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Chapter 41: Wilderness Training?

Translator: ryuxenji Editor: H2dH2mr

Ling Lan was a cute drunk — she did not start babbling nonsense, nor did she fly into a drunken rage. She only fell asleep silently, a saliva bubble popping up at the edge of her lips every once in a while.

This adorable sight made Lan Luofeng laugh despite her annoyance. She had just taken her eyes off this child for a moment and she had gone and gotten herself drunk on red wine. Still, this was the only time Ling Lan really looked like a true six year old child, sleeping innocently without a care in the world.

Lan Luofeng knew that these couple of years had actually been really tough on Ling Lan. Every day she had training assignments, and Lan Luofeng had watched with tearful eyes as she trained till she dropped. (In truth, Little Four had notified Ling Lan that time was up so she would get some rest. It wasn't that Ling Lan was slacking off, but her body was really still too weak. Overexerting her body now in training would only cause irreparable harm, harm that even the Qi exercises would not be able to repair.)

Lan Luofeng could not stop her training however, because she knew that this would benefit Ling Lan greatly in the future. The Federation was a world where the fittest survived — an extra measure of strength meant an extra measure of safety. For Ling Lan's future, she had to harden her heart.

Lan Luofeng quickly bundled Ling Lan up and carried her to her room. Ever since Ling Lan could clearly communicate what she wanted, she had demanded a personal room of her own. Lan Luofeng was an overindulgent mother with no bottom-line when it came to her child, so she had caved with minimal fuss and provided a lone room for Ling Lan.

Carefully placing Ling Lan on her bed, Lan Luofeng dropped a light kiss on Ling Lan's adorable round face and then shut the door behind her as she left. What she didn't know was that, though Ling Lan looked as if she was sound asleep, her consciousness had actually been dragged ruthlessly into the mind-space by Instructor Number One.

********

Ling Lan felt extremely wobbly, finding it rather difficult to stay on her feet, and the things she looked at seemed to waver in her sight.

She felt a little nauseous and so quickly squatted down, gripping her head. Ling Lan just had to squat, lest she fall over the very next second from losing her balance.

"Hmph. How dare you drink." Number One's expression darkened further at the sight, and with a flick of his finger, a basinful of cold water splashed down upon Ling Lan from above. The sudden shock caused Ling Lan to shiver uncontrollably and her muddled senses abruptly came into focus.

"Instructor Number One, you look well!" Ling Lan smiled awkwardly as she lifted her head, her expression pleading for mercy.

"I am very not well." Instructor Number One paid no mind to Ling Lan's pleading, giving her no face as he told her in no uncertain terms that he was angry.

Instructor Number One's words made Ling Lan break out into cold sweat — without even having to ask, she knew that the 'not well' Instructor Number One was talking about had something to do with her. Could it be that she had somehow irritated this fearsome demon instructor without even knowing it?

Looking at Ling Lan's bewildered face, Instructor Number One raged, "In today's fight, what were you doing?! Is that how you were meant to use what Number Nine had taught you?"

Ling Lan was indignant, "I managed to hit the examiner."

"Well you could have hit him directly without having to resort to trickery! If you do this again, don't blame me for punishing you." Instructor Number One firmly believed that honest strength was the true path — any sort of underhanded tricks were all dishonest methods, which should not be relied upon.

Ling Lan paid no mind to the mention of punishment, but asked in surprise, "You mean that, I can actually hit the examiner with my own strength right now?" If that was the case, then why had she felt so overpowered? That the opponent's strength was so much higher than her own? Was it all an illusion?

But then, all three of them had already used up all their strength and skills to fight the examiner for so long … it was only when they were running out of strength that they had thought up that trick to hit the examiner. Of course, Ling Lan didn't think that using tricks was wrong or unfair — on the battlefield, survival was the only principle.

"That's right. In today's battle, you missed three opportunities." That said, Number One flicked yet another finger and the scene of today's battle appeared before Ling Lan's eyes.

"The first sneak attack was done well at the beginning. You remembered what Number Nine had told you, and kept your killing intent hidden, but when you were just about to succeed, your heart wavered." Number One pointed at the scene, showing how when Ling Lan's punch was just about to hit the examiner, there was a fluctuation in her aura. This little fluctuation had let the examiner sense her attack, which was how he had managed to block her attack in that final second.

"For the second sneak attack, you made the exact same mistake, losing your attention at the critical moment." Number One's voice grew colder and colder, and he looked as if he wished he could drag Ling Lan over to give her a good beating right now. She had obviously learned everything properly — why was she making such stupid mistakes in a real fight? If Ling Lan had only fought as she had trained, the examiner would have been hit by that very first move.

