Chapter 309 - 1292 - 1303

Chapter 1292 Protect Lingtian For Me

"As expected." The black cloaked individual actually spoke after seeing Qi Long's domain concept completely neutralizing his domain concept.

After hearing that, Qi Long frowned. "You know me?"

"Qi Long, son of Qi Yaoyang," said the black cloaked individual calmly. It seemed he knew who he was attacking.

"You know me very well?" Qi Long's face was completely frozen. The 'as expected' said by his opponent made him annoyed.

"Indeed." The black cloaked individual didn't deny it.

"Who are you really?" Qi Long stared at his opponent and asked again.

Right as he finished, Qi Long had already attacked. Although he spoke with his opponent to try to get some information from his opponent, he still wished to land a surprise attack.

"That's not going to work." The black cloaked individual blocked with his right hand. Qi Long's domain concept was completely blocked off by the opponent's domain concept, stopping Qi Long from moving any nearer to him.

"Disappear." Qi Long erupted with as much domain energy his body could exert. He decided to put his all into this one attack.

Qi Long hadn't forgotten about Han Jijyun. Although he didn't see Han Jijyun in the space he was in, Qi Long still believed that Han Jijyun was right beside him. It would be fine if Han Jijyun was outside of this domain. He was just afraid that Han Jijyun had also been attacked. If the enemy could send out a dimension element domain realm master, then the others domain realm masters that came with him weren't any weaker. Han Jijyun, who was just in the pseudo domain stage, would definitely be in a bad position if he were to face such enemies.

Boss and some of his comrades were already unaccounted for, so he couldn't accept something happening to his friends in his presence. If that were to happen, he would actually go insane.

Even if he was going to harm himself, he was still going to destroy the opponent's domain. He wanted to see with his eyes whether Han Jijyun was alright or not.

Bang! The two energies clashed into each other.

The black cloaked individual saw his domain on the verge of shattering because of Qi Long's burst of domain energy. He couldn't help but softly say, "This will be troublesome."

Once the domain shatters, the energy of it would expand outwards. All of the commotion and noises will no longer be able to be cut off by him. If that happened, the entire base would know he was there.

"Ice Age!" The shaking domain was suddenly reinforced by the ice element domain concept, stabilizing it until it was as sturdy as a mountain.

Qi Long looked at the black cloaked individual with shock as he sensed the familiar domain energy.

"B-Bo-Boss…" The feeling of excitement he held in also had a hint of fear. He was afraid that he was wrong, and that this strong domain realm master wasn't actually Boss. Instead, he might be facing an unknown enemy who had two elements at his disposal.

The black cloaked individual slowly began to take off the hood. In the end, Ling Lan's expressionless face was seen by Qi Long.

"Boss!" Qi Long's eyes reddened as he pounced towards Ling Lan. He wanted to hug Boss. He wanted to tell him all of his worries and his excitement.

Bang!

In the next second, Qi Long was completely wrestled to the ground by Ling Lan.

"Qi Long, I'm very disappointed in your performance." Ling Lan looked at Qi Long coldly. Coming here, she didn't want to see her friends with faces full of sadness, regret and tears. It could be said that Qi Long and Han Jijyun's words and behavior on the roof had angered Ling Lan greatly.

"That's why you can't leave me Boss. I'm still too weak. I need you to continue to train me," Qi Long replied shamelessly with an expression of an annoying leech. Just looking at that annoying expression made Ling Lan's teeth itch.

"Don't lie to me. I know fully well what you're capable of." Ling Lan didn't believe Qi Long. "Letting you stay with Lingtian is because I trust you can help me."

"I refuse." The intelligent Qi Long instantly understood Ling Lan's words. Boss didn't even think of taking him with him.

Qi Long understood that Boss could not stay in the Federation for too long, with everyone trying to get a piece of what Ling Xiao left behind. They definitely wouldn't allow anything to stop them, and if Boss was added to the picture, it would screw over everyone's plan of snacting Ling Xiao's assets. Thus, Boss couldn't stay in the Federation even if he wanted to.

But, he still wanted to leave with Boss. Even if they were to become rogues of the galaxy, he still would do so without any regrets.

"I will come back," said Ling Lan as she stared into Qi Long's eyes. "I can't afford to lose my roots here in the Federation. I trust you, so please help me protect Lingtian."

Ling Lan's eyes were filled with trust. It was as if she was saying, 'Because you are here, being my strongest shield, I can leave without worry and keep on going forward. When I become a king one day and rule the universe, I will come back to the Federation and take my revenge.'

"Boss, I f*cking hate it when you say things like that," Qi Long suddenly swore. "I will definitely do what you want me to do, but you also need to promise me that you will come back."

"I, Ling Lan, will never go back on my word." Ling Lan stood up and looked at Qi Long as she spoke one word at a time.

Her weakness was only temporary. She would soon be the strongest there is and return here. She would pay back a hundredfold for what her father's enemies had done to her family.

Qi Long stood up with complicated feelings inside him. He thought he would follow Boss until the end of his life. Even if they were to have their own families, their relationship would not change at all. However, he didn't think that the separation would happen this quickly and that he couldn't refuse it either.

If it was possible, Qi Long didn't want to stay in Lingtian. If there was someone who could take up the mantle, he definitely would leave behind Lingtian and go with Boss to the ends of the universe. Unfortunately, that was not possible. Out of all their friends, he was the most suitable for the position of the Lingtian Independent Army's commander. It was just as his Boss had said. Even if he were to leave the Federation, he shouldn't lose his roots, otherwise no matter how strong he was out there, he wouldn't get any help when he returned, rather he would be attacked by the whole Federation. Seeking revenge wasn't an easy thing at all.

"It's not as hard as you think out there. However here, it won't be easy to protect what we have. There will be a gruesome fight soon, and it'll all be on you," said Ling Lan after seeing Qi Long's depressed mood.

After hearing that, Qi Long quickly regained his focus and asked, "Boss, you're saying you're going to leave the Federation immediately?"

"I will leave after I see my mother," replied Ling Lan.

"Boss, you're worried about Senior Colonel Lan?" Qi Long realized now why his Boss had appeared here. "You want to hide within Lingtian and go to Planet General together?"

"Although this would be very dangerous, this is still my only option." Ling Lan believed the military headquarters would definitely monitor the Lingtian Independent Army very strictly. That was because she would most likely contact them to return to Lingtian. "After arriving on Planet General, we will leave. You don't have to find us and just do what you need to do."

"Us? Is it Luo Lang, Xie Yi and Li Lanfeng?" Qi Long asked in excitement. It seemed that everyone was alright.

Ling Lan was silent. That silence made Qi Long's smile slowly disappear.

"Who?" Qi Long said painfully.

After a short moment, Qi Long heard a soft voice in his ears, "Xie Yi!"

1293 Two Cores?

In the learning space, the ten instructors, who were preventing the collapse of the learning space by stationing themselves in different corners of the space, felt the space finally turning stable. When they felt the space slowly stabilizing, they instantly breathed a sigh of relief.

Suddenly, they heard Number One calling to them. They teared through the dimension's barrier and arrived where Number One was.

Number One was in a secret room with a frown on his face. He was staring at two bright objects that were wrapped by countless bands of light with a deadpan expression.

Number Nine couldn't hold in the worry in her heart and asked, "Number One, how's Majesty Four's condition?"

"Very bad," replied Number One plainly. "I'm using all the energy available in the learning space to repair his body, but it is still not enough. Plus, there's also a little leech that needs it as well, and we can't just leave him be either…"

"The problem right now isn't only Little Four and that little leech, Little Blossom." Number Five appeared beside Number Nine with a cold expression on his face. The constant smug smile on his face was gone.

"Without the connection between Little Four and Ling Lan, it will be difficult for us to obtain any energy from Ling Lan. The energy in the learning space is limited too. Once we use it all up, Little Four and Little Blossom's recovery period will be dragged on indefinitely." Number Five had a look of defeat on his face. They were all top-tier individuals in their star system, but they now were stuck here with nothing they could do about it.

"What actually happened this time?" said Number Seven frustratingly. He had been researching a legendary armor in his dimension when suddenly his entire dimension began to collapse. He immediately ran out, and before he could ask about what happened, he was tossed to a corner by Number One. They used their spiritual power to protect the foundation of the collapsing learning space. After not eating and sleeping for 10 days, they finally felt the destructive energy against the space weakening and in the end stabilizing. After it stabilized, they could finally leave, come to Number One and ask about what was happening.

"What else could it be? Majesty Four wanted to save someone, but instead got hurt by the backlash." said Number Four in an annoyed tone.

She quickly brushed up her flustered outer appearance. She couldn't accept appearing in front of others with a scruffy appearance. However, even so, she still felt her entire body smelled because she hadn't showered in 10 days. Although they were the type of existence that wouldn't be affected by something like that, she still wanted to immediately return to her own dimension and take a hot bath to get rid of the smell.

"Save who? Who was in trouble?" Number Six, Number Seven and Number Eight were all confused. Three similar confused expressions appeared on their faces, their expression incited hatred and laughter in the other instructors at the same time.

Instructors Six, Seven and Eight were all considered to be individuals who focused on their own research. They wouldn't care about what happened in the outside world. Compared to the other instructors who would pay some attention to Ling Lan from time to time, these three would become disappointed when Ling Lan wasn't in the learning space. They wouldn't pay much attention to Ling Lan normally to avoid that feeling of disappointment. They didn't know that Ling Lan lived such a heart-wrenching and death-defying time during the past while.

"Ling Lan's father, Ling Xiao." They didn't know, but that didn't mean the others didn't know. Instructor Number Two suddenly appeared behind the three of them and answered in a depressing tone.

"What? That god-class operator?" The three of them were utterly shocked.

"Majesty Four was really digging his own grave." Number Six looked to the sky with a speechless expression. Taking in the spiritual power of a god-class operator with his current strength… crazy. The result was definitely going to be a 'bang' and an implosion.

