Chapter 247: Crystal Dantian
Duan Yanming’s tone was so cold that Duan Lang shuddered. His father had six sons; though he held the title of Crown Prince, he was by no means irreplaceable!
Leaving nothing to chance, Duan Lang got off the bed, dropped to his knees with a THUD, and slapped himself hard across the face several times.
"Godfather, I was disrespectful. From now on, I swear I’ll treat you as I would my own father! Please, forgive me just this once."
Cheng Yuan stepped forward and helped Duan Lang to his feet. "Ignorance is no sin. This wasn’t really your fault. If anyone’s to blame, it’s the one who’s been sowing discord."
"Sowing discord?"
Duan Yanming froze. "Sworn Brother, what do you mean by that?"
"Big Brother, Xiaolang and I only met for the first time today. We have no history, no grudges. Why would he pick a fight with me?"
Duan Lang narrowed his eyes. "Wen Zihua told me that the best private dining in Beijing is the palace-style banquet at the Cheng Mansion Banquet. He said if you don’t eat Master Cheng’s palace-style banquet, you might as well have not come to Beijing at all."
The Duan and Wen Families were on relatively good terms, so Duan Yanming was reluctant to believe the Wens would resort to such dirty tricks. He said hesitantly, "Could it have been a coincidence?"
Cheng Yuan shrugged. "Perhaps it was. But before I clashed with Xiaolang, I had a... minor run-in with Wen Zihua."
Shuang’Er, who had been silent all this time, suddenly spoke up. "Your Highness, just now, Third Uncle Wen let it slip—whether intentionally or not—that Second Master Cheng had injured Wen Zihua. That’s why I came to inform you."
Hearing Shuang’er’s words, Duan Lang was enraged. ’Damn that Wen Zihua! If he hadn’t instigated this, I wouldn’t have offended my own godfather! My Dantian wouldn’t have been destroyed!’
Duan Lang whipped out his phone and dialed Wen Zihua, but the line was busy.
Duan Lang hung up in a huff.
At that very moment, Wen Zhantian was on the phone with Wen Zihua. "Zihua, Prince Duan took Cheng Yuan to private room number three. Cheng Yuan is a dead man! Get over here, and we’ll go ’console’ Duan Lang together."
"Great! The more gruesome Cheng Yuan’s death, the better! HAHAHAHA!"
Wen Zihua shoved the female celebrity aside, wiped himself clean haphazardly, threw on a set of training clothes, and strode out of the private room, making a beeline for the main hall.
Cheng Yuan opened a soul connection with Little Silkworm. He could hear Wen Zihua’s footsteps and the sounds of the crowd growing louder around him.
Cheng Yuan knew the time was right.
Wen Zihua would die in the main hall, and he, right here with his sworn brother, would have the perfect alibi.
No one could possibly pin Wen Zihua’s death on him!
Cheng Yuan gave the order through their soul connection: "Little Silkworm, drain all of Wen Zihua’s Heart’s Blood! Now!"
Little Silkworm seemed to pout in disgust. "Master, his Heart’s Blood is so filthy. I much prefer your Holy Blood!"
"Drain Wen Zihua’s Heart’s Blood within three seconds, and you’ll get three drops of Holy Blood as a reward. For every second you’re late, you lose one drop."
For those three drops of Holy Blood, Little Silkworm went all out, unleashing its full power and absorbing the Heart’s Blood at maximum speed!
One moment, Wen Zihua was swaggering and full of life, his face flushed with excitement. The next, his expression suddenly turned deathly pale. He clutched his chest, staggered, and collapsed to the floor.
In less than three seconds, Wen Zihua had lost every last drop of his Heart’s Blood. His heart stopped beating.
"Young Master Wen! What’s wrong?"
"Doctor! Somebody get a doctor! A man is down!"
Cheng Yuan heard the scene erupt into chaos. With a mental command, he had Little Silkworm slip away in the confusion and head straight for private room number three.
BEEP BEEP...
