The Favored Son of Heaven

Blood, along with the infusion set, was forced out of a man’s body, flowing into another man’s body. The hardened blood clots were forced out from the blood vessels little by little.

 Du Peng lay quietly in a tank filled with a newly mixed nutrient solution by Enzo Rota. Hundreds of tubes were inserted into his body with hundreds of different solutions flowing into him every second.

 Lin Liqiang carefully took out the insect warrior’s samples provided by the Founding Society and handed them to Lin Ling one by one. This unexpected female surgeon was adding and removing parts.

 Qin Fen looked at this extremely strange surgical scene which looked just like a magic show from a distance.

 Du Zhanpeng’s face went from the initially rosy complexion to a little pale before they knew it. Due to the blood loss and the loss in true elemental energy, which he cultivated through hardcore training, his skin’s luster dimmed quickly.

 Enzo Rota kept adjusting the amounts of the drugs, pulling out tubes from Du Zhanpeng’s body from time to time, and then inserting other tubes into his body.

 They started with the toes, then the ankles, then to the calves…

 Lin Ling carefully injected various confusing parts and samples into his body using a variety of small needles, adjusting her working tempo according to Lin Liqiang’s commands.

 After fifteen hours, Lin Liqiang placed two fairly thick high-voltage wires directly in Du Peng’s hands. He then chased everyone out and started the last operation instantly.

 The powerful current surged through Du Peng’s body, causing it to jump vigorously. Some pungent fluid oozed out from various parts of the body and Du Peng’s skin turned pitch black like electric-burned black charcoal.

 The room was back to silence again. Everyone was looking at the body which was electrocuted and had turned almost unrecognizable.

 Du Zhanpeng’s hands had already clenched into fists and his head was shaking with power. He had lost a lot of blood and his elemental energy, and he should be resting now for a better recovery, but he was still standing there quietly.

 Chen Zhi quietly walked around Qin Fen and whispered softly to him while he was looking at Du Zhanpeng, “What are you thinking about? About Qin Zhan? I can only tell you about this, you don’t need to envy Du Zhanpeng for what he has done for Du Peng. Qin Zhan cares about you no less than how Du Zhanpeng cares for Du Peng.”

 Qin Fen looked up at Chen Zhi. This was not the first time that he heard about Qin Zhan from these people, but Chen Zhi had already closed his mouth and showed an attitude that he wouldn’t tell Qin Fen any more news about Qin Zhan even if Qin Fen beat him to death.

 “Is my brother…” Qin Fen tried and asked, “Is he the Azure Dragon?”

 Chen Zhi closed his eyes and his lips formed a mysterious smile, “Take a guess?”

 Qin Fen realized for the first time that Chen Zhi was much trickier than he had imagined he would be. The most honest human body part would be one’s pupils, even a martial dao master couldn’t control his pupils freely. Unfortunately, Chen Zhi had already closed his eyes by the time he opened his mouth, completely preventing himself from leaking any news.

 “I guess so.”

 “Oh.”

 “I guess not.”

 “Oh.”

 Chen Zhi, while he didn’t look smart, maintained a slow pace as he spoke emotionlessly and he didn’t open his eyes. Most of Qin Fen’s detection methods couldn’t work in front of this martial dao master who could control his heartbeat and blood flow.

 “If you really want to meet Qin Zhan, I will point him to you in two ways. You can meet Qin Zhan by becoming the divine beast on Saturn or by participating in the Ensemble of Heroes.”

 Chen Zhi shut his mouth tightly and showed an attitude that he wouldn’t even speak a word more this time.

 Qin Fen focused his attention back on Du Peng’s body again. Lin Liqiang looked gravely at the ‘charcoal’ lying in the cultivating solution, while Enzo Rota looked at the projected data flashing out from the nutrition tank.

 Pa pa… pa pa… pa pa…

 One after another, branch snapping-like sounds sounded in the quiet hall.

 Qin Fen found that Du Peng’s skin with the charcoal texture started cracking open like a cracked bark, revealing the unique skin color to the yellow-race people.

 Hundreds of bark-like cracks appeared on Du Peng’s charcoal-like skin in an instant. These black charcoal-like skin layer was peeling off. Du Peng, who was lying in the nutrition tank, had his true appearance revealed in a blink of an eye.

 Due to the high-voltage electric current, Du Peng’s whole body was temporarily hairless and his sturdy and hard muscles had no changes at all. He was lying quietly with slight up and down movements in his chest, like he was deeply asleep.

 Lin Liqiang gently raised his right palm, and Enzo Rota who was usually calm and steady gave him a quick and strong high five; the quiet hall was filled with the clear hands clapping sound.

 Lin Liqiang swung his palm which turned red after high-fiving with Enzo Rota while smiling happily with his mouth opened.

