Spend Money Like Water

"Bang! Bang! Bang!" 

As Fang Ping was feeling satisfied with the outcome and prepared to give cultivation another go, someone knocked vigorously at his room door! 

Needless to ask, Fang Ping could easily identify the person behind the unique door-knocking manner.

Sure enough.

Standing on the other side of the door, Fang Yuan was banging on the door as she called out "Fang Ping, what are you up to!"

"Laughing like a silly one moment, and panting the next…

"Don't you know it's really pervy!

"Mind you, you'd not get a wife if you're such a pervert…

"I'm still underaged. Do not rub off your bad habits on me!"

"…"

Fang Ping's anger was mounting. 

'What did I do now?

'I was only cultivating. How have I led you astray?'

After he recalled what the little brat had said again, Fang Ping seemed to understand what she meant. Flushed with anger, he roared, "Who are you kidding!

"Who's a pervert now?

"Who rubbed off bad habits on little kids now?

"My body is going through serious training. Cultivating. Cultivating, do you understand?"

Fang Yuan scorned from the other side of the door, "Who are you trying to fool? Can't you cultivate in the yard? 

"Whatever, I couldn't care less. You are not allowed to pant anymore. You sounded like a pervert." 

"You…"

Feeling discouraged, Fang Ping was certain that he had to find a better place to cultivate!

The sound insulation of this shabby old house was substandard.

After a round of cultivating the Methods of Honing, his Vitality surged. It was only natural for him to pant in order to relieve himself.

Unbeknownst to him, Fang Yuan who was outside then could hear him loud and clear.

This brat. God knows what she was thinking about him.

Hiding in the bedroom in broad daylight. Panting one moment, and giggling like a silly the next…

Fang Ping thought about it once more that even he would have mistaken himself to be up to no good.

Initially he wanted to attempt the cultivation of pole-standing, but he decided not to cultivate anymore.

Compared to the Methods of Honing, cultivation of pole-standing would stir greater movements, god knows how that little brat would perceive him then.

...

After a quick tidying up around, Fang Ping changed into a new set of clothes.

His last set of clothes were stained with blood from the bursting of his veins that even his trousers were not spared from the blood stains. 

After changing, Fang Ping gathered his dirty clothes and headed for the washroom.

Seeing that his mother had not returned, he would clean up his clothes by himself so as to not worry his parents.

However, his actions proved guilty in the eyes of Fang Yuan, who confirmed that her brother was up to no good.

"Fang Ping, it's time that you find a girlfriend!

"Sigh, all the boys in my class have girlfriends, and you're here - a single dog (TN: "

Single dog" is an Internet slang. It refers to people who are single or who don't have a boyfriend or girlfriend).

"Being single is one thing. You were even hiding in the room indulging in age-restricted content. It's appalling!

"What if mom and dad find out? Don't you feel embarrassed?

"Fang ping, why don't I introduce you to a…"

"Shut up!"

Fury surged through Fang Ping. Whilst rubbing his clothes, he roared, "Stop hanging out with the gang of scoundries of yours!

"How old are you? What do you have in that mind of yours! 

"I'm only 18, what do mean by single dog? 

"I'm cultivating. Cultivating! Can't you understand?"

"Tsk, whatever. It's alright if you refuse to admit it."

Fang Yuan murmured nonchalantly, "Clearly my advice is not valued. My friend's sister is truly a beauty..."

"Fang Yuan!"

"Alright, alright! I'll shut up." Her look of sparing him from further pain wounded Fang Ping even more.

'I was neither watching age-restricted movies, nor reading magazines of girls who could not afford to buy clothes - or anything along the same line!

'I was cultivating!

'Cultivating!'

Fang Ping felt helpless. Forget it, there was no point in explaining any further. The little brat would never understand anyway.

…

At night.

Fang Ping did not proceed with cultivating the Methods of Honing, instead he started reading on "The Sixteen Styles of Pole-standing". 

Especially the part on Horse-riding Stance.

The cultivation of martial arts without any basic training was a waste of time and energy.

