540 - 545

Chapter 540 - Ambush?

One member from Leiting had been eliminated. They didn't panic after receiving news of this, however; they knew that Ling Lan was the strongest in Lingtian. It was normal that their team members would not be able to fight him and natural that they would lose one or two of their members. Leiting had already known what was going to happen before they got to Xie Yi's location.

At that moment, a Leiting mecha was quickly flying past a rocky mountain formation towards Lingtian No.1's location. This pilot didn't know that a mecha was lying in wait just on top of the rocks.

"Who's the guy with the balls to actually walk over my head?" Qi Long looked up at the mecha that flew over him, following which he speedily shifted the beam gun on his mecha's right hand to lock on to the opponent. He naturally didn't forget to check the opponent's data and information beforehand.

"Beep, beep. Information received. ID: Leiting No.1!" The optical supercomputer responsibly relayed the information that it had searched and found.

"Leiting No.1?" Qi Long instantly became excited. He hadn't expected that he would finally have a huge fish take the bait after he had laid there for so long.

"Qi Long, let him pass." Right at that moment, Ling Lan's cold and sharp voice rang in the team commlink channel.

"Ah? Ugh… roger." Qi Long was immediately dumbfounded at hearing Ling Lan's words right when he was about to make a move; however, even if Qi Long didn't understand Ling Lan's orders, he would still follow them. He ceased locking on to the enemy and watched as Leiting No.1 flew out of his line of sight.

"Boss, I really want to fight that Leiting No.1," Qi Long said regrettably. After all, Leiting No.1 was the strongest individual in Leiting. Before the battle had begun, Qi Long actually hoped that he could fight with Leiting No.1. Unfortunately, his boss had other plans and didn't give him that opportunity.

"It wouldn't be meaningful if you fought him, but Xie Yi needs the experience," explained Ling Lan.

Qi Long's expression showed that he understood, "So, Boss, you mean that we're going to use this chance to let Leiting No.1 help us detonate the dark energy being held back by Xie Yi?"

"Yes. Because of the opponent, Xie Yi's guard won't be too strong. Once he has thoughts of becoming stronger or winning, there'll be an opportunity for that dark energy to seep out." Ling Lan didn't know what condition Xie Yi would end up in if he were controlled by the dark energy and she was very interested in knowing the outcome.

Not everyone was lucky like Leiting No.1, deliberately given a pass. Ling Lan's target had always been Leiting No.1. As for the others, she didn't meddle with her team members' decisions. The same situation was playing out at a different corner of the map.

When a few of Leiting's mechas passed by the hidden mechas of Lingtian that were using the chameleon system, the latter group bared their vicious fangs as one and made a move on these rapidly advancing opponents who did not have their guard up at all.

Bang! The sounds of explosions resulting from beams projectiles making their mark on mechas rang through the silent forest, which instantly alerted everyone around the area. One Leiting mecha's cockpit was instantly hit—he was eliminated without the chance to even say a word.

Unfortunately, the map was too large; the movements and sounds that had occurred at this location were not known to the others in different locations. The members of Leiting could only see that they had lost one member once again on the corner of their mecha's screen, but they could not figure out how that teammate was defeated. Thus, the second member from Leiting followed in his teammate's footsteps and was also hit while he wasn't paying attention.

Still, not every member from Lingtian was that lucky and not every member from Leiting was that unlucky. When a third mecha from Leiting moved past one of Lingtian's ambush points, its operator instinctively sensed the presence of danger when he was about to be attacked; he had actually managed to avoid suffering a fatal blow by coincidence. The beam shot had hit his thigh and he luckily got away.

"How unfortunate!" Luo Lang said depressedly, having missed his shot. Nevertheless, he didn't move and waited patiently for the next opportunity to come by.

"Enemies! Where exactly are they?" The Leiting member who had gotten away was having cold sweats. He turned his mecha's radar up to maximum range, but it showed no reaction at all as though that beam shot had just been an illusion.

It was quiet all around him, but at that moment, the silence made the Leiting member feel that he was grave danger. He took a deep breath and calmed himself, following which he decisively connected to his captain's commlink channel. "Captain, I was just attacked by Lingtian, but my radar can't find any traces of the attacker."

Tian Jiajun's expression changed at these words and the first thing he thought of was the chameleon system. Although this system was considered to be a piece of high-end equipment in the Mecha World and was hard to obtain, that didn't mean that it was impossible to acquire. He believed that the members of Lingtian had already gotten their hands on this system, but he just didn't know how many of them were actually equipped with it.

"I hope that there are only one or two mechas from Lingtian that has this perverted system. Otherwise, our circumstances in this competition will be disadvantageous." Tian Jiajun's expression became grave.

"Activate your reserve thermal radar. The instant the opponent uses their beam energy supply, the radar will be able to find them," Tian Jiajun ordered immediately. Although they didn't have the hawkeye system, special-class mechas could only be equipped with low-level chameleon systems; the thermal radar would still be able to find some heat signatures. It was only that these signatures would disappear within moments and detection of them was also dependent on whether his team members would be able to control the thermal radar well.

"Also, be wary of cold weapon ambushes by the opponents." Thermal radars could only detect beam gun energy signals. If the opponents used cold weapons to ambush them, then the radar would be useless.

After receiving Tian Jiajun's orders, the members of Leiting all began to be on guard for Lingtian's ambushes. As expected, the next time they came under beam fire by Lingtian, they were able to find the location of the heat source using their thermal radars. Those who reacted quickly simultaneously dodged the beam shots and pounced towards the location that the thermal radar had marked.

Of course, this portion of Leiting members had luck on their side. The Lingtian members who ambushed them only had beam gunners and no cold weapon users, as expected. Surprise attacks using cold weapons would make it hard for Leiting to defend, however, and they lost another team member from this type of ambush. For Leiting, the situation suddenly went from bad to worse. They had 12 people in the beginning, but were down to only 8 within fleeting moments of time. They had almost lost close to half their numbers.

Of course, Ling Lan didn't pay much attention to the Lingtian members who were ambushing or fighting the Leiting members. In truth, Ling Lan didn't waste too much time thinking about this challenge match compared to the one a year ago. Leiting no longer had a strong ace mecha master like Qiao Ting and Ling Lan believed that her team members wouldn't lose to their opponents. She knew very well that whether a mecha clan had a chance for long-term development was not based on how strong the commander was, but instead based on whether or not the clan itself had reliable strength.

Therefore, if Lingtian wanted to develop and become stronger, its members had to mature more quickly. They had to become a clan in the military academy that would not be easily defeated, and only then would Lingtian be able to continue developing in the future.

In the area of the challenge match, while Lingtian was preying on Leiting, the latter was also preying on the former's members. Three mechas from Lingtian had their locations exposed. Other than Xie Yi, who had his orders to pretend to be Ling Lan and draw the enemy's fire, the other two members could only be exposed in front of Leiting's members because they hadn't finished the mission for the chameleon system. This led to the Leiting members, who had already gathered up, mercilessly moving towards them to form an encirclement.

