Zhang Chao's face turned red in anger. He clenched his fist and gritted his teeth. "In that case, let me see how strong Lingtian is!"
He raised his fist and attacked Xie Yi instantly.
Xie Yi casually raised his right hand.
Boom!
A figure got thrown out. He took seven steps back before he managed to stabilize himself.Zhang Chao stood still and dazely stared at the expressionless Xie Yi. He seemed to have just waved his hand casually to defeat him in one move. Zhang Chao was frightened.
"Defeated by a single blow." The regiment commanders, who had been monitoring the situation outside of Lingtian, received this piece of news instantly when it happened and were shocked.
"Now, can you leave?" Xie Yi didn't care about how shocked Zhang Chao was. He just yawned in boredom.
During these past few days, their boss's force of presence got even more frightening. The only people who could withstand training with their boss were team leaders and department heads. It was grueling but with Brother Shiyu's agents, they were able to persist through it. Guarding the door was basically a day off for them.
No one would be happy when they got disturbed during their day off.
Zhang Chao was already injured by Xie Yi. Hence, when he heard Xie Yi's irritated tone and saw his attitude, he felt humiliated and vomited a mouthful of blood.
Ling Lan, who was sitting in a secret training room, opened her eyes slowly."I didn't expect Xuya to reach this stage so soon." Ling Lan quickly retracted the pressure in the room.
The team leaders, who had been resisting against the pressure with all their efforts, suddenly felt the pressure lifting off from their shoulders. Before they could ask what was going on, they felt another energy moving beside them.
"Little Sister Xuya? She is going to advance soon?" Qi Long was the first to react. He shouted happily.
Luo Chao stood up and smiled. "Yup! Xuya said that after continuously training with Boss for the past few days, she felt the barrier to the Qi-Jin stage getting weaker and weaker. She should be able to advance to the Qi-Jin stage within the next dew days. I just didn't expect it to happen so soon."
Luo Chao also felt her barrier getting weaker. She didn't advance as quickly as Han Xuya but it would happen soon too. She would be able to reach the realm she had always dream of.
All the other leaders and heads were at Qi-Jin realm or above, only she and Han Xuya were still lagging behind at the peak stage of refinement. They knew that because of their gender, it would be difficult for them to advance further than refinement stage but they didn't give up. They kept working hard for many years and finally, their efforts paid off.
Luo Lang patted her head and smiled. "You should be able to advance soon too." Luo Lang was always concerned about his younger sister's condition so he immediately noticed the change in her internal energy.
"Of course. I can't lag behind you too much." Luo Chao raised her head arrogantly, but her red puffed cheeks showed that she was embarrassed by the statement. Her cute expression caused the older mecha masters around her to smile as if they were looking at their granddaughter.
At that moment, a huge pressure suddenly descended and engulfed Han Xuya's body. The people closest to her also felt the pressure and knew that it was from their boss. Ling Lan was trying to help Han Xuya with her process of breaking through.
"Breakthrough!" Han Xuya shouted with all her help. Suddenly, she felt the barrier shattering under the help of external pressure.
Han Xuya officially entered Qi-Jin stage.
Han Xuya was elated but a metaphorical cold bucket of water was quickly dumped all over her head as Ling Lan's cold voice sounded beside her. "Xuya, stabilize your Qi-Jin."
Han Xuya quickly gathered her thoughts and started manipulating the restless energy inside her. She also felt a frightening pressure coming down on her. The pressure she was currently feeling was far greater than the pressure she felt when she entered the peak stage of refinement.
It looked like Boss finally acknowledged her ability. Han Xuya knew that their boss gave them a chance by letting she and Luo Chao train with them. Plus, they were also given preferential treatment as more care was given to them.
Although their boss said that she couldn't control her force of presence, she would still protect them properly each time they came over to train with the others. The men might get injured by the pressure but the two of them were never hurt.
In the past, Li Yingjie almost once died from the pressure. He was only saved by his brother but he felt frustrated in the end. He complained that their boss was biased and that he was only protecting his wives while throwing them aside.
