Number Five's words made the hearts of all the other instructors sink. They once again looked towards Instructor Number One, hoping that he could come up with a good way to help resolve Ling Lan's crisis.
Instructor Number One did not reply. He merely raised his right hand and slashed the air with his index finger. An image instantly appeared before the group — there was nothing in the image but a lone figure. It was Ling Xiao who was currently desperately thinking of a way to help Ling Lan overcome this crisis.
"He is Ling Lan's fulcrum in this situation!" stated Number One calmly.
Number Two, who had been hiding in Number One's shadow all this time, suddenly half-emerged from within the shadows. His eyes were glittering and he exclaimed with a hint of urgency, "This person's spiritual power is very strong!" Only he, who was equally a powerhouse when it came to spiritual power, could truly sense just how powerful the other was. This made Number Two have the itch to compete with the other.
"Not only that, but his strength is also extremely great. At least, he's stronger than me." Number Nine had also regained her composure by this time. She too had sensed the immense power concealed within the figure in the image — she lost in comparison.Instructor Number Five's hunter heart was pleased at this discovery. He could not help licking his lips, saying excitedly, "I really want to try fighting him. It'll definitely be fun." Between the both of them, who was stronger?
At this, Number One turned to look at Number Five and said lightly, "You ... are still no match for him!"
Number One's words made Number Five's expression change, stubbornness and disbelief on his brow.
"His Dao is already mature and is already touching on God's Domain. As long as he is given time, he will be able to enter the world of gods," explained Number One. Only he could clearly sense the other's level; this person hid his capabilities very deeply ... Number One could not help but rejoice for Ling Lan. Ling Lan's problem was already extremely serious — despite already having warned her, Number One knew that there was only a one in a million chance for Ling Lan to resolve this problem on her own.
If there was a master with their own Dao by her side to help her, Ling Lan's chances of overcoming her crisis would be significantly increased. Although all the instructors had their own Dao, they could not materialize in the real world, so they could not be of any help in this regard. Hence, Instructor Number One had had no choice but to hope that Ling Lan could be self-sufficient and find that one in a million chance to resolve her own crisis.
But no, things had changed. A Dao master had really appeared in the real world and was even now helping Ling Lan wholeheartedly. Instructor Number One could finally relax — even if he could materialize outside, it would not be much better than what Ling Xiao was already doing.
Number One's words made Number Five's heart clench as he knew very well what God's Domain meant ... his gaze on Ling Xiao became solemn — he did not expect that he would miss that. This man was very good at hiding things; he only exposed things he wanted to expose.Meanwhile, the other instructors were all reassured upon hearing that Ling Xiao was so strong. They now pinned their hopes on Ling Xiao, hoping that he would not betray their expectations to help Ling Lan.
On Ling Xiao's end, he had come up with a response plan in the short amount of time he had. In order to avoid any errors, Ling Xiao's brain was running in overdrive, calculating the pros and cons of every possible plan he could think of, as well as considering the potential issues Ling Lan might have in any scenario and the solutions for them.
The matter of utmost urgency was for him to suppress the rampaging force of presence. He could not allow it to continue expanding — once it exceeded the critical point of Ling Lan's ability to withstand it, Ling Xiao knew what the outcome would be. Death by explosion ... How could he let his precious daughter meet that kind of end? He absolutely would not allow it.
Coming to a decision, Ling Xiao did not hesitate any further. The mild and gentle air of his Domain was swept aside, turning into a force with an edge of sharpness. This was Ling Xiao's deeply hidden secret — when he had advanced to Domain, he had activated a dual Domain ...
Ling Lan's overbearing force of presence was once again pressured and pushed back by Ling Xiao's all-encompassing honed power. Still, the force of presence born of the Dominance Dao was after all the most unreasonable and unruly of all force of presences — how could it be willing to lower its head so easily? Additionally, Ling Xiao was afraid that his sharp aura would harm Ling Lan's roots, so he did not dare to apply his full strength. This also gave Ling Lan's force of presence some breathing room and so, the two sides ended up in a stalemate.
Still, this had managed to temporarily stall the crisis of Ling Lan dying by body-explosion. Her force of presence which had been swelling dangerously all this while had finally been halted in place.
At this moment, a keen light flashed through Ling Xiao's eyes and he barked sharply, "If not now, when?"
Ling Lan's eyes had been closed ever since she had lost control of her force of presence. Ling Xiao had guessed that Ling Lan might have already lost consciousness. He was well aware that it was only by Ling Lan's own personal efforts that this crisis could be resolved; thus, he needed to wake Ling Lan up and make her aware again to work together with him and bring the berserk force of presence under control.
This loud cry was infused with Ling Xiao's massive spiritual power. It instantly broke past the seal of the force of presence to penetrate deeply into Ling Lan's mindspace.
Ling Xiao's spiritual power was undoubtedly formidable — inside the learning space, Ling Lan could clearly hear his cry. With a shift of her mind, she immediately circulated her spiritual power maniacally.
