World's Best Martial Artist

Chapter 186: One Must Pretend to Be Strong Even When He’s Not

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

NMAU lost in the first battle.

Chen Pengfei, Peak Rank-2 martial artist and third on the mission points ranking, was defeated soundly.

Commotion rose downstage.

“Chen Pengfei lost!”

“He’s at Peak Rank-2 and the other’s just entered Rank-2? He still lost! What the heck?”

“Are you stupid? Zhao Lei’s a twice-honed martial artist, so his Vitality isn’t much weaker compared to Chen Pengfei’s. He’s standing at an elevated stance too. Chen Pengfei made the wrong predictions; Zhao Lei would lose otherwise. It’s not Chen Pengfei that’s weak, it’s Zhao Lei that’s stronger than his opponent had imagined!”

Someone stood up for Chen Pengfei. Zhao Lei had not gotten many opportunities to show what he was capable of in the past rounds, so they did not know much about him.

Elevated stances were rare. Most Rank-3 martial artists could not do it.

Chen Pengfei was not necessarily wrong when all he did was predict his opponent’s capabilities judging by his past experiences. He had only underestimated Zhao Lei, that was all.

The first loss injected another surge of fear into the NMAU team.

A Peak Rank-2 martial artist was the cream of the crop in NMAU.

Now, one of theirs had lost in the first battle!

...

“Zhao Lei, do you intend to continue?”

Wang Jinyang asked him. Just as Zhao Lei was about to reply, Fang Ping arrived in huge strides. He said, “This is only a friendly exchange, and you’ll expend too much of your Vitality. There’s no need for you to continue.”

Although Zhao Lei had wanted to fight in the next round, he considered the possibility that the next one up would be at Peak Rank-2. After some thought, he walked out of the arena.

“You fought decently. Hiding your elevated stance until now... Who are you intending to exploit this on?”

Fang Ping looked at Zhao Lei, all smiles while the other descended from the stage. Zhao Lei’s face was pitch black as he snapped, “It’s only because I haven’t met an opponent that would make me go all out against!”

“Is that so?”

Fang Ping laughed. He did not continue on the topic as he walked onstage.

“MCMAU, Fang Ping, Peak Rank-2!”

“That captain from MCMAU?”

“He’s also from Nanjiang. He’s already at peak rank-2!”

“How did he cultivate? Wasn’t he only at peak rank-1 when he competed in that championship this January?”

“...”

As soon as Fang Ping finished his introduction, the audience erupted.

Peak Rank-2!

Only a short while had passed since then!

The others, still aspiring martial artists, were progressing slower than him.

On one side of the arena.

Zhang Dingnan smiled serenely. “This kid, is he that student of Lu Fengrou’s?”

“Precisely.”

“He’s learning my Saber Techniques? I watched him for a while last time... I don’t see it. I thought that he learned from Zhou Yidao.”

“Cough, cough...”

Both Huang Jing and the Vice-chancellor of NMAU coughed dryly before unwittingly breaking out into chuckles.

Zhou Yidao was another Grandmaster well versed in the art of saber-wielding. He liked to cut people up with one clean stroke of his saber. If one was not enough, there was always another. There was no semblance of finesse or any techniques to it, so to say.

Manic Explosion was similar to that but more.

It was not obvious to him that Fang Ping had studied Manic Explosion, which was famous for utilizing the build-up to consecutive moves.

Zhang Dingnan continued after teasing, “He’s from Nanjiang. Shame he didn’t stay.”

“You’re too territorial. Is a student of MCMAU no longer Sinese? Do they no longer contribute to the nation?”

“It’s not the same...”

“I think it is!”

‘Whatever you say. If the Catacombs entrance appears in Nanjiang, I hope that MCMAU can assist Nanjiang in pulling through this.”

“Us martial arts universities won’t just sit and watch. Relax.”

“I hope so. Every time an entrance pops up, other places riot as well. I’m only afraid that you won’t have enough time to send enough manpower to us when it happens.”

Zhang Dingnan’s face showed a tinge of worry. After years of peace, was Nanjiang going to see bloodshed too now?

...

Someone walked out from the NMAU side while the audience discussed fervently. It was a woman.

Noting that the only woman from the other side walked out, Fang Ping could not help but glance toward Wang Jinyang.

Wang Jinyang did not meet his eyes. The ponytailed female martial artist pierced him with her frigid gaze. “Quit looking! Are you looking down on women?”

Fang Ping laughed. “That was not my intention. I was only thinking if I would be the subject of anger if I beat up a woman.

“NMAU can’t even form a fully male team out of thousands of students?

“That’s sad.

“Don’t look at us. We did not intend to compete during our arrival; everything’s just a coincidence, to be honest.”

