章 32: Ling Lan Makes a Move!
編集者: H2dH2mr
Qi Long’s punch had missed — the examiner had evaded Qi Long’s blow with a tilt of his body, causing it to strike the ground, sending dirt flying into the air.
Even so, the gouge left on the ground from Qi Long’s strike, roughly 3 inches deep and 1 metre wide, revealed that the power behind it was definitely no less than the 500 catties Ling Lan had lifted during the previous test.
It was impressive that Qi Long could achieve 500 catties worth of strength with just his own power; this was obviously a purer and more direct reflection of strength as opposed to Ling Lan’s performance due to the circulation of Qi.
A flash of pleasant surprise passed through the examiner’s eyes — perhaps even he hadn't expected that Qi Long would have such great strength. Even though this level of strength was nothing to the examiner, it had to be noted that Qi Long was still only six years old. There was no question that once Qi Long grew up, his strength would further grow to become even more impressive.
Qi Long didn't stop attacking just because his first attempt struck air. As the others watched, he once again leapt into the air and pounced at the examiner.
Unfortunately, despite all his speed and strength, Qi Long’s attacks were full of holes due to his undeveloped combat skills. As such, the examiner was under no pressure whatsoever — if Qi Long were an enemy on the battlefield, the examiner could have killed him with one strike.
As the dust and dirt drifting through the air finally dissipated, the group could finally see the battle between Qi Long and the examiner. They looked on as the examiner blocked all of Qi Long’s attacks using just a single hand.
Luo Lang lowered his voice and said to Ling Lan, "I’ll go and help Qi Long. We’ll count on you to hit the examiner." With that said, he jumped into the fray without waiting for a reply from Ling Lan, using all his might to send a punch flying towards the examiner’s face.
Luo Lang’s attack forced the examiner to bring out his other arm, and his previously stationary body also begun to move. For a while, the three fought to a stalemate.
Although Luo Lang had spoken very softly, all the surrounding children had still heard what he said. All of a sudden, the trembling in their bodies diminished as they all turned toward Ling Lan with expectation in their eyes, hoping that she could do as Luo Lang said and hit the examiner.
Fine, so the examiner’s taunts had thoroughly roused the children's hatred, drawing it onto himself — and the level of this hatred wasn’t low, which was why they collectively wished for him to get hit several times so they could vent their anger.
Thanks to Qi Long’s attack, Han Jijyun had regained his usual composure, and he now noticed that Ling Lan was the only one among them that was standing steadily. Although his stance was a little strange, it was oddly pleasing to the eye, making one feel that it was natural to stand that way. Though Han Jijyun didn’t know what that stance was, he could still tell that it was definitely some sort of amazing combat art.
The children’s expectant gazes made Ling Lan feel the pressure even more keenly, as if it was pressing down upon her like a mountain. She couldn’t take their heated gazes and so turned to face the spot where the three combatants were — her face twitched minutely as she thought sullenly to herself, why did they all think she could hit the examiner? Could it be that they all knew that she had a learning space in her mind?
Of course Ling Lan knew that this was impossible. These kids had entrusted their hopes to her solely because she was the only one among them who could still move. Naturally, if she could really hit the examiner then that would be the best, but even if she failed … well alright, they didn’t really have high hopes to begin with anyway. This whole attempt was just a shot in the dark; to succeed, they would really have to have the devil’s own luck.
On the other end, the examiner had figured Luo Lang out after fighting him for some time. Although his strength wasn’t as much as Qi Long’s, it was still decent, probably around 100 catties. However, his physical fitness was clearly worse — fighting up till now, Qi Long’s attacks only became fiercer and fiercer, while Luo Lang’s breathing was showing signs of becoming irregular just after several attacks.
Still, the examiner also knew that Qi Long’s current condition was rare — he had pushed past his limits to bring out his latent reserves of energy. In all these years, the examiner had never seen a child who could break past his own limits without outside stimulation from agents — it had to be said that Qi Long was truly talented.
Suddenly, he felt a chill seep out from his bones … his battle experience warned him of danger and without even having to think, his body jerked to a stop on the balls of his feet, and he used the energy generated from his momentum to change directions and leapt back two steps …
But it was too late! Before his eyes, a small, delicate white fist appeared, on the verge of hitting his face in the next second.
In the end, the examiner was still the examiner — he crossed his arms within this split second, successfully blocking this seemingly sweet and harmless little fist, which was actually filled with killing intent.
The two made contact with a resounding clap, and the examiner felt a huge wave of energy surge towards him. His body, which had yet to find stable footing, was once again forced to take a few steps back.
Meanwhile, borrowing the energy from the rebound, Ling Lan somersaulted through the air and landed securely between Qi Long and Luo Lang. She was still holding that odd basic combat stance, ready to launch her next attack.
The examiner’s demeanour turned serious, all traces of his earlier playfulness gone. He looked at Ling Lan standing there in the middle, and he could actually feel cold sweat breaking out along his back. Who’d have thought that such a skilled fellow was hiding among this bunch of kids? He even knew how to hide his killing intent until the final second before revealing his fangs.
If it weren’t for the fact that he had spent many years on the battlefield, gaining much experience and honing his reflexes, he would have certainly been hit by that last move. And although he wouldn’t have taken much damage from it, losing face would have been unavoidable.
He cursed silently. Where did such a freakish talent come from? The boy looked so soft and fragile on the outside, with his delicate face and clueless expression — no matter how you looked, he simply looked like a cute, naïve, and innocent little boy who couldn’t hurt a fly. And yes, although he had felt that there was something strange about the boy from the start, Qi Long’s sudden attack and subsequent performance had grabbed all his attention, leaving the boy to fade into the background.
He would never have thought that this kind of unassuming child would almost make him crash and burn.
Ling Lan’s unexpectedly strong display thrilled the surprised children. They would never have guessed that Ling Lan would be able to push the examiner back several steps with just one punch — could it be that their hopes would really be realised?
Han Xuya was an outgoing and passionate girl — her emotions ran high upon seeing the current situation, driving away her fatigue and making her shout out loudly, "Ling Lan, beat him! Beat him!"
On the other hand, Luo Chao was a shy and reserved girl. She merely smiled bashfully in surprise, eyes shining with just a touch of admiration as she stared at that skinny figure standing beside her brother. Although he wasn’t as well-built as her brother and the other boy, in her eyes, he was no lesser than them and was in fact even more reliable.
Ling Lan didn’t know that she had unknowingly caught the budding heart of a pure young girl, romantic feelings twining around her in mistaken adoration — oh, what a mess!
In the invigilation room, the invigilator responsible for room 72 switched his feed to Ling Lan’s room once again out of boredom. Immediately, what he saw was a clear stand-off between the invigilator and the kids, and the atmosphere didn't seem friendly. Aghast, he thought to himself, what the hell was going on?
His curiosity piqued, he fixed his screen once again on room 72, leaving only a small window at a lower corner of the screen to rotate through the other nine rooms he was monitoring.
Ling Lan signalled with her eyes for Qi Long and Luo Lang to start their attack. She knew that if she was the one to lead the charge, they would definitely not be able to handle the examiner.
Although Ling Lan had learned basic combat skills from Number Nine and had also sparred constantly with Number Nine, it was all just mental practice in the end. There was still a significant difference when it came to real battles in the physical realm.
During her last attack, Ling Lan had already noticed that her physical body couldn't keep up with her intentions — the examiner would never have had the chance to dodge her attack otherwise.
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