Although the chameleon system was very powerful when it came to camouflaging ability, the system would be as good as useless once the user's movements became exposed. Since the first assassination attempt by Lingtian was evaded by the opponent, they would no longer have the advantage they had in the beginning. If Lingtian wanted to defeat their opponent, they would have to rely on their own strength.

Two sides fighting each other would naturally result in one person winning and one losing. Many members of Lingtian were defeated at the end of fierce fighting against the members of Leiting. Afterwards, smoke filled the air as battles took place everywhere on the map. The numbers of both sides were slowly dwindling, and those who were able to stay alive until the end would definitely be the strongest out of both teams.

Tang Yu looked around and discovered that Ling Lan wasn't amidst the Lingtian members who had appeared in front of everyone. He frowned and suspected that perhaps Ling Lan wasn't even going to make a move. Was the only reason he had joined this match was to act as insurance to make sure Lingtian didn't lose?

Due to Ling Lan's arrangements, Tian Jiajun flew his mecha smoothly all the way towards Xie Yi's location.

Xie Yi saw Leiting No.1 coming towards him and he instantly grew excited, as Ling Lan had told him before the match that his mission was to keep Leiting No.1 busy and hold him back. Before his teammates could completely wipe out the rest of the members from Leiting, he had to keep Leiting No.1 occupied.

Tian Jiajun's goal was the same as Xie Yi's; the mission he had received was to first make sure Lingtian No.1 was held up. As for the others, he would act accordingly as the situation required him to.

The eyes of these two individuals met up, but they didn't stop to say anything and instead drew out their weapons to engage in battle. Both of them were piloting balanced mechas, which were good for both ranged and close quarters combat. Therefore, once they entered the range for long-range attacks, both of them raised the beam gun in their hand in unplanned unison and attacked their opponent.

Tian Jiajun had been stuck at special-class operator level for more than one year and only needed a catalyst to advance to become an ace operator. His piloting skills were naturally not like Xie Yi's, who had just advanced to special-class operator. After Xie Yi probed his opponent in the first few exchanges, he reigned in the impulse of wanting to defeat his opponent and began to carefully try to keep him busy instead.

At that moment, Xie Yi was performing just like normal. Ling Lan had been watching Xie Yi all this time and upon seeing that his performance was very normal, she knew that Tian Jiajun wasn't giving Xie Yi enough pressure.

"Leiting No.1's desire to win isn't very high, it seems." Ling Lan had discovered that Tian Jiajun's way of fighting was cautious, even a bit restrained. Could it be that he didn't dare to make a careless move due to thinking Lingtian No.1 was her?

She had to think of something to make Leiting No.1 become desperate.

Ling Lan fell into brief thought before connecting to Qi Long's commlink channel. "Qi Long, pretend to be losing and lure your opponent to the coordinates (xx, xx)."

Hearing this, Qi Long knew that his boss had some sort of plan. He didn't ask any questions and responded with a "roger".

Qi Long was secretly overjoyed. In order to avoid being bored after his fight, he had wanted to battle with his opponent for a longer period of time. Thus, he had concealed a portion of his strength and fought on even grounds with his opponent. If he had started with full strength from the start and pressured his opponent, it would have been difficult for him to feign that he was losing.

Qi Long continued to trade several more blows with his opponent before he pretended to show weakness and then drew back his cold weapon, following which he turned around and desperately flew towards the coordinates Ling Lan had indicated.

Seeing the opportunity to take down his opponent, the Leiting member naturally wouldn't let it pass by; he immediately piloted his mecha to follow Qi Long. Seeing this, Qi Long was relieved. He fought back for moments at a time, before running for another moment, then rinse and repeat. As this continued, they finally arrived at that location that Ling Lan had given him.

Chapter 541 - Pet!

Two mechas in the midst of a fierce fought abruptly dropped into Qi Long's line of sight and before he could stop to think think, he heard Ling Lan's voice ring out once again. "Continue to fight. This time you have to pressure your opponent, but don't kill him in an instant. You have to give him hope of being able to endure."

Qi Long couldn't help but groan. His boss' requests were becoming increasingly trickier. He had to pressure the opponent, but at the same time give him hope. It was really making it hard for someone who fought wildly like him. It should be known that his way of fighting was to either hide his strength and be on par with his opponent, or go full throttle for an instant takedown. He had never tried pressuring an opponent while not winning the battle.

"How really troublesome!" mumbled Qi Long depressedly. Nevertheless, he didn't dare to go against his boss' orders. Besides, he knew that there was a deeper meaning to the latter's instruction. If he couldn't do as his boss asked, his life after the match would be very miserable. In order to make sure he lived a bit more comfortably, he had to finish the mission his boss had given him no matter what.

Qi Long pumped himself up before turning around to fly towards the Leiting mecha that had chased him all the way there.

This special-class operator from Leiting also caught a glimpse of his captain, but before he could communicate with his captain, his opponent actually stopped running and immediately pounced on him with his weapon in hand.

At that moment, he still had no knowledge of having fallen into a trap. Once he saw Qi Long move towards him, he thought that was exactly what he wanted and thus, he also raised his weapon and flew towards Qi Long. When their weapons clashed, though, the heart of the Leiting special-class operator jumped a beat; the power behind his opponent's strike this time was twice as powerful compared to what he felt in their previous bout of fighting. This huge force instantly bounced his weapon backward.

It was a good thing that his reactions were quick; he felt that he couldn't withstand the blow and dodged with his mecha, making sure that his opponent didn't take the chance to strike him. However, even though he managed to do all this, the edge of the other party's blade still slashed the side of his mecha. The Leiting special-class operator could feel that if that had been a clean hit, he would either be dead or heavily wounded.

At that moment, the special-class operator understood everything. The running away and show of weakness were only his opponent pretending. It had been to deliberately lure him to this place—he had actually fallen into a trap.

After realizing the situation, the member from Leiting couldn't help but be anxious. However, when he saw his captain gaining the upper-hand, his wavering heart instantly steeled. Tian Jiajun was another powerful individual who inspired the trust of his team members. It was just that Tian Jiajun was always low-key, thus he never had the chance to take the position of commander and instead became the vice-commander.

However, Tian Jiajun didn't care. He wasn't like the power-hungry Lin Zhidong, who still wouldn't let go of his power in his fifth year to focus on getting ready for the military division evaluations. Tian Jiajun had been determined to join the 23rd Division since the previous year. Although he was stuck at the peak of special-class operator level and had no luck with advancing to ace operator, he had nonetheless never changed his decision to register for the 23rd Division.

Their year's division evaluations were coming up in the near future and he wanted to join the 23rd Division to repay Boss Huo's nurturing. Huo Zhenyu had personally seen potential in Tian Jiajun and was also the one who had recruited him. Tian Jiajun had kept this graciousness in mind and also wanted to repay the care that Leiting had given him in these past few years. That was why he was given the task to lead the other experts of Leiting to participate in this competitive match that would decide the clan's future fate.

The team member saw that Tian Jiajun had somewhat of an advantage and this caused him to have more fighting spirit. As long as he was able to hold on, once his captain defeated his opponent, he would definitely be able to lend a helping hand. Afterward, when the two of them teamed up, they would be able to defeat this annoying mecha operator of Lingtian who was standing in front of him.

