60 - 65

Chapter 60 - Group 072 Gathers!

"Only we know," Han Jijyun was the first to respond.

Ling Lan's expression eased immediately; things weren't that bad then. Right now, Ling Lan still hadn't noticed that she had actually already accepted these few children into her heart, which was why she was unconcerned that they knew about this situation.

Han Jijyun was carefully observing Ling Lan's expressions. He smiled a subtle smile — Ling Lan's reaction pleased him because it meant that he had also acknowledged them in return.

Qi Long, Luo Lang, and the others were not as meticulous and contemplative as Han Jijyun. Brimming with excitement, they surrounded Ling Lan and started bombarding her with curious questions about how it felt to ride a mecha.

Facing these questions, Ling Lan was a little embarrassed. She was at a loss on how to answer since she couldn't very well say she was unconscious for most of the flight.

No way. To protect her glorious image, she definitely could not let this weakness of hers be exposed.

Vaguely, Ling Lan said, "When you all get the chance to ride one yourself, then you'll understand."

Hearing this, Qi Long and the others were naturally disappointed, which made Ling Lan feel bad for being so flip towards these children who admired her. So, she added, "There are some things that, if told to you by others, will always belong to them — you must experience these things yourself for them to belong to you."

These words sounded deep, and as if coming to some realisation, Qi Long and the other children's eyes lit up. Once again, they were taken in by Ling Lan, who had spouted such profound words with such flair.

Seeing the idolisation on these children's faces — even the intelligent Han Jijyun's eyes were shining with pleasant surprise — Ling Lan's heart wavered as she sweated internally.

She had never intended to deceive children! How was it that she had once again raised the level of idolisation these children had for her?

Finally, Qi Long, Luo Lang, and the others dropped the topic of mecha, and began chatting about what they all did at home after the test. All of them had trained; it looked like Ling Lan had truly inspired them.

When Ling Lan was asked about his activities for the past month, they unexpectedly saw his face turn white, before he said listlessly, "What else could it be like — I was training, just like the rest of you."

Luo Lang and Han Jijyun could just tell that that training he mentioned was not ordinary, otherwise Ling Lan wouldn't have such a traumatized look on his face. Only Qi Long remained clueless and continued to pester Ling Lan for details.

Weakly, Ling Lan replied, "I was experiencing death, in various forms ... Would you like to try?"

Ling Lan's words, said in an eerie dead tone, sent chills running across Qi Long's body. No matter how brash he was typically, this time he dared not say anything more. Moreover, even Luo Lang and Han Jijyun distanced themselves from Ling Lan, afraid of being dragged in as well. They had no doubt that what Ling Lan said was true ... because they could already feel the malevolent aura seeping from Ling Lan's body. This wasn't something that could be achieved through just normal training.

********

Very quickly, Ling Lan and the others had finished registering and had set their study schedule. As Ling Lan had chosen to be a day student, she had tried her best to squeeze all her classes together. Unfortunately, even so, she only managed to keep Wednesday free, as several of the classes required attendance for consecutive days, making it unavoidable. Next, they went to the logistics department to collect two sets of tailored uniforms each.

As today was just the registration day, the school did not arrange any classes yet, merely allowing the students to wander around campus to familiarize themselves with the surroundings and the facilities. Ling Lan also took the chance to tour Qi Long, Luo Lang, and Han Jijyun's shared dorm. Although special class students could choose to be day students, almost none of the special class students would choose to do so. As such, this privilege was considered by the students of the Central Scout Academy to be the most pointless and pretentious privilege ever.

The three boys were assigned the same living quarters, a villa just for the three of them. More precisely, all Special Class-A students would be assigned a villa when they chose to board at the school. This was one of the perks of being a member of Special Class-A.

The villa was rather luxurious, and it was free . The kitchen and living room was well-equipped, and aside from the three bedrooms, there was a training room, a gym, and specialised login pods for the children to enter the academy's virtual reality system.

The Federation was very strict when it came to minors' access to virtual reality. Any child below the age of sixteen was only allowed restricted login. Meanwhile, young children who hadn't entered scout academies did not even have the right to enter virtual realities, and could only browse web pages on a screen.

However, once the children entered a scout academy, it meant that they were now allowed to access virtual realities. Of course, this access was limited — they were only allowed to log into the closed virtual reality of the scout academies. There, the only people they could interact with were teachers and other students of the scout academy. They could receive guidance from teachers there, or have a virtual spar with the other scout academy students, but that was it. This was protection provided by the school, to prevent the children from premature contact with the complicated world of adults, which could influence their growth and development.

The conditions of the villa were top-notch. Luxury and comfort, combined with a high level of integrated technology — Ling Lan was overcome with envy, almost wishing that she could board at school after all.

As for the living quarters of the two girls, Ling Lan and the boys did not go over to look. Although the children were still small, they already knew enough to distinguish between the sexes and knew that it wasn't right for boys to simply enter the girls' dorms.

By the time the two girls were done settling in and returned to meet up with them, it was already time for lunch. Qi Long magnanimously declared that he would treat them to lunch for today.

With the commoner mentality of never passing up a free meal, Ling Lan quickly agreed, even though the amount of credits she had personally was staggering. These past few years, Little Four had become a famous online writer — rumour had it that he had N-many crazed fans supporting him — and although Little Four would purchase some gene agent every once in a while, it hardly made a dent in the amount of credits Ling Lan had.

The scout academy's canteen was very large, taking up a full several thousand square metres. Everywhere you turned, there were food options for the children's selection — it was a dazzling smorgasbord of any variety of food you could imagine.

Qi Long, Luo Lang, and Han Jijyun were all descendants of mid- to high- rank military families, certainly not the type to lack for money. Since he had decided to treat, of course he must treat the best available! After asking one of the teachers on duty, Qi Long grandly led the way to a particular corner of the canteen. It was said that the food there was the most delicious and exquisite, naturally with a suitably steep price.

When Ling Lan saw the random dishes of several thousand credits per platter, she felt that she should really rebuild Qi Long's value system. Ling Lan had already found out the value of credits in this world. One credit was roughly equivalent to one Chinese yuan in her previous world, which meant that even the cheapest dishes before her now was easily one thousand yuan each ... they weren't eating food , they were eating money!

Ling Lan was determined. From now on, she would hold onto the money of all these babes — she just couldn't allow them to be so wasteful anymore.

Consequently, all the allowance of the five children were confiscated by Ling Lan, who only gave them 1000 credits each from that. Of course, they could ask for more if they spent it all, but they would need to report what they spent it on, and if any wastefulness was discovered ... The five children had no idea what the consequences would be, since Ling Lan didn't tell them, but the cold smile on Ling Lan's face told them that it would not be good.

Han Jijyun had no objection to all this. Although he didn't know why Ling Lan would care so much about the way they spent money, he believed that Ling Lan had no ill intentions, and may perhaps even have some profound motivation for his actions ... could it be that he wanted them to become more independent? At that thought, Han Jijyun visibly lightened up.

Er ... that was the problem with intelligent children, they would always think too much. Ling Lan really wasn't thinking much about it at all — she just felt that the way they spent was too wasteful. Although Ling Lan was also able to be wasteful now if she wanted to, the commoner mentality embedded in her bones still felt that wastefulness was a sin ...

Because they knew they wouldn't be able to eat this way again from now on, the children dug in with gusto, fully prepared to consume the future's worth of food now. After all, all the credits had already been transferred over to Ling Lan. And so, they ate and drank, and ate and drank, and then they noticed that the other three people from their exam group had also come to the canteen for their meal. Qi Long thought that since his credits would be confiscated from today onwards, he might as well use more now, and so generously invited them to join in as well. Thus, the six-person group expanded into a nine-person group, packed tightly around the round table.

The lively air at their table drew the attention of everyone around. After all, they were all new here — the old students would only be here a week later — so it was rare to see a group as large as Ling Lan's hanging out together, which naturally drew the envy-jealousy-hate of various parties around them.

One such example was this frowning fellow. He was watching them with a face full of displeasure because his should-be underling Li Jinghong had actually decided to leave his side to join them. This displeased him greatly.

"Li Jinghong, why don't you introduce us?" Although he was furious, he could still maintain his calm. Before he found out more about the opponent, he would not be so rash as to start fighting — he kept the Li family teachings close to heart.

