The Favored Son of Heaven

Based on the map, Shenyang was actually not far away from Seoul, Korea.

In fact, the linear distance between these two places might be closer than the distance seen on the map due to the development of high-technology.

Qin Fen arrived in the suburbs of Shenyang during the second day of the state’s senior military general’s death. He stayed in a house that was around ninety square feet small.

Qin Fen opened the house door and looked at a colonel wearing the military uniform outside the door after he indulged in the lunch personally prepared by Song Jia.

Pa! The colonel immediately made a perfect military salute when he saw Qin Fen, who was a lieutenant colonel, which made Qin Fen stunned a little.

It was always the rule in the army for the junior officers to take the initiative and salute when they meet superior officers.

Qin Fen soon made a self-deprecating smile. In this special martial artist era where the martial artists could override the President, the reason for the military salute of this colonel was not to pay respect to a lieutenant colonel. The real reason for his actions was because of Qin Fen’s personal potential and strength as a martial master.

No wall in the world was impenetrable. The initial news of Qin Fen winning Bae Seong-Joon in Hallasan spread rapidly in the small group of master-level martial artists. At this point, not only the colonels in the military knew it. Basically everyone knew it as long as they were interested in knowing the truth.

Especially in Korea, everyone knew it, as long as they were not diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease.

“Lieutenant Colonel Qin, the military headquarters gave an order for you to head towards the military headquarters with me immediately.”

Qin Fen turned back and looked at Song Jia, who was cleaning up the eating utensils. “I will be back soon.”

Extreme excitement was shown through Song Jia’s sweet smile as if the eyes filled with radiant, saying: “Go ahead, come back soon.”

Qin Fen sat quietly in the military vehicle prepared by the major. They soon arrived at the military headquarters in Shenyang. There weren’t many questions asked in the car, but he could sort of guess what was going on.

Nowadays, there were only two popular news in the military headquarters. The first would be the unfortunate terrorist attack encountered by the senior general of Korea where everyone was killed. The other one was about Saturn’s problem.

It’s most likely going to be related to these two events if they sent people to look for me at these essential moments. Qin Fen was filled with assumptions as he followed the colonel to an office he had never been to.

Qin Fen found out that it was a small conference room when he opened the door. There was a medium-length table with six generals sitting behind.

Qin Fen’s two thick eyebrows slightly furrowed upon stepping into the room. The joints in his body crackled even more, pa! Pa! The room was filled with the pressure of several huge martial artists. He started to build up the true aura shield instinctively and there were slight changes seen on his skin.

The pressure was different from the general strong martial dao artists. Qin Fen could obviously feel that the aura of power from the four martial artists in the room did not contain any murder intent. It was more of coercion, but this pressure was also mixed with the unique iron will of the army.

The joints of his bones cracked and Qin Fen walked into the room slowly and steadily with his eyes looking straight at the four generals behind the table. A glimmer of surprise swept through the bottom of his eyes, General of the Army [1]! All of the six generals wore well-ironed military uniforms. Each of them was a General of the Army based on their clothing.

Qin Fen did not expect that there would be two black men and two white men out of all of the Generals of the Army. Two Asians that looked middle-aged based on their appearance was sitting in the center. The shallow traces of time in their aura and body could only be seen with detailed observations.

These people weren’t really only in their middle ages, but their powerful martial dao strength delayed their body’s aging. They seemed as if they were only in their forties with additional attention in skin-care and maintenance.

At least among the six people, Qin Fen knew that East Asia Snake King Du Hen was definitely not only forty years old.

Each of the six General of the Army emitted a feeling of coercion that could make one feel belligerent. In one split second, six pairs of thunder-like gazes were all over Qin Fen. The brightness of the entire room suddenly raised. The colonel outside the door spurted a mouthful of crimson blood as he opened his mouth and retreated tens of meters away from the room. He looked at the room that injured him from far away.

There was no need to attack. The six General of the Army only released the pressure together and it was enough to push back a martial artist with good martial dao force.

If the pressure released just now was mixed with intentions to murder… The colonel smiled bitterly as he shook his head and retreated further. Perhaps he would have been killed by the murderous spirit just now.

Qin Fen felt the sudden increase of the pressure. However, his body felt more comfortable than when he first entered the room and his face was more relaxed. Even the high-speed rotating aura shield in him restored to his normal state.

Are the strength of these people at the point of constellation warriors? Qin Fen was also assessing the six General of the Army looking at him.