"Majesty Four failed right?" guessed Number Seven, seeing that the learning space was still intact.

"That's right, but wrong at same time." This time, it was Number Three who answered.

"Number Three, when did you become so cryptic with your words?" After hearing that answer, Number Eight was annoyed. As a mecha operator, Number Three was the most straightforward one out of all of them. He would always say something and do it. He didn't think that such a straightforward person would become this annoying.

"I wasn't being straightforward?" Number Three's eyes widened in shock, but he was speaking the truth.

Number Eight was after all someone who dove deeply into underlying matter so he quickly realized. "You're saying he absorbed Ling Xiao's spiritual power?"

He asked again, "Wait, although spiritual power is free-form, there's a core. That core is an individual's spiritual power. Majesty Four is still not able to take in the spiritual power core of a god-class operator yet. Are you saying the spiritual power he took in was just loose spiritual power that didn't have any consciousness in it? Or are you saying he absorbed the main core."

"Hmm, maybe he absorbed a part of the main core. But, can a core be split into pieces? According to our theories on Mandora, if the core splits, the spiritual entity would result in death. They would become like those loose spiritual energies, just energy with no life force and a core." Number Eight continued making conclusions out loud. However, this was an impossible conclusion in his mind.

"What if the spiritual entity had two cores?" Number Five was unusually nice as he tried to provide an explanation for the observation.

"How's that possible?" Number Eight didn't even think about it and denied the possibility. Perhaps it was possible to awaken multiple innate talents, but there could only be one spiritual entity core. Two cores… Just the fight between the two cores on who should be the main core would cause a person to either become insane or become an idiot. However, they had seen Ling Xiao before. He was definitely a cultured, warm and logical person. His spiritual power was also stable and it didn't seem to be shaky. He definitely didn't behave like someone who had two cores…

Unfortunately, other than the three of them, the others had an expression of certainty on their faces. Number Eight wiped his face, "Alright, two cores. That's insane. So Majesty Four successfully absorbed one core, but that core is still not something Little Four could take in all at once. Is that why the learning space is collapsing?"

"Yes and no," replied Number Three.

In the next second, Number Eight ruthlessly pounced towards Number Three with readied fists.

Bang! Number Three crossed his arms and blocked Number Eight's punch. He had a look of shock and said, "Why are you trying to hit me?"

Number Eight said angrily, "God damn it. If you're going to say something, get straight to the point. I hate those types of ambiguous and not detailed answers."

"…How was I being ambiguous?" Number Three felt that he was wrongly accused. He was just answering honestly and wasn't perfunctory in his words.

"Then can you explain for me what you mean by 'yes and no'?" Although he dealt with politics and spoke in an indirect manner every day, it didn't mean he liked being spoken to in that way.

"You were right about Majesty Four successfully absorbing the core. But, you are wrong to say that it was the reason for the learning space collapsing," Number Three could only explain nicely.

Chapter 1294 Soul Fragment!

"There's another reason for the space collapsing?" Number Eight didn't expect the situation to be this complicated. "Then why aren't you telling me directly. You are just letting me blabber on mindlessly."

"I didn't plan to have you guess. I just said one sentence and you began to make your own conclusions," said Number Three with a wronged look on his face. He was already cooperating with Number Eight so well, but why wasn't Number Eight satisfied? Was it this difficult to be a nice older brother?

"You…" Number Eight readied up his pale white fist again and was about to hit Number Three. Number Three thought about fighting back but he looked at his own iron fist, that was twice as large as Number Eight's fist, and he decided not to hurt Number Eight again so he quickly replied before Number Eight could start punching him, "Alright, alright, I'll tell you."

"In reality, after taking in one spiritual power core, Majesty Four discovered there was a second core. He didn't even think and tried to take in the second one," said Number Three after putting his words together slowly.

"Majesty Four has gone f*cking insane." After hearing those words, Number Eight couldn't hold it in and swore.

"Not insane, just at that time, Majesty Four's only thought was to save Ling Xiao. He didn't think about the end result or the consequences." Number Three was clearly more lenient towards Little Four.

"So he failed to absorb the second core, then reacted by spitting it out?" Number Eight guessed.

"If that was the case, then Majesty Four wouldn't have been injured so severely, and Little Blossom wouldn't have been dragged into this mess and almost lose his life as well."

"What does this have anything to do with Little Blossom?" Number Eight felt this situation was becoming more and more complicated.

"That's because the second core was 'Devour'," Number One suddenly said.

"Devour? Devour!" This time, not only was Number Eight shocked, Number Six and Seven both screamed in shock with looks of surprise on their faces.

All the other instructors looked at each other in unplanned unison. When they had found out the second core was Devour, they were also similarly shocked. If they get caught by Devour, none of them would be able to get out alive, turning into nutrients for Devour.

"You know about the natural state of Devour's energy. Once you touch it, you basically won't be able to escape it. You would instantly become devoured and become its nutrients," said Number Three with a look of fear on his face. "If Majesty Four had absorbed the Devour core, he wouldn't have been able to escape from its clutches. The space collapsing is actually the result of that core sucking in the energy of the learning space."

"So Little Blossom made a move." Number Eight had an epiphany.

"If anything, only Little Blossom, who has a similar power, can go against that core. However, Little Blossom's devouring power wasn't as strong as the Devour core. Luckily, Little Four took the core into this space, giving Little Blossom a home field advantage." Number Three smiled bitterly. "However, even so, Little Blossom only pushed the Devour core outside of the learning space. He was also injured from the backlash of the Devour core. If Number One hadn't come to his aid and held onto Little Blossom's last bit of spiritual power, Little Blossom might have completely vanished from this world. However, even so, whether the part of Little Blossom that is left can recover and reawaken is a different story."

"Little Four was lucky that Little Blossom had saved him. Although a large amount of his energy was devoured, he still retained his main body. As long as he's given enough time, he should wake up," said Number One calmly. This was the reason why they could save the learning space from collapsing. If Little Four was injured to the same level as Little Blossom, the dimension they were in wouldn't be intact. Only the core part of the learning space would have been able to stay intact.

"That's good." Even though Number Six, Seven and Eight knew everything was fine after their compatriots told them about it, they still had cold sweat after hearing about it. It turns out, they had actually just managed to escape death.

"However, the real problem isn't Little Four or Little Blossom," Number One frowned once again. "Come with me."

Number One used his hand and cut the space in front of him. He walked inside and the others followed him.

They arrived at another room. This room had two light orb. One, although bright, still felt somewhat odd. It was as though something was missing. The other fixture was dim and it looked as though it could be easily extinguished from a small draft of wind.

"Why are there two of them?" Number Six asked in surprise.

He closed his eyes and felt the two light sources before pointing at the bright but odd light orb, "That is General Ling Xiao's? Then what about the dim energy core?"

"Yeah, although General Ling Xiao's core has a lot of life inside of it, it clearly has a part of it missing. It would even affect his awakening, causing him to never be able to reawaken in this lifetime." Instructor Number One knew better than anyone about Little Four's saddened call of the term 'father', along with his resolve to not give up on the Devour core even if it meant losing his life and having the entire learning space collapsing. The direction Majesty Four was evolving towards wasn't a mechanical intelligent mainframe, but rather it was more towards a human being.

Number One didn't know whether his path of evolution was good or bad. What was annoying to him was that Little Four preferred being an artificial intelligent human that could have emotions, make mistakes and become impulsive, rather than becoming a super mainframe that only knew right and wrong.

.

"As for the other one, it's probably Xie Yi's core," replied Number One. "It's possible when Majesty Four took in Ling Xiao's spiritual power core, he got his while returning."

"Majesty Four…." He didn't know when to stop. General Ling Xiao's core was already enough to destroy Little Four. Yet, he still didn't care about his life and took in another spiritual core. Did he think he was an animal that could put everything into his pouch? Wasn't he afraid he would explode? Number Seven felt helpless. If Majesty Four kept doing this kind of stuff everyday, wouldn't they have to fight with the god of death everyday as well. Couldn't Little Four just let them live in peace?

"Unfortunately, Xie Yi's death was written in the stars. He couldn't escape from it. Majesty Four saved him, but the Devour core devoured all of his spiritual power… In the end, there is only a soul fragment of him left." Number One didn't think Xie Yi was going to survive this predicament. In reality, Xie Yi's spiritual power was already on the brink of completely disappearing. If Little Blossom had pushed out the Devour core any slower, Xie Yi���s spiritual power would be completely devoured without a single drop left.

"Although Little Blossom only has a part of him left, his main body is still devour based. Although the damage dealt to him was as great as Xie Yi's, he could just devour the energy around him to repair himself. It can be said that Little Blossom still had a chance to wake up, while Xie Yi… Not only was his soul fragment a problem, there is still leftover Devour energy inside his spiritual core… That small amount of Devour energy won't give him any chance to repair himself. Right now, I can only use my energy to hold back the Devour energy, stopping it from hurting Xie Yi's soul fragment any further."

Chapter 1295 The Show is About to Start?

"How about we increase the energy we give him. That way, even if a part of him was devoured, we still have a chance to replenish Xie Yi's soul fragment," Number Four suggested in a confused tone.

"I already tried that. The more energy I give, the more it gets devoured, so the amount of energy left for Xie Yi is negligible. Not only that… Just take a look for yourselves." Number One wiggled his fingers and countless bands of light flowed towards Xie Yi's dim spiritual power core to replenish its energy. However, after the energy entered the core, the core was still just as dim as before. Moreover, instead of brightening, the minute black dot in the center of the core started expanding, causing the core to seem even dimmer than before.

"That's Devour energy?" Number Four covered her mouth and gasped in shock.

Number One flicked his finger again, stopping the flow of energy.

"No matter how much I give him, it doesn't replenish him, instead, my energy nourishes the Devour energy…" Number One said helplessly. Looking at the growing black dot, there was almost zero chance of Xie Yi surviving this predicament.