"Ling Lan, Qi Long, Luo Lang ... long time no see," greeted Li Jinghong energetically. With that, the companions of exam room 072 were all gathered, and Li Jinghong's arrival was met with a hearty welcome.

Han Jijyun noticed the darkening of the handsome face behind Li Jinghong, and couldn't help but snicker internally. From Li Jinghong's impatient demeanour, as well as the other fellow's arrogant expression, he could just tell that the fellow wasn't all too likeable.

"Ahem." An impatient reminder of his presence.

With an affected expression of realisation, Li Jinghong pointed at the boy behind him with exaggerated motions and said, "This is the third grandson of our Li family head, Li Yingjie."

Li Yingjie stood proudly, waiting for Li Jinghong to continue elaborating, but Li Jinghong wasn't as cooperative as he had assumed, stopping with just that brief introduction. This made Li Yingjie's expression turn even darker, and he looked on the verge of blowing his top.

By now, even Qi Long had figured out Li Jinghong's stance. It was clear that he really did not like this Li Yingjie, but only tolerated him as another member of the same Li family. However, Li Jinghong could not outright offend him, because Li Yingjie was a descendant of the main family after all, while he was just from the branch family. At the end of the day, he was still one of the members being shaded by the large tree of the Li family.

That said, Qi Long and the others did not share Li Jinghong's concerns — since their comrade didn't like that person showing off in front of him, then they should definitely bite the bullet for him and chase the annoying fellow away.

"Li Yingjie was it? Hello! But we're eating right now, so we don't have time to entertain you. Please show yourself off." Qi Long's blunt dismissal caused Li Yingjie's expression to change dramatically. He had never encountered such treatment before — in the Li family, no one would dare to treat him this way. Mind you, he was a favoured child, for his assessment results at birth had placed him securely before his two elder cousin brothers. Although he was not the first in line to inherit the Li family leadership, he believed that once he grew up, he would definitely be able to usurp his elder cousin's position and obtain the right to inherit.

"You're way too arrogant," bit out Li Yingjie vehemently. If it weren't for the Li family teachings, he would have already charged over to give the other a good pummeling.

Chapter 61 - An Intense World of Competition!

Qi Long was not one to back down from a fight. Hearing what Li Yingjie said, he rolled his eyes and replied, "Too much? So what if I'm too much? You've something to say about it?" Sometimes Qi Long was outright shameless because he didn't need to think about the consequences. He believed that his good friend Han Jijyun would definitely come to his rescue, and now he also had Boss at his back, causing him to become even more impudent.

Of course, at his back, his 'solid shields' Ling Lan and Han Jijyun weren't as lighthearted. They shared a commiserating look, wry smiles on their faces. Han Jijyun, in particular, was rather troubled. He found that Qi Long was becoming more and more reckless, which wasn't a good thing. He decided that he would need to sit Qi Long down and give him a good brainwashing soon when no one else was around.

Qi Long's words finally set off Lackey #1 who was standing behind Li Yingjie. He jumped out raging, "Punk, do you know who he is?"

"The third grandson of the Li family head." Qi Long picked at his ear, indicating that he wasn't deaf and that he had heard everything clearly the first time.

"He's also the number one ranking student in this year's special class — the most promising scout student in the Federation this year." The pride on Lackey #1's face made it seem as if the number one rank belonged to himself.

Li Yingjie's face was also full of smugness. He was very proud of the fact that he had managed to stand out among the masses with his skills, obtaining the coveted position of first place.

First place? Qi Long cast a searching look at Li Yingjie. The smug fellow didn't feel that strong — the presence seeping from his body wasn't even a match for his own, not to mention against his Boss's. Qi Long had already had a taste of his Boss Lan's indistinct yet menacing trace of malevolent aura, and knew that it was not to be taken lightly.

Qi Long's natural gift was his strong intuition — in Han Jijyun's words, animal instinct. He didn't have to think much, being able to accurately gauge an opponent's strength just via pure intuition.

Sensing that the first place of this year's Special Class-A was not even a match for himself, Qi Long's mood took a dark turn, and his attitude became even meaner. With clear disdain, he said, "So what?"

This answer was obviously not according to script, sending the opponent into an immediate apoplectic rage. The others also burst out laughing — Qi Long was absolutely the type that could cause someone to keel over dead out of sheer anger, and the most frightening thing was that he himself wouldn't even be aware why the other died.

"You —— wait till our Boss comes after you!" Lackey #2 was also moved to help.

"Is that so? Then I'll be waiting," said Qi Long shortly, still looking at Li Yingjie with contempt.

Qi Long's impudence was because he had the utmost confidence in himself, and he also believed that no one could best him aside from his own boss. Furthermore, even if he did sh*t the bed, there was still Boss to pick up after him. He had faith that Boss Lan would not just stand by while his own followers were being bullied ... in any case, Qi Long was already shamelessly counting on Ling Lan.

Qi Long's words caused Li Yingjie's cheeks to puff up like a toad's in anger. However, he still had the mind to maintain the poise of a member of an elite family, and chose not to start a fight right then and there. In the end, he only glared darkly at Qi Long, and left with these words, "Just you wait."

The waters of the scout academy were truly deep! Li Yingjie still remembered the cautionary words of his father — before he fully figured out how things stood in the scout academy, he should not move recklessly. His father had also mentioned that the main principle in the school was 'survival of the fittest' — it was almost impossible to dominate within the school by relying on one's family background or wealth unless you managed to buy the loyalty of some of the more formidable students to be part of your guard. Otherwise, he could only suck it up even if he were bullied by the commoner children within the school. His family would not intervene, so he could only rely on himself to resolve any problems.

He had reservations because of his father's words, so he decided that he would hold off for now. After he had gained a better understanding of the school and had built up his own power base, then there would be plenty of opportunities for him to discipline that impudent fellow and teach him what's what. Li Yingjie was very confident. With his own abilities and his family background, there was no reason he would lose to anyone in the academy.

Since the master had left, the lackeys were sure to follow, but the fierce glares they left behind was a clear sign that the matter wasn't over. Nevertheless, this was now a matter for the future. Li Jinghong released a heavy breath. Finally, he was rid of that annoyance.

"Why do you hate him so much? I heard he was a strong contender to be the next family head." Han Jijyun was curious; the struggles within the Li family had always been intense. Every generation, the crowning of the family head was always the result of a descendant of the main family stepping up to bend all the other contenders to his will by force — the so-called hierarchy of inheritance was just an empty promise. According to the survival principles of the elite families, Li Jinghong, a branch family member, should be doing his best to kiss up to Li Yingjie.

Li Jinghong's expression dimmed, and he said, "I really don't like him. No matter how talented he is, I still won't like him. You all don't know ... but our eldest cousin brother is really really nice. All of us children in the branch families really like him, but unfortunately ..." Abruptly, Li Jinghong's expression hardened with determination. "Regardless of the result, I will never stand on the opposite side of my eldest cousin brother."

"This way, won't you offend Li Yingjie?" Han Jijyun shook his head. Li Jinghong's way of thinking was really unsuitable for survival in a large elite family like the Li family. The consequence of being led by one's emotions was often becoming mere cannon fodder in the crossfire. If Li Yingjie really ended up becoming the family head, Li Jinghong's actions now would guarantee that he would have no place within the Li family in the future.

"It's fine. Who knows if a child more talented than him would appear in the future?" Li Jinghong did not believe that it would be so easy for Li Yingjie to just claim the position of family head. In this generation, due to his eldest cousin brother's mediocrity, all the children of the main family were champing at the bit — hidden manoeuvers abounded as they all fought with their sights set on the position of family head.

"Not to mention, even if Li Yingjie really got lucky and managed to inherit, I am not afraid. I'm prepared to become a professional soldier, so the Li family can't touch me in the future." Li Jinghong laid out his plans, stating why he wasn't afraid of offending Li Yingjie now.

He didn't want to see his favourite elder cousin brother forced to lose the position of family head and being put into captivity for the rest of his life. So, he decided to leave the messy quagmire of the Li family as early as possible. What he couldn't see couldn't hurt him.

This was the reality of a large elite family — the complex environment full of cruelty and bloodshed forced the children within it to grow up so quickly.

"Welcome then." Han Jijyun really liked Li Jinghong's personality. Planning out his future so early, and pursuing it with determination, ignoring all the miscellaneous distractions along the way — this type of person would succeed easily. Han Jijyun liked making friends with people like this because they wouldn't give him any trouble.

