Chapter 86

"Stand still, Lingjie, and listen carefully." Li Wenfu and Lu Sheng came out of the medical pod, their expressions very strange.

"Swallow all the bad luck, and let's start over." Yinxing's eyes were slightly red, and she half-shouted, her demeanor as if she had never known the meaning of reason in her life.

Hearing the unusual tone of the fat man, everyone became anxious.

"No, I don't know if it's good or bad." Li Wenfu steadied himself, took a deep breath, and said steadily, "Brother Du is not injured! After my and Siyan's detection, and after eight repeated scans by the medical machine, Brother Du is really, really, really not injured."

"Are you an idiot? The injuries all over his body and the blood splattering are fake?" Yinxing became even more anxious upon hearing this.

"That's why we're puzzled, Lingjie. Siyan and I really checked and probed again and again, and there's no possibility of sharp injuries on Brother Du's body, nor any trace of magical energy impact. Moreover, I used the best gene liquid and even my own blood plasma, but Brother Du's wounds wouldn't heal. You know how thick-skinned the fat man is, right?" Li Wenfu said, cutting his hand as he spoke.

The blood mark wiped away, the wound slowly contracted.

Everyone knew the effect of the Li family's 'super recovery' gene.

If even his blood plasma didn't work, it was really strange.

"Brother Du's injuries are very strange, as if they are a reaction of his own body. This is definitely not due to external force, but rather an almost instinctive reaction. I've heard that some wind-type magical energy warriors can use sound to suggest self-harm to others. But Brother Du definitely couldn't be hypnotized," Lu Sheng also found it strange.

Of course, this wasn't self-harm, as there were no marks from sharp objects.

Moreover, Du Nan is a monster at the seventh level of physical techniques. Who could suggest self-harm to him?

"Unexplainable, it can only be called a 'rebellion' of the body." Lu Sheng, who had considerable medical knowledge, didn't know how to explain it.

"Like this?" Ye Binghua suddenly came to her senses, lowered her head, and extended her white little arm. In a moment, a blood mark slowly split open.

"Huh?"

Everyone didn't feel any magical energy fluctuations and didn't see any sharp objects, so they were very puzzled.

"How did you do that?" Yinxing asked.

"Use imagination, imagine yourself being injured." Ye Binghua seemed to have breathed a sigh of relief and said something even more mysterious. Seeing that everyone was still worried, she added, "Don't worry, this isn't a betrayal of the body. On the contrary, it's a kind of instinctive protection."

"Is that really so?" Lu Sheng seemed to understand.

"Um." Ye Binghua, knowing that Du Nan was fine, also relaxed and went to change clothes and take a shower.

Lu Sheng was left, surrounded by everyone. He waved his hands and quickly explained, "Don't worry, if you put it this way, it's really nothing. Instinctive protection is hard to explain. Let me give you a similar example. When you were a child and saw a vicious dog, you would be scared stiff. This is a kind of body's burden. If your brain bears it all, it might be overwhelmed, and you might wet your pants or be scared silly. The body shares the burden, making the mind's burden lighter."

"Is there a difference between being scared stiff or not?" Li Wenfu was skeptical.

"Imagine being tied up and seeing a vicious dog versus standing and seeing a vicious dog. When tied up, aren't you more afraid? This stiffness in the legs is actually a warning, saying 'you should run with your legs.' Fat brother, don't argue yet. Imagine holding a knife when you're scared. Don't your palms and arms get hot? This is also a warning, saying you should use the knife against the dog." Lu Sheng explained.

"If I had armor, I would be very calm." Li Wenfu understood. When external things can't share the fear, the body shares part of it to prevent the brain from being overwhelmed and going crazy. Du Nan's injuries were a kind of self-warning, or sharing part of the 'damage' the brain was bearing.

"Speaking of which..." Yinxing, understanding, was even more shocked.

Du Nan's body's self-protection had reached such a level: what did he see?

There was something.

Just looking at it... could make a super-strong seventh-level physical technique expert 'scared' to this extent, to the point where even his consciousness couldn't bear it, needing the body's instinctive protection. This kind of full-body injury and blood splattering wasn't just 'stiffness in the legs'; it was almost a matter of life and death.

"Fat man, I don't know. The fat man can only be sure that even if ten thousand super-armored generals or a hundred nine-star war gods surrounded him, Brother Du wouldn't be 'scared' like this. You all know Brother Du isn't the type to fear death. I can't imagine what could 'scare' him, oh, no, scare his body so badly."

Everyone fell into deep thought.