"What angers me the most is that you don't even know how to change your own attack approach. Using the same moves over and over again — after failing in a sneak attack twice, even an idiot would know to watch out for your sneak attacks … and still you persisted with sneak attacks! Is your head filled with the brain of a pig?" Instructor Number One's rage was incandescent as he observed Ling Lan's third attempt at a sneak attack playing out before them.

"After being discovered, it's alright to just fight directly with the opponent, but what were you thinking using all your might for every single move? What will you use then to defend yourself? Also, don't you know how to mix in some feints among your real moves? Here, when your right elbow was blocked, and you continued to use your left elbow — both the opponent's arms had been used for defense, and because of your friend's attack on his waist, his only usable leg had been neutralised. Why didn't you take the chance to attack his lower body? Didn't you learn the Scorpion Tail Swipe? This was clearly a great chance for you to score a hit. What disappoints me the most is that you did not notice any of the errors you made during your fight, or even the missed chances — you are literally a combat idiot."

Many prodigies would often notice their own weaknesses during battle, but unfortunately, Ling Lan did not notice anything at all in her fight up till the very end. Even now, she had still been pleased with herself over her successful trick, which was why Instructor Number One was so angry. "If it wasn't the fact that the opponent wanted to know how much you all could do, you would have already been killed at this point." Instructor Number One rolled back the scene to when she had started facing the examiner directly, pointing out how the examiner had stopped many of his moves halfway through so as to avoid injuring Ling Lan.

Under Instructor Number One's detailed analysis, Ling Lan grew more and more ashamed. She had really thought she had performed pretty well in that battle, but who knew that she had actually done so badly, making mistake after mistake. Her elation at having hit the examiner today disappeared without a trace, leaving behind a cold ball of shame in her gut and her back drenched with sweat.

"Looks like we need to have a round of wilderness training. We'll see what to do next after you learn how to hunt!" Instructor Number One coolly announced Ling Lan's fate.

Before Ling Lan could ask any questions or beg for mercy, Instructor Number One had flicked his finger once again. Ling Lan saw the scenery change around her, and then she was standing in a primordial forest with Number One. She could hear the sound of a flowing stream in the distance, as well as the fearsome calls of some unknown wild beasts.

Ling Lan's little heart felt like it was beating out of her chest. Although she had never spent much time in a forest before, she knew that this type of place was rife with danger — not only were there wild beasts wandering around, nature itself was an intimidating thing, and there were also other unknown terrors lurking within.

Ling Lan's face fell rapidly, however, she knew that this hunting mission was definitely unavoidable. This year had taught her that once Instructor Number One had made up his mind, nothing was going to change it.

Still, she intended to try and plead with Instructor Number One for just a little more preparation time, so she could go back and ask Little Four for some wilderness survival tips. Unfortunately, Instructor Number One saw through her plans, and without giving her the chance to speak he said, please enjoy yourself, and promptly disappeared in a flash of light from this endlessly verdant world.

Dammit! Number One, you are truly vicious!

Ling Lan savagely directed her middle finger towards the direction where Number One had been standing in a display of futile anger.

Chapter 42: Hunting and Being Hunted!

Translator: ryuxenji Editor: H2dH2mr

Dawn. When the first ray of sunlight penetrated the dense foliage of the forest, slowly lending it its warmth, the originally quiescent green world began to wake up once again. Various creatures started crawling out of their nests, beginning a new cycle of their daily routine —— hunting and being hunted.

On the ground, an unnamed little creature with wrinkled skin was stealthily making its way over to its destination. It was very small, only roughly the size of two human fists, but it dragged a wide flat tail behind it that was twice the length of its body.

It had no choice but to be careful. In this forest, 80% of the animals could kill it easily — and unfortunately, its meat was tender, so even though it was small and had very little meat, many of the larger creatures still wouldn't mind hunting it as an appetiser.

Its intended destination was an area full of shallow water depressions up ahead. That area was a swampland, very suitable for its survival, because its light weight and body shape allowed it to move freely around the swamp without sinking into it. Aside from those creatures whose natural habitat was the swamp, other creatures could not even enter the area, making it much safer for the creature.

Of course, most importantly, there was food for it here as well, making it well worth its while to come here. It almost started drooling thinking of food — the fish in the shallow depressions here were just too tasty.

It finally made it there, smooth sailing all the way.

At this time, in the shallow water of the numerous depressions, fish the length of fingers were joyfully swimming around, darting from one depression to another. All of the depressions were connected by countless narrow streams of water — although these streams were much too small for bigger fish to get through, they allowed these small fish to swim between the depressions unhindered. In one particular depression, the fish were greedily nibbling on some of the water weeds, oblivious to the fact that their natural enemy had arrived and was getting ready to feast on them to satisfy its hunger.

