Compared to Qiao Ting's pitiful expression, Ling Lan's expression didn't change. She kept staring at Qiao Ting. If Qiao Ting had reached his limit, she would immediately stop exerting her pressure. She didn't have any qualms against him. Instead, she admired him quite a bit. This was also why she chose Qiao Ting to be her rival. No would want someone who they hated to always appear in front of them.
The immense pain caused Qiao Ting to regain some clarity. He was overjoyed to find out that he has a chance to advance to the domain stage. If he couldn't hold on to this chance now, he wouldn't know when he would get another chance to advance to the domain stage again.
Risking everything on the line, Qiao Ting let out an angry roar. He gathered up all of his Qi-Jin, ruthlessly crashing it onto the loosened barrier that was originally as hard as steel.
"Bam!" Qiao Ting seemed to have heard the sound of the barrier being broken down. The Qi-Jin that had seemed to be in a narrow river, now suddenly felt it had entered an ocean. The limitless power began to flow through his body. He even felt that if he exerted all of the power inside his body, he would flatten the place where he stood in an instant.
Additionally, the pressure that he couldn't resist against a moment ago, now seemed to be a slight breeze. Is this the power of a domain?"Your condition is still not stable. Are you planning are dropping back down to Qi-Jin?" Ling Lan felt that the domain stage Qiao Ting had just broken through into was very unstable. There were already signs of it dissipating, thus she immediately spoke up to remind him.
After all, he had broken through only by using outside forces and not by himself. Acquiring a domain through this kind of shortcut would result in an incomplete domain. The barrier that had been broken by force was actually slowly reverting back to its original state. If Qiao Ting didn't try his best to stabilize his domain, everything he had acquired from his breakthrough would slowly disappear as time goes by. In the end, Qiao Ting would drop back to Qi-Jin.
"The domain you have acquired is actually considered a pseudo domain. Only after you have put in a lot of hard work to continue to be in the pseudo domain state would you find the real secret of the Domain. Then, you would be considered to have entered the doors of the domain stage." Ling Lan quickly deduced Qiao Ting's situation and was somewhat disappointed with the result. It seemed that there were still many issues using this method to help her comrades to quickly advance to the domain stage. She needed to find a different way.
Ling Lan's chilling voice made Qiao Ting, who was overjoyed with excitement, feel his heart dropping. He looked at Ling Lan with a complicated look on his face, then quickly closed his eyes. He focused to feel the changes brought upon by advancing to the domain stage along with the secrets of the Qi-Jin in his body.
The team members who Qiao Ting had brought, felt the change in Qiao Ting's aura, as it was becoming stronger and stronger. It was as though Qiao Ting had ascended to a much higher and distant state than them. Remembering that Qiao Ting was at the peak of physical skills in Qi-Jin, optimal peak Great Perfection, their expression changed instantly. Their expression immediately turned into a mixture of both joy and fear. Could it be that their captain had actually advanced to domain stage?
Although the Federation paid more attention to mecha piloting skills than physical skills, all mecha operators knew that physical skills was an essential part in operating a mecha. The higher the physical skills, the higher the level of a mecha an operator can pilot. Of course, there were other factors involved in mecha piloting advancement, but no one could deny that physical skills was definitely one of the important factors in determining how far one could reach in their mecha piloting path.
No matter how talented a Qi-Jin expert was, most would only be able to reach ace level. Only a lucky few could perhaps enter the early stage of imperial level, but wouldn't be able to advance any further than that unless they advance to the domain stage. For domain experts on the other hand, as long as their talent in mecha operating wasn't bad, they could easily enter imperial level. The mecha operators who could enter the garrison army all knew that the real kings of the battlefield weren't ace operators, but rather, it was the imperial mecha operators who lowered their level down to ace level. These people were considered the real undefeatable kings of the battlefield.If Qiao Ting actually advanced to the domain stage, along with his terrifying mecha piloting talent, in the future, Qiao Ting would definitely become an imperial operator. With such a strong individual being their captain, in the future, their battle team would perhaps become a five star battle team, maybe even a legendary battle team.
Thinking up to this point, some senior captains were overjoyed. They were originally hesitating whether they should continue to follow Qiao Ting. Now they affirmed their decision and beliefs to follow Qiao Ting. After all, it was really rare to be given a chance to follow an imperial operator who had yet to develop and grow, and they could work together to bring honor to themselves.
At that moment, Luo Chao and Han Xuya also saw through the reason why Ling Lan had pressured Qiao Ting. They looked at their Boss with a perplexed look. Is it good to be helping his own rival?
The time Qiao Ting used to stabilize his state of mind wasn't too long. He slowly opened his eyes and saw Ling Lan standing in front of him. His eyes showed a hint of gratefulness and fighting spirit. I probably have the qualifications to be considered as Ling Lan's rival now, right?
"Ling Lan, I will remember this favor you have done for me." Qiao Ting was silent for half a second and then finally spoke. Qiao Ting wasn't someone who returned kindness with ingratitude. He will keep this favor that Ling Lan had done for him in his heart. However, it didn't mean that he was going to give up on becoming Ling Lan's rival. Qiao Ting had already made a decision. One of these days, he would definitely return the favor to Ling Lan.