"Is there really no hope?" Number Three, who treated Ling Lan as his own daughter, couldn't bear the thought of Ling Lan becoming sad from losing a friend. Number Nine also felt the same way.

"Whether Xie Yi can have any hope of surviving would depend on Little Blossom." Number One sighed as he remembered Little Blossom's unknown fate. If Little Blossom couldn't wake up, then Xie Yi couldn't survive too. Only Little Blossom, who also had a similar type of Devour energy, could perhaps help solve this seemingly impossible problem.

After hearing Number One being pessimistic about the Xie Yi's fate, all the eight other instructors sighed. They already couldn't determine Little Blossom's life or death, not to mention Xie Yi.

"It's just that we can't contact Ling Lan. That is the real problem…" Number Nine's steeled look had a hint of worry.

"It will all depend on Ling Lan now," said Number One plainly. Without Little Four, even if the instructors had immense strength, they still wouldn't be able to open the learning space with the restriction the learning space placed on them. However, as the host, even without Little Four, as long as Ling Lan's spiritual power was strong enough, she would be able to open a path to the learning space.

In reality, it was all on Ling Lan on whether Little Four could recover and whether Little Blossom could wake up. If Ling Lan couldn't open a path to the learning space, the learning space wouldn't be able to siphon any energy from Ling Lan. If this state of energy absence continued for too long, then the instructors would be out of energy and fall into a state of hibernation. If that happened, Little Four and Little Blossom would never recover.

All the instructors knew that the future of everyone in this room was all in Ling Lan's control.

"Try your best Ling Lan!" Number Nine clenched her fists tighty. The child she taught definitely would not disappoint her.

"Don't worry. Ling Lan's our most prized disciple, unless Number Two was selfish enough to not teach all the spiritual power techniques to Ling Lan." Number Five glanced at the shadowy area beside Number One with a smirk on his face.

After hearing those words, all the instructors looked towards that shadow. Perhaps their gazes were too fiery, Number Two, who was usually calm and collected, could hold it in anymore. He slowly crawled out of the shadow and said calmly, "I've taught what should be taught. What shouldn't be taught…"

Everyone raised their eyebrows and waited for him to finish his sentence.

Number Two's cold looking expression had a bit of disheveled look to it. "…I also taught"

After saying that, he went back into the shadow. He didn't want to show himself again.

Number One looked at the surprised faces on everyone. He knew that if he didn't explain it clearly, these people wouldn't leave. Thus he said, "Ling Lan… is known for being pushy." No matter if it was for herself or when training others.

Everyone understood what he meant. They all had lessons they didn't want to teach to Ling Lan, but when such a hardworking child studied under them with a fiery thirst for knowledge, they could only relent and teach her everything they knew. They didn't expect Number Two, who was cold and not a people person, to not be able to hold against Ling Lan's pushiness. They also realized Number Two was actually not that different from them when it came to matters about Ling Lan.

At the spaceport of Planet General, a gigantic Destruction Devil slowly docked itself.

At the same time, the news of Lingtian Independent Army's high-ranking officers arriving on Planet General was sent to all the departments within the government of Planet General

"Reporting in, sir. Lingtian Independent Army's vice commander, brigade leaders, and department heads have arrived on Planet General." The Flying Dragon Special Forces also received the news.

Ling Xiao lifted his head and monotonously spoke to the adjutant who came in to report Lingtian���s arrival, "Got it." After acknowledging the adjutant, he lowered his head and continued to read through the documents in his hands.

Recently, Ling Xiao had been restructuring the Flying Dragon Special Forces. The relaxed and indolent atmosphere in the Flying Dragon Special Forces was long gone. Every department and every battle team were like standing strands of hair, being constantly on standby.

The adjutant saw that his chief was busy so he didn't dare to disrupt him any further. He softly walked out of the chief's office.

After the automatic door closed behind him, he breathed in a huge breath of air. Recently, the pressure the chief was exerting was getting heavier and heavier. In the past, he would still dare to crack a few jokes with the chief when the chief wasn't busy. Now, he would feel more suffocated the longer he stayed with the chief.

It was possible that General Ling Xiao's death had changed the chief.

The adjutant had always been Ren Feiyu's confidant. He knew very well that the chief was a classmate who grew up together with General Ling Xiao. Although they competed against each other and didn't see eye to eye, the relationship between them was very good.

The chief was definitely thinking about taking revenge for the general. It was probably why he changed his reactionary attitude into something more proactive like ruthlessly restructuring the Flying Dragon Special Forces.

As the adjutant of the chief of the Flying Dragon Special Forces, he definitely supported the chief's decision. As the strongest special forces in the entire galaxy, he had always been proud of being a member of the Flying Dragon Special Forces. However, in the past few years, the Flying Dragon Special Forces had been slowly rotting from the inside. Politics was slowly incorporated into every matter of the Federation, the brigade leaders didn't trust anyone, and the other teams leaders were forming their own factions, splitting the whole special forces into small segmented pieces. Looking at the current deteriorated state of the Flying Dragon Special Forces was making him depressed.

He had reported this deteriorated state to the chief in the past, but the chief chose to place his trust in the brigade leaders, trusting that they could resolve the matter themselves. However, by placing his trust in them, in the last 10 or so years, nothing had a turn for the better, not to mention the unresolved problems. It was instead becoming worse and worse. After seeing hope of turning the Flying Dragon Special Forces for the better, he was in full support of the chief's reform. He hoped this could relight the fire burning inside of the Flying Dragon Special Forces. He wanted to see the Flying Dragon Special Forces returning back to their rightful throne.

The adjutant clenched his fists until veins were popping from his arms with an excited look on his face. He admired the chief even more now. It felt like his entire body was filled with strength. This was the version of the chief that he had swore an oath to serve. His chief had finally returned.

After the doors closed, Ling Xiao raised his head with his right hand softly covering half of his face. He had a devilish smile on his face. "All the actors are on the stage. The show is about to start. Qi Yaoyang, don't disappoint me."

At that moment, at General Ling Xiao's manor, a few important members of the upper echelons of the 23rd Division's departments came to visit.

The person leading the group was the 23rd Division's chief of staff, Lieutenant General He Xuyang.

The guard took He Xuyang and the others into a living room to wait. After a short while, Lan Luofeng walked into the living room with a clean cut uniform.

"Madam!" All the officers immediately stood up and saluted Lan Luofeng.

"No need for greetings. Everyone, please sit." Lan Luofeng gestured for everyone to sit and speak freely.

Chapter 1296 Spiritual Power Passcode

After all the officers sat down, He Xuyang spoke up, "Madam, we have already made the preparations. In the military headquarters conference three days from now, we will recommend Lieutenant General Ling to take over the position of the general of the 23rd Division. Please get ready by then."

Lan Luofeng nodded and said, "I've already notified the First Marshal. There should not be any problems from his side. However, how we can make the Second Marshal and Third Marshal factions' representatives agree will depend on everyone's hard work."

After hearing that the First Marshal's faction was dealt with, He Xuyang felt relieved. When they first brought up this suggestion, he was afraid the First Marshal would disagree. The political pressure the First Marshal could exert was much greater than that from the Second and Third Marshals.

The officers, who were moved by such good news, began to have a heated discussion about the ways they could deal with the Second Marshal and the Third Marshal's faction. While they were discussing, Lan Luofeng just listened there silently. She wasn't as knowledgeable about the internal workings in the military headquarters, so she didn't want to say anything wrong that could derail the officers' thought processes.

After more than an hour of discussing, everyone knew what each of them needed to do. Then they all said their goodbyes to Lan Luofeng.

The reason they came to the general's manor to discuss their plan was because they had no other options. In order to avoid the 23rd Division from grouping together, the military headquarters had stopped them from controlling the 23rd Division. They were ordered to not leave their post without any orders from the military headquarters.

These officers, who were constantly under surveillance, could only wait until they came to Planet General using the reason to visit Lan Luofeng to discuss their future plans.

Their reasoning was too valid to be refused by the military headquarters. If coming to visit the grieving wife of a general who had passed away was stopped by the military headquarters, they would definitely be shamed by the public once the news got out.

Although the military headquarters wanted to force the 23rd Division under their rule, they still didn't want to anger all of the soldiers in the military and their citizens.

Not only was the 23rd Division under the military headquarters' surveillance and restrictions, all of the brigade leaders and department heads of Lingtian on Planet General were also ordered to stay on their Destruction Devil, unless they were called upon. Otherwise, they weren't allowed to leave the spaceport.

Of course, these orders were mostly restricting the higher ranking officers. If the average soldier wanted to leave the area, it was still possible.

In reality, the cost of maintaining the large number of soldiers was huge. They had to frequently go into Planet General to resupply their stock. This meant that sometimes they would need to go out of the Destruction Devil to buy their supplies. The military headquarters was still quite reasonable in this aspect. They only required Lingtian to give them a list of the logistics personnel going out to purchase supplies. Once the military headquarters determined that there was no issue with the candidates, they would let them out to resupply.

However, compared to male logistics personnel, those JMC female soldiers clearly got out of the spaceport much easier. As long as the list of their names was sent out, it would be approved after a short while. Sometimes, to avoid the troublesome procedure, some easy restocking assignments would be given to those beautiful and elegant JMCs.

On this day, around a dozen female JMCs were given the task to buy some everyday essentials. They took the interplanetary transport and reached the capital of Planet General. In order to increase the speed of their shopping, they split into groups of three and went to buy what they were assigned to buy.

Everyone promised to gather at the interplanetary transport station at 5 in the afternoon and then went their separate ways.

When all of the female soldiers had left, one of the guards, who was standing in the plaza, pressed on his ear canals and said softly, "Lingtian's JMCs have split into groups of three. There doesn't seem to be any problems currently."

"Understood. We've already arranged people to follow them." The person he was reporting to didn't seem to be less cautious as he still sent out the next wave of men under his command to monitor these JMCs.