When she and Luo Chao heard that, they rolled their eyes at him. However, Li Yingjie was more powerful and had a higher rank than them so they could not say much in their defense. Plus, they didn't want to make a fuss out of such a small matter. It was not their style unlike a specific someone.
However, after Li Yingjie said that, he didn't have a good time too. Somehow, he offended Big Leader Li and was tormented by him for these past few days. So although they couldn't rebuke him themselves, they felt quite satisfied when they saw him getting tortured.
Under Ling Lan's suppression, the restless Qi-Jin energy flowed into Han Xuya's body and entered all the cells of her body. The Qi-Jin energy started healing her body.
The stages before Qi-Jin were all foundational stages. Once someone advanced to the Qi-Jin stage, there would be a huge leap in their physical constitution. This increase in their physique would decide if they had the chance to break through to the domain realm.
With Ling Lan's help, Han Xuya didn't waste the energy that flowed into her body. She successfully absorbed all of them. The amount of energy one could absorb depended on one's potential. The greater the potential, the more energy one could absorb and the greater the possibility of him or her breaking through to the domain realm.
Normally, due to the physical constitution of a female, they would only be able to absorb 1% of the total energy. This was why very few females managed to enter the domain realm. From the moment they advanced to the Qi-Jin stage, they were destined to have a hard time advancing their physical skills.
However, all these restrictions didn't exist for Han Xuya.
Although her energy was weaker than talented people like Qi Long but with the help of Ling Lan, she didn't waste any bit of her energy. Unknowingly, she had created a bright path ahead for herself.
It could be said that if Han Xuya didn't meet Ling Lan, she would only be able to reach the Qi-Jin stage. However, because of Ling Lan, she would not be able to walk on a path she was destined to walk. Of course, this applies to Luo Chao too.
Han Xuya continued absorbing all the Qi-Jin energy into her body. She only stood up after she finished absorbing every little bit of it.
"Congratulations!"
"As expected of Han Xuya."
"Continue working hard and become the first female domain realm master of Lingtian."
The older mecha masters liked this competitive and able young lady. They hurriedly congratulate her.
"Xuya, since you advanced to the Qi-Jin stage already, you can settle the matter outside." Ling Lan opened her mouth after noticing that Han Xuya had stabilized her Qi-Jin energy.
"What's wrong?" Qi Long asked curiously.
"Xuya's soldiers fought with someone for something they want to buy and in the end, they successfully bought it. However, the other party is unhappy about that so they came to look for us," Ling Lan replied calmly.
Little Four developed a good working relationship with the mainframe of Base Nebula so Ling Lan was able to know everything that was happening outside even if she stayed in her room.
Little Four was already treating the Lingtian Mecha Clan as his property. He treated every soldier as his men so he had cameras all around the base to make sure that they wouldn't get into trouble.
Even if Lady Mei didn't win against Zhang Han, Little Four would have hacked into his account and make sure that he didn't have enough money to buy the whip.
"What? How dare they bully our JMCs." All the team leaders were furious.
Which department was Han Xuya in charge of? The JMC department! It was filled with a bunch of pretty female soldiers. All the male soldiers in the mecha clan treat these female soldiers very dearly.
The male soldiers had already decided to keep the female soldiers among themselves, only if they were willing, of course. It was obvious that the competition between the male soldiers was great. There were a little more than a hundred female soldiers but there were close to 3000 male soldiers. In order to stop being single, the male soldiers had a hard time too.
The team leaders knew what their team members were thinking so they treated Han Xuya very well.
They didn't have a choice to not do so. If they offended Han Xuya, she might complain to her soldiers and they might remember it, which would prevent their team members from ever getting a partner.
Plus, most of the team leaders and heads were single too.
Thus, they must be angry when the dear female soldiers got bullied.
Who knew if one of the female soldiers would become the future wives of their subordinates… or maybe their own wife.
Han Xuya's smile disappeared when she heard this and her aura turned cold. She had gone through many hardships with the JMCs in the past few days so to her, they were like her family.