"Basic training" here referred to none other than pole-standing.

Failure in attaining a good stance would mean that one's foundation was not solid. It did not only impact bone-honing and vein-honing, it influenced combat ability too.

In martial arts school, martial artists who perfected pole-standing would be given a label⁠—Roly-poly.

With a good stance in pole-standing, one would be rooted when pushed; firm when hit. Even if they cannot beat you, they will annoy you to death. 

The name Horse-riding Stance was derived from its stance that was similar to riding a horse.

There were three levels of the Horse-riding Stance.

First level, stable stance.

A stable stance, one would not fall from being pushed.

Second level, firm stance. 

Solid as a rock, rooted to the ground, one would stand unwavering.

Third level, elevated stance.

The elevated stance was what gave roly-poly its name.

What the elevated stance did was that it allowed the freedom to modify the human body's center of gravity. With an unstable center of gravity, one would stumble easily.

With a firm center of gravity and the freedom to modify, any push, hit, kick, take would have absolutely no way of making me move.

A martial artist's true combat ability was not solely dependent on ranks. 

When martial artists with good stance came face-to-face in combat with martial artists of higher rank, even if the layer of defense could not be broken, which may hinder attack, the ability to defend would be impeccable. 

On top of that, working on stance encourage bone-shaping and tendon-loosening. This could greatly enhance the bone-honing process.

The merging of pole-standing and honing methods in cultivation could potentially lead to greater outcomes. Undoubtedly, the consumption on Vitality would be astonishing too.

...

Fang Ping read through the manual.

He attempted the Horse-riding Stance for a short while. 

In just under 5 minutes, Fang Ping found himself shaking from head to toe, sweating like rainfall. 

Stance, was so much tougher than what he imagined it to be.

10 minutes later, Fang Ping had almost shaken into a sieve.

Both his legs were trembling vigorously. If someone were to push him from the front at this moment, he would definitely stumble. 

It was clear that he still had a long way to go to achieve the first level of stable stance.

"Chest flattened, back rounded, tip of the head suspended in a straight line…" 

Reciting inaudibly in his head the essentials to achieving the stance, Fang Ping was drenched in sweat. Soon, he was panting like the hounds of summer as he slumped to the ground.

This was not even combined with the Methods of Honing stance and he was already full-on exhausted. 

Once combined with the Methods of Honing, Fang Ping was not sure if he could refrain from being distracted. 

He fixed his attention on the statistics:

Wealth: 3365800

Vitality: 122cal

Mentality: 135Hz

…

Fang Ping's expression changed slightly. Not only had his Vitality decreased this time, his Mentality went down as well. 

"Was it the consumption of mental energy?"

He murmured. Fang Ping could roughly understand the reason for the decrease of his Mentality.

As he was practicing his stance, a lot of mental energy was exerted into focusing, thus consuming an astronomical amount of it. Both Vitality and Mentality were consumed.

After thinking much about it, Fang Ping started meditating to increase his Mentality and Vitality:

Wealth: 3357800

Vitality: 125cal

Mentality: 140Hz

"The expenditure is more than what I've imagined!"

It had not been even a day, yet he had already spent 13000 in wealth.

Initially he thought that when both attributes were brought up to 200, he would at most spend a couple hundreds of thousands. 

Come to think of it now, he was too optimistic!

Both Vitality and Mentality are not unchanging factors - they too would be consumed based on the amount and extent of exercise and cultivation.

At times like this, normal people would recuperate by sleeping, eating, or taking medication.

Fang Ping had no time to waste, therefore he could only spend his wealth to recuperate.

A huge chunk of his wealth would be spent every time he recuperated.

His wealth of more than 3 million may seem like a lavish amount, but with the current speed that he was going at, how long would that last him?

Unless Fang Ping give up on boosting his skills, and stuck to recuperating through adequate rest and food like everyone else. 

"Pole-standing paired with the Methods of Honing will only result in greater expenditure!

"Everytime an average aspiring martial artist cultivates, the process of recuperation takes forever, and the spending of resources is tremendous. I see now…"

That was the reason why it was so rare to see martial artists in society!