The massive spiritual power involved made Little Four, who had been standing beside Ling Lan, retreat several steps uncontrollably until he was forced into a corner. The sudden outburst of Ling Lan's spiritual power shocked Little Four greatly — he tried his hardest to draw closer to Ling Lan, but was unable to do so no matter what he tried.
Just as Little Four was about to panic, he suddenly jolted and his tense expression eased. He stopped trying to approach Ling Lan, merely standing to one side observing her, ready to act at a moment's notice.
Ling Lan's burst of spiritual power had managed to break past the dominant force of presence's blockade. Her physical body which had originally been completely out of reach was finally responding to her again, albeit weakly. Ling Lan knew the opportunity could not be missed. She shouted, "Little Four, break the seal!"
Little Four seemed to have received some form of instruction before — as soon as Ling Lan spoke, he knew exactly what he should do. He immediately unsealed that excess portion of Ling Lan's spiritual power he had previously sealed away. With the addition of this spiritual power, Ling Lan's spiritual power was doubled, bolstering the spiritual power which had broken through the dominant force of presence's blockade.
Perhaps due to the intense wrangling between Ling Xiao and the force of presence, the unruly dominant force of presence could not spare any effort to deal with Ling Lan. Ling Lan's spiritual power very quickly broke through even more of the blockade, and she could now successfully sense her body.
Ling Lan was ecstatic — she too knew very well that only she could save herself. Only by mastering her body would she be able to overcome this crisis. Thus, she put her heart and soul into infusing her entire body with her spiritual power.
Soon, she could feel the torso of her body, and this was followed by her arms and thighs, sensation slowly spreading outwards until it reached her fingers and toes ... as soon as Ling Lan had fully grasped her body, she could feel a bone-deep pain cascading over her.
"This feeling is so familiar." Her body felt as if there were countless hands digging into her flesh and tearing her apart, exactly as she had once felt in her previous world. Even though the pain was excruciating, Ling Lan smiled.
The sensation of pain meant that she had truly regained control of her own body.
Unfortunately, her gruesome expression did not become much better due to her smile. Witnessing Ling Lan's terrible state, Little Four began crying in fear. "Boo hoo hoo, Boss, are you okay?"
This familiar scene made Little Four recall Ling Lan's previous life. He was afraid that Ling Lan would end up as she had in her previous world, her body breaking down completely under the untenable pressure. Now, he did not have the ability to give Ling Lan a second chance at life again — back then, it was a total confluence of luck and circumstances which had allowed that, and now, he had nothing.
Little Four's terrified look made Ling Lan's heart ache — she was just about to console him when she ran out of time. Back in full control of her body, her consciousness was pulled back into her body and so she left the learning space.
Standing in place, Ling Lan suddenly spewed a mouthful of blood with a cry and only then did she slowly open her eyes to see Ling Xiao standing before her with a very nervous expression. She blinked.
Ling Lan returned to her physical body with her powerful spiritual power, which her already battered body found very difficult to bear. Her inner organs were injured once again, resulting in that spurt of fresh blood. However, Ling Lan reacted swiftly, instantly sealing away that excess portion of spiritual power again, stopping her body from continuing to receive damage.
The intense pain rendered Ling Lan unable to speak for a moment. In order to reassure her dad, she could only blink her eyes at him.
Seeing this, Ling Xiao knew Ling Lan was back in control of her body, so he shouted, "Compress your force of presence as much as you can, I'll help."
At his words, Ling Lan desperately pulled back on her force of presence, attempting to suppress it. However, how could her force of presence give it a rest just like that? It refused Ling Lan's suppression, instead becoming even wilder and more violent. Just when Ling Lan was feeling helpless against it, a powerful surge of sharp intent smashed into her force of presence, causing the blazing wild force of presence to instantly deflate a little.
Ling Lan had been a physical skills master to begin with, and coupled with her innate talent Profound Insight, she immediately knew that this was the best chance for suppression. She once again mobilized her spiritual power, and borrowing Ling Xiao's power, she began to compress her force of presence ...
Ling Lan alone, relying solely on her own strength, was not at all up to the task of fighting against her volatile force of presence. But things were different now ... Ling Xiao's strength was frightening — if he had not been afraid of harming Ling Lan, the domineering force of presence would have long been suppressed by him. Now, as Ling Lan slowly compressed her force of presence, Ling Xiao's suppression over the dominant force of presence also grew increasingly stronger. In the end, all of the force of presence was successfully pressed back into Ling Lan's body.
But they had only gotten to the most critical point. The inherent attribute of Ling Lan's body was completely opposite to that of the roused force of presence. This eliminated the possibility of a natural fusion — the only hope for the two to coexist harmoniously was via the application of brute force ...
In contrast to Ling Lan's bewilderment, the worldly Ling Xiao was well aware of this point. He also knew that although this moment was a crisis for Ling Lan, it was also a pivotal turning point for her. As long as she grabbed this chance properly, her problem could be fully resolved.
He was unwilling for this chance to slip by, so he yelled loudly, "Lan-er, use your spiritual power to beat your force of presence into submission!" That large reserve of spiritual power Ling Lan had brought along with her when she returned previously had given Ling Xiao a glimpse of success!