This Leiting member hated Qi Long, this sly deceiver, with all his heart. If Qi Long's power was stronger than him by just a bit, he wouldn't have harbored hate or regret and would have felt it normal for him to lose. However, it was clear that Qi Long was stronger than him, yet he pretended to be weaker to deceive him… wasn't he just being toyed around with? It was like he was being bullied.

Holding this resentment in his heart, the Leiting member naturally didn't want to simply lose to this despicable punk, Qi Long. Additionally, he also had a chance to turn his imminent defeat into a victory with his captain by his side. Thus, he mustered all his strength to continue the fight. Faced with Qi Long's barrage of attacks, he still managed to endure even though he seemed at the end of his road after so many attacks.

While Tian Jiajun was attacking Xie Yi, he also noticed his teammate's situation. Tian Jiajun knew that he couldn't wait any more when he saw that his teammate could no longer endure Qi Long's attacks.

After probing each other during this time, Tian Jiajun felt that his opponent was better than him at mecha piloting. Of course, his opponent still hadn't used his final technique. Tian Jiajun wasn't sure whether or not he would be able to dodge it. After all, it was something that hadn't happened yet, something no one could confirm. However, Tian Jiajun was confident in himself. When he first joined Leiting, he was the only one to dare challenge Qiao Ting when he was at special-class level. Thus, even though he felt uncertainties about his opponent, Tian Jiajun still decided to make his move.

Although Tian Jiajun was full of fighting spirit, he still remained calm when he took action. He carefully looked for a flaw in Lingtian No.1's piloting. Tian Jiajun knew very well that this person in front of him had once defeated Qiao Ting, an ace operator. Although Qiao Ting's mecha had been severely damaged back then and Qiao Ting himself was exhausted, making the record of that fight less truthful than it actually was, Tian Jiajun still couldn't deny that it was the only match where Qiao Ting was defeated while he was still in the military academy. That result was enough to make Tian Jiajun attach importance to Lingtian No.1.

Thus, even though his teammate's situation was extremely dangerous, Tian Jiajun still decided to wait for an opportunity—and his waiting bore results. After around 30 seconds, he discovered a flaw in Lingtian No.1's piloting.

This is the moment! Tian Jiajun decisively made his move and targeted that weak point. The attack was so sudden that Xie Yi knew he was in trouble. He tried his best to block, but he was still a bit slower.

"Bang!" Tian Jiajun's cold weapon struck the shoulder of Xie Yi's mecha and the latter was sent flying by this incredible force to crash into a towering tree.

"Snap!" A branch of the towering tree was snapped off by Xie Yi as he attempted to balance himself. However, due to this branch reducing the force the of the hit, Xie Yi was able to regain control of his mecha.

Seeing his chance, Tian Jiajun naturally wouldn't let up. While Xie Yi was still trying to balance his mecha, Tian Jiajun pounced on him and attacked wildly. At that moment, Xie Yi had lost the upper hand and no chance to dodge. He could only take Tian Jiajun's attacks head on.

Thus, those watching Qi Long and the member from Leiting were once again focused on Xie Yi and Tian Jiajun. It was just that now Xie Yi was like the member from Leiting. He was being attacked by Tian Jiajun without any chance to counterattack. The situation instantly became a crisis.

"As expected, as long as Tian Jiajun uses all his strength, it's possible that no one else from Lingtian would be able to go against him other than Ling Lan. That Xie Yi is going to lose soon, isn't he?" The instructors' eyes were sharp and they saw the difference in strength between Xie Yi and Tian Jiajun. Everyone believed that Xie Yi was in trouble this time.

Tang Yu wasn't affected by the opinions of those around him. At that moment, he was searching for the name of Lingtian No.6, who was drawing closer to Xie Yi. Qi Long's name quickly entered his vision. Seeing another one of his star disciples appear, he couldn't help but laugh. "I knew it! It's this punk! I was wondering just now why this Lingtian No.6's movements were so familiar."

All this time, Tang Yu had thought that Qi Long's serial number would either be No.2 or No.3; he did not think that it would actually be No.6. It seemed that Lingtian did not organize the numbers based on their power levels.

At that moment, Tang Yu didn't know that other than the arranged No.1 that given to Xie Yi, all the other numbers were given to everyone through drawing lots right before the battle began. This was why Qi Long was No.6. Thus, it would be impossible to guess whom the operator was just going by their serial numbers.

The principal heard Tang Yu's laugh and asked curiously, "Who's number six?"

"Qi Long, one of the five disciples that I teach," Tang Yu replied with a smile. Compared to Ling Lan, who was a disciple on paper, Qi Long was considered a real disciple. Other than his disciple Lin Zhong-qing, whom he favored, Qi Long was also someone he paid close attention to and invested much time and energy in teaching.

"Oh, is he the cadet that you were just talking about, the one that has the position as main vanguard for Ling Lan's battle team?" The principal recalled their previous conversation.

"Yes." Tang Yu nodded.

"It looks like Xie Yi isn't on the same level as Tian Jiajun. Do you think Qi Long will able to take Tian Jiajun on?" the principal asked with great interest.

Tang Yu showed a hint of pride as he said, "Of course. I believe he will be the next Qiao Ting."

Tang Yu's words stunned the principal, who looked at the former with a dumbfounded look, desiring to confirm the truth of his words.

Tang Yu nodded his head firmly. "Qi Long has now reached the peak of special-class. Unless Ling Lan has other plans, it won't a problem for him to advance to ace level in the first half of his fourth year."

The principal's breathing became slightly hurried. A single Qiao Ting was already a prodigy that was difficult to find within a single decade. He hadn't expected that their military academy was going to have another paragon prodigy after only three years. The principal was extremely excited. He opened his mouth to take a breath, barely managing to hold down his hysterical laughter. "Will he run into a bottleneck when he advances to ace level? How are you so sure that Qi Long will be able to break through in one year?"

"I wasn't sure before. But some time ago, I discovered that the bottleneck in Qi Long's mind had actually disappeared. If not for the fact that Qi Long's piloting skills haven't reached that level yet, it would have been possible for him to have already reached ace level by now." After saying this, Tang Yu couldn't help but be green with envy. Back then, when he and his buddies were advancing to ace level, they spent a long time before getting past the bottleneck in their mind.

"Some people are just blessed by god!" The principal had seen such an individual before and that person was Ling Xiao. Normally, bottlenecks existed in the process of advancing to ace, imperial and god level without exception. Many people would be stuck at these bottlenecks for their entire lives, but Ling Xiao didn't experience anything like them. In six years, he quickly advanced from ace level to god level. He became the ultimate weapon of the Federation at a dumbfounding speed and it was this impossible advancement speed of his that had helped him survive his future days.

By the time the enemy nations saw Ling Xiao as a big threat, he had already reached god-level. Assassinations had become useless. In the end, they had to use and give up many divisions in order to just trap Ling Xiao…

Chapter 542 - The Devil In The Heart!

The principal remembered the bloodshed 19 years ago—the Federation had almost collapsed after that period of time. Luckily, Ling Xiao came back alive three years ago. When the principal remembered this, his excited heart calmed down. In order to protect his students, he needed to forget about everything that happened in front of his eyes.

