438 - 443

Chapter 438 - Peerless Prodigy!

Jiang Shaoyu's eyes narrowed and he ran through some quick calculations mentally. Should he just give up now? But when he looked at that proud and lovely appearance of Luo Lang, his heart itched something fierce. He could not bear to just give up on such a delectable girl. Perhaps hoping for some lucky break, he instantly came to a decision. He shouted to the members still standing, "Number 3!"

This cry startled Zhao Jun and Luo Lang, but before they could figure out what Jiang Shaoyu meant when he called out this number, they saw Jiang Shaoyu's group whip out spherical objects from the bags at their waists.

As soon as Luo Lang and Zhao Jun saw this, they knew that something was not right. These things were sure to be bad for them. The two shared a glance and then leapt in silent rapport towards the respective opponents they had targeted, trying to stop them from carrying out their next move.

Despite how quickly Zhao Jun and Luo Lang reacted, they were still not faster than their opponents. Before the two could reach them, their opponents flicked the item in their hands and a column of green smoke was sent straight at them from the spherical objects. Zhao Jun and Luo Lang did not have time to dodge and plunged head first into the smoke.

The two of them smelled a light fragrance and, in the next second, their heads began to swim.

A soporific? Shocked, the two of them decisively moved to bite down on the tips of their tongues, thinking to use the sharp pain to chase away their dizziness. They soon found that it was useless, however, because they had already lost their strength. Their entire body felt weak, so weak that they could not even move their jaw to bite down.

"Crap!" The two of them were extremely frustrated at this moment; they did not expect that they would still fall for the opponents' scheme. Just now, they had still been too careless.

"Grab them both." Jiang Shaoyu saw the two of them finally succumb and fall over, and his lips pulled up into a satisfied smile as he gave orders to his men.

"Yes, Leader!" The team members immediately moved forwards to do as their leader had said when a white light suddenly flashed across their eyes. After that, they felt themselves being struck by a massive force and were sent flying back uncontrollably to crash heavily to the ground.

Some of the weaker members instantly spewed blood from their mouths, their entire bodies slumped on the ground, unable to stand up for that moment.

Jiang Shaoyu's eyes narrowed and the smug smile on his face stiffened. A white-clothed youth was currently already standing right in front of Zhao Jun and Luo Lang. His face was cold and emotionless, and when his placid gaze swept over to look at Jiang Shaoyu, Jiang Shaoyu actually felt a chill creeping over his heart. Due to his arrival, the temperature of the entire mecha equipment store instantly dropped several degrees and those people still within the store could not help but shiver.

"You ... are planning to take my people?" The other spoke. His cold voice, cold gaze, and cold expression seemed calm, but Jiang Shaoyu could still sense the turbulent storm underneath the calm surface. An unprecedented sense of pressure descended in the ensuing silence.

Jiang Shaoyu was able to become the number one in the Second Men's Military Academy and the leader for the representative team of his school to this Mecha Grand Tournament because he was a steady and determined person. Although Ling Lan's unexpected appearance had caused him to waver, he had soon regained his composure and had begun to study this new opponent, trying to figure out his stats and considering how he should handle him.

White was an uncommon colour for uniforms among the military academies of the Federation, and the other's uniform was very well made, so it definitely would not be some ordinary uniform ... a notion sparked through Jiang Shaoyu's mind. He had thought of the First Men's Military Academy. A dux would be chosen from every year of students from every specialization and white was the exclusive colour for the uniforms of those duxes. Jiang Shaoyu combined this knowledge with the information he had received, about how Luo Chao had gone shopping with the First Men's Military Academy ...

Jiang Shaoyu could pretty much guarantee at this point that this austere youth was most likely a student from the First Men's Military Academy. However, this person did not look at all familiar, so he could not be the well-known Qiao Ting. Could he be the dux of some other specialization?

This speculation calmed Jiang Shaoyu considerably. Even though he kept feeling as if he had overlooked something, he still had a lot of confidence in himself. He definitely would not allow someone to interfere and make him lose face, so he said with a sneer, "This is a matter between myself and the First Co-ed Military Academy. Are you, a dux from the First Men's Military Academy, also going to try and be a hero and meddle in this matter?"

If Qiao Ting was the one who had stepped in, he might perhaps have given Qiao Ting some face. But as for this punk who had come from god knows where ... did he think that he could swagger around as he liked just because he was a dux from the First Academy? Hmph, he was thinking too highly of himself and looking down on others too much!

"The First Co-ed Military Academy?" Ling Lan's eyes narrowed, and the temperature around her dropped several more degrees. She smiled coldly and said, "I did not know myself — when had my team members entered the Co-ed Military Academy?" After bullying her people, the other actually dared to fabricate lies and find unreasonable excuses? Even though the First Men's Military Academy had been suppressed by the Second Men's Military Academy for seven consecutive tournaments, this did not mean that they from the First Men's Military Academy were pushovers!

By this time, Ling Lan had also been able to determine which school the opponents were from based on their uniforms. The other side was behaving in such an arrogant and audacious manner, likely in large part due to their academy's results for the past seven tournaments. Their heads were swollen beyond belief.

Hearing what Ling Lan said, Jiang Shaoyu sneered back just as coldly and pointed at Luo Lang, saying, "This sweet and delicate little beauty ... is also from your First Men's Military Academy? I never knew that men's academies were taking in females now."

Only then did Ling Lan understand what this commotion was all about. She threw a glance at that troublesome face of Luo Lang and sighed mentally. No wonder he had been mistaken for a girl. This fellow had unexpectedly grown to look more and more like a girl as the years added up — he was so enchanting that it was hard to distinguish whether he was male or female ... no, to be accurate, the more one looked at him, the more one would think he was a girl.

Ling Lan felt deeply hurt by this. Say, why had no one ever mistaken her for a girl? Er ... well, these words were slightly skewed. She was a girl to begin with, so the question should be — why the hell did everyone just accept that she was a boy? She could be considered quite lovely, right? Ling Lan had the utmost confidence in the genes of both her parents ...

"D*mmit, who's a girl now?" Right then, Luo Lang and Zhao Jun who had been slumped on the ground suddenly stood up. Luo Lang cursed darkly and then turned his head to complain piteously to Ling Lan, "Boss, you didn't have to be so harsh in giving us the antidote. "

He gritted his teeth and bore the pain as he plucked a miniature syringe from his neck. Apparently, while Ling Lan had been rushing forwards to prevent their capture, she had not forgotten to shoot out two miniature antidote syringes to clear the drugs from the system of the two boys on the ground.

Likewise, Zhao Jun deftly plucked the syringe from his neck. At this moment, his expression was stony — he felt very humiliated that he had actually been caught by the opponent's scheme, and in front of his own clan leader to boot!

Ling Lan could not bear to look directly at that pitiful look of Luo Lang's — she turned her head away and said coldly, "If you have any objections, you can go discuss them with our clan doctor personally."

Ling Lan's words made Luo Lang's pitiful expression vanish instantly, and his face even looked a little twisted. The present Senior Li Shiyu was no longer that nice guy senior who had first joined the battle clan. Under constant exposure to his boss, Li Shiyu had already been stained absolutely black and had become corrupted. He, who had originally only known to focus on creating good medicine of healing, had now also begun to manufacture poisonous agents. Luo Lang recalled how he had been tormented savagely with agents once when he had offended Senior Li Shiyu by accident, and he could not stop his body from trembling ... he absolutely would not go and seek out Senior Li Shiyu!

Luo Lang abruptly turned his head to stare at Jiang Shaoyu. Since he did not dare to argue with Boss, then he would need to find some other place to vent his emotions. This person who had mistaken him for a girl was definitely a very good option for a punching bag — he turned fully to face Jiang Shaoyu and asked fiercely, "Actually saying this lord is a girl, hells, which part of this lord looks like a girl, huh?!"

At his words, an answer surfaced unbidden in Ling Lan's and Zhao Jun's hearts. 'Other than that extra bit you have below, everything else is like a girl.' Luckily, Luo Lang could not know what his boss and teammate were thinking, otherwise he would definitely ... challenge Zhao Jun to a duel. Boss was naturally excluded — Luo Lang did not want to die just yet.

Luo Lang's furious demeanour made a trace of wondrous appreciation pass through Jiang Shaoyu's eyes, but Luo Lang's words quickly snuffed that appreciation out. He had finally found what was off about the situation. Only now did he notice that the uniform Luo Lang was wearing was certainly not the uniform of the First Co-ed Military Academy. Although it was different in colour from the uniform on Ling Lan's body, it was in the exact same style. This meant that this beautiful and eye-catching girl before his eyes was in fact a boy, a student of the First Men's Military Academy.