With Ling Xiao's guidance, Ling Lan now knew what she should do. She instantly unleashed her spiritual power — now that she had a purpose, without any hesitation, she directed all of her spiritual power at that unruly and rebellious force of presence within her body that was still trying to wrest free of her control.
"Spiritual charge! Spiritual charge! Spiritual charge! ..."
In order to combat the raging force of presence in her body, Ling Lan used multiple spiritual charges to attack it, trying to subdue it a little.
Sure enough, after all these blows, the volatile force of presence had become much quieter. However, Ling Lan felt even more threatened than before in her heart — it was as if the force of presence was just lying in wait to begin its next onslaught.
Without question, Ling Lan's intuition was very strong. After carrying out multiple spiritual charges, when she could no longer push on due to the great drain on her spiritual power, the force of presence found its chance to counterattack. Taking advantage of this instant, the force of presence surged up violently and began to throw itself around to ravage Ling Lan's body, causing the wounds on her body to split open once more, her blood pouring out like a river.
"Godamm*t!" Ling Lan's terrible condition made Ling Xiao livid. His powerful spiritual power once again enveloped Ling Lan.
"Lan-er, relax your mind!" Ling Xiao's words prompted Ling Lan and she obediently relaxed her spiritual power, and then she could feel a powerful surge of spiritual power merging with hers.
"Spiritual fusion!" Only someone from the Divine Command Sect could do this. Ling Xiao and Ling Lan were all from the Divine Command Sect, so their spiritual power could fuse together.
After Ling Lan received the reinforcement of Ling Xiao's spiritual power, she immediately began counterattacking wildly, pushing her force of presence to one area. As she compressed it more and more, the energy of her force of presence became ever more condensed. In the end, it was actually compressed into countless small balls, distributed in various parts of her body.
Ling Lan knew success was at hand — as long as she put in just a bit more effort, she would be able to completely master this dominant force of presence. Sensing Ling Lan's hopeful feelings, Ling Xiao once again strengthened the pressure of his spiritual power.
"Poof, poof, poof, poof ..." Ling Lan heard countless sounds like this ring out all around her body. After that, she felt a lightness spread through her body, suffusing it with energy, and the initially tearing pain also began to ease. She naturally began to circulate her Qi and go through her Qi exercises, beginning the process of treating her ravaged body.
Ling Xiao saw Ling Lan close her eyes once more, and all traces of the initially rampaging force of presence disappeared from Ling Lan's body. Still concerned, Ling Xiao used his spiritual power to check once more, and when he saw that Ling Lan was only fortifying her realm and treating her wounds, he instantly let out a sigh of relief.
Originally, Ling Xiao was planning to wait for Ling Lan to wake up, but it wasn't too long before the communicator on his wrist began to vibrate. Ling Xiao looked down and immediately frowned; he knew he could no longer continue waiting. He knew that if he did not take Lan Luofeng away from that teahouse where they were supposed to meet at soon, someone might become suspicious. His secret guards had sent him news that there were already many people eyeing the teahouse, just waiting for a chance to enter and investigate.
Ling Xiao glanced silently at Ling Lan for a moment, and only after that did he open the doors of the combat room and walk out, closing the doors again behind him. As long as there was someone in the combat room, it would not be able to be opened from the outside. Hence, Ling Xiao was not at all worried for Ling Lan's safety.
Just like this, Ling Xiao disappeared from the accommodation area. Not much later, the very popular figure Ling Xiao led Lan Luofeng away from the teahouse to return to their living quarters ...
Lan Luofeng was extremely angry at Ling Xiao's failure to bring Ling Lan back. She had sat around idly for half a day waiting and in the end, she still had not been able to catch sight of Ling Lan. If she had not been afraid of exposing her daughter, she definitely would have blown her top right then and there ...
After they returned to their residence, Lan Luofeng began interrogating Ling Xiao on the reason why their daughter had not come. Ling Xiao was afraid that Lan Luofeng would worry, so he casually said that he had been testing Ling Lan's strength by sparring with Ling Lan in a combat room. Then, under his pressuring, Ling Lan had accidentally advanced levels. In order not to affect Ling Lan's advancement, he had locked Ling Lan in the combat room, which was why he could not bring Ling Lan to meet her at the teahouse.
When Lan Luofeng heard this, she was instantly enraged. Alright, so the one who had prevented mother and daughter from meeting was this wicked man before her eyes ... also, her child was a lovely daughter and not a tough son. Was great strength so necessary?!
In short, the infuriated Lan Luofeng pounced on Ling Xiao and threw a flurry of wild punches and kicks at him. Ling Xiao was afraid that he would hurt Lan Luofeng by accident, so he did not dare to use his internal energy to defend himself. And so, General Ling Xiao, who had not been injured for a long time, was finally injured.
The next day, when General Ling Xiao was attending an event, the corners of his lips would twitch subtly every time he moved. Under the dashing and majestic general's uniform he was wearing, countless bruises were hidden, too ghastly to look at ...T/C: Hmm, so we finally get in-text proof that Ling Xiao is actually better than Ling Lan at the whole low-key thing. :p