"If you can, let Qi Long advance at a later time," the principal said with a sigh.

Tang Yu gave a grateful look at the principal upon hearing his words. He respected the latter. The man cared greatly for his students, so he didn't want to use talented students to promote himself to a higher office.

While Tang Yu was talking to the principal regarding Qi Long, Xie Yi was facing a great crisis. He was steadily losing his grounds. In the face of crisis, the dark energy suppressed in his body exploded.

Tian Jiajun didn't show any mercy this time and Xie Yi's lack of foundation was exposed. After taking several hard blows, Xie Yi realized that he had reached his limit. It was possible that he would be defeated by his opponent soon and kicked out of the battle.

Rivulets of sweat dripped down furiously from his forehead. He was frustrated. If he ended up so simply defeated like this, how could he answer to the trust that his boss had in him?

Ever since he found out that he was going to become the substitute for his boss, Xie Yi was excited. He had managed to get this position despite there being other candidates such as Qi Long and Luo Lang, and this showed how much his boss trusted him.

Xie Yi appeared to be a bright and optimistic young man who was confident in everything he did; however, deep down inside, he had always been questioning himself because he wasn't one of his boss' most trusted companions.

Xie Yi hadn't joined Ling Lan's team at a very good time. When he joined, Ling Lan had been heavily injured and had to leave the school for three years to recuperate. He didn't interact with Ling Lan for three years, but he managed to form a good relationship with the rest of the team. He treasured these relationships. However, he knew that he would only be able to walk into the hearts of his team members by gaining recognition from Ling Lan. This had made him agitated, made him yearn to be recognized by Ling Lan.

Hence, Xie Yi was always anxious. When his boss came back, he knew what was the most important thing he lacked. It was time! He hadn't grown up together with his boss. Thus, he lost the opportunity to go through thick and thin with the other team members, which made it difficult for him to gain a position in Ling Lan's heart to become one of his trusted companions.

This was why Ling Lan would not care about him liked how he cared for Qi Long and Luo Lang. Ling Lan would not scold him, hit him, and order him around like the rest of the team members. Ling Lan was merely polite with him, or in other words, he ignored him totally.

Yes. He was just an unimportant person to his boss. He could only follow behind Qi Long and Luo Lang, trying to make his presence known… that feeling was too frustrating! However, there was nothing he could do. He had missed out on the best moments to form a bond with his boss. He couldn't even blame his boss for treating him this way.

Sometimes, Xie Yi would regret hiding his real power in the past. Why had he feigned weakness back then? If he had shown his true power, he might have been able to enter Special Class A and grow up together with his boss. At the very least, he could have become like Lin Zhong-qing, become the boss' most trusted assistant.

Xie Yi felt regret, but he shouldn't be!

The Xie family had a long history. Their family background could be compared with that of the important families of the Federation, or perhaps they were even stronger, but the only reason why the Xie family didn't become an elite family was due to their special genetics.

In the past, the Xie family had gained fame in the Federation due to their special genetics. However, this very same reason caused them their downfall. The special genetics of the Xie family allowed its descendants to be able to learn things faster than an ordinary person; their speed of learning was comparable to a genius. There would be someone like this in every generation of the Xie family.

If these descendants grew up to become a leader, Xie family would not fall to ruin. Unfortunately, these descendants did make it in the end. The special genetics granted the descendants of the Xie family a strong learning ability, but it came with a painful price—the descendants of the Xie family would easily succumb to the devil in their heart.

If the descendants of the Xie family led a smooth and happy life, they could escape from this fate; however, who could guarantee that their life would be smooth sailing the entire way? Life was long, things would happen. Regret was the emotion that the Xie family was most afraid of. Once this emotion appeared, the devil in their hearts would appear too. It would grow to become a powerful, dark energy.

If the descendants from the Xie family couldn't suppress this dark energy, their character would utterly change. Most of them would become heartless, evil, and vicious. Some might even commit unforgivable crimes and cause bloodshed.

When this happened, the elders of the Xie family would come out to personally kill these people. Hence, the talented descendants of the Xie family died one by one. In the end, the once glamorous Xie family fell from grace and never returned to their prime again.

In truth, if Xie Yi hadn't joined Ling Lan's battle team, the devil in his heart would not have appeared so quickly—it might never have appeared in his entire life—but he had joined the team and felt the difference in treatment from Ling Lan. He was frustrated, irritated, remorseful and angry. All kinds of negative emotions exploded in him and, to no surprise, the devil in his heart appeared. This dark energy had grown increasingly stronger as time passed. Every time it exploded, Xie Yi needed to use more effort to suppress it.

Xie Yi was unable to accept defeat. "I swore to complete the task my boss gave me. I can't just lose like this." Yes, he had worked hard for so long and finally earned this chance. If he failed, he would be going back to square one again.

"Tsk. If you don't want to lose, why not hand over your body to me?" The voice that had been pestering Xie Yi all these years appeared again.

"Why should I?" Xie Yi shot back with bloodshot eyes.

"Because you are too weak. So weak that I look down on you." Xie Yi saw a black and white figure appear in front of him—this was the first time the voice had manifested as a figure.

When Xie Yi saw the figure's face, his eyes narrowed. "Who are you?" The figure had the same face as him. However, the figure's smile was eerie.

"Who am I?" The figure gave a sinister smile. "You are so stupid. You raised me and now, you are asking me who I am?"

Xie Yi's eyes turned cold. "Are you going to tell me that you are me?"

"Tsk, tsk. Actually, you know it. You know how I came about, yet you are still deceiving yourself. What is the use of that?" The figure showed an eerie smile. His voice was filled with sarcasm and contempt.

Xie Yi was speechless. He shouted angrily, "Get away from me. Don't affect my battle." Xie Yi knew that he was still in the battle and didn't have the time to be bothered by this figure.

"Affect you? I am helping you. With your skills now, you are not his match," the figure retorted mercilessly.

"Can you defeat him then?" Xie Yi sneered.

"Of course!" the figure said confidently. "I am not a weakling like you. You are able to naturally control me because you raised me. If it wasn't for this fact, with my power, I would have taken control over this body a long time ago."

"Take control?" Xie Yi's heart jumped.

"Yes, take control. The bloodline of the Xie family follows one rule—the survival of the fittest. Their descendants have two personalities the moment they are born, so the strongest one will take over the body. Last time, you were strong so you took over. This time, I am stronger so I should be in control. You should move aside now." The figure smiled coldly. There was killing intent in his eyes.

The figure knew the secret of the Xie family's bloodline. The descendants of the Xie family had two personalities when they were born. The personality that was weaker would be suppressed and would enter deep sleep. The stronger personality would take control of the body. However, this could change. When the sleeping personality woke up and grew stronger, the two personalities would battle it out again and the winner would control the body. This was why the descendants of the Xie family would suddenly undergo a change in their character…

The alter ego was ambitious. He not only wanted temporary control of the body, but he also wanted to control it forever. Hence, he needed to destroy this main personality that had been controlling the body for 19 years!

