World's Best Martial Artist

Panda Novel

At the gates of No.1 High School.

Fang Ping exchanged some words with Tan Tao and Tan Hao briefly before returning to the place where the candidates from Class (4) gathered.

After he left, Tan Zhenping also dismissed the few higher-ups from No.1 High School.

He said in a whisper, as he stared at Fang Ping’s retreating back, “Sun City has become way more interesting than it was before these two years.”

Tan Hao asked strangely, “Dad, what are you talking about?”

Tan Tao said contemplatively, “Is Dad referring to Fang Ping?”

“Not only Fang Ping, but also that Senior Wang of yours…”

Tan Zhenping smiled but did not elaborate.

A 19-year old Rank-3 martial artist who was lauded as the future figurehead of Nanjiang Martial Arts University.

An 18-year old ordinary high school senior who was well on his way to be a martial artist.

It would not be out of the ordinary if either of them was from some big metropolis or was born in a martial arts family, but the two of them were born in modest families in a small city like Sun City.

The probability of both happening at the same time was just too low.

The fact that Sun City had managed to nurture someone like Wang Jinyang was already a surprise to the powerhouses from the Nanjiang province.

Now that there was another, in the form of Fang Ping…

Of course, Fang Ping was currently far away from that.

The fact that he was half a step away from Rank-1 did not mean anything. He still had a long way to go.

Ascending from Rank-1 to Rank-3 was doable given ample time and resources.

From Rank-3 onwards, it was no longer just a matter of resources and time.

His power as a Rank-3 martial artist was not the only surprising quality that Wang Jinyang possessed.

Of course, Tan Zhenping was not privy to the details. He only knew that Wang Jinyang formed a connection with a powerful figure after he had broken through to Rank-3.

Tan Zhenping shook his head with a rueful smile as he thought of such matters. No matter what lay in store in their futures, it was not his business.

No matter how outstanding Wang Jinyang was, he would not give them particular attention just because they were from the same city.

That went for Fang Ping, too.

He turned to look at his two sons. They were where he should put his, and the Tan family’s hopes on.

He had been extremely frugal. He could have broken through to Rank-2 at any time, but he did not, because he had wanted to save the resources for his sons.

He was already nearing his fifties and thus had long lost his drive and spirit. Even if he had achieved a breakthrough, he could not advance any further in the future.

His sons were not the same case. They were still young!

At this thought, Tan Zhenping put all thoughts of Fang Ping aside and chuckled. “Hao, Tao, do well in the exams!

“After you’re both admitted into a martial arts university, you’ll become martial artists in no time!”

The school’s subsidy plus his savings and the fact that both his sons had achieved the Firm Stance.

Their Vitality was not that high, but Tan Zhenping believed that his sons would achieve a breakthrough in a shorter time compared to that Zhou Bin, given that they had entered a martial arts university.

…

“Fang Ping, what did Director Tan say to you?”

Wu Zhihao asked as soon as Fang Ping arrived.

“Director?” Fang Ping asked, puzzled, “What’s Uncle Tan director of?”

“The Department of Education! He’s the Vice Director, though.”

“What?” Fang Ping exclaimed with surprise. “There aren’t many martial artists here in Sun City, are there? Has Uncle Tan only managed to nab this post…”

Fang Ping thought Tan Zhenping should be in a higher position. He was a martial artist, after all.

There were few martial artists in Sun City, totaling twenty to thirty people, and half of them ran their own businesses.

The rest did not all work for the government.

In other words, the worst Tan Zhenping could do was be ranked just out of the top 10 in Sun City.

A person like him had only managed to be the Vice Director of the Department of Education?

Of course, prowess in martial arts was not the only criterion that the government prioritized. Despite that, Tan Zhenping was really doing badly for himself.

Wu Zhihao was even more surprised than him. He said, baffled, “What? Is the Vice Director not powerful?

“The Department of Education is one of the top three authoritative institutions in the city, although it cannot measure up to those in more developed cities.

“It’s still not that bad, is it?

“The top three consists of the government, the Department of Investigation Services and the Department of Education. Uncle Tan is considered really capable to be able to assume the post of Vice Director.”

“The top three authoritative institutions…”

Fang Ping’s worldview was tilted.

Was the Department of Education on so high a pedestal?

Wu Zhihao sighed at his perplexed expression with tired resignation. “You should be more acquainted with current politics.

Although we’re still high school students, we’ll enter university soon.

There’s no downside to knowing more about certain things.

Sun City is a district-level city and thus does not host a division of the military. This is why the Department of Education is ranked third.

The military is present in cities like Auspicious Sun City, so there are four institutions in the city: the government, the military, the Department of Investigation Services and the Department of Education.

Of course, the Department of Education is ranked last in Auspicious Sun City because it doesn’t have enough resources and the ability to back it up.

It’s different in River City.

In River City was a cluster of several martial arts universities in the Nanjiang province. The Department of Education over there has access to a great deal of resources and is powerful enough to rank before the Department of Investigation Services…”

Fang Ping’s jaw dropped in shock, and he did not manage to form any words for a long time.

He had not taken note of the governmental structure in this world, choosing to focus his time on matters such as martial arts universities, martial arts, and martial artists.

High school students who studied such things intently were few. No one discussed this in class.

That was why Fang Ping did not know that the governmental structure was so different from the one he was used to.

Fang Ping had viewed the Department of Education as one that was not too important but also not completely useless.

Now it became one of the most powerful institutions…

He had heard of the other Department, one of Investigation Services, through Wang Jinyang. It should be the one set up to apprehend martial artists.

Fang Ping shook his head. He had even seen humanoid avatars wreak havoc; minor differences such as this just were not on his radar right now.

Wu Zhihao’s words let Fang Ping know that Tan Zhenping was doing quite well for himself.