The wrinkled animal entered the swamp and darted swiftly into one of the depressions. The fish scattered in fright, but swam blindly in their panic, ending up in a dead end … In the end, their only outcome was to be devoured by the agile wrinkled creature.

After eating up the fishes in this depression, the creature climbed out of it and shook itself, causing the water droplets on its body to go flying, until its skin was once again as dry and pristine as before.

It then rested for a little while. Hunting was not easy — actions that seemed easy actually took up a lot of its body strength. Still, even while it rested, it vigilantly kept a lookout on its surroundings, afraid that a strong enemy would appear to eat it.

Soon after, it had regained its strength, and had begun sneaking over to the next depression …

However, it did not notice — in the swamp not too far away from it, a pair of gelid eyes had locked themselves on its figure, prepared to ambush it during its next meal.

When it once again leapt into another depression to capture more fish, the owner of the gelid eyes struck. A thick black cable shot out, skirting by the edges of the depression, and the wrinkled animal was gone. The clear sound of flesh hitting water could be heard and then a water snake as thick as a man's arm could be seen sitting in the middle of the depression, its lower half curled up neatly beneath it. From a glance, it looked like it was about three metres long, perhaps more.

In its mouth, the wrinkled creature was struggling with all its might, flapping its wide tail around, but to no avail. It was swallowed by the water snake, bit by bit, until it finally disappeared completely into the snake's gullet.

The water snake raised its head, waiting for its food to travel down its throat into its stomach. And then, right at this moment, a large maw appeared abruptly beside it, sharp teeth glinting menacingly in the sunlight. Before the water snake could react, it had already been bitten, right where it was most vulnerable.

Of course, the water snake was unwilling to just lay back and die — before it died, it used the whole length of its three metre long body to wrap tightly around the opponent, hoping to bring it along with it into death. Unfortunately, the opponent was still clamped onto its vital point, so it could not hold on for long. It soon died, and its coils loosened around its attacker.

And then, a hulking creature climbed out from the depths of the swamp. Its overall appearance looked very much like that of Earth's crocodiles, but compared to a crocodile, its body was even larger, and its four limbs were even thicker.

It was the king of this swamp, and its favourite food was naturally the fastest and stealthiest water snakes. However, water snakes were extremely hard to catch — the moment they saw its shadow, they would flee immediately, slithering swiftly into the swamp water and disappearing completely. Thus, it could only disguise itself and wait patiently – at times up to a whole day and night – to get its prize. Today, it would eat well.

It raised its head and opened its jaws wide, putting this large snake into its mouth, slowly tearing it into pieces as it chewed and swallowed. Halfway through its meal, while half of the snake's body was still dangling outside its mouth, it caught sight of a dark shadow falling rapidly from above it with the corner of its eye.

Dammit, what creature dares to disturb the King of the Swamp at its meal? It did not even consider the possibility of an ambush — it was the undisputed king of the food chain here, no creature would dare think of hunting it …

Before it could take a closer look, it felt a bone-deep piercing pain starting from its mouth go through its entire body. It let out a furious roar, a sign of its rage and disbelief that a creature would dare to harm it. It wanted to tear that creature apart with its sharp teeth, but found that it could not close its mouth anymore.

No, it wasn't that it couldn't close it — somehow, sometime, a wooden staff had made its way into its mouth. It tried to dislodge the staff, but then found that it couldn't move its body either.

Indeed, it was like it had been pinned to the ground. Aside from flinging its limbs around uselessly, it could not move at all. It had no idea what was going on, and as rage continued to build within it, it tried to roar again, but now found that it couldn't even do that anymore. And then the pain hit, coursing through every part of its body, so intense that it couldn't handle it. What the heck was going on?

"So troublesome." Along with this voice, an extremely fragile looking thing appeared by its head. And then, the creature's final memory was of the strange creature lifting its scrawny foot above its head and stomping down viciously.

Without any change in her expression, Ling Lan pulled her foot out from the skull of this king of the swamp. She had no interest in watching the death struggle of the creature and so had kindly put it out of its misery by stomping through its skull.

Looking at the white brain matter all over her shoes, Ling Lan no longer felt the disgust she had felt at the beginning. The current Ling Lan was enveloped by an aura of honed aggression, just like a king of the jungle; she was no longer the weak and timid person she was before.