Even though Jiang Shaoyu had noticed the problem, he still could not believe it. After all, this person before him looked exactly like the Luo Chao he had seen yesterday at the registration hall. Doggedly, he asked, "Are you not the second-year student from the First Co-ed Military Academy, Luo Chao from the Starship Navigation specialization?"

The moment he said this, the three of Ling Lan's group finally understood what all this had been about. So this person had mistaken Luo Lang for Luo Chao, leading to this mess.

"Hells, you actually dare to lust after my little sister? You're asking for it!" When Luo Lang learned that the other's intended target was his precious little sister instead of him, he was instantly consumed with rage. Without thinking, he threw a punch at Jiang Shaoyu.

Right then, Luo Lang's only thought was to beat this scum before him to death. Compared to being mistaken for a girl, this matter drove him crazy even more. How could he allow the little sister he kept cradled in the palm of his hands 1 to be coveted in such a lewd way by an outsider?! In Luo Lang's mind, the only one who could give Luo Chao happiness was his boss.

Jiang Shaoyu saw the other's angry fist coming right at him and without thinking, he met it with a punch of his own. There was a 'bam', and the two of them were sent stumbling back again respectively once more. Luo Lang's anger-infused attack actually did not benefit Jiang Shaoyu any, but similarly, Luo Lang had not gained the upper hand either in the attack. Their exchange ended in a draw.

Zhao Jun's feet shifted slightly, but Ling Lan suddenly stretched out an arm to stop him. She said softly, "You go finish off those small fry. Leave him to Luo Lang."

Zhao Jun nodded. He had initially been planning to help Luo Lang out a bit as, after all, the opponent was two ranks higher than Luo Lang — he was definitely no match for the opponent in a one-on-one fight. However, since the clan leader seemed to have a plan, Zhao Jun gave up on his original intention. He believed that with the clan leader as backing, Luo Lang would definitely be fine.

Setting aside his concern for Luo Lang, Zhao Jun turned to leap at the team members of Jiang Shaoyu. Zhao Jun had not forgotten how he and Luo Lang had been cornered by underhanded means earlier. This grudge had to be avenged.

Seeing Zhao Jun leap at them like a ferocious tiger, the remaining seven people glanced at each other and then, gritting their teeth, they surged up to meet him. Despite knowing the opponent was formidable, since their team leader had not said they could leave, as members of his team, they could only bite the bullet and push forwards.

On Zhao Jun's end, due to his strength exceeding the opponents by such a significant margin, he was handling all the attacks coming at him with ease despite being besieged from all sides by the other party. If not for the fact that these people worked well together, forcing Zhao Jun to look harder to find any openings, Zhao Jun would probably have brought these people down a long time ago.

Ling Lan saw that Zhao Jun was doing fine on his own, so she turned her full attention onto Luo Lang's fight. Right then, Luo Lang had already traded several blows with Jiang Shaoyu. Although Luo Lang's rage was off the charts, the gap between him and his opponent's physical skills stage was still slowly pushing Luo Lang into a disadvantageous position, and the situation was becoming increasingly unfavourable for him.

Ling Lan was not anxious, however, because Luo Lang still had an ace in the hole. As soon as he activated his innate talent, Luo Lang's strength would increase exponentially. The battle would only be truly decided then.

Sure enough, after Luo Lang and Jiang Shaoyu exchanged a few more blows, Jiang Shaoyu felt that victory was within his grasp. But then, he suddenly felt his heart skip a beat as a powerful sense of danger swept over him. Jiang Shaoyu reacted swiftly — he decisively discarded the advantageous situation at hand and slid back, instantly pulling several metres away from Luo Lang.

With a loud 'boom', Luo Lang's fists slammed into the ground. The ground caved in, creating a deep pit of about a metre wide. Not only that, with the pit as the centre point, a spider web of cracks spread outwards across the ground. This obviously massive display of strength not only caused Jiang Shaoyu's complexion to pale in shock, but even the face of the store owner was white as a sheet. He now realised that his store may very well be destroyed at the hands of these two people.

The store owner's reaction was caught unerringly by Ling Lan. Her body shook minutely and the hems of her crisp uniform suddenly swayed a little despite there being no wind. Those people still inside the store immediately felt the surrounding temperature plunge to freezing point. They all began circulating their internal energy, and only then did they manage to banish the chill from their bodies.

Among them was a middle-aged man who had been observing things from the side-lines. His eyes suddenly narrowed as a trace of shock coursed through them, his gaze fixed on Ling Lan who currently had her back to them.

Jiang Shaoyu's expression was currently extremely grim. The Luo Lang before him was already completely different from how he was before. His initially lively pretty face had lost all colour now and seemed frozen in ice. His entire being radiated cold air, not much different from the white-clothed youth standing not too far behind him. What scared Jiang Shaoyu even more was the palpable sense of danger coiled around this practically emotionless Luo Lang.

"So he has finally activated his innate talent. I did not expect Luo Lang to choose this personality." Ling Lan had thought that Luo Lang would use the Savage personality which had the highest combat strength — although the Transcendent Cold personality was also a decent choice, it would not be enough to raise Luo Lang's strength up to the level of his opponent. If Luo Lang wanted to defeat the other, he would have to pay a price.

Jiang Shaoyu felt Luo Lang's force of presence grow stronger and stronger until it was almost equal to his own. The sudden increase in the other's realm confused and frightened him; he could not tell how far his opponent could raise his realm. Still, though he was hesitant to gamble, he finally could not hold back anymore and attacked.

Seeing Jiang Shaoyu's attack coming at him, Luo Lang merely peered at him calmly before raising a fist and punching it out fiercely to meet the attack.

The two boys' fists once again collided and were held frozen like a tableau for several seconds, and then the two boys were sent hurtling backwards in opposite directions. Strangely enough, after flying back several metres, they seemed to be caught by something, losing all momentum to fall directly to the ground.

When the middle-aged man saw this, the shock in his eyes was unmistakable, and his mouth twitched uncontrollably. Although he did not speak, and the people beside him could not know what he had wanted to say, the middle-aged man was well aware that he had been about to say 'Domain'. Only a Domain ability could seal Qi-Jin capable of affecting the store within a specified range.

There were not many Domain masters in the Federation — what shocked him so much was the apparent youth of this young man before his eyes. Judging from the youth's appearance, he was definitely not yet 20 years old, and the record for the youngest person in the Federation to have broken through to Domain was a 23-year-old. And now, the reality before him was telling him that this record had once again been broken. Another peerless prodigy had appeared in the Federation.

1. i.e. cherished a lot.

Chapter 439 - Satisfied?

The moment Jiang Shaoyu landed, his expression changed subtly. While he had been in the air earlier, he had felt a barrier intercept his flight. Although that barrier was extremely gentle and had not harmed him, there was no doubt that a master had stepped in then. For the person responsible to have changed this area into a cage without him noticing, they were most certain to be a Domain-level master.

Jiang Shaoyu swept a cautious gaze around the equipment store. When his eyes landed on Ling Lan standing not too far from them, he directly looked past her, putting his focus on those people hiding in the corner. A stern-faced middle-aged man with glittering eyes caught his eye — at his level, he actually could not tell what level the other was at. Could it be him?

Right then, Jiang Shaoyu was no longer as confident and composed as before. He did not know which side this Domain master was on, so his heart began to beat erratically.

At this time, he suddenly saw that middle-aged man turn his gaze to the white-clothed youth standing not far from them, and his lips moved as if he was saying something to the other. Jiang Shaoyu's heart clenched in fright. He could almost confirm from this that the middle-aged man should be on the other's side. If he really hurt the beautiful youth before him by accident, he could imagine that things would not end well for him.

Having secured his position as number one in the Second Men's Military Academy, Jiang Shaoyu was not a simple-minded person. He came to a quick resolution. When he saw his opponent prepare to attack, he immediately blocked with his hand and shouted, "I admit defeat."

Unfortunately, his opponent was Luo Lang under the control of the Transcendent Cold personality. This Luo Lang was not someone who would make any half-hearted efforts. Since he had already clashed with the opponent, how could he rest without determining who was the winner once and for all?