"This was the results of your own hard work, it has nothing to do with me," replied Ling Lan calmly. She didn't want to take credit. Her main motive was not to help Qiao Ting to advance but to instead, use Qiao Ting as an experimental lab rat . The main reason why Qiao Ting was successful was because of Qiao Ting creating his own catalyst for his advancement and the results of his own hard work.
Ling Lan didn't care about whether Qiao Ting would be able to return the favor. Qiao Ting and her were on different paths. In the future, they may perhaps battle each other.
Ling Lan didn't want Qiao Ting to return her any favors. However, Qiao Ting was a proud individual. Once he makes a decision, he would definitely not change it because Ling Lan didn't want it. He only nodded towards Ling Lan and then told his teammates to leave. When leaving, he didn't forget to transfer some credits to the store as reimbursement for the items he had broken in the shop.
Qiao Ting walked to the door and suddenly stopped. He hesitated for a moment then turned around and said to Ling Lan, "My regiment commander is very interested in your subordinate, Gu Dongyang. He probably has sent someone over to go fight him. If you go there now, perhaps you'll arrive before it happens."
Qiao Ting considered this information as interest given to Ling Lan. Qiao Ting felt more relaxed and left the shop without caring about his teammates' stunned expressions.
"What? They're from 250 Mecha Clan? Captain, why didn't you say something earlier…" A frustrated voice of team member echoed from behind the door. The 250 Mecha Clan that their regiment commander had ordered them to fight actually appeared in front of them and they missed them just like that?
"If I told you, could you even stand against him?" Qiao Ting's sneering echoed afterwards.
"Ugh… not sure." His team members understood they had met up with a Big Boss. They wouldn't be able to go against him.
Ling Lan watched as Qiao Ting left into the distance and quickly began to think.
Luo Chao anxiously shouted, "Boss, let's contact Captain Gu quickly." Although she didn't know whether Qiao Ting's words were true or false, she still wanted to notify Gu Dongyang to be on guard. There was nothing wrong with that.
Ling Lan's right hand's index finger and thumb rapidly rubbed against each other. She then instantly had a decision, "No need, you can keep shopping."
"Why? If by any chance Qiao Ting spoke the truth, isn't Captain Gu in danger?" Han Xuya was also somewhat anxious.
"What dangers are there in Soldier City?" Ling Lan said indifferently.
Although soldiers of the Federation belonged to different divisions and could have fights with each other, they still wouldn't use ruthless methods. Furthermore, this was probably Gu Dongyang's private matter and should be resolved by Gu Dongyang himself.
Ling Lan knew very well that although she was the Regiment Commander of 250 Mecha Clan, she wasn't 250 Mecha Clan's babysitter. They must rely on themselves to resolve their own problems. She would only be their shield for her clan members when necessary.
After answering Han Xuya's question, in the next second, she disappeared out of the two ladies' sight. Han Xuya and Luo Chao knew that their Boss must have returned to the lounge on the second floor.
After sitting down and before Ling Lan could think, she heard protesting roars. She then saw Little White crawling out from her back collar with great difficulty while breathing heavily. It turns out, Ling Lan had ordered Little White to stay in her back collar to hide it, which in turn almost suffocated Little White. Thus, after seeing an opportunity to come out, Little White immediately crawled out to save its little life. At the same time, it wanted to protest against its immoral master for torturing pets…
"Pets? Do pets behave like this?" Ling Lan's expression had a hint of coldness. She pinched Little White's chubby white cheeks really hard…
"Rawr… please let me go. I don't dare to do it again." Other than pleading for its life, Little white could only hold back its tears and accept its master's pinching. In Little Four's words, "Pets don't have freedoms!"
Yes, as expected, the feeling was great. Rubbing it was very comfortable… Finally being able to pinch and rub Little White, Ling Lan's eyes squinted in satisfaction.
"Oh, that's so cute. I like that one." A cute voice suddenly rang near Ling Lan.
Ling Lan frowned. Were those words said to her?
She looked over and saw five people, not too far from her, at the doll section near the staircase. They could see her from that location. It was possible that they were customers that came to look for dolls and accidentally saw her rubbing Little White. That was why that person said what she said.
In the group of five, there was a petite girl. She saw Ling Lan not paying her any attention and became frustrated. She was a girl who was taken care of by the heavens. She could feel the frigid coldness emanating from that person coupled with the disrespect and uncaring vibe exuding from Ling Lan, she instantly couldn't take it.
She immediately rushed towards Ling Lan and stood in front of her with her hands around her waist, "Hey punk, I'm talking to you."
Ling Lan still kept a straight face and continued to rub Little White. She was not even interested in speaking with this arrogant lady.
Ling Lan indeed treated her own comrades well, but this didn't mean she would treat everyone nicely. With a cold and heartless appearance, she was sometimes indeed quite cold and heartless.
"You, you, you…" The petite girl was completely angered by Ling Lan's attitude. She pointed at Ling Lan and finally said, "Do you know who I am?"
