Back to the Peak

Chapter 67: The Competition Begins

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Cheng Ran had been missing for over twenty days.
In the beginning, all Cheng Hong had felt was that this disappearance would be detrimental to him, but later, after listening to Qin Liu’s suggestion, he used it for publicity and displayed his sad, fatherly image to the world.

A father who had lost his son would always make people have sympathy.
After Cheng Hong communicated with his subordinates to come up with a feasible plan, he soon won the favor of the masses.
The people who had originally thought he was taking advantage of human resources and wasting money turned around and began to be annoyed that they had been lead on by others – Cheng Hong spent his own money looking for someone, so what did it have to do with them no matter how much he spent? Most of them were misled by Cheng Hong’s political opponents before.

As a result, Cheng Hong’s public support had increased a lot in a short amount of time.

However, at this time, someone even caught a video of Cheng Hong taking his children to dinner and the pair of children talking and laughing.
Not only that, but also someone said that Cheng Hong had never mentioned that he had a son that age, and Cheng Hong’s children had never mentioned having such a brother.

Someone flipped through some interviews of Cheng Hong in the past, and soon found that he didn’t mention that he had an eldest son named Cheng Ran at all.
In fact, if it weren’t for this explosive issue, the video of the mobile fortress under attack being made public, and Cheng Xuze’s rush to get here, others still might not have known that he had such a son.

What was happening here didn’t need to be mentioned.
Cheng Hong acting seemingly heartbroken on the surface, but treating things this way in private was enough to make people feel cheated.
The people who originally sympathized with him then turned to disgust.
They thought that Cheng Hong was a hypocrite, and they asked Cheng Hong to give an explanation.

Unfortunately, Cheng Hong couldn’t explain at all.
Cheng Ran was his son, but he really never mentioned him to others.
His son and daughter had only a slight impression of this brother, and naturally they wouldn’t talk about him…

Cheng Hong was overwhelmed by this situation.
In fact, he also knew it was better to withdraw and stay out of the public eye for the time being, but at that point in time, his daughter had heard about this hotel from her classmates and took the initiative to book a seat to let him relax.
He couldn’t refuse her…

He explained this matter to the public, but the masses grew suspicious after seeing the video, and someone revealed the news that he had never taken the initiative to go out of the city to look for Cheng Ran these days, but instead had been busy with the competition and Anhang Academy’s change of term…

Not only that, as more and more people paid attention to this matter, gradually, some people began to say that Cheng Ran was most likely an illegitimate son whom Cheng Hong didn’t like.
Otherwise, how could things be like this?

Cheng Hong’s public person had always been very good and upright, but he suddenly had an illegitimate son… How could this not have people questioning his character?

“This Cheng Ran is really such a pain!” Cheng Hong was angry and looked at Qin Liu again, “What am I going to do now?”

“At tomorrow’s competition I’ll have someone apply some makeup on you.
Feign your heartbreak as you perform your role as a judge.
Then say you didn’t allow Cheng Ran to appear in public in order to protect him.
Remember to be better to the contestants of Spark Academy at that time.” Qin Liu gave the idea that he isolated Cheng Ran because he wanted to protect him.
That had always been their excuse to the Cheng family.
Since the effect was good, of course, they could continue to use it.

“Not a bad idea, but now many people are saying that Cheng Ran’s my illegitimate son…” Cheng Hong frowned.

“As long as I insist that Cheng Ran was born to me, what else can others do?” Qin Liu said, “In fact, it doesn’t matter much.
At most, you’ll have to take the position of Vice City Lord”

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Cheng Hong has always wanted to raise his position.
After Cheng Hui became a level-8 rad-energy warrior, he wanted to gain even greater achievements.
Now he had no hope of upgrading, so he naturally stared at the seat of Lord of Anhang City.

In the past two years, the Cheng family had been on the rise, and many people flattered him.
After he returned to Anhang City, people such as Xing Ou of Spark City had contacted him and said that they would help him become the Lord of the city.
Originally, his success was a sure thing.
Who could have thought that something like this would happen now.

“That’s all we can do for now…” Cheng Hong flipped through various online posts that cast doubt on him, and finally decided to ignore him.