"Don't even think about it." Xie Yi was unwilling to move aside. He had just gained the trust of his boss and become a true member of the battle team. How could he bear to give this up so easily?

"Don't even think about it? Are you willing to lose to your opponent again and lose the most important thing that you wanted?" The figure struck at Xie Yi where it hurt him most.

"Actually, you should try to believe me. After all, you raised me. I am still you. Once I defeat the opponent, we can come back to talk about our business." The figure tempted Xie Yi. The latter knew that the figure was just luring him in, but his heart wavered.

Xie Yi knew that he had reached his limit; he would lose this battle if he continued like this. He would not be able to complete the mission that his boss gave him and he wouldn't have the face to go back and see his boss.

The images of numerous faces flashed past his mind's eye and in the end, his thoughts came to rest on one pretty and smiling face. His eyes became firm. "I hope you will keep your words."

After he finished, Xie Yi released his suppression on the figure and a powerful, dark energy exploded from his body…

Chapter 543 - Merging With The Mecha!

Ling Lan had been observing Xie Yi all this while and she sensed the sinister energy that suddenly exploded—it had come fast and furious. She couldn't help but frown. She thought that the light energy would resist against the dark energy, but from the look of things, the light energy didn't stop the dark energy at all; they seemed to have come to some sort of agreement. Ling Lan was not sure if this was a good or bad thing.

Xie Yi's expression changed, becoming dark and sinister. He blinked and smiled, saying, "Haha, I can finally feel the air in this world. This so comfortable!"

The next second, his eyes turned cold. "You are stupid. You believed me so easily…" He went through the memories of this body and saw the smiling face within its depths. "So this is the reason? I need to find this person and have a chat with him. Hahaha…" A cold laugh came from Xie Yi's mouth.

Suddenly, he frowned. "Huh? You are resisting so violently… seems like this person is very important to you." His eyes turned sinister. This person might cause him to lose to the main personality.

At this moment, Tian Jiajun's attack came.

Xie Yi narrowed his eyes and immediately made a move; his fingers moved so quickly that only lingering afterimages could be seen.

"Clank!" His mecha raised its large sword to block Tian Jiajun's attack.

"Huh?" Tian Jiajun frowned, feeling that his opponent was much stronger than before.

His opponent had already been on the brink of defeat, but how had he become so strong suddenly? Was he putting all his energy in this one last attack? Tian Jiajun became vigilant and started operating his mecha carefully.

"This hand speed is already at the peak of the special-class level, isn't it?" The reaction speed of Xie Yi's mecha, as well as its display of power, had caused Ling Lan to raise her eyebrows slightly and then she smiled. She hadn't expected that the power, which Xie Yi had been suppressing, to be so strong. It had exceeded her expectation.

"Tsk, tsk. This is the person who almost defeated you? You are shaming the Xie family." Even as Xie Yi mockingly said this, his fingers never stopped moving.

Xie Yi's mecha raised the cold weapon in its hand, rushed forward all of a sudden and swung its weapon fiercely. "Look carefully. This is the kind of strength this body should be displaying. You are not worthy of controlling this body."

"Clang!" The two large swords clashed and an ear-shattering sound echoed through the sky.

Tian Jiajun forced himself to take Xie Yi's attack and flew back for over 10 meters. He steadied his body and looked at the mecha opposite him in disbelief. "How did he increase his power so much in such a short period of time? I didn't even manage to catch his attack."

Tian Jiajun didn't get the time to reach a conclusion; Xie Yi didn't stop and continued attacking him after he gained the upper hand.

"Clang, clang, clang…" The large swords of the two mecha struck against each other as Xie Yi continued to unleash furious blows upon Tian Jiajun. The latter had lost his advantage now and could only block the attacks while patiently waiting for an opportunity to strike back.

"Hahaha, this feels so good. Are you watching me? The opponent that you can't defeat is nothing in my hands. What right do you have to control this body? If you understand the situation, be obedient and go to sleep." Xie Yi laughed crazily. He had been suppressed for all these years so when he finally took control of his body, he vented out all his frustration. The feeling was so amazing that he didn't want to let go of it.

"What is happening? Why did Lingtian No. 1 become so powerful?" The change of position between Xie Yi and Tian Jiajun immediately caught the attention of the instructors.

"This is not possible. Jiajun will not lose to his opponent." Tian Jiajun's instructor, Qiao Yi, had a look of disbelief on his face. In his heart, Ling Lan was the only one that could defeat Tian Jiajun, yet right now, a nobody from the Lingtian Mecha Clan was winning against his disciple who couldn't even resist at all. Qiao Yi felt his world falling apart.

"Was Xie Yi hiding his skills?" the principal asked Tang Yu curiously upon seeing Xie Yi's sudden rise in strength.

"I am not sure about this," Tang Yu replied with a forced smile. As expected, the people around Ling Lan were all not normal people. They were all lunatics.

Looking at Tang Yu's expression, the principal believed that he didn't know anything. Hence, he could only control his curiosity and look at the big screen again.

Although Tian Jiajun was suppressed by Xie Yi at the start, he was, after all, someone who had been at the peak of special-class for over a year. He had many battle experiences and his foundation was strong. Once he became adjusted to Xie Yi's violent attacks, the situation started to change.

Qiao Yi heaved a sigh of relief when he saw this. His proud disciple would not be so easily defeated.

Qi Long had also realized that Xie Yi's energy changed. His innate talent allowed him to feel the energy in Xie Yi body; it had turned into something unfamiliar, sinister and dark. He immediately realized the intention behind his boss' actions.

He knew now that his boss' goal was achieved, so he asked her excitedly, "Boss, can we attack now?" He had been controlling himself. It should be time for him to go wild, too.

"No hurry. Maintain the situation as it is now." Ling Lan's reply dampened Qi Long's mood. Fine! He had to continue controlling himself.

Ling Lan would never allow Qi Long to act. She needed to keep stimulating Xie Yi. When the two personalities realized that they were both in danger, it was possible that their potential would explode. This was why Ling Lan had allowed this member of Leiting to appear here.

Ling Lan didn't only want to force Xie Yi's dark energy out; she wanted Tian Jiajun to make the latter feel hopeless. She wanted Xie Yi to feel that he would never be able to defeat the opponent. This was the only way to allow both powers to compromise with each other.

Ling Lan had always thought that suppression was not the way to solve the problem. Merging the two powers was the only solution. Of course, it would be risky. No one knew what Xie Yi would become after the merging, but Ling Lan felt the need to make this bet for the sake of his future.

Tian Jiajun was indeed the strongest in Leiting after Qiao Ting; he managed to bring the fight back to even ground. He was even gaining the upper hand now. Without a strong foundation and the accumulation of experiences, Xie Yi's sudden burst of strength was not helpful at all.

Xie Yi was on the losing end again. His eyes turned red and a killing intent slowly exuded from his body.

"Such a strong killing intent." Ling Lan felt the intense, malicious aura coming from Xie Yi and frowned again. What was this dark energy made up of? Why was it so full of negative emotions?

"Qi Long, go all out." An idea flashed past Ling Lan's mind as she suddenly pressed the button to converse with Qi Long and gave him an order.