Yup, one troublemaking Qi Long was more than enough, thank you. Han Jijyun refused to accept a second one.

The ten people of group 072 did not get hung up on the matter for long and continued to feast and be merry. At this moment, Ling Lan was still unaware that her future would be full of entanglements with the Li family ...

********

In the afternoon, they toured the entire campus grounds of the scout academy. Halfway through, when they passed by a combat hall, Qi Long had dragged Ling Lan in for a fight. Naturally, Ling Lan pummelled Qi Long soundly. However, despite his swollen eyes and bruised nose, Qi Long continued to keep a silly grin on his face. Seeing his full mouth of white teeth on display, one could just tell he was really very simple and was a masochist to boot.

After eating lunch, Ling Lan had already arranged the time for her pick up with her family. When it was about time, she bid farewell to these companions of group 072. Perhaps it was just the way of this world that the children were so mature and intelligent, in such a way that Ling Lan did not feel at all annoyed or bored when interacting with them. Of course, she was also exceptionally patient, because these adorable children with varying personalities had triggered her maternal instincts to the max ...

With reluctance, the children accompanied Ling Lan to the school gates. Especially Qi Long, who strongly requested Ling Lan to convince her parents to let her stay with them at school. According to him, being able to fight with Boss Lan every day — it was awesome just thinking about it!

Learning of Qi Long's plans, Ling Lan, who had originally started considering staying at the school after all, decisively dismissed the idea completely. Dammit. She definitely had no interest to cross moves with Qi Long every day. This fellow fought like a maniac, and was as stubborn as a cockroach — although she was confident in defeating him, she couldn't be certain how long it would take, so it was overall a troublesome labour which exhausted both her mind and body.

The school gates were shut tight. All was silent, and there was no one around. When the guard at the gates saw Ling Lan's group coming out, he immediately rushed forward to stop them. Ling Lan's group was still dressed in their own clothes, so the guard couldn't tell which class they were from. As today was registration day, the school did not restrict the children's dressing. But from tomorrow onwards, the students of the Central Scout Academy would have to put on their individual uniforms, otherwise they would find it very difficult to get around the scout academy.

With regards to the scout academy uniforms, there were a total of four colours. These colours were not for distinguishing between the lower grades and the upper grades, but were meant to distinguish between the classes. This taught the children to recognise what rank and privilege were from the very beginning, and about what 'survival of the fittest' meant.

The school uniforms resembled the Federation military uniforms and looked very smart when worn. The colour of the Special Class-A uniforms was a vibrant red, and the edges of its sleeves and collar were also different from the other classes. They were decorated with gold patterns, an understated nod to luxury. The uniform represented the school's hopes for these children — may they blaze as brightly as the red of their coats, and finally become one of the dazzling battle stars of the Federation.

According to school rules, when facing a child wearing the red uniform of Special Class-A, children wearing uniforms of any other colour, regardless of their grade level, would have to give way. Of course, if someone from Special Class-A insulted a child wearing a uniform in any other colour, the child had the right to challenge the other to combat during the large-scale ranking every six months. All consequences to be borne by the involved parties, of course.

Meanwhile, Special Class-B had white uniforms. Special Class-B consisted of children who were just a shade weaker than the Special Class-A kids. In the future, it was possible that they could achieve the heights of the Special Class-A kids, but they could also end up becoming a mediocre member of the military. Therefore, the white of their uniform was a message, telling them that their future was up to them to colour in — what colour it became in the end was all up to their own individual efforts.

Then, the uniforms of the merit classes were blue, while the regular classes' were green. Both these colours symbolized sources of life — the school wanted to tell the children through these colours that they were an indispensable part of the Federation.

Of course, the colour of one's school uniform was not set in stone. As long as you worked hard, there was a chance to move up every six months. The school would be impartial in rearranging the classes based on the newest rankings.

The 50 slots of Special Class-A were the prize being fought over by over tens of thousands of students, while the original special class kids would have to give it their all to keep their spots.

From the very first day of school, the Central Scout Academy had already started teaching the children that this was an unbelievably intense world of competition.

Chapter 62 - An Intentional Arrangement

When the guard found out that Ling Lan was a member of Special Class-A, who had also chosen to be a day student, he was dumbfounded. After so many years of being a guard at the school, this was still the first time he had met a day student.

From this, we can see that the freedom to be a day student offered by the school was basically just an empty privilege. It's obvious if you think about it — with such a competitive system in place, every student would wish that they could spend the 24 hours each day as if they were 48 hours ... who'd be willing to waste time commuting back and forth from school?

Although the guard was shocked, he still let Ling Lan out of the gates without comment. Of course, Qi Long and the other kids were mercilessly locked within the gates. Who asked them to choose to board at school? Upon becoming a boarder, students were not allowed to take even half a step out of school grounds outside of specified times, even if one was a special class student.

Ling Lan waved goodbye to her companions and stepped out of the school gates. Right outside, the Ling family hover car was already parked, waiting.

This time, the Ling family had sent out five hover cars, and Ling Lan's main escort was the only non-betrayer of the rescue team, Ling Yu. Chamberlain Ling Qin hadn't come because he was busy wrapping things up with the betrayers.

Ling Lan got into the hover car arranged by Ling Yu, and Ling Yu got in after her, and then started reporting on the investigation results they had gathered in the course of the afternoon.

It turned out that Ling Hua had betrayed the Ling family because he didn't want his child to follow in his footsteps to become a Ling family loyalist for the next generation.

Ling Hua's son, Ling Yi, was younger than Ling Lan by one year. At his birth, he was assessed to be just a hair weaker than Ling Lan in terms of fitness and potential. In other words, Ling Yi had a very high probability of becoming an ace operator. However, the offspring of Ling family loyalists had no right to enrol and study in a scout academy — they could only accept the in-house education organised by the Ling family. This meant that Ling Yi's growth would be stunted — he would never be able to pilot a mecha better than the standard mecha, and his chances of being promoted to an ace operator were pretty much nil.

As Ling Yi grew closer and closer to turning six, Ling Hua had been tormented by his internal struggle. It was then that a chance for his son to excel beyond his station had appeared before him, and so Ling Hua's loyalty had wavered.

The other party had promised that as long as Ling Lan died, the Ling family would be dissolved. Then, Ling Hua's family could become regular citizens again, and Ling Yi would be able to formally enrol and study at a scout academy, obtaining a bright and limitless future.

After listening to Ling Yu's report, Ling Lan sighed regretfully. "How stupid."

Ling Yu said dazedly, "Yes, the captain was really so stupid ... if only he had told us about this, he could have used the information to gain enough merit to request for his freedom."

Ling Yu still remembered that there was one rule among the Ling family rules: Any loyalist who performed exceptionally meritorious services could request one thing of the family head that was within the head's means. As long as Ling Hua had related the plan against Ling Lan to Chamberlain Ling Qin, it would have counted as an exceptionally meritorious service, and he would have been able to put forward his request. Ling Lan and Chamberlain Ling Qin would never have refused him.

Till this point, Ling Lan and Ling Yu just couldn't understand why Ling Hua had been willing to walk down this dark path, finally choosing to betray the Ling family rather than use this information as a bargaining chip.

However, once Ling Lan returned to the living room of the Ling family main estate, the waiting Ling Qin told her the rest of the information he had just discovered, which included the other reason behind Ling Hua's betrayal.

With a serious expression, Ling Qin said, "According to those three loyalists, during a fit of boasting, Ling Hua revealed that the other party had promised to provide his son with six tubes of gene stimulating agent every year until Ling Yi could absorb no more. Of course, he had also promised the other three loyalists that their descendants would also be able to enjoy this privilege if their stats were good enough."

"The other party is certainly generous. Looks like this person who's after me is someone powerful." Ling Lan finally understood why Ling Hua had chosen to betray them in the end. Even though the offer seemed to be just six tubes of gene agent, it had given Ling Hua a sense of how powerful the other side really was, implying that crushing the Ling family was not too difficult for them.

"Ling Hua was frightened. He felt that the Ling family would not be able to go up against that person; he didn't want his child to be buried along with the Ling family." Ling Qin naturally understood Ling Hua's mentality as well, and sighed sadly once again.

"Young Master Lan, what do you plan to do with Ling Hua's wife and child?" asked Ling Qin carefully. There wasn't a single family which would accept the orphan of a traitor; many families would choose to eliminate the problem entirely by getting rid of them as soon as possible.