Jiang Shaoyu saw that the other's footsteps did not even pause at his words and his heart sank. He felt that he had truly been too impulsive this time. Before obtaining a full picture of the First Men's Military Academy, he had recklessly challenged them upfront. Sure enough, lust truly clouded the mind ... for the first time, Jiang Shaoyu felt remorseful — he had truly brought a knife down upon his head due to his desires.

Resigned, Jiang Shaoyu once again traded a move with Luo Lang. This time, as he had been forced to react hastily, he was sent reeling back a few more steps than Luo Lang; he only stopped when he bumped into the boundary Ling Lan had set.

Ling Lan, who had been observing the fight coolly all this while, suddenly raised her eyebrows, and her gaze carried some deeper contemplation when she looked at Jiang Shaoyu. Just now, her Domain had been attacked, but unfortunately, the strength of the attacker was too weak in comparison to her own and had been unable to break her Domain.

Apparently, Jiang Shaoyu had only looked like he had been forced back so many steps by Luo Lang's Qi-Jin. In reality, he did not have to retreat that far. Luo Lang's activation of the Transcendent Cold personality may have made up the difference between their realms, but with regards to reserves of internal energy, Luo Lang was still weaker; thus, even though Jiang Shaoyu had lost the initiative, Luo Lang still would not have been able to suppress Jiang Shaoyu to this extent.

Jiang Shaoyu's performance was completely so he could use Luo Lang's attack as cover to try and escape from the Domain. When he had been about to bump into the barrier, long prepared, he had circulated his Qi-Jin and slammed it into the barrier. Unfortunately, the barrier was much more solid than he had expected — his Qi-Jin attack had not even caused a ripple in the barrier. His Qi-Jin had been absorbed completely in an instant and he had been blocked, still within the barrier.

By now, Jiang Shaoyu knew that even if he took the initiative to admit defeat, neither Luo Lang before him nor the Domain master helping Luo Lang from the shadows would let him go. Terrified, a savage gleam entered Jiang Shaoyu's eyes. Since the opponent was unwilling to let him go, then he would exact some price from them at all costs.

In renewed ruthlessness, Jiang Shaoyu no longer drew back. He unleashed his full force of presence, putting his all into the battle with Luo Lang.

As expected, at full power, Jiang Shaoyu immediately recaptured the flow of the fight, overpowering Luo Lang. However, as time went by, the situation seemed to be slowly tilting back towards Luo Lang. For the Transcendent Cold personality, the weaker his position, the harder he fought back — meanwhile, unable to take down his opponent after so long, Jiang Shaoyu was finally starting to show signs of impatience ...

There was a loud 'bang'! The two boys clashed once more, but this time, the two boys did not separate instantly like the previous few times. They remained with their hands touching, standing motionless.

However, those with keen eyes could see clearly that, this time, Luo Lang had not used a fist but a palm. His left palm was clasping Jiang Shaoyu's fist, and this was one of the reasons why the two of them had not sprung apart like before.

A trickle of blood suddenly flowed down from the corner of the immobile Luo Lang's lips. In order to hold the other in place, Luo Lang had received the full brunt of the opponent's Qi-Jin and so had inevitably incurred some internal damage.

Jiang Shaoyu's face changed abruptly as the injured Luo Lang did not seem to feel the pain of his body — his palm holding Jiang Shaoyu's fist captive was still strong and steady. Luo Lang's suddenly raised his long prepared right hand, and a fierce fist was sent hurtling towards Jiang Shaoyu's face. Jiang Shaoyu seemed to catch the sound of the fist cutting through the air. He knew that if he was hit by this punch, he would definitely be struck unconscious.

Jiang Shaoyu was caught by Luo Lang so he could not dodge. He could only fight back with force — his left hand clenched into a fist and he threw it out decisively.

Fist met fist and the forces behind them grappled with each other for several seconds. Having had time to prepare, Luo Lang had used his full strength in his punch, while Jiang Shaoyu had countered hastily and so could only manage to use 70% of his power in his own punch ...

The outcome had been decided the moment Luo Lang decided to receive some damage to engineer this scenario. The two fighters were suddenly thrown apart, flying backwards. There was more blood trickling down from Luo Lang's lips now, but Jiang Shaoyu could not control the roiling copper scent in his chest — he spewed a mouthful of blood in mid-air before crashing heavily onto the ground to slide several metres, only stopping when he reached the barrier.

Luo Lang's condition was not much better than Jiang Shaoyu's. After landing, he staggered back several steps and then, no longer able to stay upright, he collapsed to sit heavily on the floor.

Seeing this, Ling Lan knew the outcome had been decided, so she dismissed her Domain. Jiang Shaoyu, who had been half leaning against the barrier, suddenly felt the barrier disappear from his back. His body fell backwards beyond his control, and he quickly put his hands out to prop himself up, narrowly avoiding smashing into the ground again.

Luo Lang wiped away the traces of blood from his lips as he struggled to his feet. Then, he slowly walked over to stand before Jiang Shaoyu and said coldly, "Remember, I'm called Luo Lang. Don't even think about touching my little sister. If there's a next time, I'll kill you."

When Luo Lang said this, his eyes were all too calm and still, an extreme form of indifference within them. This gaze chilled Jiang Shaoyu's heart — he clenched his fists tightly as he stared steadily at Luo Lang without saying a word. As the number one of the Second Men's Military Academy, he had his pride. He would not permit himself to yield.

Luo Lang did not care about Jiang Shaoyu's attitude; he had merely said what he did to convey his determination. As for whether the other was willing to listen, that was not part of his considerations. And so, as soon as Luo Lang's words faded, his expression had begun to change. His eyes, which had been emotionless and as calm as water, suddenly became lively again, and the cold air surrounding his body disappeared instantly. He had become his usual self again.

Luo Lang slowly made his way back to Ling Lan's side. Ling Lan greeted him with a raised brow and asked lightly, "Satisfied?"

Chapter 440 - A Special Guest Arrives!

Luo Lang smiled, abnormally beautiful, causing many of those lingering in the equipment store to be instantly stunned at the sight. He nodded and said, "Satisfied, Boss." There was nothing more satisfying than being able to personally handle a person who had been eyeing him and his sister with lustful intent.

"That's good." Only then did Ling Lan turn her head to say to Zhao Jun, who had long beaten the other members of Jiang Shaoyu's team unconscious, "Let's go."

Zhao Jun shook out his arms, his face regretful as he said, "That really wasn't much of a fight. Next time, Luo Lang, let's trade?"

"Next time?" Luo Lang's face darkened instantly. D*mmit, did this fellow still want him to be accosted and hit on again?

Seeing Luo Lang's stormy expression, Zhao Jun knew he had said the wrong thing. He quickly added, "What I'm saying is, next time we fight against injustice, let me fight with the stronger ones first." That said, Zhao Jun once again emphasized his words to express his pure and unsullied heart, "That's fighting against injustice, you hear!"

Luo Lang huffed coolly — although he was not too happy with Zhao Jun's explanation, he still decided to let it go. Zhao Jun surreptitiously wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, rejoicing over his luck in overcoming this hurdle. This punk Luo Lang was great in every way ... but he was just too sensitive when it came to this point. As long as something touched on this hot button even just a little, he would go berserk.

Ling Lan was just about to lead Zhao Jun and Luo Lang away from the equipment store when a few more people walked through the door. In the lead was Li Lanfeng, and there were two beautiful girls trailing behind him.

Luo Chao quietly peeked out from behind Li Lanfeng and when she saw Ling Lan, her face instantly flushed bright red. This left Ling Lan rather speechless — it had already been so many years ... when would this little lass Luo Chao learn not to blush?

Luo Chao did not know about Ling Lan's dismay — as soon as she had set eyes on Ling Lan, her heart had begun pounding and her face had begun to burn. In order to let her heart feel a little better, Luo Chao did not dare to look at Ling Lan anymore. She could only turn her gaze away, and when she saw Jiang Shaoyu half-lying immobile on the ground, she asked her brother in confusion, "Big Brother, who's that? What has happened?"

Luo Lang immediately blocked Luo Chao's view and said with an expression of disgust, "Just some scum. Don't bother about him. Let's go."

Luo Chao's soft and sweet voice made the pensive Jiang Shaoyu raise his head sharply. He saw Luo Chao, with that face which was identical to Luo Lang's, and his heart was instantly overcome with chagrin. Even though those two had identical faces, their temperaments were distinctly different and were extremely easy to tell apart. Why had he been so blinded with lust and desire that he had not been able to see the difference? Why had he been so sure that the person he saw was Luo Chao and had made a move so hastily? If he had only been a little calmer, perhaps he would not have ended up in such a sorry state.