While Cheng Hong was accused of being a hypocrite, Shi Qingyang and Cheng Ran finally ate a hot meal.
At the dinner table, Cheng Ran also took out an ant egg and warmly invited Cheng Xuze to eat it raw.

Originally, Cheng Ran had thought to have it cooked for Cheng Xuze to eat, but the ant eggs and the Queen’s meat appeared very strange.
More importantly, eating the meat of those worker ants obviously didn’t have the same effect.
In this situation, who could say that the ant eggs’ effects wouldn’t change after they were cooked?

“Xiao Ran, ant eggs are the most delicious when they are broken up and fried…” Cheng Xuze was a little helpless.
Many people liked to eat eggs raw, but he really didn’t have this habit.

“Grandpa, it tastes good and it’s nutritious.
Try it first,” Cheng Ran immediately said, very sincere.
At first, when he ate the ant eggs, he really felt them difficult to swallow, but he accepted them after he’d eaten them too often.

“Xiao Ran…” Cheng Xuze didn’t care to eat raw food.
People like him who had gained their skills by fighting in the wild had usually eaten raw food, but he didn’t know who would choose to eat this way for their own pleasure, making him a little confused.

“Grandpa, it tastes really good.
Try it,” Shi Qingyang also said.
Just for the fact that Cheng Xuze had come for them already made him very grateful.
Because of the special situation of the queen ant’s meat, he dared not give any to Cheng Xuze to eat, but the ant eggs were fine.

Seeing that Cheng Ran and Shi Qingyang said so, it was hard for him to refuse.
In his opinion, the two children likely had felt it was delicious because they had been starving, but the children were happily sharing what they thought was delicious with him.
If he refused, it may hurt the children’s hearts.

Cheng Xuze ate the ant egg.
He didn’t think it was difficult to swallow, but he didn’t like its greasy texture.
He only saw Shi Qingyang and Cheng Ran staring at him.
In the end, he gathered up his resolution and swallowed the entire ant egg into his stomach, making him almost unable to stay upright.

At the same time, he also thought, since the two children like this, maybe he could find more ant eggs in the future? In places like Spark City, it wasn’t easy to get ant eggs, but in Yangtze City, ant eggs were very common.
If they really wanted to eat them raw, there were several ways they could eat them.

After they made Cheng Xuze eat the ant egg, Shi Qingyang and Cheng Ran had a good meal, and then went to see Gu Changjin.

As soon as they arrived on the mobile fortress, Cheng Xuze asked someone to put Gu Changjin into the treatment cabin.
The medical equipment beside him also showed Gu Changjin’s situation.

“His radiant energy is running rampant in his body.
Fortunately, there isn’t much radiant energy left in him, otherwise I’m afraid he would die of pain.” Cheng Xuze had been in the field for a long time, and he also knew how to use this simple medical device suitable for field very well.
After reading the data, he shared Gu Changjin’s general situation.

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Can radiation run rampant? Shi Qingyang suddenly thought of what could have caused his previous, far more painful experience.
On the one hand, he had eaten more of the queen meat in this life.
On the other hand, it could be because the radiation energy in his body was stronger than that in his previous life?

As for the fact that he gained more benefits now than in his previous life… He later ate some more of the queen an’ts meat, but he didn’t have any reaction at all.
This obviously showed that the transformation could only be carried out once.
Cheng Ran helped treat Gu Changjin and fed him meat.
Although it made him suffer a lot of pain, he should also gain more benefits.

With this in mind, Shi Qingyang also relaxed a lot.
At the same time, the matter of giving Cheng Xuze the meat of the queen ant was postponed indefinitely.
Cheng Xuze was a level-8 radiant warrior with a lot of radiant energy in his body.
If they made him eat some fo the meat, who knew what would happen in the end.

Although Gu Changjin was in pain, his life was obviously not in danger, but his injuries were too serious for him to wake for the time being.
He had to be sent to the hospital once they reached the city.

“Old Gu has done a good job this time.
Even if he is in poor health in the future, his treatment will not change, and I will be fully responsible for the medical expenses,” Cheng Xuze said.
The Cheng family asked Gu Changjin to take care of Cheng Ran and would give Gu Changjin a large sum of money every month.
Now, him saying this also showed that the Cheng family would not abandon Gu Changjin.

