Chapter 173: Breaking Through to the Five-Star Meteor Level

Translator: Exodus Tales Editor: Exodus Tales

It was one against ten. Of the enemy, nine were experts on the same level as him, while the final remaining enemy was an expert of the five-star meteor level, a level higher than him. Even with the assistance of the Super Berserker Pill and a Super Armor Pill, Qin Fen didn’t dare to believe that this battle would be a simple and efficient one.

A series of rushed and concentrated punches and kicks collided together, drawing Qin Fen’s attention.

Du Zhanpeng and Scarlet Scorpion were both utilizing their respective biochemical beasts. Their strength had increased by a large margin.

historical

When discussing the strength of their foundations, Scarlet Scorpion was more powerful than Du Zhanpeng by a level. In addition, there was also the gap in levels between the four-star level and the meteor level.

However, when the two truly came to exchange blows, Scarlet Scorpion was unable to hold any advantage.

They both used biochemical beasts, but Du Zhanpeng’s wild tiger biochemical beast had a quality that far exceeded Scarlet Scorpion’s enormous scorpion biochemical beast. They were both at level two fusion, but whether it was the increase in power from the fusion or it was the energy provided during combat, as well as the specific abilities of the biochemical beasts, Scarlet Scorpion’s biochemical beast was far from capable of being discussed on the same terms as the wild tiger biochemical beast.

As a younger generation of an influential family of the Federation, Du Zhanpeng relied on his exceptional cultivation techniques, as well as equipment that was much better than others, to fight and prevail over those on higher levels than him.

When auxiliary items turned from quantitative to qualitative, the user’s combat power would become extremely shocking.

The headaches that Du Zhanpeng caused Scarlet Scorpion didn’t reside merely with his biochemical beast. Even Du Zhanpeng’s fighting techniques and martial arts made Scarlet Scorpion’s heart feel greatly troubled.

Qin Fen and Scarlet Scorpion had fought for a mere instant when the opponent had utilized the neo martial art Moon Shredding Scorpion Art. Scarlet Scorpion used his power to successfully break through Qin Fen’s defensive true energy and pierce into Qin Fen’s meridians.

Qin Fen didn’t believe that he was capable of controlling power to such a meticulous degree, at least at the moment. For four-star and even five-star martial artists, seeking to concentrate energy into a space more narrow than even a needlepoint to engage in an impaling attack was something that only neo martial artists could do, and this was after implanting an expensive power precision control chip within the body via surgery.

Scarlet Scorpion originally planned to rely on this advantage to continuously inject true energy into his opponents’ meridians during his fights. This would cause his opponents’ reactions, speed, and attack power to substantially decrease. From there, he would quickly score a victory.

However, he never expected that he would actually encounter a practitioner of the Seven Stars of Immortal Thunder Art! This bizarre martial art allowed one to cause an opponent’s body to explode from the inside via striking acupuncture points. Though it was far from being a match to the computer chip in terms of the degree of concentration of true energy, its uniqueness caused all of its opponents to be fearful.

The only requirement was striking the acupuncture point; true energy didn’t even need to be infused or penetrated to the enemy’s body. Striking the same acupuncture point produced completely different effects based on the force applied and the angle.

Were it not for the computer chip within Scarlet Scorpion’s body, giving him super control capabilities over true energy, he would have likely been ignited to explode by Du Zhanpeng within their series of attacks just now.

Du Zhanpeng found things difficult as well. Scarlet Scorpion was just like his name suggested. Each of his ten fingers carried poison. This was the Thousand Scorpion Ten Thousand Poison Hands of the Poison Arts. It possessed the marvels of the Thousand Spider Ten Thousand Poison Hands; these different arts led to the same result.

It was just that the scorpion hand of his possessed five poisons. Scarlet Scorpion was already forty years old. He had cultivated this poison art for many years. Though his strength was merely at the five-star meteor level, even a six-star meteor level experts would likely be quickly done in and die by his poison. This was the power of his two poisonous hands.

Thud thud...

The mud on the ground splattered all around as both sides attacked, coming together then separating.

The fighting between the two had caused their bulletproof vests to tear. Both of their bulletproof vests had already lost all functionality of blocking bullets. They were now simply rags that hung from their bodies.

Scarlet Scorpion saw the ten corpses that lay on the ground. A hint of shock streaked through his eyes. How was it possible that these ten subordinates of his, who were supposed to be guarding the scientist hostage, were here? How did they all die? Just how little time had passed? Were they all killed by this young man? Their appearances looked a bit off; could it be that they used the T24?