 What was the new human being? Lin Liqiang didn’t know, and Enzo Rota didn’t know either. All they did was walk down a route. As for what exactly this route was? They would still need to do research and they needed a long time for that.

 Both of them focused on Du Peng, who was sleeping and they laughed continuously. This was not just a huge change in Du Peng’s life, it might even become a huge symbol for future changes in human society after some in-depth research.

 How would things change in the end? Lin Liqiang and Enzo Rota were excited about it. The route they took this time was solely due to an idea that flashed through their minds. The Founding Society’s research direction on insect warriors was so deep and vast that anyone would immediately become obsessed with it at first glance. So they would go along with the idea of ​​insect warriors and went on towards a deeper and further route of insect warriors.

 Perhaps because they were Qin Fen’s friends, but both of them subconsciously resisted the Founding Society and always tried to swerve away from the insect warriors. It was because of this instinct to deliberately act against the Founding Society that led them to unexpectedly discover this rugged trail. It could even be said that they discovered this trail before it could be totally destroyed by the Founding Society, had they continued with the current research on the insect warriors.

 Science had unlimited possibilities. If this trail was not discovered until a little later, Lin Liqiang and Enzo Rota might also be attracted by the route of the miraculous insect warrior.

 Du Zhanpeng stood quietly in front of the nutrition tank, his shoulders shivering slightly. He obviously hadn’t recollected himself completely from the tension and excitement. He looked at Du Peng, who was sleeping peacefully in the solution, while trying to sound a little calmer, “Why is he still not awake?”

 “How can he be awake so quickly?” Lin Liqiang scratched his head, “I’m afraid he’ll sleep for another day or two.”

 “Is that so?” All of Du Zhanpeng’s worry in his eyes disappeared. His arms gently draped over the side of the nutrition tank and he looked at Du Peng quietly; a heartfelt smile could be seen from his lips and his eyes.

 Chen Zhi shook his head and sighed. Is this exchange really worth it? Is it really worthwhile to take such a great risk? No one was clear about what exactly a new human being was and what the development would be like.

 Du Zhanpeng could have become a divine beast martial artist! Chen Zhi looked at Du Zhanpeng’s back and gently shook his head. These two men… one of them gave up his chance to become a divine beast for the sake of his younger brother; the other one couldn’t care less about the bigger picture and killed White Tiger for the sake of his younger brother… no wonder they can be friends.

 “Kid, I’m afraid that you will have to protect me the next time we meet. Hehe, I hope that you won’t mind your big brother who will only be a drag to you by then.”

 Du Zhanpeng leaned against the nutrition tank; his lazy and tired posture matched his smile, and it looked just like a scroll depicting a resting Childe.

 Kid? Why does this voice sound so familiar? Du Peng’s sleeping finger shook slightly, Du Zhanpeng! Brother! Where am I?

 That’s right, I was seriously injured by Sleepwalker God. I might have heard his voice at that time. That’s right! It was Qin Fen. It must be Qin Fen imitating his voice to try to wake me up.

 “Kid, don’t push yourself too hard sometimes. Who can live forever in this world? People will always die, it’s just a matter of time. You’ll only trap yourself if you can’t think through it. By that time, other people will call your brother a useless man, and you won’t even have a chance to prove yourself to me because you’ve trapped yourself and not being strong enough.”

 People will always die, but you died because of me. If you didn’t save me at that time, then you would be the one staying alive…

 “Don’t blame yourself too much and be happier. Having more smiles on your face will make your friends around you happy too.”

 Oh. Why are you not talking? Say something more! Qin Fen, even if it’s you who is faking his voice, say something more. I really want to hear more of his voice.

 Du Zhanpeng moved his heavy steps and stood in front of Qin Fen once again, “This time, take good care of him for me.”

 “En.” Qin Fen nodded lightly, real promises didn’t need any pretty words.

 Du Zhanpeng patted Qin Fen’s shoulder. He raised his head and walked passed him, towards Chen Zhi’s direction, “This time, I left some messages to the kid. He should be more mature mentally after going through life-or-death situations twice.”

 Five hours later…

 The solution in the nutrition tank moved slightly. Du Peng suddenly opened his eyes, sat up straight away, looked around in confusion, and looked at his hands, “Is this…?”

 

Lin Liqiang said as he stretched, “In short, you got beaten half dead by God of Night, and then you died immediately after eating Old Enz’s life-or-death pill. Later, because of some things that happened, we’ve made you into what you are now.”

 “Then…” Du Peng looked at Lin Liqiang, “Am I considered dead or alive?”