It’s impossible to become a General in the Army just because you have wisdom. There must be martial strength that’s equivalent to it! This is the current Federation! Those who don’t have enough martial strength but only superb combat leadership skills will normally just get positions such as advisors. They will never become a General of the Army.

The twelve cold gazes shrouded Qin Fen. These gazes gradually became sharper, like real knives. The fierce kill intent mixed with the sharp gaze continued to grow.

Qin Fen stood with both of his legs straight. He suddenly straightened his back and made a standard military salute, “Lieutenant Colonel Qin Fen, here to report!”

The eight simple words suddenly burst out in this quiet room, like a bomb that suddenly detonated. The gaze with sharp aura was completely swept away in an instant.

The Asian General of the Army sat at the center position at the right-hand side of The Snake King Du Hen squinted his eyes. Satisfaction and enjoyment were seen through his pupils as he said faintly to himself, “Not bad, not bad! It’s much better than the data.”

Snake King Du Hen smiled faintly without saying anything. Just looking at his old friend, Zuo Dongting, he asked, “Qin Fen? I heard that you also registered to go to Saturn to take over the military headquarters there. As far as I know, you are just a lieutenant colonel. What makes you think that you’re qualified to take over the army of a planet?”

The eyes of the other four General of the Army except for Du Hen revealed the same doubts once again. It was really rare for one to enter the martial dao master at this age, but this did not mean that you had the ability to take over an army of a planet. Even though the army of that planet wasn’t much, it was still nominally large.

Going to Saturn? Qin Fen’s expression did not show any manner of doubt. One could even think with his knees and know that it was Zhao Huzi who filled in the registration form.

Qin Fen instantly knew where he was and the things that these people were about to do!

This should be the place where armies conducted their initial interviews with the people who signed up for Saturn. Perhaps they wanted to proceed with the first screening?

Qin Fen did not hide from everyone’s gaze. With both hands clenched into fists while confronting the sharp gaze, he took a deep breath and said, “I want to be a divine beasts martial artist.”

…

The quiet room did not have any gasps of amusement or laughter at his overconfidence because of Qin Fen’s brave words.

There were no changes in the six Generals of the Armys’ expression. Only having the ability to fight wouldn’t be enough for one to become a General of the Army. The demands of other qualities were just as high. Otherwise, there would not only be six Generals of the Army on earth.

Everyone was very calm as Qin Fen’s answer wasn’t too surprising. Which martial dao master on earth doesn’t want to be a divine beasts martial artist? Who in this world with the qualifications to board Saturn wouldn’t want to compete for the divine beasts martial artist title that everyone looked up to?

Zuo Dongting gently opened his hands to the sides and shook his shoulders. He politely expressed his surprise and slightly lifted his chin to look at Qin Fen, “It’s great boldness but these words sound a bit hollow.”

The other four General of the Army didn’t have to nod. Their eyes were filled with the recognition of Zuo Dongting’s words. Those who could sit in this position had heard numerous heroic utterances. It could be said that they were already numb to them.

Qin Fen did not speak. He gently opened his arms and the strength of the sixteen star-class true aura shield suddenly broke out. It formed a gust of wind in the room with him being the center point, blowing the general’s clothes with ‘papa’ sound. Even the hair of the black general that was a buzz cut was gently fluttering due to the strong wind.

“I entered the fifteen star-class a few months ago.” Qin Fen slowly put his arms down while still releasing the power of sixteen star-class. His words were calm without any pride, “I thought that my strength of the martial dao star-class wouldn’t improve any time soon. I did not expect to become a sixteen star-class martial artist a month ago by coincidence.”

Although the expression of the six General of the Army in the room didn’t change, a trace of surprise was found in their eyes. They didn’t even see through his state of strength before this young man took the initiative to release his strength, which was somewhat unexpected.

“I believe that excluding the few of you, there are people in the army that are stronger than me if it’s purely based on the strength of the star-class,” Qin Fen kept the aura shield and his slow words showed great confidence, “But I believe that none of these people are younger than me.”

The six General of the Army smiled without disagreeing. It seemed that maybe he was one of the miracles in the whole martial dao world, becoming a sixteen-star martial artist at such a young age with such strength. Although there were many talents in the army, no one could be compared to Qin Fen in this category.

“In this way, my martial dao potential should be strong in theory.” Qin Fen’s words had an aura, “I know not everybody agrees that potential equals strength. I also know that I can’t make the public believe in my words of turning my potential into strength even if I use wonderful words. Yet this potential is my bottom line to me. Maybe I’ll never improve but maybe I’ll improve rapidly because my future is still unknown. I still have endless possibilities!”

