7 pm.
Martial Arts Society big meeting room.
Altogether 215 members were present, excluding some who had business to attend to. Chen Wenlong and the others were there too, these guys had never left. Everyone arrived at the Martial Arts Society.
When they saw Fang Ping sitting directly in the middle, Zhang Yu sitting at the side, many people put on a somewhat dreadful expression.
…
Offstage.
Fu Changding whispered, “That brat Fang Ping is not even remotely reserved. Isn’t he just looking for trouble?”
Zhao Lei was indifferent about it. “Why should martial artists concern themselves with these things?”
“What broad-minded thinking…”
Fu Changding was speechless. Zhao Lei, who used to be a gaokao top-scorer, who had unbeatable intelligence, was already a goner.
Fang Ping had crushed him to the point of no return!
Reducing a lively, intelligent and courageous youth into someone who only knew how to talk with his fists now.
Fu Changding looked on with pity. He did not look at him any longer, afraid that he would be infected himself.
…
“Skip the nonsense, let’s get straight into it!”
Fang Ping did not bother with pleasantries. “From this year onward, I will take over the position as the President of the Martial Arts Society. This will give President Zhang some time to cultivate, so as to not delay his martial arts progress.”
“In addition to that, Director Zhou mentioned that her graduation is near at hand. She needs to go for an interns.h.i.+p, hence she will step down from her positions as the Director of the Department of External Affairs and Office Manager.
“I think Vice President Xie has also been delayed for some time with his position as the Director of Student Recruitment. Vice President Xie will be relieved of his position as the Director of Student Recruitment.”
Xie Lei lowered his head. No words came out of his mouth.
Zhang Ziwei was slightly enraged. She held her head high. “Xie Lei has been handling the new students this batch. Right now, the students are about to enroll. There are still some things that need to be wrapped up, and you’re relieving Xie Lei now?”
Fang Ping said flatly, “It’s not the time for you to speak yet, Zhang Ziwei. If you b.u.t.t in again when we’re having a meeting, then get out!
“Certain rules in the Martial Arts Society still need to be followed!”
“You!”
Beside her, Xie Lei tugged at her gently, inclining his head. He stopped her from speaking further.
A person must own up to their defeat.
“The Director of the Back Office Department used to be President Zhang. From this year onward, I will take over.
“For the Financial Department… Director Hu, you’ve been quite busy recently, so carry out the handover with Senior Liu Mengyao. Liu Mengyao, you will take over the position as the director.”
The entire meeting room was engulfed in deafening silence.
Zhang Yu frowned slightly. Fang Ping changed the positions directly as soon as he arrived. Making no effort to even inform anyone in advance. Was this really appropriate?
“Financial Department, Liu Mengyao will serve as the director.”
“Discipline Inspection Department, Ye Qing will serve as the director.”
“Department of External Affairs, Fu Changding will serve as the director.”
“Office, Chen Yunxi will serve as the manager.”
“I will serve in both the Student Recruitment and Back Office Department.”
Fang Ping cut a long story short, asking, “Does anyone have anything to say?”
Absolute silence!
Fang Ping hardly concealed it, making no attempts to drag on, laying it out for everyone to see. Telling others that right now, his people would lead the Martial Arts Society from top to bottom.
A few students, seniors, himself included, had completely divided the rights of every department among themselves.
“Personnel changes are the first thing.”
Although Fang Ping asked everyone if they had anything to say, he did not give them any opportunities to refute at all. He continued, “The second thing is to increase benefits.”
“In the future, ordinary members can receive 20 credits every month.
“Senior members, who are also Rank-3 and Rank-4 members, 50 credits.
“Directors, 100 credits.
“Vice presidents, 200 credits.
“President, 300 credits.”
“Fang Ping!”
Finally, someone in the crowd called out in dissatisfaction. Zhou Yan was enraged. “Do you know how much expenditure it’ll amount to if you do this?
“More than 7000 credits!
“The funds allotted to us by the university are only 80 million a month. Not even 3000 credits. Are you out of your mind?”
Fang Ping gave a faint smile. “I’m giving everyone more benefits. You have something to say about that?”
“You!”
Zhou Yan’s face was contorted in anger. Gritting her teeth, she said, “So by holding three positions, you’re taking 500 credits every month?”
“Of course.”
“Fang Ping, you’ve gone too far!” Zhou Yan was infuriated, saying, “I knew it. You took down the president of the Martial Arts Society for your own self-interest!”