Just as Ling Lan was about to answer, a commotion broke out at the main gates. A child could be heard crying, "Young Master Lan, Young Master Lan, I beg you, please see me!"

From the sofa, Ling Lan quirked a brow, lifting her head to look at Ling Qin. As such, she saw when a hint of awkwardness flashed past Ling Qin's face. It looked like he knew who the child screaming outside was.

Ling Lan did not ask any questions. She just stood and walked to the gate, with Ling Qin and Ling Yu following close behind her.

The moment Ling Lan arrived at the gate, she saw a little midget just a little smaller than her struggling within the grasp of one of the guards. He was still screaming for Young Master Lan, and when he saw her appear, his eyes lit up with a savage joy.

"Who are you? Why do you want to see me?" Ling Lan asked impassively.

"So you're Young Master Lan?" At Ling Lan's words, the little midget struggled even harder.

Ling Yu, who was standing behind Ling Lan, threw a pointed look at the guard holding onto the child, and the guard immediately loosened his grip and retreated to the side.

"I'm called Ling Yi. My dad's Ling Hua." The midget straightened up and introduced himself after calming himself for a moment.

Ling Lan nodded internally. No wonder Ling Hua was willing to become a traitor for his son — the child was indeed very bright, and could already control his emotions well enough to grasp opportunities in his path.

"They told me that, my dad is dead ... my dad was so strong, how could he die?" There was still hope on Ling Yi's face, as if hoping that Ling Lan would tell him that all this wasn't true.

Ling Lan secretly sighed; Ling Hua may have wronged her, but he hadn't wronged his son Ling Yi. A thought tumbled through her mind, and she replied, "Even the strongest person cannot always fend off an enemy's underhanded schemes. Ling Yi, your father is really dead."

"Who killed my father?" Ling Yi's eyes were clouded with despair.

"I do not know, but we're guessing that the orders came from someone in the upper ranks of the military, and that my father was also killed by one of the opponent's plots," said Ling Lan sadly and regretfully.

Ling Lan resolutely pushed the blame of Ling Hua's death onto the enemy who wanted her dead. She looked forward to Ling Yi's vengeance against the other once he grew up. After all, even though Ling Hua had died at her hands, wasn't the root cause the other party's inducement?

Of course, Ling Lan's words caused a flash of surprise to pass through both Ling Qin's and Ling Yu's eyes, but their expressions quickly relaxed, as if pleased with the way Ling Lan had spun things.

Gaining the answer he sought, the flames of hatred blazed in Ling Yi's eyes. "Young Master Lan, I'll definitely become stronger. At that time, I hope Young Master Lan will give me the chance to end the enemy with my own hand."

Ling Yi's words caused an irrepressible shudder to run through Ling Qin's and Ling Yu's body. A chill settled in their hearts — could this end up being a case of warming a snake in one's bosom 1 ?

Only Ling Lan seemed unperturbed, as she nodded and said, "Alright, I promise you this. Also, I must tell you — when your father sacrificed himself, he requested that you be set free, and I've agreed to it ..."

But Ling Yi interrupted Ling Lan to say, "I don't want to leave the Ling family."

"Why?" Ling Lan was curious.

"I want to inherit my father's position. I want to become Young Master Lan's most trusted loyalist." Ling Yi's face was filled with determination. Ever since he was little, he had received education telling him to be loyal to the Ling family and the family head — the thought of leaving the Ling family had never crossed his young mind.

This response caused Ling Lan to fall silent.

Ling Hua, you betrayed yourself, and betrayed the Ling family ... but your child had no intentions to leave the Ling family to begin with. Wasn't that just ironic?

"I really want to agree with your request, but unfortunately, I promised your father first. A person should not go back on their word ..." said Ling Lan regretfully.

Ling Lan's words made Ling Yi burst out into tears instantly. After all, he was only just a five year old child — facing an unknown future, even the strongest and brightest child would not be able to bear the anxiety within his heart. Like the child he was, he wailed.

"Ling Yi, if you want to inherit your father's position, then you can't cry anymore," with reddened eyes, Ling Lan comforted the boy. "Your father wished for you to enter a scout academy, and then obtain a place in a military school, and finally become a professional military man. You cannot let your father down."

Then, Ling Lan patted him on the head and continued, "However, I didn't say anything about sending you away. You will still be a member of the Ling family, only a free man in name. When you've grown up, it'll be up to you whether you want to leave or return to the Ling family."

Ling Lan's words reignited the hope in Ling Yi's heart. He wiped away his tears, and said, "Yes! I'll work hard, Young Master Lan. I'll definitely come back." He said this with steel-like conviction.

He then turned around with a serious look on his face to speak to Ling Yu, who was behind Ling Lan. "Brother-in-law Yu, I'll leave Young Master Lan to you for now. Once I've become stronger, I'll definitely come back to take your position from you." That said, he bowed to Ling Lan in farewell and left the Ling family main estate.

With a face full of worry, Ling Yu asked, "Young Master Lan, isn't this arrangement too risky?" If Ling Yi ever found out the truth, it was very likely that he would turn against them instead.

Ling Lan smiled a slight smile. "Isn't it more interesting this way? Whether or not Ling Yi becomes useful to me in the end, he is still a good chess piece."

Ling Lan's words rendered Ling Yu speechless — he really couldn't figure out what Ling Lan's true thoughts were now.

Ling Qin's expression was a little unsettled, but in the end, he said nothing.

Ling Lan turned her head to face Ling Qin with a harsh expression. "Grandpa Chamberlain, you've already handled the traitors and those prisoners, right?"

Ling Qin's heart skipped a beat, and he stared at Ling Lan intently.

Ling Lan asked, "About Ling Hua's betrayal ... besides the three of us, who else knows?"

Ling Yu hurriedly shook his head. Out of caution in case there were other traitors within the Ling family, the three traitorous mecha squad members had been interrogated personally by him and Ling Qin. No one else knew any details.

Ling Qin's verbal response corroborated this. After Ling Yu had left, he had continued the interrogation on his own, which was how he had found out the key reason behind Ling Hua's betrayal.

"That's good. After getting rid of those people, as long as the three of us keep our mouths shut, Ling Yi should never be able to find out the truth." Ling Lan's words sent cold sweat running down Ling Qin's and Ling Yu's back. Was this Ling Lan's subtle way of warning them?

"What if the person who tried to buy Ling Hua comes out to tell Ling Yi the truth?" Ling Qin was still uneasy about this; Ling Yi was clearly a ticking time bomb.

"Perhaps then we can inculcate the idea in Ling Yi that all of it is a plot by the opponent ... Anyway, it's a bigger problem if he doesn't reveal himself. If he comes out, we could then follow the vine to get the melon 1 , and find out once and for all who is trying to harm our Ling family." Ling Lan's expression was sly.

Ling Qin's eyes lit up. "This is a good plan." If Ling Yi really managed to draw out that venomous snake from the shadows, it was worth it to take the risk.

Just like that, the three of them discussed things a little more, and then Ling Qin and Ling Yu went off to handle their respective matters. Meanwhile, Ling Lan was left sitting alone on the sofa of the large living room. Once she confirmed that the two men had left, she sighed softly, "To save Ling Yi, was it really necessary to make things so complicated?"

On the surface, Ling Qin and Ling Yu had seemed as if they really wanted to tear the weed out by its root 1 , but in truth, everything they did was to salvage Ling Yi's life. Otherwise, how could the little Ling Yi suddenly appear at the main door of the Ling family main house?

The loyalists protecting the main house must have received the order to let Ling Yi through to the main doors, and both Ling Qin and Ling Yu should have something to do with this order ... The moment Ling Lan saw Ling Yi, she had understood this immediately.

Although Ling Lan had no intention of taking Ling Yi's life to begin with, this sort of intentional arrangement annoyed her.

It was great that the Ling family rules were humane and reasonable, however, they weren't ideal for warding against insubordination. In times when the family head was weak while the servants were stronger, this type of subtle nudging without the master's express permission was likely to happen. Although they didn't mean any harm, and there was no negative impact on her currently, if she let this go on unchecked, it might end up causing her a lot of trouble someday.

Perhaps she should think of a way to change the current status quo, otherwise, it may really become impossible for her to continue putting her trust in the Ling family people. And that, would truly be a tragic thing. Both for Ling Lan, and for Ling Qin and the rest.