Qi Long was elated. His boss was showing him some mercy; he finally didn't need to control himself anymore. He quickly grabbed his large sword and rushed towards his opponent, following which he swung his sword around in a crazy attack.

Qi Long attack was more furious than Xie Yi. His opponent could no longer fend him off and thus shouted at Tian Jiajun in fright, "Leader!"

In times of desperation, everyone would look for the person they trusted the most instinctively; it was the same with Leiting's members.

When he heard his clan member's frightened scream, Tian Jiajun immediately understood the situation. He shouted in anger, "Get out of my way!"

The arrogant Tian Jiajun couldn't stand to see his teammate being defeated right in front of his eyes and he didn't even think as he used his special-class technique, Whirlwind Strike, against Xie Yi. His cold weapon swept towards Xie Yi dangerously.

Tian Jiajun had thought that he would be able to make Xie Yi retreat with this move, but the latter wanted to kill him now. Xie Yi used the most powerful special-class battle technique—Total Annihilation!

Two top-tier special-class battle techniques were unleashed and they formed two powerful energies that slammed into each other—the resultant force from the collision caused both Xie Yi and Tian Jiajun to be blasted away. This fearsome force also implicated Qi Long and his opponent; caught unprepared, they were toppled over.

"F**k!" Qi Long realized that he was in danger when he felt the energy wave and immediately stopped attacking, then used all his energy to stabilize his mecha, but his opponent was not so lucky; slower to react, he ended up being blown away for about ten meters. The opponent was also quite smart, however, as he made use of the energy wave to run away quickly.

"You want to run away? No way!" Indignant at seeing his prey running away, Qi Long quickly controlled his mecha to chase after his opponent and a few seconds later, the two mechas disappeared. Only Xie Yi and Tian Jiajun were left.

Ling Lan didn't care about Qi Long right now, as the latter had already completed his mission. She didn't need to worry whether Qi Long could catch up with his opponent or whether he could defeat his opponent. In actual fact, Ling Lan had taken part in this mecha challenge because of Xie Yi.

Tian Jiajun felt a strong pressure slamming into his chest and he almost wanted to vomit blood, but he paid no heed to this and stabilized his mecha first. His decision was correct; Xie Yi had already reached him and a powerful attack followed after.

"Clang!" The two long swords knocked into each other again and Tian Jiajun took a step back. As compared to moments before, Tian Jiajun was extremely composed right now. The danger to his teammate had caused his potential to be released. He had already merged with his mecha and reached a state where his mecha and he were one. He had only one opponent and that was Xie Yi.

"Clang!" The sound of another collision rang out and this time, it was Xie Yi who took a few steps back.

"Clang!" The numerous collisions that followed caused Xie Yi to keep retreating.

"Leiting No. 1 has a strong talent in controlling his mecha. The power of his mecha increased once again." Tian Jiajun's interesting condition caught the instructors attention.

"Is this the mecha and human merging state? This is the hardest state to achieve when operating mecha." There was a saying that people who entered this state could cross-level and kill their opponents. All of the instructors looked at Qiao Yi with envy, jealous that he had such a talented disciple. This honor was the same as having a fourth-year who became an ace operator.

"Lingtian No. 1 is unable to win against Leiting No. 1. I think that Lingtian No. 1 is going to lose soon." The instructors were all individuals who had plenty of experience; they could immediately tell what situation Xie Yi was in.

Chapter 544 - Just The Start!

Xie Yi had achieved special-class strength due to the sudden burst of dark energy, but as he had no strong foundation, his state was unstable. Tian Jiajun, on the other hand, had achieved his special-class operator level due to his hard work. Hence, Xie Yi was suppressed in his fight against Tian Jiajun.

Upon seeing that his dark personality was put into the same situation as he was, the main personality sniggered. "Seems like this is all you have in you."

"Shut up!" the dark personality shouted fiercely. He was unable to accept the fact that he was being suppressed by his opponent.

"Without the accumulation of time and relevant experiences, what's the use of having a high level? It means nothing." The main personality had been practicing mecha piloting for so many years, so he knew what the dark personality was lacking.

"Bullshit. I'm the strongest. I won't lose." The dark personality didn't want to listen to his indecisive other half whom he hated. After all, this was all his fault; if he hadn't held this body for so long, he would have been able to gain control and this kind of mistakes would not happen.

"Stop acting tough. You don't want to lose, I don't want to lose either. However, with our separate strengths, we aren't the opponent's match," the main personality retorted. "This is the truth. You can't deny it."

"What are you trying to say?" The dark personality sensed that the main personality wanted to say something.

"Let's cooperate." The main personality sighed. Although he didn't know what effects the cooperation would have, he needed to compromise if he wanted to finish the mission his boss had assigned him.

"Cooperate? No!" The dark personality immediately rejected the main personality. He didn't want to pass this body to the weakling.

"You need to know that if you lose, you won't have a chance of taking control over this body." Xie Yi calmly stated this fact. "Our agreement at the start is valid. If you can't do it, you won't be able to suppress me. In the end, I'll still be the one controlling this body, while you'll just continue to sleep."

"The one who'll be controlling this body is me, me I say." The dark personality looked at the main personality coldly, the killing intent in his eyes grew stronger.

The dark and main personalities began to have a confrontation in their mindscape. The former wanted to destroy the latter, who was fighting against him for control of the body, but unfortunately, he wouldn't be able to touch him at all before he completed his promise.

The promise that they made when they exchanged control over the body was relevant to both of them. He couldn't break the promise.

"Just like what you said, defeat the opponent and we can talk about our business later." Xie Yi used the dark personality's own words against him.

The dark personality's eyes turned even eerier. He wanted to reject the main personality, but Tian Jiajun didn't give him any chance to do so at all. Tian Jiajun attacked him again; the opponent's large sword came with a whirlwind as it moved towards Xie Yi. The dark personality knew that this was a lethal strike and that he would never be able to take this attack all by himself. He made a quick decision. "As you wish."

In the mindscape, the light and dark figures suddenly merged and a translucent figure appeared.

At this moment, the eyes of the Xie Yi in the cockpit changed. One of them was bright and vibrant, while the other was dark and eerie, and Xie Yi's expression alternated between sinister and happy. He looked frightening.

"Clang!" Xie Yi controlled his mecha to raise his sword horizontally with one hand and easily blocked the attack from his opponent. This time, Xie Yi's mecha didn't step back anymore. The two mechas were in a stalemate.

"You said that this is a collaboration." Xie Yi opened his mouth to talk to himself, his eyes and voice cold.

"Yes, collaboration. After we defeat the opponent, we'll battle it out among ourselves." This time, Xie Yi's expression was gentle and warm, and his voice was gentle too. The coldness just now seemed to be an illusion.

"Okay, promise." Xie Yi changed his tone again.

"Promise." The warm voice was back as he said this firmly.

"Well then, let's start from here!" This time, a strange voice came out of Xie Yi's throat. It was warm and cold. It seemed so contradictory yet natural. It was as if he was supposed to have this voice.