Fang Ping chuckled. “Self-interest? I don’t think so. I’ve increased everyone’s benefits, not mine alone.
“Are things supposed to stay the same? To fool everyone with only one Normal Vitality Pill per person per month and 3 credits?
“What’s the purpose of the Martial Arts Society then?
“Or perhaps I should be selfless, like President Zhang, taking nothing from the Martial Arts Society, even dragging the vice presidents along with him, serving the university selflessly?
“Zhou Yan, is it better this way?
“Ask everyone. Are they satisfied?
“Many activities are carried out in the Martial Arts Society. With no reward. Rather than wasting time in the Martial Arts Society, why not use the time to complete missions, earning even more?
“Under circ.u.mstances like this, are you counting on everyone to do their best for the Martial Arts Society?”
Zhang Yu pressed her hands. That stopped Zhou Yan. However, he questioned instead, “How are you going to deal with the shortfall of money then?”
To distribute more than 200 million benefits a month was too mind-blowing!
The university allotted 80 million to the Martial Arts Society per month. That was an astronomical difference!
“Number one, I’ll apply from the university. 80 million is not enough, rounding it up to 100 million. There’s inflation now, so the university should be giving us more benefits. That’s not a big issue.”
“Number two, everyone looks up to martial arts today. There is a limit to martial arts university student recruitment. MCMAU has merely three martial arts training cla.s.ses in Magic City. That’s too few. It’s not enough. Compared to the martial arts training cla.s.ses conducted by those deceiving people in the society, it will be so much better if the Martial Arts Society opens up two martial arts training cla.s.ses in Magic City alone, sending Rank-2 members to oversee the operation in batches.
“Two cla.s.ses, recruiting 200 students, can earn us hundreds of millions every year.”
“Number three, the new students are enrolling. Many of them come from a well-off family. As customary, they can fork out their own money to switch from their allocated dormitory.
“In the past, half was allocated to outstanding students; half to those fellows who forked out their money.
“This year onward, there will be no discrimination between students once they enter MCMAU. Everyone must spend money to pay for single dormitories…”
“President Fang!” Zhang Yu looked slightly angered. “This one here is too much!”
Fang Ping chuckled. “Don’t be so anxious. I’m not done talking yet. I’m not referring to new students alone. This includes senior students.
“A portion of senior students rest on their laurels, a dog in the manger.
“I will give new students and outstanding students a chance. A portion of senior students has single dormitories. If they do not want to spend any money, yet want to have a good place to stay in. Sure, go and challenge then!
“If they defeated the senior students, then the senior students will move into shared dormitories. The winner will be a.s.signed into single dormitories.
“Don’t look at me like that. Others aside. This includes senior-year guys like you. Today, a bunch of senior students are still pacing back and forth between Rank-1 and 2. When they enrolled then, they were among the top one hundred outstanding students too. They received free food and accommodation, ate well and slept well. A few years later, they’re still in Rank-1 and 2. President Zhang, I don’t think this is appropriate at all!
“Out of the three batches of students today, there are altogether 300 single dormitories a.s.signed to outstanding students; 300 to paying students.
“The 300 dormitories occupied by the outstanding students can all be acquired by making challenges.
“As for the last three batches who spent money to go through unofficial channels to exchange into single dormitories, I will not implement the new policy straight away for this batch.
“Next batch onward, they will only get one year’s time even if they paid for it!
“One year later, these single dormitories will be fully occupied by powerhouses!”
Zhang Yu became silent. He did not speak another word.
Fang Ping continued, “For new students, there are 200 single dormitories this year. Many MCMAU students come from well-off families. Half a million and you get to stay for a year. Either you work hard or you don’t. If you don’t, then stay in a shared dormitory. Otherwise, rely on your ability to fight for it, or leave it empty.
“Once all 200 dormitories are rented out, that’ll be another 100 million profit.”
Fang Ping chuckled. “That’ll be 200 million now. Adding on the 1.2 billion allocated to us by the university yearly, that’s 1.4 billion.”
Zhang Yu let out a light sigh, saying, “Even so, there’s still a significant shortfall!”
According to Fang Ping’s plan, taking into account the various expenditures of the Martial Arts Society, more than 2.5 billion was needed a year, at least. Perhaps even more. The shortfall in money was extremely huge.
“Easy. Organize a few matches!”