A series of questions flashed in Scarlet Scorpion’s mind. He saw that the corpses on the ground weren’t withered, but they were corpses of the T24 state. He felt incapable of understanding this. In the time period of his exchange of blows with the recruit just now, it shouldn’t be possible for ten of his subordinates to be instantly killed.

Du Zhanpeng looked at the scene as well after separating. The corners of his lips and eyes were completely opposite to that of Scarlet Scorpion. They contained endless smiles.

It was now a two against one fight!

There was in no way that Du Zhanpeng would be unhappy about this. Qin Fen’s strength was revered by everybody back in training with the other recruits. If Qin Fen possessed a biochemical beast of his own, Du Zhanpeng didn’t dare guarantee that he would be able to beat him in a one-on-one fight at close quarters.

But Du Zhanpeng had the wild tiger biochemical beast! There were only so many in the entire Federation. Du Zhanpeng’s self-confidence was not that of ignorance.

Scarlet Scorpion’s eyeballs spun around chaotically. A hint of vigilance rose up from within Du Zhanpeng’s heart. Du Zhanpeng’s back foot treaded a step, and his forward foot stepped slowly forward. His two legs were like a full crescent moon. His body sprung out with shocking speed, his body truly akin to an arrow shot from a bow. He seized upon Scarlet Scorpion in the blink of an eye.

The arrow step brought extending fingers that seized the straightest and shortest route to the acupuncture point. His index finger pierced the air, causing it to scream. It was like the most sinister viper spitting out its venom. This was the Seven Stars of Immortal Thunder Piercing Finger, and its poison was far more deadly than even the most venomous of vipers by a hundredfold. The acupuncture point struck by this finger would cause the blood and energy of its owner’s body to circulate and reverse back to the heart, ultimately causing the heart to explode and die.

All the moves of the Seven Stars of Immortal Thunder Art were deadly moves!

When it came to this finger of Du Zhanpeng’s, whether it was the nimbleness or powerfulness, it all exceeded the level of a person his age should possess. The sinister eyes of the Snake King were hidden behind the aura of a fierce tiger.

Scarlet Scorpion didn’t dare to be the slightest bit negligent. His white palm was instantly covered with a greenish-black color. This greenish-black color was different than the color of Qin Fen’s densely packed veins. There was also a stink faintly arising in the air along with the greenish-black change in color of his palm.

In life or death fighting, not a single person dared to be courteous in such a critical situation.

Qin Fen silently stood to the side. The Dragon Elephant Prajna Art surging within his body was completely suppressed by him.

The turbine of the Origin Suppressing Vajra Art increased...

Qin Fen was using paleo martial arts. He relied on his intense control over power to forcefully imitate this extremely difficult pressurization that normally needed a computer chip to complete

His true energy, after taking the Super Berserker Pill, practically transformed into a wild horse that was out of control. The difficulty of pressurization this time far exceeded that of any time in the past.

Just one little mistake could easily paralyze half of his body when seeking to pressurize the entirety of his true energy.

Qin Fen circulated everything with the utmost caution. When faced with Scarlet Scorpion, a user of a biochemical beast, even the Guardian Deity Chaotic Dance was useless. Qin Fen could only use the Raging Berserker Tide if he wanted to rely on four-star abilities to inflict heavy damage or even kill Scarlet Scorpion. In addition, it was best to unleash the Raging Berserker Tide after having his Dragon Elephant Prajna Art go through pressurization.

Qin Fen cautiously observed each and every movement of the two people as they fought. As long as there was any chance at all, Qin Fen wouldn’t spare Scarlet Scorpion his most ferocious ultimate move.

Scarlet Scorpion could faintly feel a dense threat arise outside the circle of battle. This was the first time he felt that the situation began to slip from his control. He wanted to eliminate these two recruits, but he truly should have come here by himself to do so.

Retreat!

Scarlet Scorpion was a very decisive person. He never got himself overly tangled up in a battle where he couldn’t win at all. This was the only way he was able to avoid the Federation’s repeated attempts to surround and annihilate him.

The Scorpion Tail Whip of his right leg smashed upon Du Zhanpeng’s Seven Stars of Immortal Thunder Steel Skin’s foot. He relied on the enormous force of impact to quickly retreat. His right hand moved toward his waist at the same time. His two eyes didn’t go looking at Du Zhanpeng, who had been jolted to move back. Instead, they stared at Du Peng, who laid on the ground injured.