“Arrogant words, coming from you!”

“Whatever you say. I had almost chosen Nanjiang Martial Arts University, but now I feel fortunate that I didn’t... Except for a select few, I haven’t seen anyone that surprises me.”

He said it out loud. The audience downstage erupted.

“He’s so arrogant!”

“Lan Caiye, defeat him!”

“Beat him to death!”

“...”

The spectators were furious.

Fang Ping, on the other hand, exclaimed, “Rotten leaves (TN: A pun on Lan Caiye’s name), your name... This... How much of a grudge do your parents have toward you...”

“You’re looking for death!”

Lan Caiye flew up in a rage the next moment. She did not bother announcing her name and school to the audience before she moved. Mysteriously, she reappeared beside Fang Ping.

“Your Stepping Skills are good. Pity...”

Fang Ping laughed. The tips of his toes touched the ground lightly before he vanished.

“Your President Wang told me that the Peak Rank-2 martial artists in NMAU are all elites. I don’t see that.

“I have no interest in this battle at all.

“Your President Wang’s quite friendly with me, so he thought he needed to put me down and let me know that not picking NMAU was the wrong choice.

“Pity... I don’t see what there is to regret.”

After he said that, he looked toward Wang Jinyang, who was sitting downstage. ‘Look at how comprehensive my services are!

‘Did you not want me to be the bad cop?

‘Now I’ve worked everyone in NMAU up into a frenzy. 15 Rank-2 Vitality Pills is a very reasonable price for that. I’ve done whatever that befits the price.’

Lan Caiye did not reply. She vanished on the spot instantly as well.

Fang Ping continued to talk, relaxed. “I don’t want to beat women up. If you were a guy, I’ll just hack you to death with a saber and be done with it.

“But you’re a woman, so. We’ll just run a few laps and do some exercise.”

“Bastard!”

“...”

The NMAU students were starting to be offended!

In the crowd, Wu Zhihao and the others met one another’s eyes, making themselves as small as possible. They whispered, “Everyone, don’t say that we know him...”

They feared death!

Fang Ping was dissing every student in NMAU!

The guy would be the sworn enemy of NMAU no matter the results of the match. He was way too skilled at riling people up!

...

“Hey, beautiful, let’s have a chat! How old are you? Do you have a boyfriend?”

“...”

“Is there a Grandmaster in your family? Shouldn’t have any; I don’t know of Grandmasters with the surname Lan.”

“...”

“Hauling a saber around is tiring. How about we put them down and have a nice chat.”

“...”

A few minutes later, Lan Caiye stopped. She glared at Fang Ping viciously. “Do you only know how to run away?”

Fang Ping said with a smile, “Not really. I just want to give you guys a chance to demonstrate your abilities.

“Really. It’s a bit of a shame that I didn’t see anything that wowed me.

“You’re mediocre, like all the Rank-2 martial artists that died in my hands.

“I can fight ten martial artists like you in one go!”

“Bastard!”

Lan Caiye’s eyes were red. She yelled, “If you have the guts, don’t run away from me!”

“That’s what you said, huh?”

Fang Ping’s joviality morphed into something more serious. He said loudly, “Come. I want to see if NMAU’s Rank-2 martial artists would shatter at the lightest strike!”

His voice was still echoing in the air when he suddenly got very close to Lan Caiye.

She thought it strange. He was holding a long saber in his hands; that weapon was not suited for close-range battle.

Not having much time to think, Fang Ping abandoned his long saber. She did not mind letting this bastard suffer!

As Fang Ping closed in on her, she withdrew her saber quickly and slashed horizontally.

Fang Ping did not use his saber in retaliation. His right fist suddenly opened, his palm slanted slightly and slapped hard on her dandao with his palm!

Boom, boom, boom...

Five deep sounds rang as Fang Ping slammed his palm on the side of the saber five times consecutively.

Lan Caiye’s saber was slammed backward, bringing her along, but then Fang Ping followed suit and, with his palm, hit her right wrist thrice!

“Clang...”

Lan Caiye loosened her grip on the dandao, and it fell on the ground.

Fang Ping did not pursue her. He stepped back and commented mildly, “You’re really weak, so weak that I was afraid that I couldn’t rein myself in and kill you with one strike. It wouldn’t be worth it.

“I used only one hand on you, yet you are not my match.”

Rage and dejectedness flickered in her eyes before she leaped down from the arena wordlessly and disappeared in front of everyone.

Wang Jinyang muttered from his seat downstage, “I asked you to win, not to forge animosity!”

The animosity resulting from this match was extremely potent, more than what would come from him giving the other a serious injury with one strike of his saber.