Fang Ping chuckled. “Everyone looks up to martial arts today. Since the martial arts champions.h.i.+p, martial arts compet.i.tion has become something common.
“However, the compet.i.tions held in society are of inconsistent quality, the credibility low.
“From this year onward, MCMAU will become the organizer, holding a few compet.i.tions annually.
“For example, the National Champions.h.i.+p.
“Other examples are Rank-2 martial artist champions.h.i.+p, or even Rank-3 champions.h.i.+p.
“There’s no reason to lose money and no reason to spend our own money to hold compet.i.tions. By looking for sponsors, we will only earn. This includes the expenses for the prizes. These are all under the sponsors. Who would lose any money in holding compet.i.tions?
“Also, we need to collect fees for the broadcasting of the compet.i.tion, working together with different platforms. Only fools will allow anyone to broadcast for free!
“As a matter of fact, a few companies have the same idea so far, including the local government.
“However, are they equipped with much better credibility than us here in MCMAU?
“No!
“What does MCMAU stand for!
“It is one of the most renowned martial arts universities in the entire nation and the whole world!
“Not only holding compet.i.tions in our country, but we can also invite a few world-renowned martial arts universities to organize together with us. A multinational martial arts compet.i.tion.
“How much do we know about martial artists overseas?
“Honestly, not much.
“With that, not only can we deepen our martial arts interaction at home and abroad, but we have also pushed for the development of martial arts.
“This should be done by the government, but right now, compet.i.tions have just started to rise. The government is still busy handling internal affairs and has not taken this into consideration yet.
“MCMAU is willing to take up its responsibility, and should stand out to share the burdens of the government!
“One compet.i.tion every quarter of a year.
“Four times a year. Sponsors.h.i.+p fee, advertis.e.m.e.nt fee, broadcasting fee, entrance fee…
“Everyone, if everything goes as planned, we can earn hundreds of millions.
“Martial artists who don’t want to be seen as a performing clown can choose not to partic.i.p.ate. But, there are always martial artists who wish to excel, to receive attention. This also includes casual martial artists.
“There will be martial artists who will partic.i.p.ate when we hold compet.i.tions. Mainly the three lower ranks compet.i.tions. These guys have nothing better to do. Fighting to learn from each other is better than sitting around and waiting to die at home!”
In most cases, the three lower ranks martial artists and the Rank-3 in society would not have learned about the Catacombs, not unless they have achieved Upper-stage.
These guys really had nothing better to do.
“Other than the four points that I’ve mentioned earlier, there are still plenty of ways to earn money. It all depends on our willingness to take the initiative! Who are we? MCMAU Martial Arts Society!
“A group of elite students in MCMAU. A group of elite students in the entire world!
“Is this bunch of elites actually worried about this bit of benefits?
“We don’t need to give ourselves too much. We can even get someone to hold the compet.i.tions. As for us, every quarter of a year, we only need to spend a few days’ time to become judges and evaluators.
“Among the Rank-3 and 4 students outside, which one of them is not a despot?
“As judges and evaluators, aren’t we way better than certain local Rank-1 and 2 Vitality martial artists judges?
“I’ve taken a quick look at the Martial Arts Society’s expenditures earlier. The expenditure for the yearly champions.h.i.+ps with other universities is actually the largest of all. How ridiculous.
“We forced ourselves to prepare everything, to the point that we are reluctant to use even a teeny bit of pills when we’re injured.
“Everyone, it’s the new generation now!
“Martial artists need to keep up with the times, or else, how are we different from the sects?
“Does it really matter if we broadcast the champions.h.i.+ps to the public?
“Do you feel like a monkey now?
“What a joke!
“When we can employ the Flight Step, split mountains, and divide the sea, who would treat us as monkeys?
“When there are pills and money, only then will everyone have the free rein to compete, to fight. Rank-1 and 2 martial artists can’t enter the Catacombs. Rather than training tediously, it’s still more beneficial to fight more.
“This includes martial artists of ranks lower than Upper-stage Rank-3. They have a high chance of dying if they go into the Catacombs. At this time, the right thing to do would be to perfect their skills with humans.
“By looking for sponsors in compet.i.tions, aren’t we just wearing other people’s clothes and shoes?
“I’m not even asking you to do anything else. Worried that you’ll embarra.s.s yourself? Don’t practice martial arts if you’re worried about embarra.s.sing yourself. Why should you pay attention to this when you don’t even care about life and death?
…
Offstage.