Luo Lang was about to drag his sister away with him, but he had only taken two steps when he suddenly recalled that he still had something to tell his boss. He quickly called out to Ling Lan to stop her, "Boss, wait."

Ling Lan turned her head to look calmly at Luo Lang and waited for him to explain.

Luo Lang dashed over to Firmament's side and beckoned Ling Lan over with a wave, wanting her to come over and take a look.

The moment Ling Lan walked over, she was instantly stunned. She had not expected that there would be a sword in the real world with the exact same form as Regretless which Chang Xinyuan had forged in Mecha World. All that was unclear was whether this sword only resembled Regretless in form, or whether it was similar even in terms of creation materials and composition.

Luo Lang was very swift — seeing that his boss was indeed interested in Firmament, he quickly called over a shop assistant hiding at a corner and asked him to open the protective cover so his boss could examine the item.

From the earlier battle, the shop assistant already knew that this youth who was as pretty as a flower was a Qi-Jin master. How would he dare to hesitate? He quickly ran over and opened the protective covering.

Ling Lan reached out her hand to touch Firmament, and she could the softness and flexibility of its body. Next, she also looked at the information booklet beside it and learned that this Firmament actually had characteristics extremely similar to those of Regretless in Mecha World. She was overjoyed at this discovery — it should be known that she was already used to using Regretless; if she could obtain a cold weapon like Regretless in the real world, even if she encountered an elite ace, Ling Lan would have the confidence to fight it out.

As for the steep price of Firmament, Ling Lan was not at all concerned. She might perhaps lack other things, but credits was certainly not one of those things. Who asked her to have the incredible cheat code Little Four to help her manage her finances? Over these past ten years or so, that account which Little Four had specially set up for her now contained an astronomical amount of wealth. Furthermore, her parents would transfer a humongous amount of credits to her every year. Just those credits given by her parents alone would be enough for her to purchase this Firmament.

Ling Lan paid without any fuss and then she asked the equipment store to deliver Firmament to the mecha storehouse specially set aside for the First Men's Military Academy. The staff member there in charge of maintenance and commissioning would help her to install Firmament onto her mecha; she did not have to worry any further about this.

Only after settling all of this did Ling Lan lead Luo Lang and the others away from the equipment store. After they left, Jiang Shaoyu could finally breathe a sigh of relief as he slowly climbed up from the ground. He did not show any expression of rage or hatred, merely calmly waking up those members of his who were unconscious and then leading them awkwardly away from the equipment store.

Jiang Shaoyu did not forget that that Domain master was still inside the equipment store staring coldly at him. He was afraid that if he revealed any bit of resentment, the other would be angered and destroy him completely.

After leaving the equipment store far behind him, Jiang Shaoyu finally could no longer feel any eyes on him. Only then did he truly relax. He turned his head to glance back at the equipment store and a trace of killing intent flashed across his eyes. This grudge would definitely be avenged. In that final battle royale ... if anyone was accidentally killed in the chaos, no one could be blamed.

********

The middle-aged man waited for everyone to leave before departing from the equipment store as well. Beside him, his friend saw him looking contemplatively in the direction Jiang Shaoyu had left in and he could not help but ask curiously, "You ... are interested in those people?"

"They're all Qi-Jin stage students. How can I not be interested? Who knows how many surprises they will be able to give me in the physical skills competition this time," answered the middle-aged man seriously. If that person participated, perhaps the entire Federation would be shaken.

"Haha, I had forgotten that you're the physical skills referee for this year's tournament. So, how is it? Are you now interested to take in a disciple?" asked his friend with a laugh.

"Take in a disciple? I'm afraid I'm not qualified ..." muttered the middle-aged man to himself. His voice had been too soft for his friend to hear clearly and so that friend asked, "Elder Brother Qian, what did you say?"

"Nothing. Perhaps you should watch this Mecha Grand Tournament well. You might be greatly surprised," said the middle-aged man to his friend seriously. Right then, the middle-aged man did not know that this Mecha Grand Tournament would indeed shock and surprise everyone, but just not in the way he was imagining ...

********

In the depths of the night, Ling Lan was diligently browsing through the files that Little Four had found for her on all the participants from the various military academies. After a long while, she tapped on one of the virtual images and said, "Perhaps, this will be a good thing. It's about time they learned how to stand on their own."

Meanwhile, the spaceport, which had already been closed for a day, suddenly received a military signal code requesting entrance to the spaceport. The staff immediately checked the code and found that the encrypted code contained a permit to enter the port. Without any further delay, the staff immediately opened the passageway to allow the military vessel to fly into the spaceport.

On his screen, the staff member responsible for monitoring the docking of the military vessel could clearly see a totem of a phoenix wreathed in flames emblazoned on the head of the ship. And beside the totem, two Arabic numerals were printed boldly —— 23. He instantly leapt to his feet in excitement, almost sending his chair crashing to the ground, startling the people around him in the process.

Before those people could ask him what was going on, he had already begun shouting loudly, "General Ling Xiao ... it's General Ling Xiao's vessel!"

His cry sent everyone in the control room into a tizzy; quite a few people even fell off their seats. They quickly cut all their video feeds to the military vessel, and when they saw that totem that was so familiar it could not be more familiar, as well as that number '23' which represented the number of the army division, they all could not help but scream uncontrollably 1 .

The ruckus in the control room also startled the supervisor of the spaceport. When he learned that General Ling Xiao's vessel had already landed inside the spaceport, this supervisor was similarly so overwhelmed by emotion that he did not know what to do, almost slapping himself to convince himself that this was not a dream. Fortunately, he managed to retain his last bit of rationality and immediately led his deputy to rush towards the spaceport navigation area, intending on personally welcoming General Ling Xiao.

In order to ensure the safety of all the honoured guests of the Mecha Grand Tournament, the Department of National Security had not given planet Qiming the detailed name list of all the attending guests; instead, they had only provided them with a special safe passage passcode signal source to verify if a guest was legitimate. The staff on planet Qiming were not able to guess who the guests were from these coded signals and so they could only wait patiently until the guests arrived to be enlightened.

In fact, on this day, the planet Qiming spaceport had already received quite a number of distinguished guests. Of the twenty-three standing army divisions of the Federation, although many commanders had not come to attend, the divisions had at least sent their vice commanders or one of the subcommanders in their division. There had also been several extremely famous imperial operators who had arrived, and even the vice president of the Federation had long arrived three days ago. It could be said that these staff members were already used to the shock of it all and were not as excitable as before.

But all of this was completely useless when it came to Ling Xiao. Ling Xiao was not only the only division commander in attendance thus far, with the highest status, he was also the national idol Ling Xiao, the immortal battle god. He could be said to be the spiritual support of the entire Huaxia Federation, which was why the staff of the spaceport had completely lost control due to Ling Xiao's arrival.

The supervisor of the spaceport rushed at soonest notice to the navigation area and waited for General Ling Xiao to disembark from the military vessel. The first to come out were six senior colonels. Their eyes were shining with an intense light — even though they had reined in their force of presence, the people waiting below to welcome them could still feel an invisible pressure pressing down on them. After they came down, they spread out to cover six directions, subtly blocking off all the people waiting in the navigation area.

The supervisor knew that these six people were certain to be General Ling Xiao's personal guards — since they had already come out, this meant that General Ling Xiao would soon appear. At this thought, the supervisor's heart began to pound.

However, the next person to come out from the ship slightly disappointed the supervisor because it was a major general. He stood at the door of the ship, looked down to survey the situation for a bit and found everything normal, before turning back into the ship.

Soon, another figure appeared at the ship's door. The supervisor fixed his gaze on the person and saw that it was General Ling Xiao this time. General Ling Xiao was dressed in a sharp-pressed general's uniform, and there was a warm and gentle smile on his handsome face, welcoming to others like a spring breeze. The supervisor's pounding heart instantly calmed down considerably at the sight of this smile.

Everyone was waiting for General Ling Xiao to come down from the ship when General Ling Xiao suddenly turned around and reached out his left hand at the same time to hold onto another person's right hand. A slender and graceful figure slowly appeared at the door — she had a noble and elegant air, her beautiful face adorned with a soft smile as she stared with deep affection at the man standing beside her. The two of them looked extremely young, as if time had not left much of a mark on them. The handsome man and the lovely woman were like a jade couple 1 .