Even when facing a powerful figure like Qiao Banzhai, they would feel a kind of fear. Although the body would 'scare' stiff, losing its usual flexibility, it wouldn't automatically bleed or get injured so exaggeratedly. What kind of 'terror' would make a monster-level strong person like Du Nan's body 'scare' into such a severe injury?

Everyone couldn't imagine what kind of existence it was.

Of course, if they knew that Du Nan's body had been reinforced by four fragments of divine artifacts and was still scared by a 'corpse's' residual power, they probably wouldn't be so calm.

Twelve days later.

Du Nan finally woke up. At this moment, he still looked extremely weak.

In the sea of consciousness, there was now a strange beast with a tiger's head, bull's horns, and eagle's wings. It was ten times more 'arrogant' than the giant battle body and completely ignored Du Nan, its owner. It felt that the giant battle body was not powerful enough to be used. The strange beast, however, had no such feeling; it was as if it had just changed its resting place, and it was unclear what level it would need to reach to make it 'obedient.'

Though dead, it felt alive... This sensation surprised Du Nan. It seemed to be a higher-level 'existence' than the fragments of divine artifacts.

"Brother Du, you're finally awake."

The fat man had almost cried these days, finding two more maps during this period, but to no avail.

Du Nan was in a deep sleep, and Lingjie's mood was bad.

She dragged him out to beat, ah, no, train him every two or three days, almost breaking his bones. Hearing that Du Nan had woken up, the fat man's sky finally brightened, and he rushed to Brother Du's side for protection. As for Lu Sheng, he was busy trying to fuse with the magical body and couldn't help the fat man.

"I'm fine, just a bit unaccustomed to certain things." Du Nan didn't explain.

The members of the Silver Leaf Group didn't press for details.

Everyone had a 'you're fine, that's good' expression, not knowing what to say.

"Siyan, are you fusing with the magical body?" Du Nan took the initiative to speak. After the previous 'calamity,' his five senses and spiritual awareness had been strengthened tenfold. That fear had destroyed all his 'possessions,' turning him into a completely 'empty' vessel.

This transformation didn't increase his strength, but it made Du Nan almost 'nothing.' In terms of power sensing, even stronger people several levels above him couldn't detect his true strength, seeing only an 'ordinary' person with no strength. However, his own sensitivity to power had increased tenfold, as the emptiness allowed him to perceive things completely and without any obstruction, even the slightest difference couldn't escape his spiritual awareness.

"Um." Lu Sheng was slightly surprised and responded.

"I'll help you check." Du Nan stood up, and everyone had the same feeling: it was as if a seriously ill person had just recovered.

No physical techniques, no magical energy.

They couldn't sense any 'power' from Du Nan.

"Brother Du, you..." Li Wenfu was very worried. This unknown calamity wouldn't have turned Brother Du back into an ordinary person, would it?

"Nothing to worry about." Du Nan extended a finger and tapped the alloy wall of the pod.

A creaking sound.

The hard alloy wall cracked with countless fine lines, forming the shape of flowers. This power and control... the members of the Silver Leaf Group were so shocked they couldn't speak. On this 'weak' body, they focused all their attention and still couldn't find any sense of power. Seeing the blood and cracks, they had to believe that the strength in front of them had advanced even further.

"If you wear the Stealth Stinger mech, I doubt even a Seven-Star Flying General could sense you," Yinxing, sensing nothing, couldn't help but sigh.

Du Nan smiled but didn't speak.

The group went to the storage pod and approached the giant silver shadow leopard's magical body.

Du Nan touched it, and the voice 'indeed' echoed in his mind, deepening his understanding of the magical body. This magical body was very different from the Ice Dragon battle body, as their origins and bloodline qualities were different. However, the magical body still had half the effect of the divine artifact fragments, enhancing the owner's body after fusion. This was a form of indirect growth, making it easier for the owner to adapt to using the magical body.

The magical body was far inferior to the divine artifact fragments and had less knowledge inheritance. Apart from the combat techniques it retained, it was just a shell with no memory.

Despite this,

Fusing with a magical body was still a significant leap in strength.

"I understand a bit, Siyan, come over and fuse with it." Du Nan didn't wait for Lu Sheng's reaction, waving him over to the magical body and said, "You might encounter some terrifying beasts that scare you, but ignore them; they're all fake. You might also feel an increase in magical energy, but ignore that too; it's also fake. Don't think about anything, don't pay attention to anything, and focus solely on practicing your physical techniques. If you feel you can advance from level five to level six, then you've succeeded. Remember, ignore everything, absolutely everything, and focus on your practice."

Lu Sheng, who was still in shock, immediately trusted and calmed his mind upon hearing Du Nan's words.

He sat cross-legged, like a meditating monk.