“Thank you, Grandpa,” Cheng Ran laughed.

“Well, go to bed quickly and have a good sleep.
When you return to Anhang City, you can still participate in the competition,” Cheng Xuze said with a smile, and looked at Shi Qingyang with some surprise: “Are you level-2 or level-3 now?”

“Grandpa, I’m level three now.” Shi Qingyang smiled.

“It’s a pity, such a good talent, if you could have nourished your body with medicine since childhood… Your progress is really fast.” Cheng Xuze appreciated him and regretted.

“Grandpa, master taught me a set of skills, and he said that I would become stronger in the future,” Shi Qingyang said with a laugh.

Cheng Xuze immediately thought of the set of “martial arts” he practiced.
Although it didn’t have much effect, after all, he was level-8, old, and unable to make progress.
However, Shi Qingyang was still young.
Maybe he could really break through.
“Level-3 at the age of eighteen, you must be able to shine in this competition.”

In the end, Cheng Xuze was old and didn’t sleep well these days.
He soon returned to his room.
Shi Qingyang and Cheng Ran also needed a rest and went back to their room together.

But they didn’t expect that as soon as they returned to their previous room, Wang Qing came over and pointed to the next room: “Shi Qingyang, isn’t this your room?”

Shi Qingyang was stunned, and suddenly remembered that his relationship with Cheng Ran had been reported to Cheng Xuze.
Cheng Xuze used to treat them as children, so he let them share a room together, but now of course he wouldn’t allow it again.

Touching his nose, Shi Qingyang went to the neighboring room obediently after instructing Cheng Ran to apply the medicine well.
Cheng Ran had fallen a lot and gained many bruises.
He originally wanted to help him apply the medicine, but now it seemed that he may not be allowed to.
Fortunately, the medical device has reported that Cheng Ran had no problems.

Moreover, it was really inappropriate for him to go.
If he couldn’t help doing something, he was afraid Cheng Ran would be even more injured… He couldn’t help feeling that Cheng Ran was still too young.

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Cheng Ran really wanted to follow Shi Qingyang.
He had just passed the most dangerous period of his life, and now he couldn’t wait to be close with Shi Qingyang, but he had fallen and hurt many places on his body.
Shi Qingyang would be distressed if he saw how much.

Cheng Ran finally gave up his intentions to climb Shi Qingyang’s bed, but carefully applied medicine on himself as Shi Qingyang had asked.

When he had been  injured by radiant energy before, his wounds had recovered quickly, but now in the face of bruises, the effects of his radiant energy weren’t great… Cheng Ran studied this for a while, and decided to ask Shi Qingyang about it tomorrow.

The mobile fortress didn’t travel fast where there was no road.
Even after Shi Qingyang slept, they hadn’t arrived at Anhang City yet.
However, Gu Changjin’s situation was much more stable.
His whole person was no longer in such a miserable state, and the data looked better.

Shi Qingyang finally breathed a sigh of relief.
The queen ant’s meat was not a panacea.
He wouldn’t ask for Gu Changjin to have completely recovered in the future, but as long as Gu Changjin could recover a little, he’d be happy with that.
After all, according to the initial predictions, Gu Changjin might not have been able to leave his bed for the rest of his life.

Although Shi Qingyang didn’t have much interest in the environment outside the city, Cheng Ran looked at the scenery with great interest now that he was safe.
Seeing this, Shi Qingyang naturally accompanied him.

Yesterday, they had gone to bed when it was still daytime.
When they woke up, it still wasn’t bright out yet.
After watching for a long time, they saw the sky slowly turning white.
At the same time, a huge city also appeared in front of them, Anhang City.

Today was the day when the teams from the three tertiary cities near Anhang City came to Anhang Academy to compete.
On the first day, the competition was about medicine.
Such competitions often occurred and usually didn’t attract much fanfare.
After all, this was just a small fight between a group of children.

But this time, the situation was different.
The mobile fortress that Spark Academy came on to participate in the competition had been intercepted on the way, and the young master of the Cheng family was also taken away.
His life and death were unknown…

In the Cheng family, there were two level-8 radiant warriors.
Cheng Xuze had also come to Anhang City personally, and then Cheng Hong’s scandals had even kept being released…

These days, several of the big pieces of news in Anhang City all revolved around the Cheng family.
It naturally made people pay more attention to this competition.