Everyone knew that this had to be General Ling Xiao's wife, Lan Luofeng. The true love between General Ling Xiao and his wife was something every girl in the Federation dreamed of.

1. T/C: Lol, such fan boys.

2. i.e. a perfect couple.

Chapter 441 - Respective Plans!

The curtains were finally lifted on the All-Federation Military Academy Grand Mecha Tournament. First up was the grand opening ceremony at the main stadium at 9 o'clock. This opening ceremony would be broadcast live on the all-federation interplanetary network — both the military and the organisers on planet Qiming took it very seriously.

After waking up early in the morning, Ling Lan washed up and then began circulating her Qi to warm and nurture her body. Over these past two months, the hidden injuries she had received from training with real ace mecha would heal much faster every time she practised her Qi exercises; thus, whenever Ling Lan was awake and had nothing better to do, she would circulate her Qi to take care of her injuries.

However, one month later, Ling Lan discovered the true profundity of the Qi exercises. In the process of healing, her physical constitution was slowly becoming even stronger, though the effects were infinitesimal. If Ling Lan had not noticed how she was gradually receiving lighter injuries from her training with real mecha as time went by, perhaps she would have completely overlooked it, ending up unable to discover this deep secret of the Qi exercises.

This made Ling Lan prize the Qi exercises even more, no longer just practising them only for the sake of treating her injuries. Anytime she was free, she would sit and go through them. Ling Lan's tenacity was rewarded well. Ling Lan felt that the resilience of her body becoming better and better, and so her body's ability to endure the feedback pressure from mecha operation was also becoming stronger and stronger. Naturally, she did not forget to share this discovery with Li Lanfeng; after all, he needed the help of the Qi exercises even more than she did. As long as Li Lanfeng kept up with the exercises, his frail body on the brink of collapse would no longer be a problem he would have to worry about.

After a few circulations, Ling Lan saw that it would soon be the assembly time as notified by the organisers, and so she left her room and slowly began making her way to the assembly point.

The assembly point was at the large square in the middle of the accommodation areas. Ling Lan had only just arrived at the fringes of the square when she could see that there was already a large group of people gathered there. Ling Lan looked around casually and found that almost all the cadets from the various participating military academies were already here. This made it difficult for her to pinpoint where the First Men's Military Academy was gathering for a moment.

However, Ling Lan was not troubled by it for long. Qi Long, who had long arrived at the square, had immediately sensed his boss's position the moment Ling Lan had come within range. He quickly turned his head and raised his right hand to greet his boss, to show that they were over here.

Qi Long's loud greeting naturally startled some of the other military academy cadets around him. However, after a quick glance at Ling Lan, they no longer dared to look at him.

Ling Lan did not hesitate to head over instantly. Many people were already gathered at Qi Long's side — they were all participating students from the First Academy. Ling Lan took a look around and found that not only Qiao Ting's group was here, but even the rest from the other factions, Tianji, Wuji, Dwotong and so on were all present. Rather, because she had aimed to arrive right on the dot, she ended up being the last one to arrive.

Still, no one would dare to grumble about it. In fact, many of the youths believed that Ling Lan should be the last one to arrive anyway. Qiao Ting's gaze was complicated as he looked at Ling Lan. He sighed mentally — unexpectedly, unconsciously, the regiment commander of Lingtian, Ling Lan, had already gained prominence in the hearts of the students of the First Men's Military Academy. How easily did this become a matter of fact ... he had strived so hard for four years to obtain this, yet the other had done it so easily ... a bitter feeling tinged with resentment towards fate 1 rose in Qiao Ting's heart — Ling Lan may very well be his rival for life.

As soon as Ling Lan arrived, Wu Jiong who had been coordinating everyone quickly came forward to report to Ling Lan. "Boss Lan, the staff have just notified us that our First Men's Military Academy had been arranged for bus no.397. Now we're just waiting for the other cadets to leave first."

"397?" Ling Lan was taken aback. "So, we'll be the finale?" Don't blame Ling Lan for her surprise — although the First Men's Military Academy was ranked as the number one military academy in the Federation, it had still come in second place for seven consecutive Mecha Grand Tournaments. Ling Lan felt that this kind of results should have made it unlikely for them to be the final ones to take the stage.

"Yes, when I received the notification earlier, I almost did not believe it as well. But then, I thought about it a bit more ..." Wu Jiong glanced towards Qiao Ting not too far away from them, smiled and said, "Maybe it's because of him."

Ling Lan's mind contemplated the idea for a moment and she felt that Wu Jiong's judgment was not wrong. The First Men's Military Academy had been given the special honour of being the finale this time probably because of Qiao Ting — after all, he was known to be the only one after Ling Xiao who had managed to become an ace operator in his fourth year at a military academy. Both the military and the organisers on planet Qiming were pinning high hopes on Qiao Ting; as such, they did not dare to disgrace Qiao Ting in any way at this time.

Qi Long did not care at all about whether they were the finale or not. With a hint of reluctance, he asked Ling Lan in a soft whisper, "Boss, are we really going to let Qiao Ting be the team leader during the opening ceremony?" The team leader would be the one to bear the school flag during the opening ceremony. Every cadet viewed this position as a mark of honour, which was why Qi Long felt rather unwilling to let it go to Qiao Ting. His boss was clearly the true leader — why did Qiao Ting have to be one to enjoy the limelight?

"Isn't that fine? He's a primary force in this Mecha Grand Tournament. It makes complete sense for him to bear the school flag," said Ling Lan nonchalantly. Compared to fame, she would rather have obscurity. Her gender had determined that she would not be able to walk into the public eye.

Qi Long was still rather disgruntled because, in his heart, Boss was the greatest. Although Qiao Ting was an ace operator, his boss was one too! Moreover, his boss was a supreme genius who had managed to advance to ace level in just one year at the military academy — this was not something someone like Qiao Ting could compare with. However, Qi Long also knew that his boss would not change his mind once he had decided on something, and so Qi Long sullenly shut up.

When 9 o'clock came, the square began to bustle. One by one the hover buses arrived at the square, picking up batch after batch of students. Under the arrangements of the staff, everything proceeded in an organised manner and with the passage of time, the number of students in the square gradually dwindled. Around 10 o'clock, it was finally the First Men's Military Academy's turn. They were the only ones left at the square by this time.

Qiao Ting reflexively glanced over at Ling Lan, and when Ling Lan nodded at him, Qiao Ting sucked in a deep breath and shouted, "Let us board!" After saying that, he was the first to step onto the no.397 hover bus.

The First Men's Military Academy lined up according to their faction ranks, boarding the bus in an organised manner. The last group to board the bus was Ling Lan's team. When the final person, Xie Yi, had boarded, the no.397 hover bus left the large square, flying towards the main venue.

********

At this time, three middle-aged men were standing in a corner of the large square. There were several other people behind them as well, and all of them were watching as the First Men's Military Academy moved. The middle-aged man on the left said to the one in the middle, "Old Zhou, what do you think about the First Men's Military Academy this time round?"

The man in the middle merely huffed coldly without replying. The eyes of the man on the left flickered; displeased with the non-answer, he once again said provocatively, "I heard that your team leader this time suffered a loss at the other's hands, and the one he was disgraced by was just some nameless small fry. It looks like for you all to get first place this time, it'll be a little risky ..."

The other's gleeful tone of schadenfreude successfully provoked the man in the middle. He sneered and mocked back, "Old Wu, I heard that many of the team leaders in the Mecha Grand Tournament this time are ace operators. You all better prepare properly ... don't let your ranking drop from the top four to outside the top ten and disgrace all the men's academies." He turned his head to look at the man on the right who had been quiet all this time and asked, "Right, Old Cao?"

The man on the right had a nice guy face. With a wide smile, he said, "Now that you've mentioned it, Old Zhou, I really feel the pressure." He then looked at the man on the left, sighed and said, "Old Wu, looks like we'll need to keep an eye out for each other and share a helping hand so we don't lose face when the time comes."

Old Cao had barely finished speaking when Old Zhou's face turned black. Meanwhile, on the left side, Old Wu laughed — Old Cao was willing to help him both implicitly and explicitly, so of course he was glad.

The dark-faced Old Zhou smiled coldly. "Old Cao, don't take care of others so much that you suffer instead." His tone carried a vague hint of threat — without the help of his school, did they really think it would be so easy to place well?