Ordinary people could only grind their skills arduously; howbeit, with increasing age, the body stiffens, thus the tougher it would be to achieve breakthrough.

On the other hand, family support at youth was the only deciding factor for a person's ability to cultivate, which would otherwise be unattainable.

Then again, how many families out there were capable of forking out an astronomical amount of money to spend? 

Even if given to Wu Zhihao and the likes, they would undoubtedly avoid cultivating the combination of the Methods of Honing and pole-standing.

…

The rate of consumption of wealth was quicker than what Fang Ping had imagined!

The next two consecutive days, Fang Ping attended classes and read during the day; practiced pole-standing and cultivation during the night.

On Tuesday night, the cultivation of the Methods of Honing was complete. Fang Ping glanced at the statistics and was in great despair.

Wealth: 3320800

Vitality: 126cal

Mentality: 142Hz

There were improvements in terms of his Vitality and Mentality.

What followed suit was the monumental cost of wealth.

In only two to three days time, with the starting wealth of 3.37 million, he had spent 50 thousand in total.

In recompense, he attained 126cal in Vitality. Fang Ping had a feeling that it would be doable to raise it up to 127cal.

An average increase in 1cal of Vitality would cost a minimum of 20 thousand in wealth.

This was only if Vitality is not at its peak. When Vitality goes through the roof, further progression should be made after achieving 150cal.

Based on Fang Ping's estimation, his expenditure would skyrocket.

"I was too naive!" 

Fang Ping's smiled as if self-mocking. He was so proud of himself then, thinking that a measly hundreds of thousands in wealth could achieve 200cal breakthrough. 

He could see the entire picture now. The entire system was a humongous pit. 

"With the rate of roughly 1cal of increment a day."

Fang Ping made some calculations. After putting some thoughts into it, he gave his Vitality a slight boost.

After spending 1000 in wealth, his Vitality sat at 127cal.

Fang Ping moved his body around, felt that the stress was still bearable, and was rather satisfied.

With a daily increment of 1cal, at the time of his physical examination, he might be the only martial artist with the lowest Vitality line, sitting at 150cal.

Of course, it was still unsure whether the speed would remain the same by then. It was still too early to make conclusions. 

As to whether he would expose his soaring Vitality, it would have to depend on the situation. 

Increasing Vitality was taxing; spending was easy.

If Fang Ping wanted to stay out of the spotlight, he would cultivate at a deeper level before the physical examination so as to consume a great amount of Vitality. It would not be difficult to lower it down to 120cal. 

As he was getting ready to wash up, his phone that had been thrown aside started vibrating.

Fang Ping picked up his phone and took a quick glance. Once the call connected, he could recognize the voice of the Head of Sales manager.

"Mr. Fang, sorry for bothering you, the procedure for your house has been arranged. If you're free tomorrow…"

"Alright, I'll be there at noon."

Fang Ping lowered his voice and replied softly.

Without putting too much effort in conveying politeness with the manager, Fang Ping hung up the phone.

The progress at Scenic Lake Gardens was at a good pace. The contract was signed on Sunday. It would only be Wednesday tomorrow, and the arrangements were already in order.

Once the house was obtained, he would purchase some fitness equipment, as well as other necessary supplies.

This would be a massive expenditure.

House payment excluded, he currently had more than 410 thousand in cash.

Further purchase of items would leave him with no more than 400 thousand. 

"Spend money like water indeed!"

Fang Ping sighed with despair, at the same time he could exceedingly relate with high ranked martial artists who hoarded their wealth.

As someone who was not even a martial artist, he had already spent a hefty amount of money just to cultivate. 

Not to mention that this was with having a hack up his sleeve .

Folks without a system like he did would find their daily expenditure amounting to staggering figures.

Without money, maintaining the current level would prove challenging, not to mention cultivation.

"I need to earn some money."

Fang Ping muttered to himself. This would have to wait till Gaokao is over. Right now he had no time to figure this out.