Basically, raising and sheltering one's own enemy.

A literal translation of a Chinese saying. Should be pretty clear imagery, but just to clarify, it means to trace the clues back to their source.

i.e. Exterminate the problem completely. Here, Ling Yi could be a potential problem in the future, so the smart but ruthless thing to do would be to just kill him.

Chapter 63 - Number Five Appears!

Walking out from the Ling family main house, Ling Yu finally couldn't contain himself any longer, and asked Ling Qin in front of him, "Elder Qin, why didn't you ask about the cockpits ejecting from the mecha?"

Ling Yu knew that that must have been caused by Ling Lan somehow, otherwise he wouldn't have been so calm when the mecha had fired. It's just — he really couldn't figure out how Ling Lan had done it. Could it really be that he could control A.I.?

Of course, Ling Yu knew that this was preposterous — a joke. Everyone knew that A.I.s were self-contained systems. If a hacker was crazy enough to try and control an A.I., the A.I. would shut down automatically, and the mecha would automatically switch over to manual controls.

Even the most skilful hacker in the world would not be able to succeed. Moreover, once the A.I. had shut down, the controls would still be in the hands of the operators in the cockpits. It couldn't be that all three operators had made the same control error, right?

Of course, another possibility was the A.I. itself glitching ... Ling Yu naturally shied away from this avenue of thought. If that were true, it would certainly be a catastrophe of epic proportions — it would utterly destroy the entire weapons system of the Federation. The Federation just could not afford for this to be true.

In front of him, Ling Qin paused for a moment before turning his head back to caution, "Ling Yu, you overstep."

Ling Yu's heart skipped a beat. Every generation of the Ling family head had his own trump card and last resort, and these were considered forbidden territory within the Ling family. No one was allowed to look into it, and violators of this unspoken rule would receive a bloody end. And here he had stumbled across the line unknowingly.

"Yes, thank you, Elder Qin, for the reminder." At this point, Ling Yu no longer held a whit of curiosity about it; perhaps this was just one of the Ling family's last resorts. It made sense when one thought about it. Mecha were the ultimate solo weapon — even the common standard mecha could easily wipe out a bare-handed martial expert. If he didn't keep something up his sleeve, how could the Ling family head put mecha into others' hands without worry?

It had to be said that Ling Yu had an overactive imagination, his brain easily coming up with all sorts of wild ideas to fill in the blanks. The result of his 'reasoning' was a back drenched with cold sweat, and the already loyal Ling Yu had no more stray thoughts, becoming Ling Lan's most loyal loyalist in his lifetime.

Ling Qin observed Ling Yu's realisation and acceptance, and smiled a satisfied smile. Ling Qin was a good elder, and a good guard, but he was not a good steward. If he hadn't been so lax in his management all these years, the people of the Ling family wouldn't have been so uncertain about their own position within the household, resulting in that tragic betrayal. However, Ling Qin was a person who knew how to reflect. Since he had made a mistake previously, then he would change now.

So he had deviated from his usual agreeableness into this stern demeanour, and had issued an immediate warning in the face of Ling Yu's curiosity. If this was before, Ling Qin would have patiently explained things to Ling Yu before counselling Ling Yu to drop the matter. He wouldn't have outright warned Ling Yu without providing an explanation.

It looked like Ling Lan wasn't the only one who had sensed the problem within the Ling family. Ling Qin had sensed it too and had begun his attempts to correct it. As for whether it would be effective, only time would tell.

Of course, Ling Qin may have been affecting an enigmatic look as he warned Ling Yu, but in reality, he himself had no clue how the cockpits had been automatically ejected from the three mecha. Back then, his first thought was indeed that this was a last resort of the Ling family.

He still recalled that when Ling Xiao had left, he had said something carefully and intently by Lan Luofeng's ear. Perhaps even then, Master Ling Xiao had sensed the problem within the Ling family, and for precaution's sake, had passed the secret of this last resort on to Lan Luofeng. (Grandpa Chamberlain, you're really thinking too much. The man just wanted to say some sweet nothings to his beau and was embarrassed to be overheard.) And later, Lan Luofeng must have passed it on in turn to Ling Lan.

It should be noted that Chamberlain Ling Qin's ability to fill-in-the-blanks was certainly a match for Ling Yu's — initially, Ling Lan had still been worried about how she would explain this issue away, but now, because of these two's misunderstandings, it was no longer a problem.

Mind you, as Ling Lan had been discussing the matter of Ling Yi earlier, she had been constantly worried that they would ask about that. Of course, she had already come up with a strategy to handle it, but unexpectedly, the dreaded question hadn't come even when they had left. This made Ling Lan very thankful, and she could finally relax. Since everyone was willing to pretend, she was also happy to play along.

Still, Ling Lan wasn't happy for long before she was mercilessly dragged into the learning space.

That night, under Lan Luofeng's praise, Ling Lan had played up her cuteness to the max and feasted until she was full. Just as she was humming and preparing to lie down to rest, she felt her consciousness being sucked out of her body by a terrifying force.

F*ck! Not again!

Ling Lan savagely raised her middle finger against the dark world before her, mentally cursing at the tyranny of the learning space, and at how it didn't know how to respect its own host. Of course, Ling Lan only dared to be so impudent now — once Instructor Number One showed up, Ling Lan would be as obedient as she could be. It couldn't be helped. Number One was just too scary — Ling Lan's strength was improving little by little, and the more it improved, the more she could sense how overwhelming Instructor Number One's strength was. With just one look, he could render her immobile ...

As expected, the sombre coffin-faced Instructor Number One appeared, and Ling Lan immediately hid away her indignant expression, lowering her head and smoothing her brows into a face eager to learn.

"Today's ambush. What are your thoughts?" asked Number One directly.

"In front of mecha, the ultimate solo weapon, pure physical strength is nothing, like an ant." Ling Lan would never forget the helplessness she had felt when facing the mecha. If it hadn't been for Little Four's help, she would have been done for.

"For the present you, it's already not bad that you could comprehend that." Number One didn't seem particularly satisfied with Ling Lan's response, but he wasn't angered by it either. He continued, "Based on your current performance and condition, I have to adjust your training plan."

Ling Lan was taken aback; she had no idea what Instructor Number One meant.

"Number Five!" Number One spoke once again, but called out an unfamiliar number.

"Big Bro, I'm here." A vaguely lazy voice rang out from behind Ling Lan.

Ling Lan abruptly turned her head, and saw a rather dashing looking young man with a smile on his lips. When his eyes met hers, he waved at her enthusiastically. Facing Number One's stifling presence, he seemed entirely unconcerned.

Ling Lan's gaze narrowed; this man was definitely more than he seemed. She knew very well how formidable as usual Instructor Number One's presence was — the fact that this man could be so carefree in the face of that ... did it mean that his presence was just as formidable?

"After this, your training will be led by Number Five, with Number Nine assisting." Number One didn't seem to mind Number Five's flippant attitude, disappearing after laying down the law.

Meanwhile, Number Nine had also appeared in the learning space. When she saw Number Five, the subtle smile on her face faded into ice. "Number Five, long time no see."

"Lil Sis Number Nine! It's been such a long time. Your brother here has almost contracted lovesickness since it's been so long. My hair turning white overnight and all ..." Number Five scurried over to Number Nine, face filled with emotion as he clasped Number Nine's hand. His expression was full of longing, completely oblivious of the throbbing green vein on Number Nine's forehead.

Faced with Number Five's shameless words and actions, Number Nine threw a kick at him without any hesitation.

With just a single leap, Number Five escaped the range of Number Nine's attack, but he still showed no restraint, continuing to tease, "Lil Sis Number Nine, so passionate even after so long. You make elder brother so happy."

"Number Five, do not forget your mission. Number One isn't as patient as I am," huffed Number Nine coldly. She seemed used to Number Five's lackadaisical attitude, bluntly reminding him not to go overboard.

When Number Five heard this, his grin visibly froze for a beat.

Number Nine didn't pay any more attention to Number Five, turning instead to Ling Lan to say, "Ling Lan, Number Five's training will not be easy, you must be prepared." Facing her pet disciple, she couldn't help but worry a bit more than usual. She understood that Number One wouldn't allow her to be the only one responsible for Ling Lan's training this time because he was afraid that her affection for Ling Lan would affect her progress.