With that said, Xie Yi's sword began to inch towards Tian Jiajun, who felt that he couldn't resist the other party's strength at all. Two lines formed on the ground as his mecha was pushed backward by his opponent; they were caused by his mecha's feet as they rubbed against the ground.

"Tian Jiajun is actually losing to his opponent in terms of strength." When the instructors saw this scene, some instinctively stood up in shock.

"Get out of here!" Xie Yi shouted. His large sword finally broke through his opponent's defense and Tian Jiajun fell backward.

Xie Yi flew up into the air and continuously rained down blows with his sword.

"A chain combo!" Everyone knew what Xie Yi intended when they saw his stance.

"1, 2, 3, 4, 5!" At the fifth strike, everyone was standing up. Had another mecha prodigy appeared in the First Men's Military Academy?

"6!" Everyone shouted. Xie Yi had successfully executed a six-chain combo. Tian Jiajun had blocked the first five attacks but on the sixth, he failed!

In the next second after he failed to defend, he appeared at the login hall of Mecha World. He recalled the scene from moments ago and smiled bitterly. "Six-chain combo. It was a six-chain combo. After Qiao Ting left, Ling Lan came. There are so many weirdos in the First Men's Military Academy. Am I destined to be a supporting role?" At this moment, Tian Jiajun didn't know that Ling Lan was not in Lingtian No. 1.

"I am so jealous. Big Bro Huo, when you lost to Captain Qiao last time, was this how you felt?" Tian Jiajun closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When he opened them again, they were calm and indifferent. He didn't seem to be affected by his failure at all.

At this moment, in the VIP room, an instructor laughed crazily, not caring about his image at all. "Six of them. He performed six attacks."

The people around him could understand his reaction—he was Xie Yi's instructor, Luo Jinan. Many people looked at him with envy, while they felt pity for themselves. Why hadn't Xie Yi chosen them as his instructor? If he had, they would have been the one enjoying such recognition today.

"Luo Jinan, congratulations on having such a prideworthy disciple. He will have a bright future." Luo Jinan's friends congratulated him.

Luo Jinan nodded his head in excitement. As compared to the famous instructor Tang Yu, who had produced many powerful students, Luo Jinan had felt inferior; he hadn't had any student that was exceptionally outstanding. However, Xie Yi appeared and proved that his teaching was as good as Tang Yu. Every person had their ambition and Luo Jinan's dream was to become an outstanding instructor just like Tang Yu and produce many excellent students under himself.

"He actually managed to execute a six-chain combo. Jiajun lost with reason." Qiao Yi secretly looked at the mecha operator who was standing still in the middle of the map. "There are so many aberrants among the third-years." Qiao Yi knew who was inside Lingtian No. 1. He thought about the captain, Ling Lan, and wondered if he had underestimated the latter.

"A third-year was able to execute a six-chain combo. Has this student advanced to the ace level?" Someone proposed this possibility. However, after getting the hand speed data of the operator for Lingtian No. 1, this possibility was denied; the hand speed did not reach the requirements for advancing to ace mecha master. Lingtian No. 1's operator was still a special-class operator.

"They managed to cross-level after collaborating with each other. This is interesting." Ling Lan smirked. She could feel that Xie Yi's energies were not resisting each other now. Although they had not merged completely, they were collaborating with each other.

"However, this is just the start!" Ling Lan's eyes turned cold and she pulled up her control stick, following which her mecha that had been hiding on the ground suddenly sprung up.

"Look at the ground!" The people that were looking at the big screen noticed something changing on the ground that was covered with dried leaves—a mecha appeared next to Lingtian No. 1.

"It is the chameleon system." It was the only system that enabled a mecha to change its appearance accordingly to its surroundings so that the mecha could merge perfectly with the environment.

"It's someone from Lingtian." This was the only thing they could tell about the mecha.

"What is it doing?" Everyone shouted.

The mecha lifted itself off the ground and rushed towards Lingtian No. 1 who was still floating in the air, oblivious to its surroundings.

Cutting one another's throat? The instructors were surprised by this scene, or rather, utterly stunned.

They had never witnessed such actions being taken during important battles like these. This battle was going to decide the fate of the mecha clan. What was wrong with the world? Were they getting old? Had they lost touch with the young folks' world?

"Xie Yi!" Ling Lan's clear voice pierced right into Xie Yi's mindscape—the latter suddenly fainted and his hand that was just about to input the dodging command stopped in mid-action.

Ling Lan grabbed Xie Yi's mecha using this opportunity and rushed towards the far end of the map, turning into a flash of light.

"Little Four, chameleon system!" Ling Lan ordered Little Four secretly.

Little Four and Ling Lan understood what each other wanted and the two mecha suddenly turned into thin air and disappeared from the map. By the time the instructors regained their senses and wanted to find them again, they were gone.

The VIP room was in an uproar. Why did the mecha appear to take Lingtian No. 1 away? Was it an act out of betrayal, or out of a personal grudge? Was there something else going on?

Unfortunately, they were unable to get an answer until the competition ended. The mecha that had appeared later had moved too fast, so fast they hadn't even managed to see its serial number.

"That speed and the smooth operation. It must be him—Ling Lan." Tang Yu suppressed the excitement in his heart. Only he had discovered the secret behind this series of actions. He knew Ling Lan too well.

Xie Yi finally woke up and opened his eyes. To his astonishment, he realized that he was standing on a choppy sea and the surroundings were very dark and cold.

"This is the world that I've been living in. Is it very cold?" An eerie voice suddenly sounded beside him. Xie Yi turned his head and noticed the dark personality standing beside him.

"Why am I here?" Xie Yi asked curiously.

The dark personality didn't reply but merely signaled for Xie Yi to look in a certain direction.

Xie Yi raised his head and looked over to see a familiar-looking person floating in the air. The person indifferently looked at him—or to be exact, at them.

Chapter 545 - Sealed!

Xie Yi looked at this person and immediately cried out, "Boss! Why are you here?"

Ling Lan didn't reply to him but merely gazed coldly at the dark alter ego. "I've been waiting a long time for you."

The dark alter ego had already understood the situation. He sneered and said, "You didn't ask Xie Yi to act as your substitute because you trust him. You did it to lure me out." Even now, the dark alter ego still hadn't given up on provoking the main ego.

Xie Yi became shocked by his dark alter ego's words and he looked at Ling Lan with a hurt expression.

Ling Lan glanced at him with her cold eyes. Xie Yi's heart froze and he didn't dare to think too much anymore.

Sobs. Boss is right. Everything he does is right. I can't be so weak. Xie Yi consoled himself.

Ling Lan turned to look at the dark alter ego again and said calmly, "You're afraid of me."

"Of course, you're very strong. I would have ended up dead once you discovered me. My instinct told me that." The dark alter ego smirked. "Nevertheless, you still found me. And I thought that I hid very well."

"You did hide very well. Ever since you appeared three years ago, you were on your guard. You didn't give me any opportunities to take at all. I had to waste a lot of effort on you." Ling Lan narrowed her eyes—they contained killing intent. "I won't stand for anything happening to my brothers, yet you're harming one of them."

Ling Lan's words struck Xie Yi's heart like a lightning bolt and his eyes turned red; he finally came to an understanding and the anxiousness surrounding his heart disappeared.