Of course, with Ling Lan's current strength, fighting this creature in the swamp head on was not impossible. However, this fellow's skin was as strong as steel and Ling Lan had no weapons which could pierce through it. This skin it had was exactly why it could withstand the water snake's desperate counterattack at the end. Still, all creatures had their weaknesses and this swamp king was no exception.

The insides of the swamp king was very fragile, which was why the swamp king normally would not leave its mouth open. For the only way to attack its insides, was through its mouth. As such, Ling Lan had decided to conceal herself within the swamp and wait till the swamp king started hunting. And when the swamp king had started to eat, she had taken the opportunity to stuff a small tree down its throat, all the way to its tail, sealing its fate with one blow.

Getting to this point was not easy for Ling Lan. Many times, due to problems with emotional control, the swamp king had managed to sense her killing intent and evade her attack, causing her to lose her chance. Thus, Ling Lan had paid the price of death several times over before she finally grasped the ability to hunt flawlessly. The trials and difficulties she went through in the entire process were truly too numerous to be cited.

Chapter 43: The Experience of Death!

Translator: ryuxenji Editor: H2dH2mr

Ling Lan had initially thought that she would have to stay in this virtual forest for up to two or three years before she would get used to it and see some results … but in reality, humans were exceedingly smart and adaptable creatures. Especially for those who were already equipped with offensive and defensive abilities, adapting to this dangerous environment was even easier than expected. Within a month, Ling Lan was now able to move freely through the forest.

Ling Lan had never been a reckless person, so when Instructor Number One had disappeared, she had been very, very cautious with her every step. After all, having never been in the wild before, the forest was an unknown swathe of darkness in her eyes. Furthermore, she strongly believed that this forest was a terrifying place — so her first thought was not about hunting, but rather on how she would be able to survive to see the light of the next day.

Reality proved that she had still been too naïve and had underestimated the dangers of the forest. She had not even made it till the night of the first day before she had been bitten by some unknown venomous insects hidden within the grass. This was her first experience with death — in the net-speak of her previous world, her virgin death.

Frankly, Ling Lan's virgin death was not at all easy. It could even be described as gory, capable of turning the stomach of anyone who saw it — the scene of her death was unbelievably horrific.

For the rest of her life, Ling Lan never wanted to experience that sort of death ever again. The venom of the insects had been potently vicious, causing immense pain to its victim. This pain was even worse than the pain she had endured through her sickness from her previous life, even more penetrating than the pain she had endured during the medicinal baths of this life — because on top of the pain, was an uncontrollable itch that could not be resisted … she would never forget it.

For three whole days, Ling Lan had suffered and itched. She had watched as she personally scratched away the bloody flesh from her body bit by bit, and all she had felt then was relief and a perverse sort of pleasure, until her body had been reduced to scraps of skin and flesh hanging on an almost empty skeleton. Only then did she breathe her last breath.

Back then, she had thought that that was the end of it, that she was finally free from the torments of this forest, free to go back to reality. But when she opened her eyes once again, she was back where Instructor Number One had first dumped her, still within the forest. It was then that Ling Lan realised that this virtual world created by the learning space was not as simple as she had assumed — she would not be able to return to reality just by waiting it out.

It was tied up with a mission — so until the mission was completed, she was stuck here, unable to return.

Thus, even though she was still traumatised by her first death experience, for the sake of returning to reality, Ling Lan had no choice but to buck up and force herself to continue exploring the forest so that she could complete her mission. Ling Lan had not forgotten what Instructor Number One had said — his words had clearly indicated that she was to learn how to hunt.

However, when Ling Lan managed to kill one of the forest creatures weaker than her, the learning space did not react at all. This told Ling Lan that she would not be able to accomplish this mission on a technicality — she would most likely have to kill a fierce beast several times stronger than her for it to count.

And so she started challenging this primordial forest. She encountered many dangers along the way — some she managed to escape, while most of the others naturally resulted in her death.

She had been devoured by a swarm of ants, eaten alive until she was nothing but bones. She had been ambushed by an adorable looking animal, small but vicious, ending up as its meal. And she had also died from eating some poisonous fruits by accident, as well as experienced being bitten by some pestilent mosquitoes, dying in the end from the ravages of disease.

However, all these countless deaths were not for nothing — Ling Lan gradually learned how to survive in this primordial forest. She absorbed all the knowledge she gained from her deaths, throwing away the kind and softer emotions that were unnecessary here, only keeping her level-headedness and her ruthlessness. From then on, all the creatures in the forest had only two labels in her eyes ——'threat' or 'food'.

Through it all, Ling Lan gradually shifted from her initial timid and uncertain self into her current cool and self-composed persona. She could now face any danger without fear, and confidence oozed from her every pore. The entire forest was like her own backyard to her now — she knew all the animals and hazards here as well as the palm of her hand.