Though he was leaving, he would still eliminate an elites recruit. If this person did not die, he would certainly become a huge trouble in the future.

Scarlet Scorpion’s hands held two derringers. They pointed at Du Peng who lay on the ground.

All of these changes happened far too quickly. Qin Fen and Du Zhanpeng never expected that Scarlet Scorpion would decisively choose to retreat when he held a slight upper hand. In addition, he even shifted his target to the immovable Du Peng’s body before he left.

Qin Fen’s two legs exerted with force just as the gun in Scarlet Scorpion’s hand fired. The bullet rotated through the air, flying towards the back of Du Peng’s head at a speed which Qin Fen completely couldn’t catch up with....

Bang....

A flower of blood blossomed, splattering everywhere....

Scarlet Scorpion, who was in the middle of retreat, had his entire face contort. This was a contortion of ecstasy and excitement. He never thought that the recruit who possessed a biochemical beast and had heavily injured Du Peng would pounce toward Du Peng in the first instance, using his body to block the bullet....

Bang....

Without any reaction of thought at all, Scarlet Scorpion’s second gunshot, which was his final bullet, pierced Du Peng in the back where his heart was located.

Scarlet Scorpion, who was still drawing back, stepped onto the ground with his two feet, stopping his retreat. The most difficult to deal with biochemical beast kid actually went retarded. This kid actually blocked the bullets for someone who was about to die and might not even savable? Then the kid had heavy damage inflicted because of....

Hold on... he wanted to save him! Scarlet Scorpion finally understood. If the kid hadn’t made a move to cause such heavy injuries, the bullet of Scarlet Scorpion’s AK-47 would not have caused the heavy injury, it would have killed him instead!

The appearances of these two... Scarlet Scorpion finally understood. The two looked very similar. They should be brothers. Yeah, that should be right.

Scarlet Scorpion was a bit regretful. If he had known earlier, he would have opened fire directly....

Countless things were completely solved in an instant within Scarlet Scorpion’s mind. And in this instant, Qin Fen began to make a move at the same time. He gathered all his power and emotions in a sudden explosive move. His current aura of power far surpassed that of any of the times he attacked in the past.

A foot of his dipped down, and the ground within a ten meters radius of him began to shake. The ground beneath his feet was the moist mud of the earth. He didn’t cause the mud to fly chaotically ahead of him. A deep piece of earth began to churn up from beneath his feet. It was as if a dozen groundhogs were moving underground.

“Giant Elephant Treads the Earth.” The Dragon Elephant Prajna Art possessed the power of an elephant. It was described in such a way in the past.

Qin Fen’s entire person was like a human-shaped mobile armor. He charged upon Scarlet Scorpion, and the aura of storming waves, ones that could lift the ocean, surge and gushed out from within his body.

Scarlet Scorpion merely faced this aura, but he had a feeling of wishing to retreat. It was just that he had stopped in the middle of his hasty retreat just now, so he was slow by a beat in turning from motionless into a forward charge, in going from stillness to quick movement.

His two palms just rose up to be brandished when the area faintly rang with the berserk roars of the ocean waves. In the next moment, what appeared in Scarlet Scorpion’s eyes were none other than afterimages of palms that filled the entire sky, their power like crashing waves.

This time was different from when Qin Fen fought with Park Jong Hwan. This time Qin Fen’s opponent was a terrorist. This was a life or death struggle. At this moment, Qin Fen felt like he truly broke through into the five-star meteor level.

The Raging Berserker Tide attack landed starting in the same spot as last time. Started at the chest, then the throat—like last time—then the skull, the chest, the heart, the belly, the bladder....

When the waves of the great ocean struck upon a person’s body, the effect wouldn’t merely be striking that part of the body to become wet. Instead, the wave would strike the entire body, up and down, in all visible places, to become wet.

The Raging Berserker Tide was the same.

Scarlet Scorpion didn’t even have the time to defend himself as a reaction. The Raging Berserker Tide was akin to gales and torrential rain that rumbled upon his body. With a wave of rushing and explosive power, a symphony of bones fracturing rang out at the same time. Scarlet Scorpion’s entire body tumbled through the air. Fresh blood sprayed out from his lips as he flew out a dozen meters. After he landed to the ground, he slid yet another dozen meters. In the end, his head tilted to the side as he simply died.

Countless bones of his chest were fractured by Qin Fen’s meticulous preparations. The bones simply skewered Scarlet Scorpion’s heart, completely binding his heart into a hornet’s nest.