Now, Lan Caiye would probably be so furious she was spitting blood. Fang Ping’s victory over her made her feel worse than if she was hurt severely.

...

The other side.

Zhang Dingnan smiled. “This is quite interesting. In this Manic Explosion five-move combo attack, one move expended 30 Vitality points which built up gradually. This is much more lethal than a 150cal Vitality outburst.”

Huang Jing inclined his head minutely. “This can be considered as the signature move of a Rank-2 martial artist. He’s mastered his stance and Stepping Skills. Lan Caiye falls a bit short when against him. She was overpowered in all aspects, but Fang Ping was probably exaggerating when he told her that he went easy on her...”

Fang Ping could fight either with one hand or both. He did go easy on her, though, seeing as he did not use his D-grade alloy saber.

As the two chatted, the old principal of NMAU sighed softly. “The kid’s using my students to practice.”

His easy defeat of Lan Caiye used about 200cal of his Vitality at most.

This was a first for Fang Ping.

In the past, he would expend more than 100cal every move. They were powerful, yes, but they used up a lot of his reserve. He had used a lot of his Vitality when he had fought against other Rank-1 martial artists.

Now he had most of his Vitality left after defeating a Peak Rank-2 martial artist.

This meant that he could still put up a fight even without taking pills.

...

Soon, the third contestant from NMAU ascended to the stage.

This was a man. His glare toward Fang Ping was murderous.

Fang Ping was unfazed and grinned nevertheless. “I had to be cordial to women, but not to men.”

“I...”

“You don’t need to tell me your name since I don’t remember those of weaklings.”

“...”

“Asshole! Kill him! You must kill him!”

“He’s so arrogant! Is NMAU no man’s land to him? He doesn’t even care about basic martial arts rites!”

“...”

The NMAU students were thoroughly incensed!

Fang Ping did not let his opponent announce his name. This was a show of condescension and disrespect in a martial arts battle.

Wang Jinyang exclaimed, “This effect...”

He had nothing to say to that!

This was ten times more effective than what he had expected!

If Fang Ping had defeated everyone in NMAU and emerged without a single scar on him, the students in NMAU would probably view him as their rival for life!

The sheer disdain and dismissal of their abilities were far more a spectacle that when he stepped on the Rank-1 martial artists in MCMAU.

The next moment, Fang Ping demonstrated his ability to show disdain toward the NMAU Rank-2 martial artists!

Fang Ping did not use his palm as his weapon this time. It was painful! There were repercussions to acting badass.

Everyone could hear the sound of the fengzuidao slicing the air.

Bang!

A loud noise was heard, and the other man was sent flying out of the arena.

“Haha.”

Fang Ping looked slightly pale. He said mildly, “Are you stupid? Did you think that I was playing hide-and-seek with you? You can’t even take one strike of mine. So disappointing.”

“...”

The audience went completely silent.

NMAU’s third contestant was defeated way too fast.

“He’s... So powerful...”

Someone murmured, his face a kaleidoscope of emotions.

...

Fu Changding and the others were speechless. This martial artist from NMAU was a little too weak.

Bai Ruoxi said softly, “He planned this deliberately. He riled Lan Caiye up the previous round and didn’t use any lethal moves, winning from the use of a combo attack.

“This time, he angered his opponent just as he went onstage and lured him to take his strike directly. That strike just now expended more than 200cal!”

“Didn’t he say that he didn’t have a Rank-2 signature move?”

The few students were pissed. F*ck, he lied to them again!

Bai Ruoxi eyed them. ‘Who was at the wrong here, if you all believed Fang Ping’s facetious words?’

Zhao Lei’s expression went pitch dark. ‘You accused me of having secrets. Pot, kettle!

‘Just who are you preparing to trick?’

...

The powerhouses understood the motive behind Fang Ping’s actions. They also knew that their students were not as weak as they seemed to be.

At least that guy from earlier had just fallen from the arena and suffered light injuries. It was not that serious to the degree of critical injury.

In the eyes of the other lower-ranked martial artists, though, NMAU was embarrassingly weak.

Three battles, three losses!

Chen Pengfei had lost to a lower-stage Rank-2 martial artist, and the other two were, in two embarrassing battles, defeated by Fang Ping effortlessly.

When no one paid attention to him, Fang Ping put a pill in his mouth casually.

He meant “no one” among the students. He wanted the powerhouses to notice him.

Meanwhile, Fang Ping’s pale face gained a healthy red instantly.

Zhang Dingnan looked at him again. He praised, “This physicality... So enviable.”

Huang Jing did not pay much attention to that. He said, considering, “Is there any effect on this? NMAU’s weaker than MCMAU. Too crushing a defeat would incite despair...”