 Lin Liqiang shrugged his shoulders, “Theoretically, you are considered alive. Fortunately, you have completed the Nirvana Marrow Transformation Great Inborn stage and had become a fifteen-star martial dao master. Otherwise, you would have had no chance at all this time. We have calculated that this method is not applicable to just anyone. The basic condition is that one must be a fifteen-star martial dao master, and each person has only one chance in their lifetime. Okay, that’s it, I will tell you later about your condition. Old Qin is waiting for you there.”

 Du Peng walked towards Qin Fen and looked at his own body, feeling weird. Why do I feel so different after waking up?

 “Follow me, I’ll show you something.” Qin Fen turned and walked into a room in the corridor.

 Du Peng was checking the differences in his body while walking into the room with Qin Fen.

 The room lights suddenly dimmed, and a beam of projection was projected in the air in front of Du Peng. Du Zhanpeng’s pale and tired face appeared in the air.

 “You…” Du Peng forgot to check his body. He was dazed, looking at Du Zhanpeng in the air. He had not seen him for years and he was surprised to find that Du Zhanpeng, who was supposed to be dead, had grown mature too.

 “Yes, I am not dead.” As soon as Du Peng heard Du Zhanpeng’s voice, his body went a little stiff, and his mind was echoing with the voice he had been hearing while he was asleep.

 “Simply said, I saved you once again, kid. Also, for this reason, I may be very tired for the time being and need to rest for a long time.”

 “Don’t ask your friends where I am, just listen to me first.” Du Zhanpeng leaned back in the chair, “I know you hate the Du family. If you have enough power, my guess would be that you would want to destroy the Du family straight away? Well! Maybe you don’t want to destroy it anymore now, but you don’t want to have anything to do with them either. However, you succeeded the blood of Du family after all… cough… cough…”

 Du Zhanpeng coughed a few times, and his face looked even paler and weaker; his self-deprecating smile at his lips looked sickly yet beautiful, “Well, I am really feeling weak now. Let’s keep it short. Please help me to protect the Du family no matter how much you hate them before I come back. Just do it for my sake. Grandpa is old now…”

 “And, don’t be in a hurry to find me.” Du Zhanpeng smiled, tired, “Honestly, what will you do when you see me? Crying hard while hugging me? It’ll be gross!”

 Du Zhanpeng’s smile was weakening, but he still kept the calm attitude of a Childe, “Or you want to beat me up when you see me? If you want to beat me up, then I can’t let you find me.”

 “Soon there’ll be the Ensemble of Heroes happening. To be honest, I wanted to participate, but now…” Du Zhanpeng looked at his weak body, “I won’t be able to go on this stage which is a dream to every martial artist for the time being. However, how can the Du family’s sons be absent from this stage? So, my brother, you will go on the stage for me and tell everyone! There’s not only a Du Zhanpeng in the Du family, but we also have a Du Peng too! You will not let my name down. That’s right, at least you’ll have to win over Qin Fen! I have been participating for so many years, and I still can’t win over his brother. It’s really a sad case. You have to win over Qin Fen, okay? Make your brother proud. We’ll let Qin Zhan know that I, Du Zhanpeng can’t beat him, but my brother can beat his brother! That’s it for now…”

 

Du Zhanpeng put his hands on the arms of the chair, and he stood up shakily and weakly, “I am leaving now. If you can enter the quarter-final in the Ensemble of Heroes, I will come and meet you. Don’t worry, I won’t die, I still want to hear you calling me brother.”

 Du Peng looked quietly at the last scene on the projection screen. Pale cheeks, shaky, weak body, but Du Zhanpeng’s expression was very calm and peaceful.

 “Qin Fen, why is he so weak?”

 “The blood in your body, and he used a lot of his elemental energy to help you…”

 “What’s his current star-level strength?”

 “Seventeen-star true aura shield…”

 “What about previously?”

 “Eighteen-star level. Maybe, it wouldn’t have taken long for him to get the Ground Aura Shield…”

 Du Peng closed his eyes and breathed deeply, his body was slightly shaky; he opened his eyes suddenly and looked at Du Zhanpeng in the projection and said, “Stupid!”

 Du Zhanpeng was still smiling in the frozen projection, the smile seemed to be responding to Du Peng: I am happy to do so.

 

“So the quarter-final?”

 Du Peng muttered in his mouth, and he turned to walk out of the room. After a while, Qin Fen heard Du Peng’s voice coming from another room, “Caesar, do you have time? Brooks, do you have time?”

 “Du Peng…”

 Lin Liqiang’s voice could be heard outside the door, “I just checked, your biochemical beast is not very good. If you had had a better biochemical beast at that time, you may not have been in this condition after you faced God of Night. I have another one here. You just have to use it and it can swallow the biochemical beast in your body. There’ll be absolutely no side effects.”

 “Exchanging my biochemical beast? Thank you, but no. My biochemical beast was a birthday present from my brother.” Du Peng sounded extremely proud; his depressing feeling from the past was cleared once and for all!