This time, she had decided to hunt the swamp king after much thought and consideration. Even though the terrain here was more treacherous than many other areas within the forest, this also meant that the swamp king had a much lower guard than the other kings of the forest. Due to a lack of contest, the swamp king was also comparatively weaker, and although the terrain was to the swamp king's advantage, it wasn't necessarily a disadvantage for Ling Lan either.

And so, Ling Lan had set a trap. Her first few attempts all ended in failure, where she often ended up as the swamp king's excrement, only managing to escape a handful of times. However, every failure added to her experience and Ling Lan slowly but surely started to grasp the swamp king's hunting habits. To give the swamp king a false sense of security, although Ling Lan had been lying in ambush every day, she had not made a move for over a week …

Ling Lan could still remember Instructor Number One's rebuke, saying that she did not know how to mix feints into her attacks, that continuous sneak attacks were not really sneak attacks anymore. And Ling Lan did not want to make the same mistake twice.

Finally, today, Ling Lan saw a rare opportunity. Perhaps because Ling Lan had not attacked at all this week, the swamp king seemed to think that it had killed off all the stupid animals that dared threaten it. Moreover, it had just managed to capture its favourite snack of juicy, tender water snake, putting it in a great mood, and so it had subconsciously let down its guard …

Which was when Ling Lan had struck. This time, Ling Lan finally managed to deal a beautiful killing blow, which was also proof that Ling Lan had truly mastered the art of hiding her killing intent, successfully nabbing her prey.

As the swamp king fell dead before her, Ling Lan closed her eyes and reflected on how she had felt back when she had dealt the killing blow. There had been no agitation, no excitement, only cool patience and focus — Ling Lan savoured the difference between her previous attacks and this one, and understood that she had been too hasty before, too concerned with the final outcome to maintain her composure. The moment the still pool of her emotions had rippled, her killing intent had seeped out.

Ling Lan laughed as her hands tightened into fists. Perhaps she could go back now and leave this godforsaken place behind. Although Ling Lan was no longer afraid of the primordial forest, it didn't mean she liked it here. It was too lonely here – there was no one to talk to, no one to spare her any bit of warmth – she was just about to have a breakdown over the imposed solitude. It was just fortunate that she had great mental fortitude, otherwise she'd have already been driven insane by now.

Just then, Ling Lan sensed a change in her surroundings, coming from right behind her. She did not turn around, but her posture shifted minutely so that she would be ready to defend herself and fight back at any moment.

"Not bad at all!" A familiar voice rang out from behind her, and Ling Lan felt rage roil within her even as she felt a profound sense of relief.

Without thinking, she sprung backwards with a dip of her feet, leaning back as she flew through the air, flipped into a somersault, and then facing that man, she resolutely unleashed her leg into a savage kick aimed in his direction …

Dammit, Number One, you bastard! I'll kick you to death! The long-suffering Ling Lan could no longer keep calm.

Instructor Number One was expressionless as always — seeing Ling Lan's attack, he did not even move his feet, merely holding out two fingers and aiming them at Ling Lan's incoming foot.

"Bam!" The two clashed, producing a rather muffled sound, and Ling Lan felt a huge wave of energy swell from the bottom of her foot. Her entire body was thrown backwards, and that delicate foot that was capable of crushing the swamp king's skull actually felt a little numb, losing all combat ability in a moment.

Ling Lan took control of her body in mid-air with a twist of her waist, allowing her to land on her feet right back where she had started, on top of the dead swamp king's head.

Chapter 44: Resolving a Potential Problem

Translator: ryuxenji Editor: mjn0898

"Still able to unleash your anger, I see. Looks like you've adapted well." Number One stood in the air before Ling Lan, an almost imperceptible trace of mirth in his eyes as he acknowledged Ling Lan's achievements for the first time.

Ling Lan couldn't help the little surge of happiness she felt at Instructor Number One's words, feeling as if she had been praised by an elder. However, Ling Lan was not so easily placated — her face stony, she asked huffily, "Instructor Number One, weren't you afraid that I would be driven insane by this cruel environment?"

Ling Lan knew very well that if she hadn't been so mentally resilient, this primordial forest was totally capable of driving a regular adult out of his or her mind, much less an apparent six year old child like her. No matter how talented the child was, he or she would not be able to survive for long in this fearsome forest.

Although one could revive countless times in here, the various horrific ways of dying and their realistic rendering upon one's body was more than enough to devastate a child's growing mind, mission notwithstanding.

