Wu Zhihao, his class teacher…

Sometimes, it was harder to return favors than money.

Putting all these to the back of his mind, Fang Ping continued to read his books and revise on his own in the afternoon.

…

At night.

When Fang Ping returned home, his younger sister and mother were both home. His father, Fang Mingrong, was still out.

According to his family traditions, Fang Ping would pinch Fang Yuan’s cheeks every time he returned home. It would not feel right for Fang Ping if he did not do it.

Therefore, the sibling duo started fighting again. Li Yuying, who was busy preparing dinner at the side, felt rather entertained but also sorry for her two kids. There would never be peace and quiet when these two were around.

As the sibling duo grew tired of fighting each other, Fang Mingrong arrived home too.

The moment Fang Mingrong stepped into the house, he asked, “Have you taken the money yet?”

Li Yuying nodded. Fang Mingrong turned around to look at Fang Ping and said, “Later, your mom will give you twenty thousand bucks. Remember to thank that classmate of yours properly. And his parents too.

“I won’t go to them personally this time. Once Gaokao ends, we must buy them a meal.”

Fang Mingrong consulted his workshop supervisor today in the factory too.

It was true that Vitality Pills cost thirty thousand bucks each and pharmacies would not bargain.

When Fang Mingrong asked if he could purchase one at twenty thousand bucks, he was almost drenched in the director’s saliva as he nagged on.

It was possible to buy one at twenty thousand bucks. This was not a secret anyway. However, which special snowflake ¹ did Fang Mingrong think he was?

The director himself could not find the means to purchase medicine at a cheaper price for his son’s Gaokao last year, what more Fang Mingrong.

Therefore, Fang Mingrong gave up on the thought of not depending on others.

Currently, things were not going well at home. Even if Fang Ping managed to become a martial artist, he would need money in the future too. If he could not, then they had all the more reason to save up.

Ten thousand bucks was not a small amount either. They should save as much as they could. If owing other people favors was what it took, then so be it.

Once his dad agreed, Fang Ping felt relieved.

With money, everything would be easier.

Fang Ping was extremely busy for the past few days as well. Therefore, even if he had the thought to earn some money, time was not on his side.

Asking his parents for some money to guarantee his admission into the martial sciences was also an unavoidable move.

Once his whole family finished dinner, Li Yuying went into her room to get Fang Ping his money.

The moment the twenty thousand bucks landed in Fang Ping’s hands, Fang Ping’s eyes flashed briefly and the numbers reappeared.

Wealth: 20000

Vitality: 1.1

Mentality: 1

Fang Ping exhaled. His assumption was correct — only the money given to him by his parents would contribute to his Wealth level.

On the other hand, Fang Ping could not help laughing at himself. It seemed like he was even more capable than a currency detector now.

Be it insufficient money or counterfeit money, he would know at a glance without even sorting through them.

If only it worked for money that he did not own too. In that case, even if he failed the martial sciences exam in the future and was unable to become a martial artist, he could still be the national champion if he worked as a bank teller.

Chucking all those whims aside, Fang Ping gave his parents the mandatory “thank yous” and locked himself in his little room.

…

In his room.

Staring at the panel in his room, Fang Ping was slightly indecisive — should he increase his Vitality or Mentality?

He now knew the function of Vitality.

What would increasing his Mentality do?

Or would it be like as he assumed? That Mentality would improve his memory and comprehension skills?

Although he was not sure, Fang Ping made up his mind rather quickly. He would just try it out.

He had 20000 points of Wealth anyway. If the effects of increasing Mentality were not obvious, he could use the remaining 10000 points to improve his Vitality.

He did not need a very high Vitality level anyway. The best student in a No.1 High School possessed around 120cal as well for now. If Fang Ping reached 130cal and above, it might not be very beneficial for him.

After he made his decision, Fang Ping used the technique from last time and muttered, “Increase some of my Mentality or I’ll beat you to death!”

“…”

The numbers did not change. Fang Ping felt a sudden rush of embarrassment.

Was this really legit? Did it not work last time?

After testing it out for a few times, Fang Ping finally understood that it had nothing to do with his unreliable spell. As long as he focused all his attention and filled his mind with it, only then would the statistics change.

After concentrating for a long time, the numbers in front of his eyes shifted.

Wealth: 10000

Vitality: 1.1

Mentality: 1.1

…

The moment his Mentality points increased, Fang Ping felt a sudden freshness in his brain.

It was felt as though a lady’s gentle small hands were caressing his head. It felt wonderful.

“Ooh…”

After a long while, Fang Ping regained consciousness and expelled a mouthful of foulness from his body. He felt nothing but revitalized, as though all of his exhaustion of the day vanished without a trace.

Since he was not in a rush to improve his Vitality, Fang Ping hastened to pick up his textbook and started reading.

…

Ten minutes later, Fang Ping closed his textbook and recalled the contents of what he read. His eyebrows furrowed.

He did not possess photographic memory as he expected. However, it was not without any effect. His memory seemed to have improved slightly. The effect was not obvious.

Fang Ping did not know if he was trying to console himself or that it was the truth.

However, he hypothesized that this might be related to the fact that his Mentality did not improve too much to make the effects visibly felt.

Similar to Vitality, Fang Ping did not become a superhero despite reaching 110cal. If he ever felt like challenging Yang Jian to a one-on-one battle, he was a hundred percent sure that he would be beaten up into a complete pulp.

Vitality and Mentality were mere modifications to the body. One still needed to utilize it; train it.

After mulling over these theories, Fang Ping stopped feeling anxious.

It was fine as long as it worked. Now, he should be thinking of a way to improve both of these aspects. 0.1 points of improvement had no obvious effects, so what if he doubled it?

Considering how he still needed to be on a welcoming committee, Fang Ping did not stay up. He went out and cleaned himself up. Soon enough, he drifted off to dreamland.