Duan Yanming’s phone suddenly rang. A frantic voice came from the other end. "Prince Duan, it’s terrible! Wen Zihua just collapsed out of nowhere! It looks like he’s dying! Is there a Divine Doctor with you? Please, send them to look at Wen Zihua!"
Wen Zihua’s collapse was too bizarre. Duan Yanming shot Cheng Yuan a deep, meaningful look. If Cheng Yuan hadn’t been right here in this room, he would have been certain Cheng Yuan was behind it.
Duan Yanming secretly resolved that he absolutely had to maintain a good relationship with Cheng Yuan.
"I do have a doctor here, but he’s currently treating Xiaolang. There are plenty of Divine Doctors out in the main hall, you’ll have to ask one of them."
"Very well, then."
Cheng Yuan was absolutely certain that Wen Zihua was dead. He had no interest in going to see the aftermath. Why would he? Being in private room number three was the most perfect alibi imaginable.
"Xiaolang, take off your shirt."
"Yes, Godfather."
Duan Lang obeyed Cheng Yuan’s command without hesitation. He removed his shirt and looked at Cheng Yuan with a curious expression.
’My father is such a proud man, yet he accepted a junior as his sworn brother. Just how powerful is this Cheng Yuan?’
WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!
Cheng Yuan moved with lightning speed, inserting the needles and, in an instant, completely destroying Duan Lang’s already shattered Dantian!
Duan Lang’s expression changed. ’What is Cheng Yuan doing? I could still barely hold on to a shred of True Essence before, but he just completely destroyed my Dantian! Now I can’t store anything at all!’
Duan Yanming was also worried, but he suppressed his doubts and remained silent.
The next moment, Duan Yanming’s eyes flew wide open!
In less than a second, Cheng Yuan had successfully reconstructed Duan Lang’s Dantian!
And this new Dantian was in a crystalline state, not a gaseous one!
Both its True Qi storage capacity and its resilience to damage were drastically increased!
Previously, an Innate Grandmaster would have been able to cripple Duan Lang, but now, it would take a warrior at the Martial King Peak, at the very least, to destroy his Dantian!
With this Crystal Dantian, Duan Lang’s innate talent had skyrocketed!
He could now absolutely become the undisputed Crown Prince and inherit the title of King of Dali!
Duan Yanming suppressed his excitement and bowed deeply to Cheng Yuan. "Sworn Brother, I can never repay the immense debt the Duan Family now owes you! I’ll spare you the empty words of gratitude. From now on, just watch my actions!"
Duan Lang froze. ’Cheng Yuan destroyed my Dantian, has my old man lost his mind? Why is he bowing to him?’
Duan Lang subconsciously focused on his Dantian and was left dumbfounded.
’Holy shit! Is this a crystalline Dantian?’
’The speed at which I can channel True Essence has more than doubled! The storage capacity has more than doubled, too!’
’And most importantly, its toughness has increased by at least tenfold!’
Before, Duan Lang had knelt to Cheng Yuan out of desperation. Now, he was utterly and sincerely convinced of the man’s greatness. With another THUD, he dropped to his knees.
He performed the grand ritual of three kneelings and nine kowtows before Cheng Yuan.
"My royal father and mother gave me my first life, but you, Godfather, have given me a second! From this day forward, I will regard you as my own father! I will care for you in your old age and see to your final rites!"
Cheng Yuan grinned, a smile of deep satisfaction on his face. "Come. Let’s go see Wen Zihua off on his final journey."
"Uhm... Godfather? I still have a reputation to maintain out there. How about I call you Godfather in private, but Divine Doctor Cheng in public?"
Cheng Yuan nodded slightly. "Acceptable."
Standing to the side, Duan Yanming gently shook his head. ’Right now, Xiaolang thinks it’s a little embarrassing to call Cheng Yuan his godfather. But in the near future, he’ll be climbing over himself to claim the title.’
’He’ll be proud to have such a godfather!’