Everyone was discussing under their breaths.
This… seemed like Fang Ping’s mini advertis.e.m.e.nts. Playing the same tune on different instruments.
However, according to what Fang Ping said, they could probably earn money. Everyone’s benefits had increased too.
The weakest would receive 20 credits a month, 240 credits a year—7.2 million!
Earning money was not easy. For a Rank-2 martial artist, 7.2 million was not so easy to earn.
Last year, w.a.n.g Jinyang was willing to kill a Peak Rank-2 martial artist for 300 thousand.
20 credits a month could exchange for a Rank-2 Vitality Pill. Under normal circ.u.mstances, a Rank-2 Vitality Pill per month was enough for a Rank-2 martial artist to cultivate.
Of course, it would not be enough if you wanted to boost up the speed. However, what the Martial Arts Society gave was extras, it was like getting them for nothing. Still, it was extremely tempting.
…
Onstage.
Fang Ping chuckled again. “There are many ways to earn money. I’ll not cover them all for now. However, the benefits that I’ve mentioned will be put into effect.”
Zhou Yan gritted her teeth. She forced the words out. “You receive 500 credits per month alone. That’s too much!”
‘Who were you kidding!’
Fang Ping smiled faintly. “If I step down as the director of two departments, it’ll only be 300 credits. How is that too much? The most capable people will do the most work. Efforts will pay off. It is only natural for me to receive slightly more as I hold the positions as directors of two departments. Alright, it’s decided then.
“As for Senior Zhou, since you’re going for an interns.h.i.+p in an enterprise, I’ll not a.s.sign you any tasks. As a Rank-3 member, you’ll get 50 credits per month doing nothing…”
“I don’t want it!”
“Perfect. If you don’t want it, then we can save it.”
Fang Ping did not hold any punches. He grinned. “Anyone else who doesn’t want it?”
Silence across the floor.
Even Qin Fengqing did not utter a word. Zhou Yan must be out of her mind!
He, the vice president, would receive 200 credits per month, 6 million for doing nothing. What’s not to like!
Killing a Rank-4 in the Catacombs would not even earn him that much money. Earlier, when Zhang Yu was president, Qin Fengqing could hardly recall the number of times he had worked free labor.
“Since no one has any objections, we’ll proceed to the next item.”
Fang Ping continued, “Personnel and benefits are not the key items.
“The key is still to enhance abilities!
“Honestly, there aren’t many shortcuts for the advancement of three lower ranks. Consuming pills is the fastest, though money is needed. Secondly, actual combat is beneficial for cultivating Combat Techniques.
“How to learn through experience?
“Number one, join champions.h.i.+ps in different universities. You will earn money and gain experience, both at the same time.
“Number two, go and fight locally. Sweep the local combat teams. You will gain reputation, earn money, and gain experience, three at a time.
“Number three, open challenges. Challenge the various martial arts training cla.s.ses openly. After the challenge, if you win, then we’ll open our own branch there; If you lose, then try another one and carry on.
“Number four…”
“President Fang!”
Zhang Yu’s head was throbbing. “If you do this, you’ll disrupt the entire martial arts order.”
Fang Ping replied nonchalantly, “Times have changed. The martial arts world is a pool of stagnant water. Are we perhaps waiting for pies to drop from the sky? Dream our way into Rank-9?
“Mix things up a little. It’s nice to let the martial arts world move around. Perhaps the government will be glad to see it.
“As for the Catacombs, I don’t recommend martial artists with ranks lower than Upper-stage Rank-3 to enter. The university has its concerns, we have ours.
“Don’t blindly follow the university’s arrangements. Martial artists with ranks lower than Upper-stage Rank-3 who enter the Catacombs will only be at risk, with not many obvious benefits.
“Work hard and cultivate to achieve Upper-stage Rank-3. That’s your top priority.
“I support Upper-stage Rank-3 martial artists going into the Catacombs because the Catacombs is indeed the place where human martial artists progress the fastest.”
“Of course, the things that I’m saying right now, some of them are the topics the seniors have been talking about. Everyone knows this.
“Other than that, from this year onward, the Martial Arts Society will step up the evaluation system.
“There will no longer be such a thing as once a Martial Arts Society member, forever a Martial Arts Society member. Do you really think this is an iron rice bowl[1]?
“Rank-3 and those with ranks higher than Rank-3 do not need to be evaluated.