Qin Fen’s heroic spirit grew in his heart after saying his words. It swept away the feeling of being suppressed by Song Wendong on Qilin Mountain a few days ago. He stepped forward with his chest pushed out, “If all of you want to be on Saturn just to seek certain benefits for the military headquarters, then I can say responsibly that I won’t be the most suitable candidate for you.”

The five generals excluding Du Hen had a faint surprise in their eyes. It was currently the sensitive period where everyone was desperately trying to sharpen their heads to be the leader of the Saturn’s army. It was quite surprising for an applicant to describe himself as a candidate that wasn’t the most suitable.

“But!” Qin Fen turned the thread of the conversation with three times more confidence on his face, “If the goal of the army is not to get more benefits in front of Saturn’s beast but to gain a martial artist just for our own army, then I am the most suitable candidate! No one else but me! I am the only one!”

Clapclapclap…

Zuo Dongting slightly lifted his dark blue glasses on his nose bridge. A pair of eagle-like eyes were filled with an appreciative look. The two wrinkled hands gently applaud, “Such a touching speech. Unfortunately, there was no actual content.”

Qin Fen shrugged his shoulders showed that it didn’t matter to him through his expression. His mentality had already been put to peace as he was already used to big scenes. He would at most ask Zhao Huzi to help settle his early retirement if he wasn’t selected by the army to go to Saturn. He believed that he’d be able to get the full amount of his retirement pay.

“Actual content?” Qin Fen frowned without caring, “Projects can have small changes in a year and big changes in three years. There’s totally no point in talking about it. I think that the generals wouldn’t need to sit here and choose candidates if those words that sounded like actual content were truly reliable. The person in charge of Saturn’s army now should have successfully completed the task assigned to him by the army.”

Zuo Dongting had no changes in his facial expression. He picked up the pen and drew a red tick on the cardboard in front of him, “Although it’s a little eloquent, the power is really amazing. It’s qualified to directly enter the next round of assessment directly based on the martial strength currently.”

The two white generals and black generals nodded gently. They didn’t even need to exchange any so-called opinions here. They just need to express their feelings and opinions in the most direct way.

The four generals picked up the red pen. They looked at Qin Fen’s name on the cardboard while smiling and nodding continuously. Several discordant shouts came in through the window.

Without the need for their ears to concentrate and listen carefully, any general who was present with deep martial abilities could clearly hear the shouts from outside.

“Severe punishment of the murderer!”

“Maintain the law!”

“Let the murderer pay with his life!”

“Return justice to us…”

One shout sounded after another. Waves of shouting from the outermost layer of the military headquarters going through hundreds of electric horns shouting all together. The voice was loud enough to penetrate any house in the military headquarters.

The four generals put away the red pens in their hands and exchanged doubtful glances. What happened to the East Asia military region? Why did it sound like there was a group of civilians screaming loudly outside the door of the military headquarters?

Du Hen gently pressed the button on the desk and a projection appeared in the space in front of everyone.

Qin Fen immediately recognized the main door through the projection. It was the gate of Shenyang’s military headquarters. It wasn’t hard to remember a place if you’ve gone in and out once, and he’s gone in and out so many times.

Hundreds of people gathered at the main door as seen through the projection. Each of them had a red ribbon tied on their foreheads. All of them wore white t-shirts with the same portrait printed on the chest.

Qin Fen wasn’t really familiar with this portrait, but he would never forget his looks. It was the Korean martial God that was killed by Qin Fen at Hallasan the other day! Bae Seong-Joon!

There was a red banner highly lifted behind the crowd that said: Bae Seong-Joon has been killed. The murderer is still unpunished. Murderer Qin Fen needs to be severely punished! 

The two white and black generals slightly frowned in dissatisfaction at the same moment. These people came just because of the death of Bae Seong-Joon. Don’t they know that Bae Seong-Joon is a martial dao master? Even if it’s folk in the federation, there had been a hidden rule for those who have become a martial dao master.

It’s that as long as you don’t rob, rape, plunder and do things that devoid of conscience, the Federation’s law will not mind your business.

Murdering is considered as something very serious for ordinary people. However, it was really normal for the battle between martial dao masters.

Rewinding one hundred thousand steps back, how did Bae Seong-Joon become a martial dao master that was accepted by the world? It was because Bae Seong-Joon killed the former martial dao master before he officially stepped into the martial dao master group.