A moderate amount of stress would lead to growth. When the opponent seemed to be indomitable, though, the feeling they felt would not be called stress. The crowd would not think of them as overly weak but would attribute their defeat to the overwhelming power of their opponent. A battle that would result in this was meaningless.

“It’s fine. Do you think that the kid would win so easily?”

“Oh, it seems that you have a trump card at your side. Let’s see what happens next.”

Huang Jing eyed the two people left in the NMAU team, smiled, and paid no more attention. Rank-2 martial artists were unremarkable in the eyes of people like him, no matter how strong they were among their ranks.

...

The fourth contestant from NMAU ascended the stage amongst the complicated feelings of the audience.

The tanned young man did not announce his name and wielded no weapon. He smiled and said, “The prodigy of MCMAU is indeed outstanding. It’s insolent of you, though, when you look down on us NMAU students.”

“Yeah? You’re not bad. One of the best among the NMAU Rank-2 students, maybe.”

“You can say that.”

Fang Ping suddenly flung his saber down the stage. He said, expression serious, “To be honest, I knew that the previous two would not measure up to me the second they walked on stage. The battles between them and I did not light up a fire in me.

“You’re quite interesting. You give me pressure.

“I don’t have the intent to look down on anyone, but then there aren’t any Rank-2 martial artists in NMAU that have genuinely caught my eye.

“I should’ve used my saber, in my opinion. This saber is one that I redeemed with the credits I earned painstakingly.

“But I know that the NMAU students won’t be pleased if I use it.

“To appease everyone, let’s fight openly and honestly.”

“You don’t need to do that...”

The young man shook his head minutely. He did not say anything else, though, as he took a step forward.

His aura completely changed as he took that step!

Most of the audience could not sense any of that, but then they quieted down instantly as if they felt the gravity of the situation.

Fang Ping’s expression hardened. He stared at the other intently for a while.

“He’s from the frontlines?”

Fang Ping did not ask out loud. He had not met any martial artists that had fought in the Catacombs. No, the MCMAU instructors had been there, but they did not show it often.

The sudden aura change of the other person reminded Fang Ping of the championship when the old Grandmaster from the Eight School Alliance did the same thing.

“Strife and bloodshed...”

Perhaps that was what he felt.

The next second, both of them moved!

Fang Ping straightened his back, then hunched down instantly. At the same time, his fist shot out.

The young man opposite him did the same. His arm, bronzed from the sun, glowed a blood red under the spotlight.

His arm did not bulge outward or become thicker, but his fist seemed to be tinted with the color of blood.

The two of them took a step forward at the same time. Without most people noticing, they had punched the other five to six times!

Drip, drip...

They retreated. Fang Ping’s right hand swayed lightly. It was stained with blood, dripping onto the ground.

Although Manic Explosion was a set of combat techniques designed for sabers, it was still effective when channeled from one’s fists or legs.

The six punches Fang Ping had aimed at the other packed more power than however much he used to defeat Lan Caiye and the other man previously, but he fared more or less equally bad when compared with the other.

The other young man’s arm was also shaking. His palm was even more bloody.

Regardless of their injuries, they moved in tandem at the next second.

Fang Ping pointed the tip of his right leg and aimed it toward the other’s temple.

The other’s eyes gleamed crimson. He suddenly reached forward, both hands coming together to grab Fang Ping’s right leg and thrust it backward!

Fang Ping did not struggle in his grasp. He sprung upward utilizing the force, the tip of his foot coming to rest at the same height as the other’s eyebrows.

The next second, Fang Ping, currently midair, won his fight against gravity. As if he was on flat ground, he kicked toward the other’s head multiple times, using both his legs in turn!

...

“That was so f*cking cool!”

Fu Changding was envious. Fang Ping was practically godlike as he walked on air, kicking the other into a forced retreat.

“I thought that he only knew how to hack people with his saber.” Yang Xiaoman continued.

But then Bai Ruoxi said, expression serious, “His opponent can stay calm and not panic and has ample experience. Fang Ping might not win against him...”

“What?”

They put on expressions of disbelief. Although Fang Ping was annoying, they had to concede that Fang Ping was not weak. He could win against a fresh Rank-3 martial artist, at the least.

“Did you think that Fang Ping opted not to use his saber in a deliberate show of his charms? He can’t use his saber well against his opponent, as the other won’t just stand there and take his attacks to his face. Fang Ping’s senses are sharp...”

Bai Ruoxi praised him as the others looked at one another with bafflement.

“We thought that he did that to look cool...”

They said in their minds. How would they know that Fang Ping felt that he could not use his saber to the fullest? He made it seem like an act of chivalry that even made the NMAU students felt bad for him.

That was why the other man had told him that “there was no need to do that”. Fang Ping was indeed shameless!