The right-hand man in one of the top three administrative institutions… This position was quite fitting for a Peak Rank-1 martial artist.

Wu Zhihao revisited the previous topic after giving him a brief explanation.

Fang Ping placated him with a few perfunctory answers. He then could not help asking him, “Why are you hitching a ride on the school coaches? I thought you would’ve gone to Auspicious Sun City on your own.”

Wu Zhihao was baffled. “Am I stupid? If I go alone, wouldn’t I need to pay for my own transportation fare? Lodging? Food?

“I’m struggling to save every penny I can. Why would I waste this money?”

This shut Fang Ping up.

The other was so stingy too!

No, why the “too”? He was not stingy!

…

Coaches arrived from other schools as they chatted.

They did not have as many students as No.1 High School, whose students filled nine coaches alone; some of those had so few candidates that they could not even fill up a coach.

The candidates from some high schools in rural areas had already departed in advance. They would meet in Auspicious Sun City.

At 8:20 a.m., all the coaches arrived.

There were more than 20 of them. One-third out of the 900 candidates came from No.1 High School.

When everyone arrived, Tan Zhenping got in his car after exchanging a few words with the people-in-charge from all high schools and departed towards Auspicious Sun City.

…

The fleet of coaches left No.1 High School.

At the gates, some teachers who had stayed behind sighed. “Who knows how many of them will get to stay after the 3rd.”

Some shook their heads. “The physical assessment is the toughest. We can count ourselves lucky if 100 of them pass.”

“100? I don’t think so.”

“There are approximately twenty thousand Senior Three students in Sun City, and 1500 out of them have registered for the martial sciences exams.

“If it were in Capital City or Magic City, the ratio would definitely be high.

“In Sun City, the Vitality threshold would be at least 110cal, according to our calculations.

“Less than 5% of them will pass the physical assessment, most likely. The possibility of those who have passed getting into a martial arts university was quite high, though…”

“The big cities are much more impressive in this regard. Some high schools registered all their students for the martial sciences exams. Tsk, tsk, there just isn’t any way we can compare…”

“…”

The teachers chatted among themselves. Some showed their envy on their faces.

It was difficult to survive in big cities, though.

The price of property was astonishingly high, and one would need to fulfill various criteria before he was allowed permanent residence.

These teachers teaching in a key high school could be considered to be the elite in society, but it could not be said that they would fare better if they ventured into the city.

…

On the bus.

Fang Ping and Wu Zhihao sat next to each other while the other students from Class (4) sat in vertical rows.

Aside from them, there were other students on the bus, most of them from normal classes.

The Tan brothers got in this coach too. They were sitting at Fang Ping’s left side.

Everyone started off chatting among their cliques as all of them were not from the same class.

After a short while, they opened up with the efforts of those normally boisterous fellows like Zhang Hao.

Zhang Hao sat in the front rows. He said excitedly, “The people on this bus are seriously amazing!

“Tan Hao, Tan Tao, Wu Zhihao, Zhou Ming, Fang Ping. Five of us whose Vitality is above 115cal!

“Yang Jian, Liu Ruoqi, and Lan Pei also have a Vitality over 112cal!

“If this was last year, this coach alone would have been ferrying 10 future martial arts university students!”

The others everyone knew of. Barring Tan Hao and the others, Zhou Ming was one of the most popular candidates in Class (3).

Who the hell was Fang Ping?

Some of them had heard his name when Tan Hao called for him. Before that, no one knew of him.

After Zhang Hao’s exclamation, someone said questioningly from his side, “Zhang Hao, is Fang… Fang Ping from your class?”

Someone else turned their heads back to get a look at Fang Ping but did not see him, as he was reclining sideways in his seat.

Zhang Hao knew what he had meant instantly.

Everyone minded their own business when they were in class. Class pride was close to none.

Now, there were people from other classes, though. Zhang Hao shouted, “What, do you think Wu Zhihao is the only one in my class who’s OP?”

“When Fang Ping had gone to welcome Senior Wang, he had said that Fang Ping would pass the tests with no problem!

“If you don’t believe me, you can ask Zhihao. Zhihao, is Fang Ping’s Vitality over 115cal?”

Wu Zhihao eyed Fang Ping with mirth in his eyes. Fang Ping did not bother with replying; he rolled his eyes and looked out of the window.

Only after seeing that he did not mind did Wu Zhihao smile and said, “It doesn’t stop at 115cal. Fang Ping is much stronger than me.”

The other passengers could not help turning their heads towards Fang Ping at Wu Zhihao’s words.

Tan Hao said brashly from the side, “Fang Ping is definitely gonna pass. The one who gets first place in martial sciences in Sun City probably won’t be Zhou Bin this year.”

Some of the students whose Vitality was higher were also slightly wary after hearing that.

A competitor for first place in martial sciences?

They did not believe this when the loudspeaker Zhang Hao was the one who had said it. When Wu Zhihao asserted his claim, they put three-tenths of their trust in it. After Tan Hao had confirmed the rumor again, their degree of trust went up to 80%.

Silence reigned over the once noisy coach.

Fang Ping was a little miffed. He glared at Tan Hao and the others. Were those guys attracting aggro towards him?

Speaking of, it was actually quite fun.

That guy who asked the question had obviously underestimated Fang Ping as he expressed his doubt over him achieving a Vitality of 115cal.

Looking down at Fang Ping, wasn’t he?

He could not refute his statement, naturally, as he preserved his expert image.

Those supporting actors had increased his notoriety, only for them to be completely devastated when the truth was revealed. It was quite fun!

Fang Ping was practically bursting with happiness internally, but his face was a veneer of calm as he rolled his eyes towards Wu Zhihao.

What?

Did he really look like someone who would show off his family conditions?

“Really, one must lay low!”