"Peak top-level Qi-Jin!" Qiao Ting's eyes glinted with a keen light. A year ago, he had already known about Ling Lan's physical skills stage 1 . Back then, he was not confident whether he could beat Ling Lan in physical skills, but now, he had a good fighting chance.
"I've said that you will never ever win!" A smirk appeared on Ling Lan's lips. She had barely finished speaking when she unleashed her full force of presence, and a powerful and chilly pressure instantly blanketed the entire control room. Qiao Ting felt the temperature of the central control room dropping drastically; an inescapable chill invaded his heart, and he felt as if his four limbs were about to be frozen stiff.
It was then that he saw a thin layer of ice actually appear on his fist touching Ling Lan's palm, and the ice was slowly winding its way up his arm ...
Seeing this, Qiao Ting frowned and he did not hesitate to unleash his own force of presence as well, trying to prevent that layer of ice on his fist from spreading any further. However, he soon found that when his force of presence encountered the ice, it seemed to sink like a stone into the ocean, disappearing completely without a trace.
Why wasn't it working? A notion flashed through Qiao Ting's mind. His expression changed drastically and he shouted in disbelief, "Domain? That's impossible!"Qiao Ting could not be blamed for his disbelief — insight alone was not enough for one to become a Domain master. Even the most prodigious talent would need to accumulate countless years of actual battle experience and endure many trials and tribulations before they might grasp the profound secrets of Domain by sheer serendipity, to finally join the ranks of these top-class experts. In over several hundred thousand years of Huaxian history, there had never been anyone who managed to enter the stage of Domain below the age of thirty. No matter how talented Ling Lan was, how aberrant, without the accumulation of real and substantial experience, he should not have been able to enter that enviable realm at the young age of seventeen. Even Qiao Ting himself who had just entered the peak of Qi-Jin would not dare to claim that he would be able to enter that realm ten years later ...
Qiao Ting did not know then that although Ling Lan appeared to only be 17 years old, due to the learning space, she had already lived through multiple hardships and had been through countless massacres. The experience she had accumulated through all that was definitely no less than several decades of an average person's life.
Seeing the shock on Qiao Ting's face, a trace of pity appeared in Ling Lan's eyes. She said softly, "Anything that is impossible will become possible when I'm involved."
Qiao Ting's eyes narrowed at her words. He understood her meaning — his speculation was actually confirmed to be fact. An unnameable emotion rose in his heart, and Qiao Ting was left dumbstruck for a long while.
But then, Ling Lan's next words jolted him back to awareness. "You should feel blessed, because you are the first person to experience my Domain!"
"Domain, activate!" Ling Lan was doing this on purpose. The activation of one's Domain could be done silently, but Ling Lan was intentionally using a verbal command to deal Qiao Ting another blow. When she had first met Qiao Ting earlier, his reserve and low profile had raised flags in Ling Lan's mind.
Qiao Ting was a prodigy — Ling Lan knew very well that if she did not have the learning space and the careful guidance of the learning space's instructors, without that cheat code, her current abilities would definitely not be at Qiao Ting's level. This kind of peerless prodigy with talent, skill, and diligence had unfortunately become her opponent. And now, he had learned forbearance and knew how to endure for the sake of future vengeance. Ling Lan knew this was not a good thing just thinking about it. If the other was given ample time to grow, when he came after her again in the future, it would be a tragedy waiting to happen.Ling Lan was well aware that to live on securely, she would need to nip this threat in the bud. Therefore, Ling Lan had turned on the aggression, thinking to completely curb Qiao Ting here. She wanted to make it so that Qiao Ting would be plagued by psychological demons and would no longer have the courage to challenge her again!
Following this cry of Ling Lan's, Qiao Ting felt as if he had been encased in ice. He even had the illusion that his blood had become frozen in his veins!
"No, I cannot be frozen in place. I want to move, I have to move!" Qiao Ting was a prideful person — how could he so easily bow down and submit? He was screaming internally as he forced his arm back strenuously through sheer willpower ...
Looking at the contorted expression of Qiao Ting who still refused to submit despite the toll on his body, a trace of acknowledgement flashed across Ling Lan's eyes. Although Qiao Ting was too forceful and overbearing, he still had the integrity of a Huaxian soldier embedded in his bones ... Ling Lan found this kind of Qiao Ting admirable. Her initial plans of crushing the other changed instantly — she pulled back slightly on the force of her Domain, letting Qiao Ting successfully pull his fist away from her palm.
"Wah ..." Although Ling Lan had eased up on the strength of her Domain, allowing Qiao Ting to pull back his fist, the gap between Domain and Qi-Jin was just too wide. In order to resist the binding power of Ling Lan's Domain, Qiao Ting had still exhausted too much of his own strength, causing himself to take internal damage. He could not stop himself from spewing out a mouthful of blood.
Seeing Qiao Ting slip out of her control with his own strength, Ling Lan quickly retracted her Domain and then stared at the other with cold eyes. Since Ling Lan had decided to show the other some mercy, she did not press any further.
After escaping from the restriction of Ling Lan's Domain, Qiao Ting stumbled back several steps. Perhaps the binding force had disappeared too abruptly — Qiao Ting was not fully prepared; his retreating footsteps appeared rather unsteady. After falling back four to five steps, Qiao Ting found his footing and pressed his right hand lightly to his chest. He tolerated the intense pain shooting through his body, his gaze becoming dull, with even a trace of despair in them ...
