Chapter 185: Three Years Later ...
Translator: ryuxenji Editor: H2dH2mr
"Spiritual charge!" A strong spiritual charge was sent lashing out at Mu Shui-qing. But when this spiritual charge ran into the other's spiritual self, it only created some ripples in the other's spiritual barrier, and then swiftly disappeared.
With this one attack, Ling Lan knew that her master's spiritual power was definitely thick and substantial — normal attacks would do nothing against it. Sure enough, Mu Shui-qing shook his head and said, "With just this bit of power, it is impossible to learn the Divine Command final technique."
Ling Lan's brows furrowed, now knowing that she would not be able to pass the assessment if she did not put her full strength into it. So, she clenched her teeth and decided to use the strongest spiritual attack she had —— spiritual blast!
Of course, the strength of one spiritual blast was probably not enough to budge Mu Shui-qing, so Ling Lan immediately brought out the charged four-part blast she could do right now to attack.
To achieve a four-part blast, Ling Lan would divide her spiritual power into four cords and then detonate them separately. The blasts would stack up layer by layer, making the power of the spiritual blast several times stronger. By the time the fourth cord of spiritual power exploded, the force created would be 8 times her initial spiritual blast. It was plain to see that this stacking of the spiritual blasts was copied by Ling Lan from the activation method of One-Inch Punch, and could be considered one of Ling Lan's self-created spiritual attacks.
Ling Lan carefully condensed her spiritual power into four spiritual cords as thick as her arm. Then, with clear sequencing, she sent them stretching out towards Mu Shui-qing layer by layer. Just as they were about to make contact with Mu Shui-qing's spiritual shield, Ling Lan shouted four times inside her head, "Explode! Explode! Explode! Explode!"
Invisibly, the four cords of spiritual power exploded one by one in the air. In the space where the two stood, violent turbulence appeared in the formless air, layer after layer. When the final spiritual power cord exploded, the layered force of the spiritual blasts crashed like a tidal wave onto Mu Shui-qing.
When Mu Shui-qing's spiritual shield met this immense spiritual turbulence, a subtle change came over his expression. He clapped his palms together, and with a grunt, the spiritual power shielding his body was reinforced ...
"Boom!" Two waves of spiritual power collided violently in the air. Although Ling Lan could not physically hear the sound of the collision, the feedback force being transmitted by the air clearly showed that the concussive force of this collision was definitely far beyond any of her previous spiritual blasts.
The powerful concussive force was directly reflected onto Ling Lan's body. The power surge came too quickly and too fiercely — Ling Lan had no way to stabilise herself. Her entire body was sent flying back by the reflected force to crash onto the ground.
Meanwhile, several powerful tremors ran though Mu Shui-qing's body, his complexion paling noticeably, but he quickly recovered.
Still, even though both of them were ultimately fine, Mu Shui-qing's courtyard had been utterly destroyed by the collision of the two spiritual powers. The powerful concussive force had blown everything in the courtyard into dust — even the walls of Mu Shui-qing's home had cracks running through them now, looking as if they would crumble at any moment. It was clear to see how fearsome that turbulence had been.
With a nimble backflip, Ling Lan was back on her feet. It looked like she had not been injured by any of the reflected force, but her complexion was still extremely pale — it seemed that the four-part spiritual blast was quite taxing for her.
"You brat. Actually being so harsh ..." Mu Shui-qing looked at Ling Lan somewhat speechlessly. This brat really had no notion of respecting his master — coming out so strongly with such a powerful spiritual attack right from the start. Also, he had proved himself to be a determined fellow ... it should be known that it was extremely painful to execute a spiritual blast — a regular person would not be able to tolerate the pain.
Ling Lan just stood there, face pale. Right then, spasms of pain had begun to throb at her forehead. The spiritual blasts had drained too much of her spiritual power; she was already at the point of exhaustion. However, she endured the intensifying pain, as well as the nausea rising in her chest, and said, "If I am not harsh with myself, I would have long died at another's hand."
At these words, Mu Shui-qing felt a pang of bitterness run through his heart. He naturally knew what Ling Lan was referring to. Ling Xiao's achievements had shone too brightly, leading many unscrupulous people to cast their greed upon his legacy and wealth. As Ling Xiao's only legal inheritor, Ling Lan's existence was undoubtedly a thorn in their side 1 that these people would do anything to remove. If Ling Lan was out of the picture, they would be able to blatantly claim the legacy and wealth that Ling Xiao had left behind. In order to achieve this purpose, they had schemed, plotted, and manipulated both on the surface and from the shadows — till now, Ling Lan must have grown up in a storm of blood and violence.
"Sorry, I should have come see you earlier ..." Mu Shui-qing was filled with remorse.
"Master, you being in the Ling family is my protective talisman." Now Ling Lan finally understood why when the Ling family side branch had plotted to take away her inheritance right, the military had chosen to remain silent and let them do as they would, but had not dared to make their support clear. A large part of it must have been because they feared Mu Shui-qing, who had been stationed within the Ling family. That was why they had not dared to go too far. Also due to Mu Shui-qing's existence, her mother Lan Luofeng had had enough courage to set a trap for the Ling family side branch. And this was also the true reason why the side branch had obediently left Doha after losing that wager ...
It could be said that Mu Shui-qing's decision to seclude himself in the Ling family mansion had protected Lan Luofeng and Ling Lan to a certain extent, causing any others who coveted Ling Xiao's legacy to have no choice but to retreat temporarily.