“For those with ranks lower than Rank-3, the majority right now are Upper-stage and Peak Rank-2. I’ll give you a year’s time. Those who can’t achieve Rank-3 will be kicked out of the Martial Arts Society. Don’t be a disgrace to the Martial Arts Society.
“In the future, the evaluation will be carried out annually. MCMAU of such ma.s.sive size does not even have 100 Rank-3. What a disgrace!
“That’s all for now. If I recall other things, then I’ll add them in.”
Plenty of people were speechless. So, this right now was only a portion of what he had to say?
If that was the case, things would start getting serious in the Martial Arts Society in the future.
“Alright. Dismissed. Directors and martial artists of ranks higher than Upper-stage Rank-3 stay.”
…
Fang Ping sent everyone away.
When there were much fewer people, Fang Ping looked at both Qin Fengqing and Xie Lei, saying, “Xie Lei, Qin Fengqing, I’ll give both of you a mission…”
Without a hint of hesitation, Qin Fengqing said, “I’m not doing it!”
“Then quit the Martial Arts Society. You indolent person!”
Qin Fengqing nearly crushed his teeth from gnas.h.i.+ng them together. ‘F*cker. You were too much!’
Xie Lei made no argument. He asked in a deep-throated voice, “What mission?”
“Go get some sponsors. This year is MCMAU’s 60th anniversary. Initially, I wanted to organize an event, but right now, the old vice-chancellor and the rest have been sacrificed, so I’m not organizing it anymore.
“Even so, there are many powerhouses who graduated from MCMAU. It’s possible for them to support the university building.
“You’re both Rank-4 martial artists. You are also qualified to represent the Martial Arts Society.
“Move out separately. For the Grandmaster rank, the standard should be no less than 50 million; middle-ranked ones should be no less than 10 million.
“As for the three lower ranks… it depends. For those who are doing well, three or five million. Forget it if they’re not doing so well.
“If you can get more, several billion to tens of billions are not just a dream.
“But, I’m afraid that both of you are too shy to speak up. That’s no big deal. I’ll arrange a few helpers for you after this. You only have to show your face, that’s all.
“If you can really get tens of billions, the number of MCMAU Rank-3 students will shoot up. This has a lot to do with the university’s future.
“Also, some of the big entrepreneurs out there, regardless whether they’re MCMAU’s graduates, approach them as well. Tell them that they’re alumni. If they have nothing to say about it, then forget it. If they voice up, then tell them that you remembered wrongly. Send an honorary alumni award later.
“This is the mission for both of you. Don’t come back if the sponsors.h.i.+p is less than 1 billion!”
Qin Fengqing was unsatisfied. “What’s in for us then?”
“Once you return, with more sponsors.h.i.+p comes more benefits. With less, there are no d.a.m.n benefits!” Fang Ping snapped.
Then, he turned to face others, saying, “For your missions, number one, greet the newcomers when the semester starts. Remember to convey my message earlier about the dormitory allocation precisely. Other than that, take pictures. For shared dormitories, simply look for a few rooms outside that are for rent and take some pictures. For the single dormitories, just take pictures of our own…”
Everyone was very dispirited. How could you even do this?
“Number two, organize a champions.h.i.+p for the new students. The sooner the better. Perhaps it shouldn’t be called a Champions.h.i.+p. Call it the National Rank-1 Compet.i.tion. That’s it.”
“Number three, open up the Martial Arts Dojo immediately. Encourage the public to enroll.”
Fang Ping exhaled. “That’s all. Oh right, Chen Yunxi, Fu Changding, and the rest of you, don’t forget about Ping Yuan Club. a.s.sign some tasks to the members. For example, the instructor for the martial arts training cla.s.ses or something like that. Recruit new students, keep the express delivery group going. There’s no need for too many people.
“That’s all for now. Dismissed. Becoming a president is indeed tiresome.”
After hearing his complaints, everyone really wanted to roll their eyes!
What were you tired of?
When Zhang Yu was president, he did not take a single penny. When you became president, you gave yourself a 15 million monthly salary the moment you took over, unafraid that the university leaders would give you a hard time.
Some instructors in the university, Rank-4 and 5 ones, did not even have such high pay!
No, even Rank-6 ones might not have it!
Fang Ping’s annual pay was almost two hundred million now. According to what he was doing, with thousands of instructors, hundreds of billions would not even be enough. The university should just declare bankruptcy.
[1] an occupation with guaranteed job security, as well as steady income and benefits