You're an idiot! His boss had already accepted him as his companion. If his boss hadn't cared for him, he would not have noticed the problem in his body. If he hadn't cared, he would not have spent so much effort on him either.

Xie Yi had been blinded by his own eyes. He had chosen to ignore the care and concern his boss showed him. Now that he thought about it, every time he had to suppress the dark alter ego for an entire night, his boss would look at him intently the next morning and give him a lighter workload. When his boss battled with him, he would be less violent. As the dark alter ego started to come out more often, his boss would control his strength and not hurt him. Previously, he had thought that his boss was ignoring him, but now he realized that the latter cared for him—Ling Lan had been worried that he would be too tired and get taken over by the dark alter ego.

Xie Yi started to feel remorse, even as he felt touched. On the other hand, his dark alter ego exploded with anger.

The dark alter ego felt his consciousness slipping away when Ling Lan stared at him maliciously. He was frightened. Losing his mind, he yelled, "You want to destroy me? Why? I'm not convinced! We were born together. Why can he live while I have to disappear? I'm not convinced!"

"Then why do you want to make Xie Yi disappear?" Ling Lan asked him back indifferently.

"I don't want to stay here!" The dark alter ego's eyes turned red and he took on the appearance of a lunatic. "This place is too quiet. There are no sounds, no nothing. I'm so lonely. The more I stay here, the more I hate him. Why did father choose him and seal me? Why is he able to live in a world full of colors and sounds? Why can he have friends and families? Why can he enjoy relationships with people? Why do I have to stay in this dark, quiet and cold world? I can only wait for death here.

"I can do everything that he does. I can even do it better than him. Why wasn't I given the chance? Why was my fate decided for me? Why? Tell me, why?" The dark alter ego shrieked hysterically and Xie Yi was awoken by the shock. He hadn't expected his dark alter ego to have had such a past too. Wasn't his dark alter ego supposed to be the devil in his heart?

"Father sealed you?" Xie Yi asked in astonishment.

"Yes. The people of the Xie family are born with two personalities. In other words, we have split personalities. One of the personalities would be sealed using a secret technique, while the other would live normally. If our father hadn't sealed me, I would have destroyed you long ago." The dark alter ego sneered. "However, you are doubtful of yourself. You have a lot of remorse and regret in you. The seal weakened because of this and I got the chance to break through it. All in all, I actually have to thank you for being weak…"

He himself would never be so weak. Even if the powerful individual in front of him didn't recognize him, he would still live a good life on this own. The dark alter ego gazed at Ling Lan as he had these thoughts, but then he became startled by her calm eyes and took an involuntary step back. He felt that he would be safer the farther away he was from her.

"Why did father seal you and not me?" Xie Yi knew that his dark alter ego was speaking the truth, but he was still puzzled at his father's decision.

"How would I know? You must have been lucky." The dark alter ego was angry. When they were just born, no one knew what they would become in the future. The one who was sealed was chosen randomly, so the dark alter ego could only think that Xie Yi was lucky.

"I might be able to answer this question," Ling Lan suddenly said.

"Ah, you have a solution?" Xie Yi's eyes lit up. He wanted to know the reason. Otherwise, he would still feel doubt towards himself even if he sealed his dark alter ego again. The guilt he had towards his dark alter ego could lead to the latter breaking through the seal again.

The dark alter ego looked at Ling Lan in disbelief. He didn't know how Ling Lan knew about the reason, but he also wanted to know what had happened in the past; perhaps even more so than Xie Yi. He had never understood why his father chose to seal him and not Xie Yi. This was his obsession—he had to find the answer.

Ling Lan raised her head. "You don't believe me?"

Xie Yi nodded his head without even thinking in response. "I believe you." He looked at his dark alter ego and explained seriously, "My boss won't lie to others. He means what he says. You don't have to worry."

The dark alter ego scoffed. "You don't need to act kind towards me. I know." He glanced at Ling Lan before telling Xie Yi in a low voice, "He's very strong. He could destroy me with a mere click of his finger. He doesn't need to do all this."

Although Ling Lan was Xie Yi's boss, the dark alter ego trusted him too.

Both parties agreed to let Ling Lan explain to them. She reminded them, "It might be a little hard to accept. You both need to bear with it."

The dark alter ego sneered. "I've already spent 19 years in this place. What can I not handle?" He looked at Xie Yi. "You should worry about your little brother here. I hope he doesn't throw your face away."

Xie Yi's face turned red and he said angrily, "Don't look down on me. I won't lose to you!"

"Hopefully!" The dark alter ego turned his eyes away arrogantly and didn't look at Xie Yi again.

The corners of Ling Lan's mouth went up. It seemed that the dark alter ego did not hate Xie Yi that much—this was good news. Now, however, was not the time to think about this. Ling Lan took a deep breath and grew serious as she stared at the two boys and reached into their heads.

Xie Yi and his dark alter ego felt their consciousness being dragged out by force. The pain was excruciating, but since neither of them wanted the other to look down on them, they gritted their teeth and didn't make any sound.

After a while, the two of them felt the pain disappearing and opened their eyes. There were two balls of energy on Ling Lan's hands. One of them looked like a miniature human. Its features were faint, but they could tell that it was Xie Yi.

Ling Lan raised her right hand. "This is yours," she said to the dark alter ego. She raised her left hand and told Xie Yi, "This is yours." She put her hands together. "Do you all feel the difference in the two energies?"

The dark alter ego's face changed. He could feel the malicious aura from his ball of energy, while Xie Yi's was peaceful. Was this the reason why his father had given him up?

Xie Yi had a different opinion. "Was his energy body affected because he lived here for 19 years?"

Ling Lan looked at Xie Yi with approval. "Yes. The environment affects a person's growth and personality. This is just the aura now. Let me show you what it was at the start."

Two flames appeared on her hands, which were neither hot nor warm; they felt cold.

"Ice flames?" Xie Yi's eyes widened. He hadn't expected his boss to have reached the third level of his talent awakening, while they were still at the entrance of level 2. Comparisons were a cause for anger. They were getting further and further away from their boss—they would never be able to catch up with her.

The two energy bodies started changing with the help of the ice flames. The malicious aura of the dark alter ego's energy body grew smaller and Xie Yi's peaceful aura was diminishing too. Air currents formed in the air.

In the end, the two energy bodies became two balls of pure energy. The dark alter ego's energy body was cold, while Xie Yi's energy body was hot. It was like a small little sun.

"One hot and one cold. Seems like I am the exact opposite of him," the dark alter ego said in a depressed tone. He admired Xie Yi's energy body. It was so warm.

"The requirements are met. Come with me to the beginning of your memories." Ling Lan's voice suddenly rang in their heads. Before they could react, they went dizzy. By the time they regained their senses, they realized that they were floating in the air and looking down at the things happening below.

"This is the old residence of the Xie family!" Xie Yi exclaimed in surprise. This was the old residence that he remembered. However, everything was in black and white.

"When we're born, our eyes aren't developed fully. We can only see black and white. This is your memory body. You saw everything in black and white, so that's what we're seeing now too," Ling Lan explained.