"Good! With you, Ling Xiao has an heir! Right now you should just train your spiritual power further. Three months later, I will officially teach you the Divine Command final technique." Mu Shui-qing's heart was alight with joy. He reached out his hand to pat Ling Lan on the shoulder and conveyed his decision.
"Many thanks, Master!" Ling Lan bowed.
********
Three years' time went by in the flick of a finger ... when spring once again descended as expected on planet Doha one fine spring day, before the sun could fully crawl out from the horizon, when the first rays of dawn had barely stretched out their feelers, at the main entrance of the Central Scout Academy, five red-clad youths were already standing there. They seemed to be waiting for something.
One of the youths, with a strongly-built body, had an anxious expression on his face. Every so often, he would breathe in and breathe out deeply, trying to calm his turbulent emotions.
The guard at the entrance, who normally would not allow any scout students to step out one foot from the gates, was ignoring this group of people. He remained seated at his service station, sipping his cup of tea breezily.
It wasn't that he did not want to catch them, nor had he been bribed by the party — it was just that he could do nothing against these fellows except watch them. They were all 10th graders from the strongest team in the scout academy, and their team leader was known to be the strongest student in the academy.
Even if the guard had wanted to pull them back inside the gates, he just did not have the capability to do so! The guard smiled wryly as he shook his head and continued to ignore the group.
Although the Central Scout Academy imposed many strict rules upon its students, as long as you were strong enough, those rules would be like a sheet of white paper — free for you to scribble on as you like. This was why the guard had no choice but to leave them be. If he really wanted to make all of them submit, other than mobilising the academy's mecha squad, there was truly no way of doing so.
Beside the anxious young man, another red-clad youth's expression was distinctly different. He leaned lazily against the boundary wall, a helpless expression on his face as he said, "Leader, does it have to be this early? Isn't it just Boss Lan coming back to take his test today?" That said, he yawned widely, as if still half-asleep, some crust still hanging at the corners of his eyes.
Before the anxious youth could answer, a pretty and graceful youth standing beside him, with a frail scholarly air about him, cool and quiet, had reached out a hand to slap the other's head. He said coldly, "Welcoming Boss back is a huge thing. What are you blathering on about?"
The indolent youth grimaced, rubbing his sore head where he had been slapped. His sleepiness had been chased away, and he said unhappily, "Luo Lang, can you watch your image? Don't be so rough, okay? Clearly looking so ladylike, yet being so fierce when hitting someone ..."
"What did you say?" Luo Lang blew up. The thing he hated the most was others saying he looked like a girl. Ever since they had entered puberty, compared to his other companions, who had all bulked up and become more rugged, filled with masculinity, his looks had inclined towards willowy grace instead. Other than a slight increase in height, he pretty much looked exactly the same as his twin sister Luo Chao. It was a running joke among the companions that if Luo Lang cross-dressed and pretended to be Luo Chao, sitting down, no one would be able to tell the difference.
The indolent youth was not afraid of Luo Lang's rage. He suddenly clapped both his hands together in front of him as if in prayer, a trace of bashfulness appearing on his face as he stomped a foot down and whined coyly, "Aiya, my lovely prince Luo Lang, could you please come have tea with me this afternoon?" That said, he batted his lashes with all his might at Luo Lang. He had perfectly re-enacted how Luo Lang had been propositioned these last two years by well-built women, a scene which at one point had been the laugh of their team.
"Xie Yi, you're asking for it!" Luo Lang was really livid now. His pert face was flushed bright red, but this shade of anger just added colour to Luo Lang's cheeks, making him even more alluring. Since young, Luo Lang's temper had not been the best. He had always liked to let his fists do the talking, which was how he had become friends with Qi Long. Right now, hearing Xie Yi tease him, he immediately put up his fists and leapt at Xie Yi, intent on giving him a good beating.
Xie Yi's and Luo Lang's strength were about equivalent; the two of them began to exchange blows right there by the school gates, happily tangled up in one another. The guard sitting at his station found his face twitching uncontrollably as he watched them ... He could only hope that these two fellows would be careful not to destroy school property around the gates as they fought.
"Alright, both of you, stop!" said a cold-faced handsome youth at one side. It was Han Jijyun. He had noticed that their leader Qi Long's mind was not here, so it was pointless to rely on him to stop these two from fighting. Thus, he had no choice but to speak up instead. This was because he could already sense the resentful stare coming from the guard station behind them.
Perhaps the team members respected the authority of their strategist, Han Jijyun, for after hearing him order them to stop, the two fighters drew back their fists and legs. Luo Lang sniffed coldly, then turned his head away from his opponent. On the other hand, Xie Yi scratched his nose idly, and then sticking both hands into his pockets, he ambled leisurely back to his original spot.
Behind Qi Long, emitting his usual gentle air, Lin Zhong-qing said to the returning Xie Yi with a smile, "Xie Yi, coming here earlier is actually not a bad thing. Let us admire the sunrise! I think it's been a while since we've watched the sun rise!" Over the past three years, in order to complete the goal Boss Lan had set for them, they had not dared to play around; all of their time had been spent on learning mecha control. Fortunately, not too long ago, they had all reached their goals, and so could finally relax.
Yes, the five people waiting here at the school gates at the crack of dawn were Qi Long, Han Jijyun, Luo Lang, Lin Zhong-qing, and the youth who had joined them after that grand armed melee three years ago, Xie Yi. Today was the day when all the scout students applied and sat for the enrolment tests of the various military schools and other vocational academies. Consequently, their Boss Lan would be returning to the Central Scout Academy for the first time in three years to participate in the academy's final graduation assessment.