Most of the JMCs who came out today were quite beautiful. Of course, the most beautiful young girl was around 18 years old. She looked like a new recruit who had just joined not long ago. Out of the girls moving together with her, one was around the same age, or even younger. She was a little girl with a sweet smile on her face. The last one was somewhat older, she looked like she was in her early 20s. Although her looks were average, the aura she gave off was still calm and collected. She was probably the leader out of the three of them.

It was probably the first time the two younger female soldiers had gone to such a luxurious plaza. They constantly had curious expressions on their faces as they walked around. If the oldest of the three of them didn't constantly remind them not to run off randomly, they probably would have just stayed in a shop they liked for hours and hours.

However, no matter how well they behaved and how much they tried to stop themselves, there was always a limit. When they saw those branded limited edition clothes, shoes and bags, they couldn't control themselves anymore. They pulled the oldest of the three in with them to shop.

Not long after, in the crowd, an average person walked to a corner. He looked at the limited edition luxury goods as he said softly into his communicator, "The group I followed entered into the luxury shop in the Xihang District."

"It seems like they won't come out for a while," said the man from the other side of the communicator. "Looks like this group should be clean."

"Looks normal for now," said the person in the corner softly. He was pretending to look at the scenery, but in reality, his attention was still on the shop. The three girls were looking through the beautiful dresses and clothes at that moment. They would speak to one another from time to time. They were probably discussing which one of the dresses looked better.

"Can you determine the number of people following us?" asked Li Lanfeng softly while disguising himself as the oldest of the three JMCs. He took a dress off the rack and placed it in front of Luo Lang.

"That person in the corner looking at the scenery and the couple who just entered the shop," Luo Lang said as he shook his head, showing that he didn't like the long dress Li Lanfeng was showing him.

"Not only that, this shop has surveillance cameras. They probably have already been temporarily taken over by the military headquarters," said Ling Lan as she looked through dresses.

The reason the three of them were speaking out loud was because the words the surveillance cameras could pick up was different from what they were saying. The surveillance cameras could only hear words like "This dress is pretty. It suits you doesn't it? Oh no, I don't like that one." or "You don't like it? That one's nice though."

This effect was caused by infusing spiritual power in their words. It was a technique Ling Lan learned from Instructor Number Two. In order to make their mission convenient, Ling Lan quickly taught Li Lanfeng and Luo Lang the technique. It was good that Li Lanfeng was already an expert in spiritual power so he didn't have much problems trying to learn it. Luo Lang on the other hand, how could his spiritual power not be strong when he had an infinite number of personalities to help him with it? Additionally, his calm personality was like a cheat code. Even if the main Luo Lang couldn't learn it, the calm personality would still be able to learn it easily and transfer his new-found knowledge into Luo Lang.

Ling Lan believed that in this current era, no one could break the cryptic code that originated from Mandora.

Chapter 1297 Surveillance

"They are really serious about monitoring us." Luo Lang snorted coldly. His beautiful face had a hint of mockery. He didn't think that even after fighting for the Federation with their lives, they would be considered as enemies in the end.

"They are just being careful." Ling Lan had a cute smile on her face. She looked like she was saying that the dress in her hands was very beautiful.

"It's rather because you and General Ling Xiao did such a good job in growing Lingtian and the 23rd Division to what they are today. All of them want to take a bite of them." Li Lanfeng's words were right on point.

"Only someone incapable would admire the assets of others." Ling Lan laughed coldly.

"Commander, you're wrong." Li Lanfeng smirked lightly.

"Hmm?" Ling Lan raised her eyebrows in response. Her supposed sharp look now looked different on her cute and adorable face.

Li Lanfeng quickly shifted his gaze. The ears under his military cap were already red from blushing. He coughed and added in a somewhat hoarse voice, "Those who sit in high positions aren't incapable. It's just that you and General Ling Xiao are too amazing. That's why they seem so average."

Luo Lang looked at Li Lanfeng in admiration. This was definitely the best possible way to praise someone. It wasn't a standard way of praise too. He should learn how to do it from him.

Li Lanfeng's words indeed made Ling Lan feel much better.

At that moment, the couple walked into the shop and like them, they were looking at clothes.

Li Lanfeng gave a look to Luo Lang. Luo Lang then said, "We're almost done looking through the clothes here. Why don't we go upstairs and take a look?"

Ling Lan's eyes brightened and immediately said, "Okay, okay." Ling Lan acted perfectly like an average girl who just wanted to see more of the luxurious brand name products in the shop. Plus, Ling Lan's cute and adorable look made her behavior seem much more natural. She didn't even annoy those young masters and young mistresses from special backgrounds with her behavior.

The three of them quickly went up to the second floor. While they were doing so, the couple sent glances at each other. They put away the luxury products they had in their hands and followed Ling Lan and the others up to the second floor.

This luxury store had a total of five floors. There were elevators and also automatic escalators. Ling Lan and the others didn't go to the second floor but instead went straight to the top floor.

The couple also followed them to the fifth floor.

The fifth floor was filled with expensive and luxurious jewelry. Surprisingly, it was relatively empty compared to the other floors. Although the couple was slower than Ling Lan's group by one or two minutes, they still managed to find them after going around the floor. They quickly let out a sigh of relief after finding them

Ling Lan and the others were carefully looking through the jewelry and precious stones in the display case. It was as though they were entranced by the jewelry as they were stuck there for 15 or so minutes.

The couple both frowned at their suspicious actions. They were looking at the display case for too long. The woman nudged the man her arm a little and the man took her over. They were pretending to go over to choose some jewelry from the display case.

The woman let go of the man and then moved to the side of Li Lanfeng on her left.

Li Lanfeng seemed to have noticed her. He turned his face towards her before flashing her with a large smile.

'So… beautiful!' The woman could feel her eyes being dazzled. Li Lanfeng's seemingly average face was instantly warped into the most beautiful face in the world because of that smile. She was entranced by it. It gave her the impulse of kneeling down towards him.

Suddenly, she felt alarm bells going off in her head. She didn't hesitate and bit her tongue. She wanted to use the immense pain to force herself awake.

"Too late…" Li Lanfeng smiled. He was waiting for them to come for 15 minutes. He was almost losing his patience.

Right as Li Lanfeng finished speaking, the woman suddenly felt everything in front of her turning pitch black. The lights along with the jewelry she had seen shining brightly all vanished. There was only darkness in her vision. It was as though the scene she saw earlier was a dream.

The man saw his partner suddenly turning stiff. He gave her an odd look, but in the next second his expression changed. Right as he was about to scream, he discovered that he couldn't make a single noise.

"Your opponent is me. Don't get distracted." Luo Lang had already activated his Domain when they got close to them. He was just waiting for them to come towards him.

The man suddenly discovered that his partner, who was standing not so far from him, was suddenly gone. Not only that, even the entire store was gone and only a gray colored sky was left. There was also a beautiful young woman smiling at him. Just the smile made his heart jump, but it also gave him a chill down his spine.

If there was a third person there, they would have discovered that Ling Lan, who was standing between Luo Lang and Li Lanfeng, had long left.

At that moment, Ling Lan had already left the luxurious shop and was rushing towards the general's manor. It was also lucky that Ling Lan was already an imperial realm formidable warrior. Her amazing control of her domain concept didn't alarm the imperial stage experts guarding Planet General.

Of course, she didn't know whether she could get past Mu Shui-qing, who was guarding the general's manor. However, Ling Lan knew that even if Mu Shui-qing discovered her presence, he wouldn't do anything as long as she didn't have any malice towards the people in the general's manor.

Ling Xiao's disappearance was enough to disappoint Mu Shui-qing in the Federation. That was why he wouldn't be alerting the military headquarters if an imperial realm formidable warrior appeared on Planet General.

In the general's manor, the originally dry air became somewhat humid. Of course, this degree of change was too hard to detect, unless it was someone who was extremely sensitive to humidity. Otherwise, no one would be able to tell the difference.

Mu Shui-qing, who had been in garden watering plants, suddenly raised his head and frowned. In the next second, he disappeared from where he stood.

In the corridor to the study room, a large hand suddenly appeared out of thin air and ruthlessly grabbed an area of empty air.

Suddenly, a light screen shattered and in the next second a black cloaked individual appeared out of thin air.

"Who are you?" The large hand ruthlessly ripped open the dimension and Mu Shui-qing stepped out from the opening.

"Master, long time no see," Ling Lan raised her head.

Mu Shui-qing stared at her with a cold look on his face. He grabbed Ling Lan and said, "Follow me."

Ling Lan didn't resist and before she knew it she was taken to the backyard by Mu Shui-qing.

"What are you doing here?" asked Mu Shui-qing.

"Something happened to my father. I wanted to see my mother to check if she is safe. That way I will be able to leave without worrying too much," Ling Lan said respectfully.

"The entire general's manor, other than here, isn't safe," said Mu Shui-qing in a dark tone.

How could the military headquarters just let the general's manor off the hook? This was a place that Ling Lan would definitely appear. The military headquarters didn't dare to do anything to the holy place Mu Shui-qing stayed at. This was why Mu Shui-qing instantly grabbed Ling Lan and pulled her to this location.

"The military headquarters really don't care about saving face anymore. After shamelessly plotting against my father, they still used every method they could think of to steal what's his." A hint of mockery was shown on Ling Lan's face. She already knew that the general's manor would be monitored, but didn't expect they would even monitor the insides of the manor.

Chapter 1298 I"m Sorry Mom!

"It's because what you and your father left behind are too valuable. They don't want to let go of either one," said Mu Shui-qing calmly. In reality, if Ling Xiao hadn't been here, he would have left the Federation long ago. People who lived as long as Mu Shui-qing had already seen through everything possible in life. Weren't those who say those patriotics words just competing for power? Mu Shui-qing only listened to their sweet nothings and accepted it all.

