The threat had been eliminated. Lin Derong simply stood still, left in huge shock. After not seeing Qin Feng for half a month, he felt like this was his first time meeting him. To his surprise, Qin Feng had become extremely powerful. Judging from the fact that Qin Feng could donate 1,000 pounds of beast general's flesh to the orphanage, Lin Derong somewhat guessed that Qin Feng had become more powerful than before.
The young ones were slowly becoming more powerful than the older generation.
Qin Feng had just singlehandedly killed two thugs and injured three more. The ones who were still breathing were lying on the ground, suffering in pain.
Qin Feng's gaze moved toward Lin Derong, who was staring back at him. His heart did a few skips, wondering if Lin Derong saw him differently, thinking that he had turned cruel and had lost himself. With all things considered, however, Qin Feng hadn't the single ounce of regret having killed and maimed his enemy.
So long Liu Meng was gone, he did not mind if Lin Derong hated him for being merciless.
"Qin Feng, don't be afraid. They are all dead now!"
Instead of showing any displeasure, Lin Derong somehow noticed a change in Qin Feng's look. In his mind, he believed Qin Feng was shell shocked after he killed those thugs. No matter what the boy did, Qin Feng was forever his dearest child.
"You let me deal with it! Don't you worry!" said Lin Derong while tapping on Qin Feng's shoulder.
Lin Derong saw him no differently. He breathed a sigh of relief.
"I'm… I'm fine!" replied Qin Feng with his head bowed.
He wasn't about to let Lin Derong see his sunken expressions. With everything settled down, Lin Derong made a call to the patrol team. Minutes later, the patrol members arrived.
"Good god, Director! What happened here?!" exclaimed the shocked leader of the patrol. Being an F-Tier captain, he was mortified and started shaking when he saw the mangled corpses on the path.
Qin Feng quietly shuffled behind Lin Derong's shadow, hoping to stay as inconspicuous as possible.
"These few thugs were armed and tried to extort me. Luckily, my kid was here to protect me! Otherwise, it would have been my body lying here instead of theirs!"
"What?! How dare those sleazebags come to my turf and pull these heinous crimes! Cuff them and throw 'em in the back! I want 'em off my streets!"
"Yes, captain!"
Everything had been dealt with real fast, with the officers dragging the five away in chains. Typically, members of the patrol had the highest authority in a colony. Considering the colony was inhabited by anything from the lowest of scums to the highest of palaces, incidents like this were fairly common. The death of five thugs had nobody bothered.
"I know you left the orphanage five years ago. Word around the street is that I'm super stingy. But, to be honest, I'm actually very well connected! Just come and look for me if you are in trouble!" said Lin Derong.
If it was the old Qin Feng, Lin Derong would definitely not give him special care. The orphanage usually had too much to handle, and the orphans were pretty much on their own. Qin Feng was different, however. Lin Derong knew that he would become someone great in the future.
"I will keep it in mind, director!"
Everything Qin Feng did today had truly impressed the director. It was also the first time that Qin Feng witnessed the softer, more human side of Lin Derong. In this cruel world, it was not easy to become someone like Qin Feng.
After that, the director was sent to the plantation courtesy of the patrol car. Qin Feng returned to the hotel as well. After enduring and braving battles from yesterday and today, Qin Feng's Inner Force was tumbling inside his body. He could feel that he was now stronger. However good that may sound, an experienced ability user like Qin Feng knew that this was actually not right. True Inner Force was usually calm in one's body. It would only start tumbling around when one started to channel it.
After Qin Feng returned to his room, he sat on the floor with his legs crossed, focussing his entire mind on his Dantian. Just like his experience with the ability core, the image of the Dantian was materialized in his mind. The Dantian looked very different from an ability core. One usually imagined the ability core floating in a starry sky, but the Dantian looked like an empty space with four walls that were made of flesh. It was common to spot inner force floating within the walls and being transferred to other places.
Ancient Warriors had been through hundreds of years of evolution. Usually, a beginner could feel the Inner Force floating within their bodies, as fine as a thread. It could travel between the blood vessels and nerves, using this as a network to travel the body. This, in turn, could significantly increase one's power.
When a person's Nei Threads reached a certain amount, they would turn into Qi Orbs. This was the sign of the evolution into an F-tier Ancient Warrior. Under normal circumstances, a person who possessed nine Nei Threads would be automatically qualified to call himself an F-tier ability user. The amount of Nei Threads determined the rank of the person in the group. In other words, there were varying degrees of strengths, where there could be a mighty ability user and also a mediocre ability user in the same category.
"I have about 15 Nei Threads now!"
All 15 of his Nei Threads were extremely thin. After summoning his willpower in an attempt to feel them, he found them all in different sizes. It was rather chaotic. He knew that things could take a worse turn if he did nothing about it.
However, it was extremely troublesome and time-consuming work tidying up one's messed up Inner Force. Suddenly, he remembered a hypothesis he made earlier. Qin Feng immediately activated his special ability.
"Absorb!"
Subsequently, all his Nei Threads were being absorbed by something, gradually becoming thinner and thinner. Eventually, all of them had disappeared. All the Inner Force he had with him had come by really easy. All he needed to do was to defeat a few foes that were weaker than him.
This made him feel a little better, ignoring all the Nei Threads that were gone from his body. On the contrary, he was actually worried about the somewhat bizarre side effects messy Nei Threads could bring.
After his Nei Threads were being absorbed, he could feel that his veins were filled with energy, and they expanded as well. Veins were typically the foundation of channeling Inner Force. With them becoming bigger, it would be easier and faster for Qin Feng to absorb Inner Force that was around his body.
After his veins were expanded, all his Inner Force came charging out from his Dantian to the upper Dantian located in the middle of his forehead! Though the ability core was thought to lay in one's consciousness, there were schools of intellectuals that argued it was actually located at the upper Dantian.
All of Qin Feng's Inner Forces were trying to enter the ability core, but it seemed like the ability core was rejecting them! As they attempted to penetrate the ability core, they were ejected and sent back to the lower Dantian. This process had converted 15 Nei Threads into 5 Nei Threads, albeit, extremely tough and stable ones.
"Success! I can stop worrying about side effects of the Asteroid Assimilation skill! This will become my most powerful skill!"
Qin Feng was lit with excitement as he thought about these things. All of a sudden, he could feel a surge of energy bursting out from his mind. When he tried to figure out where it came from, he discovered that it was actually from Xiaobai!
"Xiaobai!"
Qin Feng turned around to look at Xiaobai, which was currently lying on the bed. In total, it had been asleep for 16 hours. The Qi around it was undergoing some major transformation. It still looked like a small beast, but it was most definitely about to evolve soon.