In order to contend with the First Men's Military Academy, their three military academies had tacitly cooperated with each other in the final battle royal for the past few tournaments, working together to eliminate the First Men's Military Academy. Things should have been the same this year as well, but unexpectedly, the third place First Co-ed Military Academy and the fourth place Third Men's Military Academy were actually having second thoughts and had begun ostracizing his military academy now. Could it be that they were dissatisfied because his academy had taken first place for four consecutive tournaments, not giving way to either of the other two?

It turned out that these three men were actually all from the top four schools, the three other military academies besides the First Men's Military Academy. Old Zhou in the middle was from the Second Men's Military Academy which had obtained first place for many consecutive Mecha Grand Tournaments. Old Wu on the left was from the Third Men's Military Academy which had placed fourth last tournament, while Old Cao on the right was from the First Co-ed Military Academy which had placed third last tournament. This time, they had rushed here to the large square together just so they could check out the students who were representing the First Men's Military Academy this year.

Old Cao did not seem to pick up on Old Zhou's threat; still smiling calmly, he said, "How could that happen? No matter how strong the opponent is, we'll still need to work hard and not let others pull one over us."

Old Zhou's complexion improved a little at those words — Old Cao had obviously compromised a little with his reply. Truly, if he did not bare some teeth, they would not behave.

After Old Wu heard these words, he glanced at the agreeable Old Cao and became pensive.

The three men saw that there was nothing left here for them to do, so they bid each other farewell. Then, leading their own assistants, they all went their respective ways.

On the Second Men's Military Academy end, the assistant behind Old Zhou said with a worried expression, "Faculty head, the Third Men's Military Academy and the First Co-ed Military Academy ... what did they mean? Could it be that they don't want to work together anymore?"

Old Zhou smiled coldly and replied, "It's fine. Leave them be for a bit. The competitions at the front depends on themselves. It won't be that easy for them to obtain good results. By the time the marks are tallied up, even if they don't want to work with us, they'll still have to. I don't believe that they would be willing to give up their current positions."

Only then did the assistant breathe a sigh of relief — the faculty head was still more impressive, knowing to leave the line long to nab bigger fish.

Meanwhile, on the First Co-ed Military Academy's end, there was also a conversation going on. However, Old Chao was no longer smiling at this moment, and his assistant was equally indignant. "The Second Men's Military Academy actually dared to do such a thing ... do they really think we will still want to work with them?"

Old Cao sneered and said, "Really thinking that we, the First Co-ed Military Academy, are made from glutinous rice 1 ?! Actually daring to target our female students ... what bastards." The incensed nice guy could not help cursing, "If not for the people from the First Men's Military Academy, our Starship Navigation prodigy would probably have been ruined just like that, and they actually acted like nothing had happened. They're really going too far! This time, even if our results leave us at the bottom, we will pull the Second Men's Military Academy off their pedestal. We will let them know that we, the First Co-ed Military Academy, have our pride and temper!"

1. 既生瑜何生亮: This original saying here doesn't have a proper English equivalent. It's from the 'Tale of Three Kingdoms', famous words from a character called Zhou Yu lamenting his fate at being born in the same era as the brilliant tactician Zhuge Liang, forever outclassed by the other. The saying literally translates to 'Since you've given birth to Yu, then why did you give birth to Liang'. Here, the author is drawing a parallel between Qiao Ting's feelings towards Ling Lan and how Zhou Yu felt in the past about Zhuge Liang.

2. The author actually does use 'glutinous rice' here. The intended meaning is that the SMMA was treating the FCMA like they are soft and squishy, i.e. weak and easy to bully.

Chapter 442 - Opening Ceremony!

When Old Cao's assistant heard this, he instantly said happily, " Overseer 1 , if that bunch of brats know your intentions, they'll definitely be over the moon. Luo Chao was almost ruined this time, and those stinky brats almost exploded from the anger. They've long been howling that we should show the Second Men's Military Academy what's what."

Old Cao smiled at his words, nodded and said, "That's what our students should be like. If they can't protect their own brothers and sisters, then what use do they have for becoming strong?"

While this side was planning to deceive and trip up the Second Men's Military Academy, on the Third Men's Military Academy's side, Old Wu was asking his assistant, "Ah Qi, tell me, what do you think the First Co-ed Military Academy is planning?"

His assistant Ah Qi replied, "On the surface, they seem like they intend to collaborate with us. Like us, they seem to have some beef with the Second Men's Military Academy. But after Faculty Head Zhou of the Second Men's Military Academy said what he said, Overseer Cao seemed to have retreated."

"Retreated?" Old Wu frowned. "That fellow Cao Yongyu ... although he looks like a really nice guy, very agreeable and open to discussion, we have really never been able to gain any advantage when dealing with him. This kind of person ... would he really just give up because of one statement from Zhou Yuanyi?" He did not believe it.

His assistant Ah Qi also became thoughtful. Then, suddenly thinking of something, he said in a low voice, "Sir, last night, I heard some news from the grapevine. Perhaps it has something to do with this ..."

Old Wu's eyes lit up and he quickly motioned for Ah Qi to elaborate.

"The team leader of the Second Men's Military Academy clashed with the First Men's Military Academy all because of a girl. And that girl is from the First Co-ed Military Academy, a Starship Navigation prodigy whom they are specially cultivating ..."

Old Wu was surprised. He had thought that the Second Men's Military Academy and the First Men's Military Academy had clashed in the marketplace because they just could not see eye to eye. Unexpectedly, there was this extra element to it ... Old Wu suddenly laughed and said, "So that's how it is, so that's how it is. Looks like our chance has come. Watch them closely. Once the results for the earlier competitions are out, we can study the situation better and decide who we should choose as our final partners to work with. It's about time for the perennial fourth place to move up a little." A flash of ambition coursed through Old Wu's eyes.

At this moment, Ling Lan and the rest had already arrived at the main venue, completely oblivious to the dark currents surging behind them. They were nervously lining up to enter the venue — as the last participating group to take the stage, everyone could take pride in this honour they had been given.

Qiao Ting accepted the school flag which had been prepared by the staff members, gripping it firmly. This school flag which represented the military academy he came from ... he had looked at it for five years, and he had never ever felt like it had any particular meaning. But here and now, the school flag was actually heavy, giving him a sort of invisible pressure. He suddenly felt that the treasured throne of king of just his military academy, which he had desired for so long, was actually such a trivial thing ...

"My world should not be limited to a small military academy. It should encompass the entire Federation, no, the whole universe!" A bright flame rose in Qiao Ting's eyes. He felt as if he was being remade from the inside out, and the bottleneck of his initially frozen and unmoving peak of advanced level Qi-Jin actually began to show signs of loosening ...

Ling Lan sensed the change in Qiao Ting's condition. She threw a startled glance at the other, thinking that the other was becoming stronger both in terms of force of presence and confidence. She frowned lightly, but the furrow of her brow quickly smoothed out and her eyes soon became tranquil again.

No matter how strong the opponent was, she was not afraid of any challenge!

The pride in Ling Lan's heart surged and her force of presence began to shake violently. This instantly startled the students who had been caught up in their nervous excitement — the powerful pressure gave them no room to think of anything else. They could only grit their teeth and resist the oppressive pressure with all their might. As they were now putting their full attention on this, their initially stiff movements and restless minds due to their nerves instantly became much more natural and calm.

Qiao Ting sensed the pressure coming from Ling Lan and turned to glance at her. His gaze became even more determined — losing once did not mean losing for a lifetime. He would definitely become stronger than Ling Lan!

The subtle byplay between Qiao Ting's and Ling Lan's force of presences was instantly noticed by the spiritually-aberrant Li Lanfeng. He looked at Qiao Ting then looked at Ling Lan, and his gaze turned solemn. Whether it was Qiao Ting, who he viewed as his greatest opponent in this life, or Ling Lan, his most important confidant, they were both constantly improving. In that split second back then, he had felt the two of them becoming even stronger than before.

Sure enough, it was not so easy to alter one's destiny. He needed to work much harder! Li Lanfeng's gaze turned cold and he began to silently practise the Qi exercises.

Ever since Ling Lan had told him that as long as he was persistent with his efforts in practising these Qi exercises, his terrible physical constitution would be inherently changed and may even be resolved completely, he had practised the exercises whenever he could. After close to a year of relentless study, he had finally achieved a state where he did not even need to sit down and meditate to circulate his Qi and go through the exercises. Now, he could even practise the Qi exercises while exercising. Although the effects were not as great as when he was meditating, the effects were still noticeable after accumulation over time. Based on his current progress and efficacy, his constitution problem which originally would have required five to six years to resolve may be resolved a year or two faster.