Could it be that this world truly had such an aberrant existence? An unmatched prodigy who had reached Domain at 17 years old ... could he really defeat him? Doubt flashed through his heart, but very soon, Qiao Ting had regained his composure. He thought of how this was not the Huaxia of old, when physical skills were dominant — it was now the era of mecha dominance, and he was the only fourth-year cadet to have advanced to ace operator, a feat which was comparable to that of the Huaxian legend Ling Xiao. Even if Ling Lan was abnormally gifted in physical skills, in terms of mecha, he, Qiao Ting, was still the strongest one!
Qiao Ting's heart settled and the light in his eyes was rekindled. Then, he suddenly thought of how Ling Lan was already a special-class operator — it was hard to be sure whether the other would not advance to ace in two years. At this thought, Qiao Ting was even more apprehensive of Ling Lan, and the gaze he directed at the other became dark and inscrutable.
Ling Lan may not have fully comprehended Qiao Ting's entire thought process, but she still had a pretty good guess. It was not to say that Ling Lan was good at reasoning and deduction; rather, Little Four had applied 360-degree monitoring on Qiao Ting, capturing every single change in his expression without errors. Furthermore, Little Four had many expert advisers behind him (Instructor Number Five was the primary force) — very quickly, they had managed to deduce Qiao Ting's true thoughts via analysis, and Little Four had then conveyed these results to his boss. Of course, Little Four very shamelessly took credit for all of the work without revealing that he had other advisers behind him.
Seeing Qiao Ting regain his confidence, Ling Lan sighed mentally, unsure whether to be relieved or concerned. Ling Lan was appreciative of Qiao Ting's resilience. After some thought, she said, "In future, if you're ready, you can come find me at any time."
Although Ling Lan's tone and expression were still endlessly cold, Qiao Ting could still sense that Ling Lan was not being as overbearing as he had been at the start. Qiao Ting's heart was a complex myriad of emotions at this realisation. It was unexpected that there would come a time when he, Qiao Ting, would be oppressed by another ... was this karma for when he had been the oppressor?
Qiao Ting chuckled dryly but quickly rallied himself. He looked at the Leiting member lurking in a corner and said, "Let's go!"
That member hurriedly ran over, his expression one of great relief at being spared. Earlier, when Ling Lan had unfurled her Domain, even though he had not been within the range of the Domain, he had still felt a destructive wave of energy. He had almost thought he would die here ... now, hearing that his regiment commander was going to lead him away, he rushed over quickly, not daring to tarry. That speed was as if there were evil ghouls on his tail — in the blink of an eye, he had run out of the central control room.
Before Qiao Ting left, he glanced one more time at Ling Lan, his gaze extremely complicated ... after cooling down, he realised that Ling Lan had shown mercy just moments back.
Under Qiao Ting's lead, the Leiting members quickly departed from the headquarters. Meanwhile, the already ready Lingtian members surged into the headquarters representing the number one faction as soon as the Leiting people left. And the nameplate hanging high over the door also changed from Leiting to Lingtian at this moment!
"Qiao Ting ..." Li Lanfeng stared at Qiao Ting's departing figure, his brow furrowed. He had come a little late — he had only arrived in time to see Qiao Ting leading his people away. Apprehensive of Qiao Ting all this while, Li Lanfeng paid a lot of attention to every move of Qiao Ting's. It could be said that he understood the other very well.
Although he had only caught a glance of the other, the sensitive Li Lanfeng had still sensed the change in the other. How should he put it? The past Qiao Ting was extremely imperious and domineering, prideful and self-centred — his entire being shone so brightly that others did not dare look straight at him. Though this kind of person would draw the adoration of some people who worshipped strength, it would also incur the dislike or even revulsion of some others. Although Qiao Ting had been very strong all this while and had bested everyone by a head, Li Lanfeng had not felt that Qiao Ting was really unassailable. It was not completely impossible if he wanted to oppose the other. However, the Qiao Ting who had just left ... although his force of presence was as strong as ever, it was no longer so keen and sharp that it would irritate others. It seemed as if he had learned how to temper it ...
Carrying some bit of worry, Li Lanfeng arrived at the office resting room of the regiment commander of the mecha clan, only to find Ling Lan standing before a floor-to-ceiling window, looking down at the scenery of the military academy.
"Rabbit, what are you looking at?" When it was just the two of them, Li Lanfeng would intimately call Ling Lan 'rabbit'. This made him feel closer to Ling Lan. It could not be denied that Li Lanfeng had his own selfish wish. He did not want to just become a normal member of Ling Lan's battle clan, so he constantly tried to highlight the uniqueness of his existence before Ling Lan.
Ling Lan did not answer, merely staring coldly at the scene below. Li Lanfeng walked over and followed the line of her sight and saw that she was actually looking at Thunder King Qiao Ting. Even though Qiao Ting had led his men away from the headquarters of the number one faction, they were now standing at a hover car stop several hundred metres away and was facing off against another group.
"Those are the vice regiment commanders of the Leiting Mecha Clan," Li Lanfeng thought that Ling Lan might not know what was going on, so he took the initiative to explain.
In fact, Ling Lan had long known who those people were. From the very moment she set eyes on them, Little Four had already reported the details of these few people.