"I understand. I'll handle this matter." Han Xuya clenched her fist tightly.
"Okay. After you settle it, remember to continue training." Ling Lan closed her eyes again. She didn't forget to give Han Xuya her punishment. She wouldn't treat her differently just because she was a female.
In actual fact, after Han Xuya advanced to the Qi-Jin stage, Ling Lan decided to be stricter on her. She would be stricter on her than on Qi Long or any of her other comrades.
She knew that Han Xuya was just like her, except for her identity. She had the same desire to become stronger. Thus, she would help her rise to the top so that she could look down on all the people who looked down on her.
"Xuya, let me stand behind you to give you some support." Qi Long was excited. He hadn't fought in a long time.
"Okay." Han Xuya smiled in agreement and walked out of the room.
Soon, only two people were left in the secret training room.
"Are you not going to take a look?" Ling Lan opened her eyes with surprise.
"Not interested," Li Lanfeng replied calmly.
He stood up and then turned the secret training room into 'do not disturb' mode. Unless the people inside wanted to go out, no one could come in. Well, unless they break the door down forcefully.
After doing all that, he removed his mask and walked beside Ling Lan. Then, he sat down and stared at her intently.
"What's wrong?" Ling Lan raised one of her eyebrows in an inquisitive manner. This was the first time Li Lanfeng was so serious. In the past, he always appeared gentle, although she knew that it was fake.
"You're hurt." Li Lanfeng frowned. He seemed confused and agitated.
Ling Lan looked at the frustrated expression on his face. The power that she had been suppressing indeed had started getting restless.
"Actually, you should leave the room. I might not be able to protect you." The strength in her body was getting out of control.
"Stop suppressing yourself for us." Li Lanfeng suddenly closed his eyes. When he opened them again, it was filled with indescribable emotions. Ling Lan always felt that she knew what Li Lanfeng was thinking but now, she couldn't make sense of his expression and action.
"It's enough," Li Lanfeng continued with a lowered head. From his tone, he seemed to be in pain.
"What's wrong?" Ling Lan frowned. There was something wrong with how Li Lanfeng was acting today. She was concerned.
"Ling Lan!" Li Lanfeng suddenly looked up and shouted her name, something that rarely happened.
"Yes?" Ling Lan raised one of her eyebrows and waited for Li Lanfeng to continue.
"I want to become stronger!" Li Lanfeng said each word forcefully.
"I know," Ling Lan replied seriously, "You are on the path to become stronger. You never stopped."
"No, it is not enough." Li Lanfeng's voice got louder.
Ling Lan frown got deeper.
Li Lanfeng suddenly put his head down again. Then, he covered his eyes with his right hand and started laughing creepily.
"Hahaha… I'm sorry. I lost control." Li Lanfeng suddenly looked up again and smiled gently.
Ling Lan reached out and grabbed Li Lanfeng's chin.
Ling Lan applied a lot of pressure on her hand so Li Lanfeng felt as though his chin was going to crack. It was painful but the pain woke him up.
"Stop giving me your fake smile," Ling Lan said coldly, "I hate it."
"Why must you expose me?" Li Lanfeng turned serious. "Do you know I can't find my place beside you anymore?"
Ling Lan frowned. She didn't understand what Li Lanfeng meant.
"You treat everyone so well, so well that you are willing to hurt yourself to help them. Yet, they don't know anything about it. They trust you and are willing to follow you through thick and thin." Li Lanfeng appeared lost again. The characteristic that attracted him to Ling Lan in the past was becoming the devil in his heart now.
"So?" Ling Lan's face remained expressionless.
"So, I'm not satisfied." Li Lanfeng smiled. His smile seemed a little crazy. Yet, it made him look even more beautiful. Ling Lan's heart couldn't help but flutter when she saw that smile.
'Damn it, why must beautiful people be so crazy.'
"Not satisfied?" Ling Lan controlled her emotions and asked coldly.
"Yes, not satisfied at all." Li Lanfeng continued smiling. "Ling Lan, only now I know how selfish I really am."