Of course, he had also shared the results of his research with Ling Lan. And as expected, his rabbit was unbelievably aberrant, only taking one month to achieve what he had spent a year to do. At this thought, Li Lanfeng felt both proud and somewhat put out. He was proud of Ling Lan being so outstanding, but put out just thinking of the gap between himself and the other. However, Li Lanfeng's heart was strong — he was not discouraged by Ling Lan's aberrant abilities. If he could not compare to the other in terms of talent, then he would use hard work to make up the difference.

Li Lanfeng could never have imagined that Ling Lan had a cheat that allowed her to extend her practice time several times over. As such, whether it was in terms of talent or hard work, Li Lanfeng was doomed to chase after Ling Lan his entire life.

"Boss, retract your force of presence quickly!" Inside Ling Lan's mindspace, Little Four was panicking. He had not forgotten that Ling Lan's force of presence was currently extremely unstable — this was also why Qiao Ting had been able to provoke Ling Lan's force of presence so easily.

Ling Lan, whose force of presence had already reached a critical point, was at risk of losing control at any moment. If his boss's force of presence was allowed to escalate freely, the possibility of losing control would be infinitely increased — Little Four did not dare to risk it.

Little Four's words sent a jolt running through Ling Lan's heart — she too had recalled her problem, so she quickly suppressed her force of presence which was on the verge of rampaging. The team members who had been resisting the pressure with all their might suddenly felt the burden ease, and their bodies became much lighter. They silently breathed a sigh of relief and finally relaxed. Right then, they no longer felt as nervous and tense as they had at the start, becoming much calmer and composed. They glanced at Ling Lan gratefully — they had been able to regain their usual state of mind all thanks to the pressure of Ling Lan's force of presence. They thought that Ling Lan had been trying to help them.

This was undoubtedly a beautiful misunderstanding. Without her conscious knowledge, Ling Lan had once again made her image become even greater than before.

At this moment, at the rostrum area, Ling Xiao, who was chatting happily with his dear wife Lan Luofeng, suddenly frowned, but his expression was soon relaxed again. Lan Luofeng, who had been peering at the entrance all this time, did not notice Ling Xiao's shift in expressions. She was extraordinarily excited; tugging on Ling Xiao's sleeve, she kept asking, "Have they come? Have they come?" Why hadn't she seen any sign of her baby daughter after so long? Where had the First Men's Military Academy gone? Why weren't they here yet?

Ling Xiao quickly reassured her. "Soon, soon. The First Men's Military Academy is typically saved for the last. Now that the other schools have all come out, it should be their turn soon."

Although Ling Xiao was all smiles, his smile did not reach his eyes. Just now, he had sensed Ling Lan's force of presence and, powerful as he was, he had instantly sensed something wrong with it. He was very worried and also somewhat crestfallen at the same time — even when his baby daughter was having problems, she still did not want to seek him, her father, out to help her solve her problems. Undoubtedly, he was too incompetent as a father.

"The last to take the stage is the First Men's Military Academy. The First Men's Military Academy is one of the strongest military academies in the Federation, with a long history of cultivating countless talents ..." Following the appearance of another participating school team, the host of the main venue began to announce the name and background of the next school to take the stage, providing a brief introduction as well.

When Lan Luofeng heard that the First Men's Military Academy was about to appear, she instantly stood up in excitement. Her sudden move greatly surprised the other special guests. Smiling wryly, Ling Xiao quickly stood up as well to applaud the entrance of the participating team from the First Men's Military Academy. This move enlightened the surrounding people — General Ling Xiao had graduated from the First Men's Military Academy. No wonder his wife was so worked up ...

Ling Xiao's follow-up action perfectly explained his wife's excitement, and the virtual screens on all four sides of the main venue also began displaying the clapping figures of General Ling Xiao and his wife. This worked up the audience, and they began shouting fervently, submerging the entire venue in a sea of cheers.

In the lead, when Qiao Ting saw Ling Xiao standing on the rostrum, he clenched his hands over the staff of the flag he was holding, holding back the excitement in his heart. Ling Xiao was his idol as well as a target he wanted to surpass. In this tournament, he had to perform well and let General Ling Xiao know that he would be the next Ling Xiao.

When Qi Long and the others who knew the truth saw General Ling Xiao and Lan Luofeng, they peeked at their boss in unplanned unison. Subsequently, they instantly felt a subtle drop in the temperature around their boss.

The student representatives of the First Men's Military Academy saw their senior General Ling Xiao standing and applauding for them and were instantly overwhelmed with emotion. For a moment, the team was at risk of being thrown into disarray — if Ling Lan had not huffed coldly, startling them back to awareness, the boys might have lost control and disgraced themselves despite regaining their calm previously under the pressure of Ling Lan's force of presence.

Ling Lan managed to rein in the situation with some effort, and then she stared speechlessly at the smiling handsome man who was applauding them passionately. This old man of hers ... always unconsciously giving her some trouble.

After that, Ling Lan looked over at the obviously excited Lan Luofeng, and her brain began to ache. Mind you, her mum was the person she most did not know how to handle — if her attitude was just the least bit off in any way, she would instantly be treated to a shower of tears ...

Leaving aside Ling Lan's complicated feelings, after walking once around the stage, they were finally led to the area designated for them by a staff member. Only then did Ling Xiao and Lan Luofeng sit down again. Because of this, the First Men's Military Academy very quickly drew the envious gazes of countless other cadets around them. That was General Ling Xiao, their idol! Why couldn't General Ling Xiao be their senior? In their envy, countless cadets could not help crying internally, unbearably indignant.

1. 总务: Actually, the term here translates literally to 'general affairs', which in Chinese, can be used to refer to the head of general affairs in an organisation. This doesn't work in this context, hence 'overseer'.

Chapter 443 - Half Step to God-Realm?

Once the First Men's Military Academy's debut ended, this marked the end of the Mecha Grand Tournament's opening ceremony. Everyone patiently waited for the next event.

At this time, at the centre of the main venue, 100 arenas of equal sizes slowly rose up from the floor. The appearance of these arenas represented the official start of this Mecha Grand Tournament, and the first event to take the stage was the traditional item — physical combat.

"Now, may the participating members of each school advance to the arena number as indicated by the organisers for the scheduled match-ups!" prompted the host.

Seated in his own place, Qi Long suddenly felt his communicator vibrate. He opened it and saw that a message from the organising committee had been delivered. He was actually arranged to be the first to fight at arena 17, and he was also the first one from the First Men's Military Academy to fight in the physical skills combat to be up.

He quickly informed his boss and then rushed over to arena 17 to prepare for his match.

This time, there were five people from the First Men's Military Academy who were participating in physical combat. The other four were from Leiting, Tianji, Wuji, and Dwotong respectively.

Wu Jiong watched worriedly as Qi Long went to his arena and asked uneasily, "Qi Long going up ... will it be okay?" The physical skills competition of the Mecha Grand Tournament was a place where all the best and brightest of physical skills prodigies of the Federation were gathered. There was even one military academy specializing in physical skills, whose specific purpose was to cultivate physical skills prodigies. Although Qi Long's physical skills were very strong, he was still somewhat lacking when compared to these prodigies among prodigies.

At this thought, he could not help but cut a glance at Ling Lan. "Boss Lan, the one best suited for the physical skills competition in our Lingtian is actually you. Why did you choose to send Qi Long instead of going yourself?"

Ling Lan glanced calmly at Wu Jiong and said, "Qi Long's physical skills just happens to be at a bottleneck. A competition like this will be very beneficial in spurring a breakthrough. Also, don't you think it would be bullying the others too much if I went up there?"

Even though not many knew about her breakthrough to Domain, even when she had been a half step to Domain, she was already unbeatable to anyone below Domain stage. Fighting against these people at Qi-Jin stage would indeed be rather unsporting. Of course, Ling Lan would not really mind this — the true reason why she was not participating was her problem with her force of presence. She was afraid that in the arena, any slip in her control might end up in disaster. But all of this was not something Ling Lan could tell Wu Jiong and the others. She could only bear it in silence and send Qi Long in her place, feigning some high-mindedness in the process.

Wu Jiong decisively turned his head aside — sob, sob, sob, Boss Lan, you're really too much! Wasn't he being just a little selfish, wanting his own academy to obtain a few extra first places? Did he deserve such contempt?

Fine ... here was yet another clueless child who had been deceived by Ling Lan!