Ling Lan was very doubtful — was this learning space truly meant to cultivate children, or was it actually meant to destroy a child's future? Thus, she spilled her doubts to Number One.

Number One's expression remained impassive, as he asked in return, "Are you insane?" Implied was the fact that Ling Lan's apparent sanity made her protests moot. If Ling Lan had truly become insane, then she wouldn't have been able to protest anyway ...

Ling Lan stared up at the sky, speechless, weeping internally. Hells, she knew better now. As hosts, they had no true power whatsoever — as they grew up, they were subject to the cruel bullying of the learning space, with no room at all to fight back.

Satisfied with Ling Lan's acquiescence, Number One said, "Since you have completed the mission, the learning space will not skimp on your reward."

That said, Ling Lan immediately heard the notification from the learning space's system. "Hunting mission completed, 50 honour points awarded."

Hells, this learning space was so goddamn stingy!

Ling Lan spat in her heart. This proved that her original hypothesis had not been wrong — honour points were indeed difficult to obtain. This extreme mission which had almost driven her insane was only worth 50 points! She couldn't help but rejoice that she had not carelessly wasted those honour points she had received in the beginning.

After the system had rewarded her, Number One did not say anything, only flicking a finger. The environment around them twisted once again, and the endless greenery, the swamp, and the skeletons all faded away, to be replaced by an empty field.

They had once again returned to the learning space where she had learned physical skills from Instructor Number Nine. Looking at the familiar grounds, Ling Lan was struck by how beautiful this scenery before her was for the first time ... even though there really was nothing in front of her.

"Time is almost up — you should go back. Remember to contain your malevolent aura ..." Without clarifying further, Instructor Number One summarily kicked Ling Lan out of the learning grounds, and in the very next second, Ling Lan had appeared within the great hall of the mind-space.

In a corner, Little Four was seated in a thinking pose. As if sensing something, he lifted his head suddenly, and his eyes filled with joy as he saw Ling Lan. Just as he was about to pounce on her, he suddenly leapt back instead, scurrying to hide behind a large pillar in panic. From there, he peeked out warily, and said, "Boss?"

Little Four's shiftiness irritated Ling Lan. With a flying leap, she had grabbed hold of Little Four's earlobe before he could react.

"Little Four, what are you running away for…" sneered Ling Lan. Although she could do nothing against Instructor Number One, it was a piece of cake for her to handle the rascal Little Four.

"Objection! Objection! You promised me that you would never again use violence on me!" Little Four protested, jumping up and down in rage, and his initial fear fled. Trying to use violence on him — this must be Boss Ling Lan. Just for a moment, he had mistaken Ling Lan for someone else, a malevolent butcher filled with bloodthirst and killing intent …

With an annoyed huff, Ling Lan released Little Four's ear, asking, "Then why were you acting like you weren't sure who I was? Who else would enter this place?"

Little Four peered intently at Ling Lan, and then said, "Boss, have you not noticed the changes to your body?" As his voice tapered off, a large full-body mirror appeared before them, reflecting both their images faithfully.

Ling Lan lifted her head to look, and immediately understood what Little Four was saying. Now she also understood why Instructor Number One had reminded her to contain her malevolent aura when he left.

The Ling Lan in the mirror was no longer the wide-eyed innocent she had been. Ferocious eyes, killing intent lingering in her gaze, and the faint air of blood-tinged malevolence around her — all indications that this child was a savage wild beast, fully capable of attacking you the very next second if a chance presented itself.

"How did this happen?" Ling Lan rubbed at her face frantically, trying to soften her expression. If she went out looking like this, she would definitely scare the living hells out of her mother. And even if she did not frighten her mother, terrifying the old staff and guards in the family would not end well either.

Under Little Four's assistance, Ling Lan finally managed to reign in the malevolent aura around her. With some effort, she squeezed out a smile, and finally rediscovered the harmless Ling Lan of before. Satisfied, only then did she wave goodbye to Little Four and return to the outside world.

Little Four energetically waved goodbye to Ling Lan, sending her off. When Ling Lan's figure had disappeared completely from his sight, he finally gave up supporting himself and slumped to the ground, wiping away a handful of sweat from his forehead. Even if he was beaten to death, he would never admit to Ling Lan that he had been the one to extend the time period of the illusionary environment to its maximum setting …

Alright, so Ling Lan's forced stay in the primordial forest was not really Instructor Number One's fault, but rather due to Little Four's meddling. It could only be said that it was just Ling Lan's misfortune to have such an imbecilic teammate in Little Four — it was pure luck that she hadn't gone mad.