Although Number One seemed to be very dissatisfied with Ling Lan, nitpicking at any little flaw, Number One actually thought very highly of Ling Lan, even training her up as if she were his successor. Otherwise, Number One wouldn't have modified his training plan for Ling Lan again and again.

Hearing this, Number Five's smile deepened once again. "Number Nine, relax, Ling Lan's also my student. I'll take good care of him." For some reason, looking at Number Five's smile, Ling Lan felt a chill settle over her heart.

Ling Lan's intuition was not mistaken. When Number Nine heard Number Five's words, she did not relax at all, but rather looked at Ling Lan with strange pity in her eyes. This gaze set off the final alarms in Ling Lan's mind — hells, this was definitely nothing good.

Before Ling Lan could ask Number Nine any questions, Number Five flicked a finger, and Ling Lan was thrown into a new learning area, an endless grassy plain. With a tortured look on her face, Ling Lan heard the voice of the system ring out by her ear:

Mission: 1 minute later, a wolf pack will come. Please hold out against the wolf pack's attack for 20 minutes without dying. Reward for completion unknown! Punishment for failure unknown!

Ling Lan had no thought to spare right now for reward or punishment. Her forehead was beaded with sweat — goddammit, actually expecting her to fight bare-handed against wolves! And she had to hold out for 20 minutes as well — this was definitely a mission meant to kill someone. Ling Lan did not believe that the wolves in this wolf pack here would be like the wolves from her previous planet. The wild beasts within the learning space were definitely several times bigger and stronger than their earthly counterparts.

It wasn't that Ling Lan had not considered running away, but unfortunately she had no idea which direction the wolf pack would come from, or even if they would attack from all directions. Since she couldn't be sure, recklessly running away might just put her in a worse situation. She might as well just save her strength and wait for the final battle.

Ling Lan naturally used the last of her waiting time to observe her grassy surroundings. If she could just find an easily defensible location, then setting aside 20 minutes, she should even be able to defend for a fair bit longer.

Unfortunately, Ling Lan was disappointed. The learning space was not like the games of her previous world, full of bugs — in this grassland before her, there wasn't a single obstruction in sight, the endless flat plain of grass only followed by yet endless flat plain of grass. And on the ground itself, there was only soft grass on top of loose soil. There weren't even any hard rocks, so Ling Lan couldn't even find one to use as a weapon even if she wanted to.

Dammit, the learning space was truly vicious. It wouldn't allow Ling Lan to borrow any external strength whatsoever, determined to make Ling Lan fight off the wolves with just her bare hands.

A minute's time went by swiftly, and then countless howls broke the silence from all around Ling Lan. Sure enough, the wolves were not going to come from just one direction, but were surrounding her. For Ling Lan, this just made the situation even more perilous.

Ling Lan narrowed her eyes and released the malevolent aura contained within her body in a sudden blast. The moment this malevolent aura appeared, a change fell over the wolves' howls ...

Chapter 64 - The Rabbit Sky Leap Skill!

Against a wolf pack, showing any weakness was not going to work. A wolf pack wouldn't think as deeply as a human would — in their eyes, the weaker the prey, the easier it would be for them to release their aggression upon it. In contrast, against a stronger opponent, a wolf pack would be much more cautious, and wouldn't just pounce recklessly.

Sure enough, the full blast of Ling Lan's malevolent aura made the alpha wolf pause — after all, Ling Lan was someone who had killed the King of the Swamp before and had been baptised in the blood of the various kingly beasts. This malevolent aura caused the wolves to become wary, and the wolves who had been bounding at her from all directions stopped at the lead wolf's howling cries. Still, they remained poised to attack, just waiting for the alpha wolf's signal.

The dense pack of wolves almost filled the entire grassy plain, and every wolf was extremely large and fierce, their bodies as big as a small cow's. Their snouts were spread in savage grins, and drool hung from the razor-sharp tips of their exposed teeth.

Facing such delicious prey, the eyes of this pack of ravenous wolves were almost glowing green ... If a normal person was here and was faced with this scene, he would likely piss his pants and collapse to the ground.

Still, Ling Lan was unaffected. She remained cool-headed and continued to look for her chance.

At this moment, she was very grateful that she had gone through the survival training in the primordial forest. After experiencing the terror of surviving there, she could keep her calm in this situation, heart steady and muscles pliant.

Both sides observed each other for a long moment. And then, the alpha wolf's howl rang out once again. Ling Lan's ears twitched, sifting through the cries coming from the wolf pack, and she managed to confirm that there were actually five alpha wolves of equal rank within the pack. Pleasant surprise flashed through Ling Lan's eyes — perhaps this was the fighting chance she had to hold out for 20 minutes.

Without waiting for the five alpha wolves to come to an agreement, Ling Lan charged forward, her target being the area to the northeast side. Different from the other wolves in the wolf pack, the wolves in this area had a clear red line on their foreheads.

Ling Lan's unexpected action caused chaos to break out within the pack surrounding her, but a piercing howl rang out, followed closely by the cries of the four other alpha wolves', bringing the pack back to order and silence.

Only the wolves with red-lined foreheads continued to bare their fangs at Ling Lan who had invaded their territory. It looked like the alpha wolf of this part of the pack felt that this was a direct challenge to its authority, and that Ling Lan was a prey that had delivered itself to death's door.

Although Ling Lan's fists flew furiously, savagely sending red-lined wolf after red-lined wolf flying, she was still keeping a close watch on the whole situation. Seeing the other wolf packs under the other alpha wolves sitting by the side-lines as she had expected, her heart settled.

Of course, Ling Lan didn't think the danger was over yet. If the red-lined wolf pack couldn't handle her, the alpha of this pack would probably compromise in the end and choose to cooperate with the other wolf packs. At that time, she would still be subject to a group attack.

Frankly, although the wolves had looked as if they worked together like a single entity at first, they were still divided by their respective packs. Cooperating to take down a prey was fine, but if one pack wanted to enter another pack's territory, that was definitely out of the question. Unless the particular wolf pack was weaker and needed the reinforcement of outside help, only then would the alpha wolf loosen this restriction. Ling Lan had cleverly grasped hold of this point and had jumped on her own into the red-lined wolves' territory, forcing the other wolf packs to step back and wait.

Ling Lan may be small, but the power behind her fists wasn't, and her physical fitness was certainly of the abnormal sort. After six years of continuous training with the Qi cultivation exercises, along with the medicinal baths of the Ling family, her body's resilience had long since exceeded that of an average person's. Although her skin still looked as fair and rosy as a maiden's, it was very difficult for normal blades to leave any sort of mark on her body.

********

Somewhere high up in the air out of Ling Lan's sight, Number Five and Number Nine were watching the fight.

Number Five nodded and said, "Not bad, she has good basics. Number Nine, looks like you put in a lot of effort."

Number Nine's eyes held a trace of a smile, and her tone was proud as she said, "Yes, Ling Lan is very hardworking and motivated."

Number Five glanced at Number Nine with a half-smile on his face. "You're satisfied with her current progress? It doesn't seem like she's reached her limits yet — Number Nine, you've become soft on her after all. That's not like you."

Number Nine sniffed. "I think this level of progress is best suited for her." However, after she said this, a subtle blush stole over the skin behind Number Nine's ears.

It couldn't be helped — Number Nine couldn't really say that with full honesty. It was the truth that she hadn't pushed Ling Lan as hard as she could in the past few years.

Mind you, the teaching approach of the learning space was to use the most extreme and cruellest methods imaginable to force the children to break past their limits and unleash their innate talents. It made the children challenge their limits in every way, physically and mentally, and even in other respects.

This sort of cruel teaching approach put every single child who entered the learning space under an endless amount of torment and duress. Almost all the children had not been able to bear it, and would end up either breaking down in tears, running away in fear, or even losing all their confidence to loudly beg for mercy ... this was all part of the phase of vulnerability that the children had to experience and overcome.

But Ling Lan stood out as an oddball. It was as if she had already established her goals early on (the girl was a proper adult who had lived two lives, not an ignorant young child, of course she wouldn't be so easily scared off by this type of teaching approach), so, in the six years with Number Nine in charge, no matter how harsh the training, or how unreasonable the courses, Ling Lan had endured. She had never voiced a single complaint, nor shed a single tear. This stoicism ended up moving the typically unfeeling Number Nine, leading her to become somewhat soft on Ling Lan.