Qi Long's luck was excellent; his opponent could be considered a weaker one. Without expending much effort, Qi Long defeated his opponent and successfully advanced to the next stage. Perhaps because the opponent was too weak, Qi Long did not seem to have had enough fun fighting, so he was clearly rather moody when he returned to the group.

However, Qi Long's task for the day was done after his match ended. Now he just had to wait for the second day — once all the participants who advanced to the next round were determined, the mainframe would randomly assign them new opponents. Whether or not Qi Long could progress further would still require some luck. Only if he did not get matched up against those hot favourites to be the winning candidate would he have any chance.

Although the first rounds for the members from Leiting, Tianji, Wuji, and Dwotong had yet to happen, Ling Lan did not plan to continue waiting. If those four participants could not even get past the first round, then they really would not be qualified to be the representatives of the four major factions; as such, Ling Lan was not too worried.

Just like that, Ling Lan led her people from Lingtian as well as the other members who were not interested in watching the rest of the fights to leave the main venue. After that, she turned down Qi Long and her companions' suggestion to go play at the entertainment establishments around the accommodation area, returning alone to her own room.

Ling Lan was so decisive in refusing her companions' invitation because she was 80% sure that her father Ling Xiao would definitely come looking for her right after she left the main venue.

Sure enough, not too long after she returned, Ling Lan heard a knock at her door. As soon as Ling Lan opened the door, she saw the smiling face of her dad who had been leaning comfortably against the door frame, waiting for her to open the door.

Ling Lan could not help but quirk her lips at the sight and say in a slightly mocking tone, "Father, isn't your 23rd Division still not yet established? You actually have the free time to come attend the opening ceremony of the Mecha Grand Tournament?"

Ling Xiao burst out into hearty laughter at her words, reaching out a hand to ruffle Ling Lan's hair. His tone was somewhat resigned as he said, "What, daddy has come all the way here to cheer for you and you're still complaining?"

"But why did you bring mum as well?" When Ling Lan brought up Lan Luofeng, she lost her usual cool; her demeanour carried a trace of helpless irritation. Of course, Ling Lan was still very calm and settled outwardly, but who was Ling Xiao? Just from the minute changes in Ling Lan's tone, he noticed something.

Even as Ling Xiao was surprised by it, he could not help but be jealous. He was surprised that his cold-faced daughter would be as helpless as he was when handling Lan Luofeng. At the same time, he was also jealous of the lofty position Lan Luofeng held in Ling Lan's heart ... the address of 'mum' was enough to prove the deep bond between mother and daughter. Just thinking about how Ling Lan still had yet to call him 'dad', Ling Xiao's heart was instantly bitter and sour. Honestly, all those years ago, he really had not intended to abandon his wife and daughter ... when exactly would Ling Lan forgive him and be able to truly accept him?

Ling Xiao quickly cast aside these depressed feelings, rallying his spirits to answer Ling Lan. "When your first year ended, you only sent a message home saying that you were staying at the academy and would not go home. Your mum missed you a lot. So, knowing that you will be participating in this Mecha Grand Tournament, you think she'd have let this chance go?"

Ling Xiao decisively threw all responsibility over to his wife — he absolutely would not ever admit that he had come because he missed his daughter too much.

Ling Lan thought back to when she had video-called her mum. Recalling her mum's crazed expression back then, Ling Lan was instantly left speechless. Alright, this was all her own fault!

"Where's mum?" Ling Lan saw that there was no one behind Ling Xiao, so she knew that the place for their reunion was definitely not going to be here.

"At the teahouse in the special guests' rest area!" A trace of a smile appeared on Ling Xiao's lips. He was relieved that Ling Lan was able to immediately grasp his true intention in coming here.

"Then, father, please lead the way," said Ling Lan, resigned. Since she could not escape, she might as well go over earlier to avoid her mum exploding from the accumulated resentment. At that time, Ling Lan would only suffer even more.

However, Ling Xiao did not move. He instead continued to lean against the door frame as his smile slowly dimmed. Then, he merely looked calmly at Ling Lan — his piercing gaze made Ling Lan's heart clench and she felt a powerful pressure pressing down on her, once again stirring up her force of presence.

Ling Xiao's force of presence was only flashed for a moment and the pressure vanished after that light touch. Ling Lan breathed a sigh of relief and immediately reined in her wild and unruly force of presence with all her might. The effort of it made countless beads of sweat emerge on Ling Lan's forehead; it was truly exhausting.

Seeing this, Ling Xiao frowned deeply. Ling Lan's condition was worse than he had imagined. He immediately discarded his initial plans and said, "Let's go to the combat room here."

There were many leisure facilities in the accommodation area so that the participating cadets could have a place to relax outside of the competitions. This included a gym for the students to release any pent up frustrations, as well as facilities such as combat rooms.

Ling Lan knew that Ling Xiao had noticed her problem — they were likely heading to a combat room so he could fully explore the issue. Thus, she did not refuse, immediately bringing Ling Xiao to the service counter to request a combat room.

Of course, at the service counter, Ling Lan became unable to sense Ling Xiao for a period of time. It looked like Ling Xiao did not want to be discovered by anyone and had hidden away for the moment. Unfortunately, with Ling Lan's current level of strength, she was actually unable to grasp Ling Xiao's presence when he truly intended to hide. She had even tried asking Little Four to use the surveillance equipment here to search for him, but she was still unable to find any trace of Ling Xiao. This left Ling Lan in awe — a god-class operator truly lived up to its reputation as the ultimate fighting force of the Federation. Even the virtual god Little Four could not grasp Ling Xiao's movements fully.

Ling Lan opened the combat room, and as soon as she entered, Ling Xiao abruptly appeared inside. Almost at the same time, several soft poofs could be heard inside the room. Startled, Ling Lan understood what had happened after a brief pause. Probably, at the moment Ling Xiao had appeared, all the surveillance devices in the room had been instantly destroyed by Ling Xiao's force of presence.

Although this might cause Ling Lan some minor trouble, as she would have to compensate for these broken devices, this little bit of trouble was nothing compared to Ling Xiao being discovered. Ling Lan immediately shut the doors to the room. From this point on, no one would be able to enter as long as she did not exit the room, and so no one would be able to discover Ling Xiao here.

"Come, Lan-er, let's spar." To fully comprehend the extent of Ling Lan's problem, Ling Xiao would need to have a proper fight with her. As soon as Ling Xiao finished speaking, he did not hesitate to throw a punch at Ling Lan.

Ling Xiao's speed was too fast — Ling Lan only saw Ling Xiao raise his hand and the next thing she could see was his fist already right before her eyes. There was no longer any possibility of Ling Lan lifting a hand to block, so she could only lean back and raise both her hands at the same time, crossing her arms to withstand this seemingly heavy punch ...

With a 'bam', Ling Lan was sent stumbling back several steps from the force of the blow and only then did she manage to catch her footing. Ling Xiao remained motionless, however, retracting his fist in an easy manner just as if he had not been using his full strength in that last punch.

Ling Lan's eyes narrowed. That attack had shown that her dad's physical skills level was at Domain, both in terms of strength and speed. Moreover, his Domain was absolutely unlike her own rudimentary Domain that had yet to fully develop but was instead a full-fledged perfect Domain. The distance between their realms left her unable to see the other's actions clearly; she could only defend passively.

Meanwhile, after retracting his fist, Ling Xiao's expression was rather bemused. He had sensed a trace of a familiar air in that last attack. He was quite shocked, somewhat disbelieving, but he could not suppress the wild joy surging in his heart. His daughter ... had she truly entered that stage as he thought?

Ling Xiao stared in surprise at his daughter standing not too far away who was currently holding a defensive stance. He smiled slightly and said, "Lan-er, if you have truly reached that level, then display your full ability."

The corners of Ling Lan's lips quirked. As expected of her old man — just a little contact with her Qi-Jin and he had already discovered her secret. This also proved that her father had also achieved that level. Ling Lan believed that Ling Xiao's Domain realm surely exceeded hers by a great margin. Just standing there, he already gave her a sense that she could never win against him, a feeling that she could only look up to him ... Ling Lan could not help but speculate — could her dad have already reached the extreme limits of Domain and had entered that half-god state ... half step to God-Realm?

She thought about the top-secret file on Ling Xiao which Little Four had decrypted — his physical skills level had always been marked with a question mark. The military had previously speculated that Ling Xiao might be at the early stages of Domain, but now it looked like they had still underestimated her father Ling Xiao.