What did the pioneers of these people who were maintaining the law do in the past? Why didn’t they stand up and ask for justice when Bae Seong-Joon killed people?

The four generals looked at each other. They shook their heads and sneered at the same time. The instincts of those who had personal experiences during the martial dao master era were more inclined towards Qin Fen as a martial dao master.

Puff…puff...

A few piercing screams were immediately heard through the projection followed by the two shots of the liquid eruption. Qin Fen looked at the images of the projection with a blank face. There were four or five people among the protesters who cut off their fingers in front of everyone as an act to protest!

The four generals who were shaking their heads and laughing were also stunned. What are these people doing? Why cut your own fingers?

Du Hen stood by and stared at the images shown through the projection as if he was watching a movie. A cold snort was released out of his nostrils. Cold words filled with extreme ridicule drifted out slowly, “Cutting fingers again? What does this mean? Did the Koreans make no progress in so many years? Why don’t you just cut your own penis in front of everyone since you want to express your spirit?”

A few drops of sweat dripped down from Qin Fen’s forehead. His inner thoughts were impressed with Du Hen, who deserved to be the Snake King. His words weren’t only cold, but also extremely vicious.

Painful cries were heard through the projection again. The voices of the protesters rose again as the aura of power increased.

It was also happening in another room at the military headquarters as seen through the same projection. Zuo Lin gently rotated his wrist with a glass of red wine in his hands as he moved his chin slightly, “It’s a bit interesting now. Qin Fen, how do you feel about this small gift that I sent to you during your assessment? It can be quite troublesome sometimes when the citizens get angry. You should stop now if you are smart. You could work under me when my men head to Zhaoan. Otherwise… ”

The red wine in Zuo Lin’s hands began to boil with the input of true energy. A cold breeze flashed through the beautiful eyes of his, “My secret weapon really knows how to kill.”

“Protest?” Zuo Dongting’s fingers tapped lightly on Qin Fen’s name on the cardboard. He looked at Qin Fen with a gaze full of meaning and no longer said anything. The frequency of his fingers tapping on the table was the only sound in the whole room.

Du Hen supported his chin with one hand as he got interested. He had a playful smile on his lips while staring at the projection. Isn’t this incident too much of a coincidence? Although there aren’t many martial dao master competitions, it isn’t something that only happens once in a hundred years.

Basically, all the contests of death in the past would only be spread among the small groups of martial dao masters. It was rare for it to be truly spread to the folks.

It was even rare for news such as who was the murderer of who to spread. It would most likely just be a casual topic after meals even if the news was known to the public. Big-scaled protests like today had never happened.

This was even more interesting when it happened during Qin Fen’s first assessment.

Swish… swish… swish… swish…

Four clear and simple ticks sounded in the room. The smile of Zuo Dongting was also three times bigger. His grandson had not entered the world of martial dao master for the time being. He still didn’t understand what the true martial dao masters thought in their hearts. The hope of using public anger to force other generals not to vote in favor had now failed. This incident could now only be considered as a kind of capital to let these people continue causing trouble. This would still be useful as long as things continued to develop.

“Well, Lieutenant Colonel Qin Fen. Although your military ranking is low,” Zuo Dongting raised his eyebrows that were mixed with several white hairs, “Congratulations, you passed the initial assessment.”

Du Hen’s fingers flicked lightly. The coated paper on the table was like a sharp knife that flew high in the air and landed before Qin Fen.

“There are two other assessments, which are explained clearly on this sheet of paper.” Du Hen’s tone was very calm, “Read carefully. The next assessment won’t be held individually. It’s also not a pop quiz, so be prepared for fair competition with the elites of the different military regions.”

Qin Fen took the list of assessments and left the room while reading it. This was not like the competition of recruits last time. In fact, the system had already remove those who did not meet the basic requirements before proceeding with this interview assessment.

There weren’t many examiners this time. Naturally, it would not be as troublesome as the Recruit Tournament. The test was divided into a military examination and a literacy examination in order to save time and improve efficiency.

The martial examination would naturally be a martial contest and the literacy examination would test the overall commanding ability of the applicant. The military headquarters did not think that a divine beast martial artist would be guaranteed to get born after all. At the very least, they would want to make sure to earn more benefits. The literacy examination would then be very important too.

Qin Fen heard the footsteps of a quasi-martial art master who wasn’t far away while walking through the gallery. He also felt some kind of observation shrouded on him.

Qin Fen saw an extremely young colonel walking towards him as he looked up.