Ye Houan was a gold medal reporter of the Anhang City Portal.
He was now in his forties and had been a reporter for twenty years.
Not to mention all the experts and politicians in Anhang City, he had even interviewed many big shots in Yangtze City.
He even once cooperated with the strongest powerhouse of Anhang City, a level-7 rad-energy warrior, to go hunting outside the city to shoot a video.
This video was later utilized as an official teaching material, letting his reputation spread far and wide throughout the country.

With such an identity, he wouldn’t have come to interview the group of students competing from the academies of several tertiary cities, but Ye Houan had a daughter studying in Anhang Academy.
He happened to be free again recently, so he volunteered to come here.

Although he came, Ye Houan didn’t pay much attention to this competition.
He only let his assistant watch.
His eyes had been on the 17-year-old girl who was greeting the guests–his daughter was indeed the most beautiful.

From time to time, Ye Houan told his assistant who had been with him for many years about his daughter.
Halfway through the conversation, he suddenly paused, and his eyes fell on a person who entered the door.

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Wasn’t that woman Ran Xue, a senior pharmacist in Yangtze City? The Cheng family had become more and more famous in the past two years.
All of this hinged on the Almighty Elixir and several medicines launched later.
Although Ran Xue once publicly said that the Almighty Elixir wasn’t her creation at all, she had also become the most popular pharmacist in Yangtze City.
After Cheng Hui, who had been unable to break through for a long time, suddenly advanced, more people paid attention to her.
Many people believed that Cheng Hui’s advancing all depended on Ran Xue.

This person was usually in seclusion, and never contacted the media.
Ye Houan once wanted to interview her, but was rejected.

Just by coming here today, he could see Ran Xue.
This alone was worth it! However, Ran Xue seemed to have concealed her identity, and didn’t reveal anything in public, to not let others recognize her.

Ye Houan excitedly came to the front, and was about to find a chance to ask Ran Xue a few questions.
As a result, he saw that Cheng Hong, who was plagued by scandals these days, also came.

Cheng Hong looked a little haggard.
Instead of saying hello to Ran Xue, he walked to the stage.

Ye Houan was still watching Ran Xue at this time, but other reporters had surrounded him: “Lord Cheng, what do you think of the online rumors that Cheng Ran is your illegitimate son?”

“President Cheng, have you really been snubbing your son?”

“Vice mayor, your son’s life and death are uncertain.
You haven’t gone out of the city to look for him.
Is it because you’re worried about it affecting the election?”

……

These reporters’ questions became more and more tricky, and Cheng Hong’s face became increasingly ugly, but he didn’t get angry: “I’m heartbroken that Cheng Ran had an accident.
I had gone out because my daughter invited me.
I’ve already explained that having an affair and producing an illegitimate child is nothing more than a hoax.
Cheng Ran is the child of my wife and I.
We haven’t exposed him to the public only because he was in poor health and was kidnapped when he was a child.
I didn’t want him to be in danger.”

Cheng Hong looked very sad: “Those malicious speculations about me and my family are very hurtful to us, and I hope this kind of thing will never happen again.”

Cheng Hong said this, making it difficult for reporters to ask tricky questions again.
At this time, someone came in from outside.

Ye Houan didn’t surround Cheng Hong.
At a glance, he saw that the person who came in was Cheng Xuze.
Besides Cheng Xuze, it seemed that there was Cheng Ran who had disappeared in the wild!

Naturally, Ye Houan was not the only one who discovered this situation.
Many people recognized Cheng Xuze, and others shouted out in surprise.
The reporters who had originally surrounded Cheng Hong also crowded up.

My trip was worth it! Ye Houan was not in a hurry.
Instead, he looked at Cheng Hong and planned to see Cheng Hong’s reaction.
Only then did he find that Cheng Hong looked at Cheng Ran in surprise: “You, are you not dead?”

He wasn’t at all like a father seeing that his child was alright… The video recorder on his head recorded all this.
Ye Houan couldn’t help but grin.
This was big news!