Back in the real world, due to Ling Lan's previous diligence, she seemed as weak and fragile as ever, appearing without her newly developed malevolent aura, and so garnered no special attention from the people around her. Still, the very next day, Ling Lan submitted a request for actual combat training to Chamberlain Ling Qin.

Naturally, the excuse she used was the final test at the academy, when she had had to fight the examiner. She claimed that — because she had never encountered actual combat before, she did not perform well in the exam and failed to get a higher score, resulting in her 17th spot ranking when entering the Central Scout Academy.

Ling Lan explained that she could not relax now — perhaps when she entered the academy, actual combat would be one of the specialised courses she would have to take, and she didn't want to lose face again. Consequently, she wanted to take the initiative before schooling started to train in actual combat.

In truth, this was an arrangement requested by Instructor Number One to solve the potential problem of her malevolent aura.

Malevolent energy should not be contained forcefully over long periods of time — this would harm Ling Lan's body in the long run, perhaps even affecting her growth. Only when she could control her malevolent aura freely, just like her instructors or other battle-experienced veterans, would the problem be resolved.

Ling Lan's request moved Ling Qin immensely. What elders loved most was to see their beloved juniors show ambition, aiming for success. Without any hesitation, he summoned the best warriors in the Ling household, and charged them as sparring partners for the young master.

In this manner, Ling Lan began her self-torture program in this one month before school started.

In the morning she fought against the Ling family warriors, while at night she was tormented by Instructor Number Nine. At her current level, Ling Lan still hadn't earned the right to be tormented by Number One …

With this continuous cycle of combat every day and night, Ling Lan's tightly contained malevolent aura began to seep out slowly, until she managed to reign it in again, little by little, until it finally disappeared without a trace. In the end, only when Ling Lan had the intent to kill, would her malevolent aura reveal itself.

Due to Number One's timely arrangements, Ling Lan safely passed the time when her secret could be discovered. Meanwhile, only two days were left till the start of school.

Chapter 45: Who Wants to Kill Ling Lan?

Translator: ryuxenji Editor: H2dH2mr

On the official first day of school, Ling Lan refused Lan Luofeng's attempts to send her to school, only allowing Chamberlain Ling Qin alone to go with her and register.

It couldn't be helped — Ling Lan's eyelid had been twitching ever since she woke up early in the morning, and although she tried to convince herself not to be superstitious … just in case, for safety reasons, Ling Lan was determined to leave her defenceless mother at home.

Of course, once Ling Lan was seated in the hover car, she began discussing the causes of this physiological response with Little Four, trying to dispel her worry. However, the two of them were like half-empty cans rattling baselessly, neither being able to state anything for certain, and so the discussion could only devolve into confusion.

Looking at the dizzy spirals of confusion that used to be Little Four's eyes, the chagrined Ling Lan decisively ended their fruitless discussion. She summarily concluded that the phenomenon was an unsolvable mystery, which somehow earned her the gullible Little Four's awestruck gaze.

Even as Ling Lan basked in that gaze, she turned away so that Little Four was out of her sight. Hells, it was never her intention to dazzle an underage child with lies.

Just as Ling Lan was trying to dispel the guilt she felt at her deceit, her gaze narrowed and she lifted her head to look out the car window. At the same time, Chamberlain Ling Qin beside her had also sensed the danger, and with a grim expression, he said, "Ling-Zero-Seven, switch into full-body emergency defense mode, and send out a distress signal."

"Yes, orders acknowledged by Ling-Zero-Seven." As the master's designated vehicle, Ling-Zero-Seven was no ordinary hover car.

As Ling-Zero-Seven's voice faded, Ling Lan saw that the transparent areas of the inner car were abruptly covered by another equally transparent defensive layer. Meanwhile, she and Chamberlain Ling Qin had been securely buckled into their seats by safety belts which had sprung out from the seats. Then, Ling-Zero-Seven's speed kicked up a notch and it flew forward rapidly.

Still, despite Ling-Zero-Seven's new accelerated speed, they still did not manage to dodge the opponent's attack.

A cold glint flashed through Ling Lan's eyes and she gripped the handlebar beside her with both hands.

"Crash!" A huge energy wave flipped the hover car and sent it spinning. Ling-Zero-Seven struggled with all its might to regain control of its unstable body.

"Warning, warning! Body integrity at 71.28%, energy consumption at 22% — we can only withstand the same attack two more times!" reported Ling-Zero-Seven as it finally regained control of its body.

"Ling-Zero-Seven, abandon pre-set route. Implement irregular driving; throw them off as much as you can." Ling Qin's eyes shone with ruthlessness — he would never let these people off for daring to try and harm the hope of the Ling family.