"What my father and I left behind isn't theirs to obtain. Plus, it won't be easy to take what's ours," said Ling Lan coldly. She had always kept trump cards at the back of her hands. She didn't believe that her father, who was 100 times more sly and devious than her, would not leave any traps behind.

"You know your father very well." Mu Shui-qing looked at Ling Lan with an odd expression. He, of course, knew Ling Xiao very well. It was because he taught Ling Xiao for so many years which had allowed him to see through the real personality Ling Xiao had hid away. Although Ling Xiao returned for 7 to 8 years, he still only stayed with Ling Lan for at most three months. Most of the time, Ling Xiao and Ling Lan would be busy doing their own matters. In such a short time, Ling Lan actually managed to see Ling Xiao's true personality, and this shocked Mu Shui-qing.

"No one knows a child better than their parents. These words work in reverse as well," said Ling Lan indifferently. The important thing was that her father had never hid anything from her or her mother. Her mother didn't care because in her eyes, her father was always the best. As for Ling Lan, she wanted to ignore those matters as well, but her Profound Insight wouldn't stop activating in the presence of her father. It would always remind her of things she missed, making it so that she couldn't even neglect it.

"If you know your parents well, then why did you come back?" Mu Shui-qing had an expression of disapproval.

"I want to see my mother with my own eyes. I just can't stop worrying." After losing Ling Xiao, Ling Lan felt she had lost a safeguard in her life. If something were to happen to Lan Luofeng, Ling Lan was afraid she'd go insane. In the end, Ling Lan becoming stronger in this lifetime was only to protect the people she loved. The first person she wanted to protect was her mother, Lan Luofeng.

"If you want her to be safe, you just need to make sure you're safe," Mu Shui-qing said calmly. "You're now her pillar of hope. As long as you're alive, she would try her best to stay alive in order to protect your belongings."

Ling Lan's eyes narrowed, "The 23rd Division."

Mu Shui-qing sighed. "Despite it being very difficult, no one probably would be able to stop her from doing what she wants. I don't know what the final outcome will be, but I can confirm that your father's 23rd Division won't be taken by anyone else soon. But, if you want to take over the 23rd Division, then you need to become stronger as soon as possible. You must become powerful to the point where the three marshals cannot stop you from inheriting what's rightfully yours."

"I understand. It seems like I still have to trouble you, master, for the next few years." With her master within the general's manor, she trusted that no one would dare lay a hand on her mother. This was why Ling Lan and Ling Xiao dared to leave Lan Luofeng on Planet General by herself. Compared to the other generals' wives who were on Planet General like hostages, Lan Luofeng had Mu Shui-qing protecting her, allowing the two of them to be free of worry. If a god-realm individual wanted to protect someone, the person wouldn't die unless they instantly destroy the entire planet.

"No matter. I'm all by myself. It's not bad to be able to retire here anyways," Mu Shui-qing said nonchalantly. He only had one disciple he loved. Oh, well there was also Ling Lan. However, Ling Lan was also Ling Xiao's daughter. All in all, his entire life was spent on this family. He couldn't leave even if he wanted to.

Ling Lan wanted to say something else. Suddenly, she trembled as she slowly turned towards the door.

She saw a beautiful woman with a surprised look on her face. The woman had tears of joy as she ran towards her.

"I asked for your mother to come here just now. It is safe meeting her here." Mu Shui-qing's words echoed in Ling Lan's ears, as he explained why Lan Luofeng would appear here.

"Is it my little Lan'er? My Lan'er?" Lan Luofeng caressed Ling Lan's face with trembling hands. Despite Ling Lan wearing a uniform of a JMC, Lan Luofeng was still able to recognize Ling Lan. It was her little baby daughter Ling Lan who she had been thinking about non-stop recently.

"I'm sorry, mom." Ling Lan knelt down and held onto Lan Luofeng's waist. If she had just been stronger, she wouldn't have caused her father's disappearance by forcing him to save her life.

Ling Lan didn't want to use the word "death". She believed that man, who was stronger than god himself, wouldn't die. She could only accept that he had disappeared, just like many years before. When the time was right, he would come back again in full force.

"Don't apologize to me. If Ling Xiao didn't go to save you and if you were the one who disappeared instead of him, I would have hated him for all eternity. It's good that he went to save you. I'm very happy that I didn't marry the wrong man. I'm very proud of him." Lan Luofeng hugged Ling Lan tightly. She smiled as she spoke with tears trickling uncontrollably down her face.

"Ling Lan, don't blame your mother for being selfish. Back then when he first disappeared, if you hadn't existed, I would have joined him in death. However, your existence made me become a strong mother. In those 16 years, my focus was on you. In my mind, you were the most important. I was indeed happy when your father returned, but I was more happy that my daughter no longer needed to struggle and could recover her real identity as a girl. You would have been able to freely live in the gender you were born with. However, your father's blunder destroyed my dreams. To be honest, I hated your father back then. I hated the fact that he came back and messed with my plans. The reason why I forgave your father was because I saw that you liked this type of life. You don't need anyone to pamper you anymore. You wished to be strong enough to look down at everything. That's the type of freedom you needed, not what I planned out for you."

"That's why out of the two of you, if I was to choose, I would choose you. It's always been you." Lan Luofeng hugged her daughter tightly in her arms. The warmth she felt in her arms soothe her struggling heart

Ling Xiao's disappearance did indeed make her feel hurt. However, it was only some pain in her heart. However, if her daughter were to disappear instead of Ling Xiao, she would feel like someone was pulling her heart out. That kind of pain would make her suffocate. She would not be able to live anymore with that kind of pain.

"Mom!" Ling Lan buried herself in Lan Luofeng's arms while she noiselessly sobbed. She had once said that she would never cry again, but she was unable to control her emotions when she heard her mother's heartwarming words. The more Lan Luofeng put importance on her, the more Ling Lan felt she had wronged her mother, as she had caused her mother to lose the husband that loved her the most.

Chapter 1299 She"s Already Gone

"I'm not worried anymore after seeing you're safe. Now, you go do whatever you need to do. Don't worry about me. I'm not that delicate. I will definitely watch you return with a smile." Lan Luofeng knew why Ling Lan had appeared here. A mother knew her daughter best, and Lan Luofeng knew Ling Lan very well. Before Ling Lan said anything, she spoke the words Ling Lan needed to hear to ease her about leaving.

"Mom, I don't know when I will be back. But, I can assure you this, no matter who tells you that I've died, or disappeared, don't believe any of them. I will definitely come back alive. I will take revenge for father one step at a time." Ling Lan's gaze hardened and a killing intent poured out for a moment.

"Yes, yes, I'll believe you. I promise you that I will only trust your words. Even if your father comes back from the dead and tells me that you have died, I won't believe him." Lan Luofeng nodded with tears flowing out of her eyes. The tears that had originally stopped began trickling down her face. She hugged Ling Lan even tighter. She knew that once she let go, her little Lan'er would leave her side and leave the Federation. She would go on an unknown journey in the stars filled with dangers and hardships. However, Ling Lan needed to go on that journey. Lan'er needed to take revenge for her father. To achieve that, she needed to have space to freely develop herself and grow stronger but the Federation wouldn't give her that space. What awaited her in the Federation were only traps and plots against her until she died from one of them.

This temporary separation was only for a better future. Lan Luofeng knew that, but knowing she actually had to separate with her daughter made her feel reluctant. She almost succumbed to the urge of asking Ling Lan to take her with her.

Slowly, Lan Luofeng let go of Ling Lan and backed away. She couldn't let herself be a burden to her daughter. In the end, she was just an average person. She couldn't protect herself in the face of danger. She couldn't endanger her daughter's life just for her sake. Lan Luofeng couldn't leave. Ling Lan was already considered to be missing from action, no one knew where she was and no one could find her. However, taking Lan Luofeng with her would make things different. Once they leave Planet General, the Federation would be able to predict the paths they could take to escape and easily set out ambushes to take them out both together.

The most important factor in her decision was that she couldn't let the 23rd Division which Ling Xiao had poured his heart and soul into become some political leverage of others. She needed to protect what Ling Xiao had left behind. Just like how she protected the military merits Ling Xiao had for Ling Lan back then.

She was a selfish woman. She never had any patriotics thoughts. She was just a normal family-woman in the end. No one should even think about taking anything away from her family. She was stubborn like that.

"Lan'er, don't say goodbye. When I turn around, you should go what you need to do," said Lan Luofeng as she gritted her teeth. She was afraid that if Ling Lan said goodbye to her, she wouldn't be able to control her emotions. She might just lose control of herself, holding onto her daughter and crying while telling her to take her along with her.

Ling Lan stood there like a statue. Her mouth moved but in the end, no sound came out. She knew that just like her, she wouldn't have been able to turn around and leave if it wasn't for Lan Luofeng's approval.

Lan Luofeng turned around quickly as tears dripped down like a waterfall. She hated the Federation. She hated the three marshals. She hated the military headquarters. She lost her husband because of them. And now, she must endure the separation between her and her daughter. Lan Luofeng had been full of optimism towards the world in the past. No matter what happened, she would always look on the positive side of things. However now, she had completely lost that optimistic point of view.

When Lan Luofeng turned around, Ling Lan sent a pleading glance towards Mu Shui-qing. After Mu Shui-qing gave her a determined nod, her body slowly evaporated before slowly turning nothing but air.

After a few seconds, Lan Luofeng heard Mu Shui-qing's sigh. "She's gone."

Lan Luofeng quickly turned around. When she saw the area where Ling Lan knelt down empty, she covered her mouth with her hand and sobbed softly.

"The mother of the strong must endure pain that normal mothers can't endure…" Mu Shui-qing slowly closed his eyes as he comforted Lan Luofeng. No matter if it was the wife of the strong or the mother of one, they were both difficult to be. But, Lan Luofeng played both roles. It was destined that her life would be full of difficulties.

Lan Luofeng slowly stopped sobbing. She silently stared at the ground for a few seconds. When she raised her head again, her aura slowly changed into something similar to Ling Xiao and Ling Lan's aura.