It had to be said that this was a beautiful misunderstanding!

Number Five touched his chin with his right hand, and the smile on his lips deepened. Perhaps this was why Number One had unsealed him — this child had actually managed to affect Number Nine, how interesting ...

Seeing Number Five's strange smile, Number Nine couldn't help but worry for Ling Lan. She raised her voice in warning, "Number Five, don't go overboard."

Number Nine knew how insane Number Five could get — at the beginning, countless promising prodigies had had their wings snapped by his hand. Of course, anyone who managed to survive his training would certainly become an unimaginable talent ... but she had never seen Number Five succeed in training anyone.

Number Nine looked over at Ling Lan with a complicated gaze. It's not that she didn't want Ling Lan to become great, but rather than subject her to the unspeakable torments of the training period, she'd rather see Ling Lan happy and carefree ... but could a powerless person truly be happy and carefree?

As if coming to some realisation, Number Nine abruptly turned away, and with her back to Number Five, she said, "Once you're done with training, come find me."

Number Five quirked a brow. "What? Not going to follow us around anymore? Aren't you afraid I'll end up ruining your beloved disciple?" After all, the reason they had come here was due to Number Nine's worry to begin with.

At this moment, Number Nine's face no longer held any traces of worry. With a cool expression, she said, "Number One did the right thing. I am not suitable to be Ling Lan's main instructor right now. But, I believe that Ling Lan will definitely complete your training course."

"So much confidence in her?" Number Five was taken aback. For context, it should be known that he had ruined several hundred prodigies with his training methods previously, which was why he had been sealed within the learning space. Thus, he himself was very surprised when he was unsealed this time — and even more surprisingly, Number One had actually put him in charge of their current host.

"Ling Lan's not just my pet disciple, she's also Elder Brother Number One's." A confident smile appeared on Number Nine's lips before she disappeared from the area.

Number Five stared at the spot where Number Nine disappeared and smiled thoughtfully. Number One's disciple? That was just too interesting!

********

Meanwhile, around Ling Lan, the bodies of red-lined wolves were beginning to pile up, and although yet more red-lined wolves continued to circle her, their attacks were not as aggressive as they had been before, and were perhaps even a little tentative.

This scenario enraged the alpha wolf of the red-lined wolves — it felt that its authority had been undermined by this weak little prey before it. So it let loose another howl, spurring on the attacks of the red-lined wolves, causing them to become more aggressive.

Bam! A red-lined wolf who was lunging for Ling Lan's throat was punched right in the head.

Crack! Its skull fractured, and its calf-sized body fell heavily to the ground. And there the red-lined wolf lay, whining piteously, and after a few final fluttering breaths, its chest went still and the wolf never got up again.

The current Ling Lan was no longer her usual serene self — her eyes held a limitless amount of killing intent, and she attacked with precision and ruthlessness. This sort of life-and-death scenario did not allow for any carelessness on her part; she was determined not to experience death being torn apart by wolves.

She had already begun circulating her Qi the moment she started attacking, as this was one of her trump cards when charging into the wolf pack. As long as the opponent was not stronger than her, the energy expended in her attacks could be completely recuperated by the circulation of Qi. In other words, Ling Lan would never be in danger of a tragic death by exhaustion.

The alpha of the red-lined wolves watched as its subordinates fell one by one, with no visible effect on the weak prey. Finally, it could tolerate it no longer, and with a howl, it rushed into the fray.

The alpha of the red-lined wolves was much bigger than the other red-lined wolves; its body could be compared to that of an adult bull. It approached with bloodshot red eyes — the countless deaths of its subordinates by Ling Lan's hands had sent it into a towering rage.

The other red-lined wolves backed away in the face of their alpha, leaving the battlefield completely up to their leader.

Ling Lan exhaled softly. Plans and counterplans flashed through her mind as she considered whether she should try to draw out the fight with this alpha wolf, so she could while away a bit more time.

But the red-lined alpha wolf was not going to give Ling Lan the time to think, pouncing at her the moment it got within range. It swung its thick claws at Ling Lan, trying to tear this detestable prey in half.

Ling Lan leant back slightly, just enough to avoid the alpha's claws, when suddenly, the wolf's claws mysteriously lengthened.

Ling Lan's heart skipped a beat, and she quickly pushed on her two feet to spring back further, narrowly managing to avoid those sharp extendable claws.

After evading the attack, Ling Lan struggled to regain her balance as she peeked at the alpha's claws. All four of the alpha's claws had extended by approximately 10 centimetres. Who knew that the red-lined alpha wolf within the learning space would have the ability to retract its claws? This surprise had almost made her take some unintended damage.

The alpha wolf wasn't going to give Ling Lan time to adjust, immediately lunging at her once again, and its main weapon this time was its sharp teeth.

Ling Lan met it with a fist, but this time she felt as if she was hitting a solid rock. Her fist throbbed in pain, and the resulting aftershock of energy pushed her back by five to six paces.

On the other hand, Ling Lan's punch didn't seem to have caused much damage to the alpha. The alpha landed squarely, and when it saw Ling Lan falling back, it charged forward once again with all its might, jaws wide open in preparation for a savage bite.

"Rabbit Sky Leap!"

Chapter 65 - A Rip-Off of a Mission Clear Reward!

Ling Lan's right arm was numb so she could no longer use it to attack, so she decisively threw out a back kick, using the technique she had trained diligently to obtain in the past five years — the Rabbit Sky Leap. And now she would finally be able to test it out for real, and see how much power this skill, which had cost her 10 honour points, truly wielded.

With a loud "Bam!", the red-lined alpha wolf was sent flying amidst its own pained cries. It smashed onto the ground and actually rolled another five to six metres due to the remaining energy behind the blow before coming to a stop.

Ling Lan put down her right foot, her eyes full of satisfaction. As expected, the Rabbit Sky Leap was really powerful — the strength of her own fists had not been able to do much damage to the red-lined alpha wolf, but the Rabbit Sky Leap could, and it looked like the damage value it dealt was significant.

According to Ling Lan's calculations, the Rabbit Sky Leap technique could increase her leg strength by as much as five times — and this was just at the basic level of mastery. If she continued to practise and became even more proficient with the skill, it would definitely become one of her killing techniques.

At this moment, the red-lined wolf tottered upright again. As its head was hit directly, it seemed to still be somewhat dazed. The red-lined alpha wolf shook its head to try and dispel the dizziness, but this move only made it fall over again.

The condition of the red-lined alpha wolf caused the red-lined wolf pack to fall into disarray. The wolves were all howling at the sky worriedly, as if asking if their leader was okay.

Still, as befitting one of the reigning kings of the grasslands, the red-lined alpha wolf stood up once again. This time, it seemed to have regained full awareness, and turning to face the one who had kicked it, its eyes were crimson, filled with the need to rip Ling Lan into pieces.

Still, the wild beasts within the learning space had a certain level of intelligence — Ling Lan's kick had shown the alpha wolf that this small prey before it was not as weak as it seemed. It knew that it would not be able to handle the prey on its own, and so the red-lined wolf cast away its dignity, and howled up at the sky.

Very quickly, the wolves all around took up the howl as well, and the wolf packs in all directions bowed down collectively. From different directions and from different wolf packs, four huge alpha wolves emerged. They were like kings, strolling out proudly from among their subjects, slowly approaching Ling Lan.

Apparently, the red-lined alpha wolf had called out for assistance from the other alpha wolves.

Ling Lan's expression turned frigid. Although she didn't have to continue duking it out with the sea of wolves, the combined attack of five alpha wolves was also nothing to sneeze at. She really feared that she might lose her life under the fangs and claws of these alpha wolves as soon as the fight began.

"Interesting, didn't expect her to have that skill." Number Five's eyes narrowed in contemplation, a complicated expression on his face as he watched Ling Lan preparing to do battle against the five alpha wolves. Had that skill been her own choice? Or had it been just luck?

At that moment, the five alpha wolves officially began their attack on Ling Lan. With the red-lined alpha wolf as the lead attacker, the other alpha wolves circled around, darting in every so often to try and score a sneak attack. Their movements were well-coordinated, nothing at all like the messy and chaotic attacks of the regular wolves of the wolf pack.

The attacks of the alpha wolves had a sort of beauty to it, unlike the crude savagery of the regular wolves' attacks. The alpha wolves' movements could even be called graceful, though sometimes strange and elusive. But every collaboration between the wolves was just right, causing Ling Lan to be extremely harried as she evaded, almost dying several times in the process.