With his move executed successfully, Qin Fen jumped back to Du Zhanpeng’s side. He extended a hand to help him turn his body. The metal bullet was embedded in his chest, missing the final little bit needed to pierce out from the other side of his body.

“It seems like I’m going to die....”

Du Zhanpeng, who lay against Qin Fen’s chest, no longer had the arrogance and aloof expression on his face that he always had in the past. His lips carried a smile of slight awkwardness. “I let you see quite the joke.”

Qin Fen looked at Du Zhanpeng, whose heart was pierced. He gently nodded his head and didn’t say a word.

Qin Fen was someone who also had an older brother. The first time he met Du Zhanpeng, he was able to see the tenderness that Du Zhanpeng had toward Du Peng in the greatest depths of his eyes outside of the coldness and arrogance.

It was because of this hint of tenderness that Qin Fen rarely expressed hate toward Du Zhanpeng.

An older brother always had his reasons for treating his little brother in certain ways. Every time Qin Fen wanted to ask Du Zhanpeng, Qin Fen would always think about Qin Zhan. This strange thought always made Qin Fen not have any malice toward Du Zhanpeng.

“I never thought that I would truly do such a thing.” Du Zhanpeng’s lips twitched. “Don’t tell too many people of my shameful performance here.”

“Hurry up and say what you want to say.” Qin Fen slowly had his true energy turn into the Rejuvenation Art, which he sent into Du Zhanpeng’s body. However, he knew that he was unable to support Du Zhanpeng for too long all the same.

“Man, you....” Du Zhanpeng pointed a finger at Du Peng. “Cut a hole in my wrist and force my blood into his body. Otherwise, he will really bleed to death, and my death will be meaningless.”

Qin Fen was still a bit unused to an arrogant and ice-cold person suddenly becoming talkative, even when this person was on the eve of death. However, he still followed Du Zhanpeng’s instructions.

“You....” Qin Fen just finished doing what Du Zhanpeng asked, and his eyes radiated with shock. Du Zhanpeng was transfusing his own true energy and blood to Du Peng.

“The Seven Stars of Immortal Thunder Art hand the Phaseless Water Bird Art were originally one martial art.” Du Zhanpeng faintly smiled. “In theory, it is impossible to transfuse true energy to someone else and have it be preserved in their body forever. However, this is not an absolute truth. Complementary true energy, in addition to closely related blood, can accomplish this. Of course, there are also other conditions....”

Though Du Zhanpeng was smiling, his voice grew softer by quite a bit. “Can you help a dying man with a few things?”

“Speak.”

Qin Fen nearly choked on his words. Du Zhanpeng’s display made Qin Fen think of his own older brother.

“Du Peng, this kid, has a bad fate.” Du Zhanpeng looked at the unconscious Du Peng with quite the grief. “Since he was born, his fate has been determined by my family to be my human cauldron. This is a certain ice-cold rule of my large family. Many people have become used to it early on. However, I’m not used to it. He is my little brother, after all....”

Du Zhanpeng’s emotions spurred his voice to become louder once again. “The same blood flows between us, you know. I know that Du Peng, this kid, has a personality that is a bit biased. If I were to tell them the truth, it is very likely that my grandfather will see through it. Before he could become truly powerful, he would then be forced to become my human cauldron. I could only provoke him. Endlessly provoke him. Let him hate me. Let him incomparably hate me so that he can get powerful. I thought that as long as he was powerful enough, grandfather would let him go, believing that he has value....”

Qin Fen slowly nodded his head. He didn’t interrupt Du Zhanpeng at all. He knew that Du Zhanpeng’s life had already reached its limits.

“Help me take care of him. You are his only friend.” Du Zhanpeng’s words grew weaker and weaker. The true energy and blood in his body had mostly been transfused into Du Peng’s body. Originally, he should have been incapable of lifting his pale right hand. At this moment, he shakingly raised it bit by bit to touch Du Peng’s face. “Little brother. Big brother has always been mean to you every time in the past. I am sorry. Big brother apologizes to you. Please forgive your big brother.”

The strength that held up his arm was incapable of holding it up any longer. The back of Du Zhanpeng’s hand fell once more to the ground. His pupils dilated bit by bit, and his lips used a voice similar to that of a mosquito to whisper, “Stupid kid. There is no big brother in this world that hates his own little brother. I can only do this much for you. Please don’t blame your big brother. Do you know? In all my life, the greatest desire this big brother had was to hear you call out to me and say...”