She slowly raised her right hand and gently pushed the strands of her hair behind her ear. "That's right. My own battle is about to begin. I can't bring shame to the two of them."

She looked towards Mu Shui-qing and said softly, "Master, I'm leaving."

Mu Shui-qing nodded. Lan Luofeng bowed towards him and then slowly walked out of the garden.

Lan Luofeng���s footsteps were calm. Each step wasn't hurried. She slowly walked forward until she disappeared from sight.

Mu Shui-qing opened his eyes and looked towards the path leading to the garden. He then sighed. "Ling Xiao… what have you done to deserve such a good wife by your side."

With such a good daughter-in-law like her, he couldn't let anything happen to her. Otherwise, he would bring shame to the request Ling Xiao had asked of him before going into war and the Ling Lan's plea with her eyes before she left.

After leaving the general's manor, Ling Lan quickly moved towards the commercial street. Li Lanfeng and Luo Lang were there drawing the attention of the people following them. She hoped that when she returned, they hadn't been exposed yet.

Many of the other general's manors were around there so this area was considered a high-ranking official district. Other than patrol teams that patrolled the area from time to time, there were also only a few relatives coming in and out of the place. But, rarely, would there be outsiders coming in and out of this area.

The entire district's streets and roads were very quiet with not a single soul in sight.

When Ling Lan was about to leave this district just with a few dashes and arrive at the commercial street, she stopped. She stood there and turned to look at the tree on her left.

"I expected no less out of General Ling Xiao's son." A black-cloaked man suddenly appeared on top of a tree with a mask covering half of his face.

"You're flattering me," Ling Lan said calmly. She raised her head and turned towards another direction as she continued, "If you're here, then why are you still hiding?"

After she finished speaking, another black-cloaked man appeared on a tree branch on her right. He was sitting on the branch languidly while swinging his legs on the tree.

"What? Do I need to point you out one by one?" Ling Lan laughed coldly after only seeing one of them appear.

"Alright, we can't fool you." The black-cloaked man sitting on the branch clapped his hands and smiled. "Since we are found out, everyone come out and meet Lieutenant General Ling."

After he finished talking, another two black cloaked men appeared on the two trees. One was leaning on it while the other was laying down on the tree branch.

"How did you know I'm here?" Ling Lan didn't believe that they had been here waiting for her.

The men who came here didn't plan on hiding anything. The man sitting on the branch opened his hand and a pendulum like item suddenly dropped out of his hand. He shook the pendulum and smiled. "This is the newest toy the military headquarters' research facility has invented. It can track a domain realm master's domain concept energy… It's just so we managed to track your energy."

Ling Lan's eyes narrowed instantly. She was now very worried about Li Lanfeng and Luo Lang. She was worried whether they had been discovered by the military headquarters.

Chapter 1300 The Largest Fis

"It was really a coincidence. We really didn't expect a lieutenant general such as yourself to change your name and gender to sneak your way past here," continued the man sitting on the branch. "Another thing, seeing that you are safe and sound, why don't you report back to the military headquarters? Could it be just like what our brigade leader said? That something was off with General Ling Xiao's death?"

Ling Lan frowned slightly. She was trying to guess what faction these people came from. Although the words he said weren't of bad intentions, it even revealed that they were on her father's side, but could she really trust them? Her father had been in the military for many years. Although there were many who wanted to help him, there were also many who wanted nothing but to drag him down his pedestal. Maybe they were lowering her guard to catch her by surprise.

"However, if there was something off with General Ling Xiao's death, you running like this isn't a way to solve anything. No matter what, you must return to the military headquarters and explain everything. You should place your trust in the Federation and the military headquarters," said the black-cloaked man.

Ling Lan looked at the man with a steeled gaze. She wasn't moved by his words. Ever since her father disappeared, she no longer trusted anyone from the Federation. She only trusted herself.

"Alright, our brigade leader knows that you have your doubts about the military headquarters. It's fine if you don't want to go, but our brigade leader wants to see you." The black-cloaked man could only compromise when he saw Ling Lan's determined attitude. He seemed to already have predicted Ling Lan's attitude towards this matter.

Ling Lan still looked at him coldly and didn't answer him.

"Seriously, it was all predicted by our brigade leader." The black-cloaked man helpless pulled on the mask that blocked half of his face. "Our brigade leader wants me to remind you that when you first activated your battle team back when you first joined the military, there was an exam that he had arranged at your father's request. He's a friend that your father trusts the most."

Ling Lan's eyes narrowed slightly. "Flying Dragon Special Forces."

She had heard from her father that back in the day during her evaluation to activate her battle team, one of the two assessments was against Qi Yaoyang and the other assessment was against the Flying Dragon Special Forces. Qi Yaoyang was Qi Long's father and was the general of the 13th Division. He definitely wasn't some brigade leader. The only possibility could be the Flying Dragon Special Forces. She had once heard from Mu Chaoran and Tang Ningyu that the Flying Dragon Special Forces functions in brigades. This brigade leader must be from the Flying Dragon Special Forces.

Clap! Clap! Clap! The black cloaked man clapped his hands, "Lieutenant General Ling is really a once-in-a-century prodigy. You immediately guessed our identity. Indeed, our Flying Dragon Special Forces' brigade leader would like to have a meeting with you. Although the Flying Dragon Special Forces don't have a say in the military headquarters' decisions making, we still have the power to look over it. As long as there is something off with General Ling Xiao's death, our brigade leader said he would definitely speak to our chief and bring justice for General Ling Xiao."

"However, all of this requires you, lieutenant general, to tell us the truth. Otherwise, our brigade leader wouldn't be able to help General Ling Xiao." The man in the black cloak signed. Ever since his brigade leader told him, he had also been indignant at the military headquarters. It was just that he was only just an insignificant member of the black ops, what could he have done? It was good that his brigade leader was also upset about the situation around Ling Xiao. If they had Ling Lan's help, they would be able to find Lieutenant General Ling before the military headquarters.

"That's not necessary. I can resolve my father's issue myself." Ling Lan shook her head and refused.

No one could determine what their real intentions were going to be. If a god-class operator, the ultimate weapon of the Federation, the highest ranking officer of a division, and a general out of only 10 great generals from the Federation, could be so easily plotted against, then who else wouldn't fall into a trap? Even if they were being sincere, how could the Flying Dragon Special Forces do anything to stop that horse that had lost its reins long ago (the 23rd Division).

"Oh my, lieutenant general, your answer really makes it difficult for me," said the black cloaked man with a hint of annoyance in his voice.

"Did your brigade leader tell you that if I didn't want to go, you would have to force me to go?" Ling Lan smiled mockingly. In the end, wasn't it just seeing whose fist was larger? From when she was young, she had known of this fact very well. After entering the military, this fact got even more prominent. If her father wasn't a god-class operator, how could a 40 something year-old man obtain the rank of a general which only 70 to 80 year olds could acquire? All in all, he just needed to become so strong that others couldn't neglect his existence. If it wasn't given to him, the military wouldn't be able to face the public.

"You are quite self-aware. If you don't come with us, then don't blame us for disrespecting you." After all, those from the Flying Dragon Special Forces always put themselves in high regard. Of course, this was because any lieutenant general or above officers who break the law would be taken in by the Flying Dragon Special Forces. In fact, their attitude when facing such high ranking officers weren't disrespectful at all.

"Actually, you should have just done that from the very beginning. You… talk too much," said Ling Lan as she raised her eyebrows. If it wasn't for the fact that she wanted to get some information out of the man, with her personality, she would have already made a move before they had prepared themselves. Ling Lan knew very well that most antagonists died because they talked too much. Of course, she didn't care if someone else was speaking too much, since they would die according to that hypothesis.

"You…" The black cloaked man almost spit out a mouthful of blood in response to Ling Lan's blatant disrespect. Wasn't he already being nice to him? Did he not understand that?

"Go!" If Ling Lan didn't respect him, why should he respect Ling Lan? The black cloaked man turned red with anger as he motioned towards his comrades. He was prepared to take Ling Lan down a notch.

In the mind of the black cloaked man, how could a 20 year-old be able to fight against four domain realm masters even if he was a domain realm master himself. Capturing Ling Lan was an easy thing to do for his team.

Just like that, three other black cloaked men all pounced towards Ling Lan from three different directions. At the same time, they reel back their arms before swinging them out. As they were swinging their arms, coils of chains began to uncoil themselves from their forearms as they flew towards Ling Lan. They wanted to chain down Ling Lan with a pincer tactic.

Ling Lan's eyes glimmered. Her body started to change states, turning into a cloud of white fog before dispersing in a large bang. She had disappeared into the surroundings.

The three men who attacked didn't panic at her disappearance. They put their hands into their pockets and took out a pendulum similar to the pendulum the first black cloaked man had taken out. The pendulum began swinging in a circular motion. After it swung around a few times, the crystal-clear pendulum began to gain blood red hue. The blood hue then started to coagulate towards a certain direction.

"Southwest," said the three of them simultaneously. The chain on their right hands shot out towards the southwest direction.

Bang! Bang! Bang! The three chains ruthlessly pierced into the ground but it was all for naught as they didn't hit anything. The three of them didn't let up. The pendulum was still circling around their left hand, and the same thing happened in another direction. They waved the chains once again towards the direction that was shown on the pendulum.

Bang! Bang! Bang! The chains still pierced the ground without hitting anything.

However, one of them had a look of joy on his face. "I hit something just now."

The naked eye couldn't see it, but the feedback he received from the chain couldn't be wrong. The feeling just now was the same as hitting something.

Chapter 1301 Wake Up!

"This toy is pretty sensitive to the environment-altering domain concepts." Domain realm masters were all unique existents. However, those who were considered to be difficult to deal with were those who could completely conceal themselves within the environment they were in. Unless they randomly hit, they wouldn't show any trace of themselves.