Ling Lan no longer held anything back. She pushed Qi into her two arms, instantly doubling their strength. Although it couldn't compare to the power of the Rabbit Sky Leap, it was still more than enough to penetrate through the alpha wolves' thick hides and deal them some pain.

Right now, Ling Lan's own body strength was not enough to fight against these alpha wolves — Ling Lan had already become aware of this during her first battle with the red-lined alpha wolf.

The perfectly coordinated attacks of the five alpha wolves gave them the upper edge, but Ling Lan wasn't helpless under these attacks. The powerful Rabbit Sky Leap was something the five alpha wolves had to watch out for because they just couldn't tell which kick was actually a Rabbit Sky Leap in disguise.

Under this scenario, the two sides were actually pretty evenly matched.

Still, the fearsome attacks of the alpha wolves let Ling Lan experience the thrill of dancing with death — she slowly let herself go, subconsciously descending into a pure world of combat, not a single stray thought within her mind. After fighting for a long while, Ling Lan felt a rush of euphoria permeate through her body — the shackles holding her back had finally been broken.

Ling Lan felt as if she had entered a whole new world, where the energy within her body was cheerfully waving at her, as if announcing their return.

Ling Lan knew what this was — it was the shackles she had put on herself previously to control her own strength. Within the past month, Ling Lan had been embroiled in combat training with the Ling family loyalists, all for the sake of restraining her malevolent aura. Even so, Ling Lan was very afraid that her malevolent aura would suddenly burst out, causing her to lose control and harm her family by accident. And so she had cautiously convinced herself, that no matter what the situation, she would not permit herself to release all of her strength in its entirety ...

Gradually, this self-hypnosis of sorts became a type of shackle, until finally, Ling Lan found that even if she consciously wanted to, she was unable to unleash all of her strength. Ling Lan didn't know whether to laugh or cry at this result.

Later on, she had sparred with Qi Long, and although she should have been able to defeat Qi Long with a straightforward show of strength, she had found it impossible to bypass her own personal limiters. In the end, she could only keep dragging out the fight until Qi Long had been exhausted for the spar to end.

Naturally, faced with such a frustrating situation, Ling Lan was very unhappy. But unfortunately, she had been unable to resolve the problem, and so had had no choice but to push it to the back of her mind, and wait for a solution to present itself later. Unexpectedly, at this crucial life-or-death moment, Ling Lan had broken past her shackles, regaining full access to her strength.

The alpha wolves sensed this change in Ling Lan; slowly but surely, they sensed the strength of their opponent grow stronger and stronger — attacks which had only caused minor pain previously, were now actually hurting them to their bones.

Ling Lan didn't know how long she had been fighting the alpha wolves, but she was starting to feel that her Qi circulation could no longer keep up with her energy expenditure. Her stamina was gradually fading, seeming as if it would disappear entirely the very next moment. She should have been anxious and worried by this, but she was uncharacteristically calm — just as if she wasn't the Ling Lan fighting for her life right now, but rather a cold-eyed observer on the side-lines.

Indeed, she had actually entered a strange sort of plane, where the attacks of the five alpha wolves seemed to occur almost in slow-motion. She could actually see a hole in the collaborative attacks of the five alpha wolves, and sensed that if she targeted that spot, she would definitely manage to land a solid hit.

Although Ling Lan didn't know why this was happening, she instinctively knew that this was a precious opportunity. Thus, she absorbed energy through her circulation of Qi once more, sent it running down into her right fist, and then threw a firm punch at the hole she had noticed.

Meanwhile, from Number Five's perspective, Ling Lan's right fist vanished mysteriously all of a sudden, and then a loud smack rang out, and an alpha wolf was sent flying to sprawl on the ground a distance away. However, the alpha wolf wasn't heavily injured and managed to struggle back to its feet, and then with an angry howl, it rejoined the battle once more.

At that moment, Number Five's face was a study in shock. Disbelievingly, he muttered to himself again and again, "How can this be? How can this be? Could it be the zone?"

Even as the thought reared its head, he squashed it. He shook his head forcefully, telling himself to calm down, that what he was thinking was impossible. What child would be so aberrant as to touch on the borders of a zone at six years old? Perhaps it was just a lucky shot by Ling Lan.

Seeing their own comrade being sent flying, albeit just briefly, the other alphas were enraged — this was an outright challenge! They no longer held any of their initial notions of fooling around, deciding to give the fight their all.

Ling Lan still remained calm; she had once again noticed a hole in the defences of the five alpha wolves. Even now she was unsure how her fist had connected with the head of one of the alpha wolves — the area she had aimed for had clearly been an empty space. Her last attack had been half-hearted, tentative as she was only testing it out. But this time, she would no longer hesitate.

"Rabbit Sky Leap!"

Resolutely, Ling Lan used her strongest technique on the hole. Immediately after, a desolate cry rang out — and one of the alpha wolves was seen falling heavily to the ground. A large hole had been ripped open on its belly, and its blood was gushing out like a river ... there was no possibility that it would survive.

The Rabbit Sky Leap technique could really be used as a one-hit-kill blow; Ling Lan was extremely pleased. Perhaps there were other skills and techniques much stronger than the Rabbit Sky Leap, but Ling Lan still felt that the Rabbit Sky Leap was much more useful and adaptable. Since the movements for it looked no different from a regular kick, she could hide it when she used it — no one would be able to tell which kick of hers was a Rabbit Sky Leap, so it was an extremely stealthy move.

The wolf who died was the red-lined alpha wolf. All we can say is that the red-lined alpha wolf was just too unlucky — coming on so strongly because it thought it had the upper hand, only to lose its lupine life.

At the death of the red-lined alpha wolf, the red-lined wolf pack started a round of mournful howling and then quickly dispersed. Within the span of two to three minutes, they had all fled the scene.

The four remaining alpha wolves stared at each other for a moment, and then decided to follow the example of the red-lined wolf pack. They swiftly retreated, howling out to their subordinates as they did so.

Ling Lan watched as the wolf packs slowly retreated until they had left her range of sight. Still, she didn't relax yet, staying on her feet for another three minutes. Finally, she could hold on no longer and toppled over to lie down on the ground. Those final two blows at the end had drained all of Ling Lan's physical energy. She had only remained standing out of sheer stubbornness, afraid to reveal her inability to continue to fight. Only when her body could really take it no longer had she given in to fall to the ground.

If the wolf packs chose to return and rally a second attack on her right now, it would definitely be an easy task for them to make mincemeat out of Ling Lan. Fortunately though, the wolf packs had really departed, so Ling Lan managed to survive by the skin of her teeth.

Even so, Ling Lan was still fearful as she recalled the situation. Once again, she was keenly aware of how important Little Four was to her. Without his comprehensive monitoring, her safety was entirely up to fate and circumstance — Ling Lan really detested this feeling of uncertainty. Of course, most importantly ... it was rather lonely without Little Four by her side.

However, Ling Lan's thoughts quickly turned to the sensation she had experienced in the earlier battle. That ability to glean the defensive holes of an opponent with one look, the feeling of having the flow of battle within her hands ... that sensation was just wonderful.

Ling Lan laid on the ground and held a fist up to the sky. Although she had no clue what that sensation was, she knew that it came from within her own body. In the fight, both her combat instincts and her physical strength had been pushed past her original limits, progressing one step further.

Was this what was meant by a personal breakthrough? But before Ling Lan could get too caught up in her excitement, a wet-blanket in human form appeared in her sight.

Number Five had materialized out of thin air right above Ling Lan. Peering down at Ling Lan, he grinned widely as he said, "Congratulations, you've cleared the mission."

At the same time, the system's voice rang out by Ling Lan's ear: "Mission completed. Reward — intense training by Number Five obtained!"

When Ling Lan heard the contents of the reward, her gut reaction was that she had been ripped-off. If she had known that this was the reward for clearing the mission, she would definitely have committed suicide right off the bat, so that she would utterly fail the mission. Ling Lan had not forgotten Number Nine's gentle warning ... Boo hoo hoo! Could she have a redo?! Ling Lan really felt like crying, full of regret for what might have been.

However, Number Five didn't give Ling Lan much time to regret her life choices. With another quick grab, he tossed Ling Lan into his own special training area.