"Yes!" Ling-Zero-Seven diverted from its usual movement style — not only did it increase its speed to 2.2 horsepower, it also began moving in random directions every so often, evading the enemies' long distance attacks again and again.

Inside the car, Ling Qin calmly tugged open a buckle in front of his seat and a large box appeared before Ling Lan. In it was a protective vest, as well as an assortment of weapons.

Already educated in this respect, Ling Lan knew that the weapons in the box included a type-II particle-beam submachine gun, a portable cold fusion gun, two flash grenades, two tear gas grenades, a smoke grenade, and of course, two ultra-lithium alloy short swords for melee combat. In the words of her previous world, the two short swords were so sharp that they could slice through iron as if it were soil, and could split a strand of hair if the wind blew it across their edges.

All these weapons were controlled items by the military, forbidden for civilian use. However, where there's a will, there's a way — people would always find a way to get what they want; moreover, the Ling family was established via military means to begin with, and had countless ties with the military. As such, obtaining these weapons was really not that difficult for them.

Ling Lan saw that there was a similar buckle in front of her, so she pulled on it and an identical box appeared before her.

Ling Qin briefly explained to Ling Lan how they were able to access these weapons so easily, "As long as the emergency defense mode has been activated, these weapon boxes will be unlocked. Under normal circumstances, even if you tried to pry the compartments open, you would never be able to get to the weapons."

Ling Qin instructed Ling Lan to follow his lead and put on the protective vest. Who knew how long the hover car could continue to resist and stay afloat — it was necessary to take all possible precautions and defensive measures as early as possible.

Ling Lan nodded her understanding and quickly put on the vest, and then strapped the two short swords securely to the sides of her legs. After some thought, she also picked up the portable cold fusion gun. Although it wasn't as powerful as the type-II particle-beam submachine gun, it was smaller and lighter, which made it much more suitable for a six year old child like her. Lastly, she took out the two flash grenades and tucked them into the side pockets of her protective vest, leaving the other grenades behind.

The usefulness of a weapon was not decided by its firepower, but by its suitability — Ling Lan had learned this principle well from both her Ling family tutors and the learning space. Seeing her choices, Ling Qin nodded approvingly — Ling Lan had selected only those weapons which suited her. Although the other two grenades were very good for harassing the enemy, since they didn't have the proper protective gear, the grenades wouldn't be of much use to them.

********

Several miles away, 413's squad, which had chosen to guard Ling Lan from a distance to avoid being spotted by them, were shocked and dismayed by the unexpected attack.

"F*ck. Brothers, charge if you don't want to die!" Piloting his own mecha, 413 rushed swiftly towards the scene. Inside the mecha, his entire face was white — if any harm befell Ling Lan, he would certainly be flayed alive by his demon commander.

All this time, 413's squad had been having a pretty easygoing time of it. Ling Lan wasn't an active and rambunctious child who liked to run about — this made their job very easy, only needing to patrol around the perimeters of the Ling household every so often.

The six of them pushed their mechas to the max, the sirens on their mechas wailing as they rushed in Ling Lan's direction. As they got closer and closer to the scene …

"Watch out! Scatter!" 413, who was in the lead, felt his hairs stand up, and he rolled to one side with a loud bellow.

Six figures scattered apart as a powerful beam of cold light shot through their original path.

"Number 2, unharmed!"

"Number 3 mecha, right foot frozen."

"Number 4, everything's normal."

"Number 5, lost control of left hand."

"Number 6, no damage."

The five members of the squad immediately reported their status to 413. Only Number 3 and Number 5 had received damage in that last attack.

"Number 4, Number 6 — protect Number 3, Number 5. Number 2, with me against the enemy," ordered 413.

"Yes, Sir!"

Just then, a team of mecha troopers flew in from various angles to convene in front of 413. Their neat standardised mecha, equipped to the teeth with weaponry, betrayed the savage nature of the enemy, causing 413's face to become as dark as a thundercloud.

413 turned on his communication button. "What unit are you from? What is your intention?" This type of standardised mecha and its full set of arms were only available within military channels. The military would never allow this sort of weaponry to fall into civilian hands — meaning that, these people had to have come from the military. And to be able to send out a squad of mecha troopers without alerting anyone, it had to be someone from the upper levels of the military.

So, who in the upper ranks of the military wanted Ling Lan dead? Could it really be the mole concealed within the military?

Still, just for the sake of one small promising seedling … was all this firepower really necessary? Were they not afraid of exposing themselves?

At this point, 413 was still unaware that Ling Lan was Ling Xiao's child. If he knew, then perhaps he would understand why someone would put so much effort into killing Ling Lan.