Those types of domain realm masters were born to be spies. In order to guard against these types of domain realm masters, each nation had developed different equipment to detect domain concept energies like this detection tool the Federation's military headquarters' research institute had invented. Caesar also had invented something similar. Although the detectors were essentially doing the same thing, there was still a clear distinction between the good quality and bad quality detectors. In reality, the technology in them hadn't been really perfected. Additionally, the cost of making such a tool was very high. Most of the somewhat capable nations were all trying to get past the problem with cost. Even if such technology was well-known in the upper echelons of each nation, the average citizen was still completely unaware of the existence of such detectors.

If the people from the Flying Dragon Special Forces hadn't not shown her the detector, Ling Lan probably wouldn't have known that the Federation had already invented a tool that could detect domain concept energies.

Realizing that they had hit Ling Lan, the three who attacked became even more intense in their search. They paid even more attention to the detector in their hands.

Their detectors reacted again. The three of them were overjoyed at the reaction and immediately flung out their chains. However, in the following moments, their expression turned grave. It was because the direction they flung their chains towards were all different.

Their detectors gave three different results but there was only one opponent so this meant that their detectors were wrong.

Ring! A seemingly silent ringing sound traveled through the air around them.

Lines of threads revealed themselves in front of their eyes in the space around them, trapping the three of them in the center. They were completely surrounded by these threads. It was as though they fell into a web of spiders with no chance of escaping.

Seeing this, the three of them shook their right hand quickly and the chains shattered into countless needles before shooting out towards all sides wildly in an attempt to make space for them.

The overwhelming number of golden needles made for a terrifying scene. It gave off the feeling of being swarmed by a ton of hornets.

However, in the next second, these flying needles suddenly slowed to a halt before dropping like flies to the floor.

The three men grimaced because they could see their needle being encased in ice. By encasing them in ice, it cut their flow domain concept energy to the needles, stopping them from being able to remotely control them.

At that moment, Ling Lan slowly appeared in front of them, standing not far from the three men. All of her fingers trembled slightly and ten crystal-clear threads appeared out of thin air.

"Impudent!" The black-cloaked man sitting on the tree branch shouted angrily when he saw what was about to happen to his comrades. Then he disappeared from the tree.

In the blink of an eye, he appeared beside Ling Lan with a lightning bolt in his hand.

Right as the lightning bolt was about to hit Ling Lan, Ling Lan turned her head and looked at it coldly.

Bang! An ice hammer appeared out of thin air and ruthlessly clashed with the lightning bolt.

The clash between two domain concept energies instantly caused a deafening explosion.

The lightning bolt was instantly broken apart by the ice hammer. After dispersing the lightning bolt, the hammer continued to ruthlessly fly towards the black-cloaked man behind the lightning bolt.

The black-cloaked man snorted coldly at the incoming hammer. He clenched his crackling fist and pushed his fist towards the ice hammer. He was confident that his lightning bolt could shatter the ice hammer.

Bang!

His fist came in contact with the ice hammer. After holding on for one to two seconds, the black-cloaked man spat out a mouthful of blood before being sent flying backwards. He flew backwards until he hit the trunk of the tree, breaking it in the process.

The black-cloaked man slid to the ground before falling unconscious. After a few seconds, the prone body began to twitch. The blacked-cloaked man slowly regained his consciousness. He slowly pushed his body up and held his forehead in pain.

His right hand was trembling uncontrollably. That ice hammer, although it seemed to be small and harmless, the power behind the hammer was still terrifying. The muscles and bones in his right arm were still trembling.

Ling Lan gave the black-cloaked man a glance and then no longer paid any attention to him. She focused her attention back to the three men who were inside her spider web. Her expression was calm as she slowly raised her hands.

The threads around the three of them suddenly began to move closer towards them. Seeing this, the three men didn't hesitate and chose to transform their bodies into their domain element in order to evade the deathly blow.

However, right after their bodies transformed into their elements, they reappeared in their original location with defeated looks on their faces.

The threads actually had properties that could block out every element outside of the ice element, and before they knew it, the threads closed in on them, encasing them in cocoons.

After Ling Lan slightly shook her fingers, the three of them felt the threads around their bodies begin to tighten. It became tighter and tighter. Their skin was cut open and blood started to pour out. The originally crystal-clear cocoon slowly turned blood red.

The three of them realized that if they didn't escape in the next few seconds, they would be cut into mince meat.

"Stop, stop, Ling Lan. Are planning on becoming a criminal and betray the Federation?" shouted the black-cloaked man after he spat out some blood

Ling Lan turned around towards him with an indifferent yet mocking look on her face. "Isn't this the path you want me to choose?"

"If that's the case, I'll just be what you want." After saying that, Ling Lan clenched her fist and the three bloodied cocoons instantly exploded. Countless amounts of blood poured out, staining the ground blood red.

"Ling Lan!" shouted the black-cloaked man angrily. He angrily struck the ground with his fist. His entire body jumped up from the ground and then he ruthlessly rushed towards Ling Lan.

Ling Lan killed his three comrades. He definitely needed Ling Lan to pay with his life.

"Hmph!" Ling Lan didn't even look and only raised her right hand. She then clenched it towards the black-cloaked man.

A ton of ice element particles began materializing around the black-cloaked man. It solidified into an ice coffin, sealing him inside it.

The black-cloaked man watched helplessly as he became sealed within the coffin. In the coffin, he could see Ling Lan snapping her fingers. Then he watched as his body and the coffin disintegrate into ice particles, completely disappearing from this world.

The last scene he saw was Ling Lan's shadow as she left. That shadow looked determined and indifferent. It was as though killing the four of them was something that wasn't considered to be anything difficult.

A person like that either had a clear conscience, or he was completely determined with what he was doing… The black-cloaked man was regretting his decision. He felt that facing such an opponent was a clear mistake. It was just that he had realized the mistake too late, and the price they had to pay for the mistake was their lives.

"Boss, boss, boss, wake up. Come on, wake up." After dying, he still could actually hear voices? What was happening?

"Boss, boss, if you continue to sleep like that, we won't be able to finish our mission." This time, he finally heard the voice clearly. It was the voice of the comrades who died with him? Could they have encountered each other in the underworld? However, what was this mission he was speaking of?

Chapter 1302 The Only Marshal

"Boss, if you don't wake up then don't blame me for using force." He didn't know why it sounded so annoyed.

Before he could react, he heard a crisp 'phiak' and what followed after was a sharp pain on his left cheek.

"F*ck, who just hit me?" He immediately sprang up while holding his left cheek. To his surprise, he could actually open his eyes in the underworld.

What first entered his vision was the guilty faces of his comrades. When he saw them, his eyes turned wide open and his jaws dropped to the floor. He couldn't believe his eyes so he rubbed his eyes in panic.

"Boss, what's wrong with you? We kept calling you but you wouldn't wake up." One of his comrades spoke as he surreptitiously put his right hand behind his back.

"D-Didn't I just die?" The black cloaked man stuttered in shock. However, after turning his head to check the room he was in, it didn't seem like the underworld. Where were the fires? Where were the demons?

"Boss, did you have a nightmare? What do you mean about dying?"

"Wait!" Suddenly, his normally quiet comrade shouted out loud. His expression was somewhat uncanny as he seemed to have discovered something.

"Did you notice anything strange with me?" The black cloaked man looked towards his comrades with a serious look.

"Nothing. We only saw you suddenly falling asleep. We thought it was because you were too tired from maintaining this stakeout."

"You suddenly falling asleep like that is already strange."

The black cloaked man looked up towards the sunlight seeping through the tree and sighed. "We just lost. We aren't strong enough. What else can we say?"

His comrades, who now understood what had happened, could only look at each other with a pained smile. Even if they were to go against someone like that head on, they probably wouldn't be able to get out alive.

"You know how to write the report when you return, right?" reminded the black cloaked man.

"We didn't see anything and we didn't find anything." After all, they were all wizened members of the military so they immediately knew what their boss meant by his words. Their boss loved to save face. If it was known to other black ops teams that they were taken out silently… they would be in a bad spot.

He still didn't forget the feeling he had before he died in his dream. He didn't want himself to regret anything before his death, so he decided to not participate in capturing Ling Lan.

After rushing out from the district where all the general's manors were, Ling Lan suddenly felt a gaze on her so she turned around to see where the gaze came from. However, not long after, she frowned, shook her head slightly and left.

Although the gaze on her made her feel uneasy and gave her an impulse to go see where it was from, she was still more worried about Li Lanfeng and Luo Lang in the commercial district. She deliberately took in the strongest domain realm master among the four in her Profound Insight's Domain to obtain more information about the internal workings of the military headquarters. She learned that the Federation's military headquarters' research institute had already developed a tool to detect domain concept energies. There was no doubt that it was going to be a problem for them. She was now most worried that this tool had appeared where Li Lanfeng and Luo Lang had been staying. Once that tool was used in their vicinity, Li Lanfeng and Luo Lang's location would be exposed.

At that moment, the direction where the gaze was from had a man in a black windbreaker standing on top of a tall tree.

"It seems those four aren't enough to stop Ling Lan," said the man in the windbreaker plainly as he watched Ling Lan leave. "However, it won't be that easy for him to leave."

Right as he was about to go and stop Ling Lan, he suddenly saw his world turning dark.

"Who is it?" said the man in the black windbreaker cautiously.

"It has been a long time since we last met. You've gotten much stronger," said a familiar sounding voice. Immediately after, a silhouette appeared out of thin air and walked towards him. He wore a general's uniform and he had a bright smile on his face. It looked like it should have been a warm smile, but for some reason, it seemed cold and even somewhat demonic.

"Who are you?" The black cloaked man's fingers tightly clenched his fist. His fingers had even dug into the flesh of his palm.

"What? You don't even recognize your own superior now?" Ling Xiao laughed jokingly.

The man didn't respond to his jest. It was as if he was scared of something.

"Cang Lang, I know it's you just from your movements." Ling Xiao didn't care whether Cang Lang responded to him or not and just spoke his mind.

"Why?" After his identity was revealed, Cang Lang lifted his hood and showed a slender yet handsome face. Compared to Ling Xiao and Ling Xiao's current body, Ren Feiyu, Cang Lang seemed to have had a rough life.

"Why what?" Ling Xiao raised his eyebrows.

"You've let the Flying Dragon Special Forces run free for 20 years. Why did you suddenly give out so many orders in the past few days?" Cang Lang looked at Ling Xiao suspiciously. "And before all that, you went to the Twilight Empire's battlefield… This makes me suspect that General Ling Xiao's death has something to do with you."

"General Ling Xiao is a general of the Federation and is also the Federation's prodigy. As the chief of the Flying Dragon Special Forces, how could I do anything that would harm him? You are overanalyzing," Ling Xiao replied calmly. Of course, he was saying that now. As for the previous owner of the body, since he died, the dues he owed in the past had been paid already.

"As for my actions yesterday… Don't you think it's because you did such a poor job until I can't simply turn a blind eye to it?" Ling Xiao looked at Cang Lang with a half-smile. This Cang Lang wasn't a simple character. Although he and Cang Lang's relationship was on good terms and that they could be considered friends, the two of them still walked on very different paths. In the past 20 years, they had already slowly drifted apart from each other. It was only because the two of them didn't have any direct disputes that their relationship didn't worsen until they were enemies.

Cang Lang narrowed his eyes, "General Ren, are you preparing to clean house?"

"Yes, but not really. I don't like people who aren't obedient, especially if it's my deputy. Brigade Leader Cang Lang." The reason Ling Xiao allowed Cang Lang to do as he pleased was because he wanted to use him to inform his daughter of the newly invented detector. He wanted her to be cautious about it. Otherwise, she might be caught off guard by the detector in one of her trips in the Federation.

"I'm disobedient? Chief Ren, I'm hurt hearing you say such things." Cang Lang's face had a look of disdain. "It's actually just that I feel without General Ling Xiao, there would be no one to threaten you. With no one there to stop, you don't need to conceal your true intentions anymore."

"Cang Lang, I have to say that you know me very well. If you were to lower your ambitions, perhaps we can be very good partners." Ling Xiao didn't disagree with Cang Lang. In reality, he did indeed want political power. The more the better. That way, he would be able to make the three marshals pay for what they have done and be able to finally truly protect his daughter from everything.

"But, can you tolerate my existence?" Cang Lang scoffed. Ren Feiyu was a narrowed-minded man. In the past few years, Ren Feiyu had tried his best to distance Cang Lang from everyone. How could Cang Lang not hate him?

"Why can't I tolerate it? You want the Flying Dragon Special Forces? I'll give it to you," smiled Ling Xiao. "Of course, that's only when I become a marshal. The only one."

"The only marshal?!" Cang Lang's eyes narrowed greatly. He had always known that Ren Feiyu had great ambitions to the extent of being one of the marshals. But, he didn't expect his appetite to be so huge. He didn't want to be one of the three marshals. He wanted to become the only marshal in the Federation.

Chapter 1303 It"s Good To Be Confident.

"Don't believe me?" Ling Xiao raised his eyebrows.

"The three great marshals are the foundations the Federation laid out the moment the military was formed. They can't be overturned. You're daydreaming if you want to overturn their rule." Cang Lang was ambitious but he wouldn't collaborate with a maniac.

"I'll let them exist in name." Ling Xiao patted the huge branch beside him lightly and the tree withered. It cracked loudly before disintegrating, turning into a pile of wood shavings. As the tree disintegrated, they calmly landed to the ground.

Cang Lang squinted his eyes at Ling Xiao's blatant threat. Ling Xiao just smiled and looked at him calmly. He was waiting for Cang Lang's reply.

"Okay, I'll listen to you." Cang Lang's expression constantly changed as he tried to spit those words out. Luckily, he managed to calm down in the end.

"Your reply, I like it." Ling Xiao smiled and said, "But, I'll have to trouble Brigade Leader Cang Lang to head back with me."

Cang Lang stared at Ling Xiao for a few seconds. Suddenly, he laughed. "I thought you'll want to see General Ling Xiao's son."

Ling Xiao replied, "I don't care about Ling Xiao. Why would l be concerned about his son?"

"Really? But he's your rival." Cang Lang immediately exposed Ren Feiyu's lie.

"I'm the one alive, right?" Ling Xiao gave a devilish smile. "There's no use mentioning someone who's dead."

"Ling Lan isn't a simple person. If he's given enough time, he might be your obstacle," Cang Lang said indifferently.

A sharp look flashed past Ling Xiao's eyes. "Are you telling me that I should clear my obstacles beforehand?"

Cang Lang shook his head. "I'm just speaking the truth. You make your own decisions."

Ling Xiao suddenly smiled. "I remember that you have a good relationship with Ling Xiao. If Ling Xiao knows that you're scheming against his child secretly, he might want to kill you."

Killing intent appeared on Ling Xiao's face. It only lasted for a split second so no one noticed it, including Cang Lang who was standing opposite him.

"Since he wants to rely on himself and not cooperate with us, he must show us that he has the ability to act alone. If he doesn't, then it's good to let him experience some setbacks. Otherwise, he won't know his limits and understand what's best for him." Cang Lang remained indifferent.

"Interesting. Breeding poison…" Ling Xiao smiled. "Let's see if Ling Lan is able to escape from Planet General."

"It looks like you know something." Cang Lang glanced at Ling Xiao in surprise.

Ling Xiao shook his head. "No, I don't know anything. However, I do know that some are still worried about him so they will definitely do something about him."

"Are you not of them? I thought you were really afraid of his future." Cang Lang looked at Ling Xiao curiously. If Ling Lan was given time to grow stronger, he would come back and finish each and every one of them off. He would think that Ren Feiyu was one of the people that was most afraid of Ling Lan's potential. Now, it seemed that Ren Feiyu didn't care about Ling Lan at all. Instead, he wanted to watch a good show.

"Only weaklings will be afraid. Without a good opponent, things will get boring. Don't you think so?" Ling Xiao smiled lightly. He was happy to see this. He could imagine his daughter racking her brain to come up with schemes against him. It would be quite cute.

"It's good to be confident." Cang Lang praised lightly. He hoped that this wasn't just blind confidence.

While Ren Feiyu regarded Ling Lan as someone unworthy of serious considerations, Cang Lang felt that Ling Lan was a powerful opponent. Once the time was right, he would rise above everyone else.

However, whether Ren Feiyu would suffer losses in the future didn't matter to him. He was just Ren Feiyu's collaborator, not his comrade. He wasn't close enough to warn him out of the kindness of his heart.

"Why don't we have a bet?" Ling Xiao seemed interested in the topic of Ling Lan.

"Bet? On what?" Cang Lang asked in surprise.

"Whether Ling Lan will be able to leave Planet General and leave the Federation," Ling Xiao replied.

Cang Lang frowned slightly. "What is your bet?"

"I bet that he'll be able to escape unscathed," Ling Xiao said firmly. He believed in his daughter. If his daughter wanted to leave, no one would be able to stop her unless a god-class operator was sent out. However, since she was still his daughter, the Federation wouldn't send out a god-class operator just to kill her as this would spark public outrage. If no god-class operator was sent to stop Ling Lan, Ling Xiao couldn't think of a reason why she couldn't leave.

"You have so much trust in Ling Lan?" Cang Lang also hoped that Ling Lan was able to escape but he didn't have as much confidence as Ren Feiyu had in Ling Lan. He wondered if Ren Feiyu was speaking the opposite of his thoughts or did he really believe Ling Lan wholeheartedly.

"Let's wait for the outcome. If I win, you're going to help me with something." Ling Xiao turned and prepared to leave.

Cang Lang frowned. "What is it?"

"I'll tell you when I win. It won't be something you can't do." Ling Xiao's figure moved further and further away. In the end, he disappeared from Cang Lang's sight.

Cang Lang's expression slowly turned serious. He sighed. "I underestimated him. However, we won't know who will win in the end. Let's wait and see."

He disappeared on the spot after he finished speaking. As for Ling Lan, he had probably gone to the commercial street while he was talking to Ling Xiao. As a brigade leader from the Flying Dragon Special Forces, that wasn't a place where he should go.

Ling Lan missed the chance to meet her father who had changed his identity and body. But, her appearance at the commercial street helped Li Lanfeng and Luo Lang to get out of their crisis.

At first, Li Lanfeng and Luo Lang wanted to drag the couple following them into their domains. However, after dragging them into their domains, the frightened look on the faces of the couple slowly disappeared. They gave a delighted smile instead.

Li Lanfeng frowned slightly. "It looks like you've already discovered our identity." Was there a traitor in Lingtian who leaked their identity to the military?

Li Lanfeng always liked to think of the worst scenario so when he discovered that his identity was unveiled, he felt that there might be a traitor in his team.

"Nope. The relationship between the Lingtian Independent Army and Lieutenant General Ling is too close. We have to guard against you fully," the man smiled and replied.

"If it's me, they might betray me. But, he is Ling Lan…" Li Lanfeng immediately toppled his own guess. He didn't trust himself but all his comrades were groomed by Ling Lan personally. He couldn't think of anyone that had the courage to betray Ling Lan.

Ling Lan's invincible image was still instilled deeply in the minds of everyone in Lingtian. No one would be foolish enough to betray Ling Lan if they still wanted to remain alive.

"There must be a source for your information." Li Lanfeng pondered for a long time before arriving at this conclusion. This was the only possibility as they had only smiled after they sensed his domain.

Li Lanfeng had sharp eyes. He noticed all the hidden expressions on the two people's faces.

It must have something to do with their domain concept. Li Lanfeng came up with this conclusion based on the expressions of his opponents. It had to be said that Li Lanfeng's critical thinking ability was amazing. His prediction was very close to the truth.