“No!

“I don't want that to happen!

“I don't want Boss to get injured!

“I don't want Boss to die!”

As Qi Long angrily screamed inside his mind, he formed a claw with his right hand and swiped downwards—he was ruthlessly reaching for the Qi Long that was attempting to attack Boss .

Maybe Qi Long's will was too strong, as the energy that was originally holding him back had been broken through by him . He instantly arrived in front of Ling Lan, grabbed the other Qi Long's neck and instantly pummeled him to the ground .

“I won't allow anyone to hurt Boss . I won't allow it even if it's myself . ” Qi Long raised his left fist and ruthlessly threw it towards the Qi Long who had a look of ignorance on his face .

Qi Long used all of his energy to hit himself . The image of the memory was like a mirror; because of Qi Long's punch, it shattered into countless pieces and scattered everywhere .

Qi Long raised his head . His face with b.l.o.o.d.y red tears was easily seen . There was determination in his eyes, the kind that would enable one to do anything for someone without regret .

“I, Qi Long, promise that I will become Boss' s.h.i.+eld . If anyone wants to harm Boss, they'll have to get over my dead body first!

“I, Qi Long, will fight for Boss to the bitter end with no regrets!”

Qi Long's determined voice echoed through his vast minds.p.a.ce . When he spoke, the minds.p.a.ce had memorized the promise he made . This meant that if Qi Long was to go against his promise, he wouldn't have any chances of advancement . His soul will be tormented day and night . In the end, he would become a crazy demon and would never have a moment of peace .

“For this, I need to become even stronger . Strong to the point of being able to help Boss take on all of his enemies . ”

Qi Long had never found a reason that made it necessary for him to become stronger, but now he had one . It wasn't for himself . Instead, it was for the boss who had treated him sincerely .

In the arena, Qi Long crying had already made everyone in the audience become very surprised . When Qi Long's tears became blood, everyone was shaken . The entire training dojo became silent .

Ling Lan, who was in the observation room, had instantly stood up when Qi Long's blood red tears had come out from his eyes . She could no longer continue to be calm .

“Why is this happening?” Han Jijyun's tears silently fell from his eyes . He instantly held his chest . Qi Long's blood red tears also made Han Jijyun feel his emotions . Han Jijyun felt like his heart was in a blender .

Right at that moment, a strong aura suddenly erupted in the arena . The overwhelming aura instantly made the edges of the arena have a transparent light barrier appear .

Ling Lan instantly calmed down . Her eyes showed a hint of joy . The light barrier was even brighter than the previous one . Did this mean that Qi Long had successfully advanced into the late stage of Qi-Jin?

Everyone was surprised and moving about when the light barrier appeared again . At that moment, someone shouted, “Look, in the arena!” Everyone set their focus onto the arena .

Qi Long's eyes had stopped bleeding, and his dark and empty eyes had closed . Other than this, there wasn't anything out of the ordinary . However, looking at Ling Yi, who was standing in front of Qi Long, they knew that at that moment, Qi Long wasn't a pushover .

It turned out that at that moment, Ling Yi's body was trembling . He bent his back forwards and actually couldn't stand up straight . His face had a grimace as he bit his lip as though he was resisting some sort of terrifying pressure .

This pressure was no longer the immature aura that Qi Long had before . Ling Yi had used all of his body's energy this time and could only make sure he wasn't pinned into the ground . He had no extra energy to counterattack .

“It's an aura!” The audience and the members all understood . Hadn't the boss used the same move that year when he fought with Huo Zhenyu, the strongest individual in terms of physical skills in the military academy?

They excitedly looked towards Qi Long, who had closed his eyes once again . It turned out that Commander Qi Long's supposed mid-stage of Qi-Jin was a lie . Instead, his Qi-Jin was higher by two stages than the mid-stage, the Refinement stage . From what they knew, there wasn't anyone from the other mecha clans who had reached the late of Qi-Jin . Now their Lingtian Mecha Clan, other than Boss, had another strong individual who had reached the late stage of Qi-Jin . This was definitely enough to roll over the other mecha clans .

Ling Lan silently activated her own aura and carefully felt Qi Long's current condition . Her lips perked up . She didn't expect that being pushed to the verge of death this time had not only acted as a catalyst for Qi Long to break through the barrier to his advancement, but even also managed to advance two stages above his original one . He had instantly entered the late stage of Qi-Jin, close to the peak stage . He only needed one more step to enter into the very peak stage, Great Perfection .

“Qi Long, in terms of physical skills, as expected, you are the best . ”

Ling Lan was overjoyed . The stronger Qi Long's potential, the more likely he would survive the fighting in the battlefield . There were still two years left before they had to join a military division . , and entering a division would mean that they were not far from a battlefield .

Ling Lan felt she was hard pressed for time . This was also why she was so ruthless in making these arrangements .

Ling Yi slowly raised his head . Just this small motion was painful for him to manage . He looked at Qi Long in front of him, who was not moving . Ling Yi was oddly surprised . He didn't expect that his opponent would be this strong . Without even moving a finger, he could make it so he couldn't stand up straight . He knew that this person was Young Master Lan's battle team's vice-captain…

“Qi Long: Mid-stage of Qi-Jin . Luo Lang: Beginner stage of Qi-Jin . Xie Yi: Beginner stage of Qi-Jin . Lin Zhong-qing: Peak of Refinement stage . Han Jijyun: Advanced level of Refinement stage…” Inside Ling Yi's mind, the detailed information he had gathered on Young Master Lan's battle team members rapidly flashed through his mind .

“Qi Long, mid-stages of Qi-Jin… Heh, lies, all lies . Late stage of Qi-Jin . Even fifth-years may not reach that state . Qi Long did it in three years . It's funny that I thought my current capabilities were already qualified to stand beside Young Master Lan . Now that I think about it, I really was too arrogant .

“I think the physical skills of the others are also not as the information says . Maybe all of them have reached Qi-Jin . Those supposedly at the beginner stage of Qi-Jin may have already reached the mid-stage or advanced stage,” Ling Yi thought bitterly to himself .

Ling Yi's guess wasn't wrong . His information was based on the time when Qi Long and the others were in their first year at the academy . Now that two years had gone by, how could they not have undergone even a little bit of improvement? Even if Qi Long and the others were lazy and didn't want to train, with a ruthless boss like Ling Lan by their side, they wouldn't have gotten the chance to simply stop at where they were in terms of power .

Ling Yi was actually using his will of not admitting defeat to endure through all of this . In reality, he had reached his limit long before this point in time . Qi Long seemed to have sensed this and slowly restrained his aura, making it disappear completely in the end .

The light barrier around the edges of the arena vanished once again, following which Qi Long opened his eyes and calmly said, “Thank you for the fight . ”

Having successfully broken through to the peak of late stages of Qi-Jin, the current Qi Long was no longer the Qi Long who was exhausted all of his energy . Now he possessed strong and abundant Qi-Jin at his disposal . At that moment, even if all of the applicants were to come up to challenge him at the same time, he wouldn't be afraid of them .

“Thank you, Commander Qi Long, for being merciful . ” Ling Yi finally stood up after the pressure he was under disappeared . He knew that he wasn't made a fool of because Qi Long was being merciful . If the latter hadn't slowly restrained his aura but instead instantly made his aura disappear, Ling Yi would definitely not have been able to get used to it and would have fallen straight towards the ground .

Ling Yi couldn't accept his opponent's good will . However, to ignore it would be shameless . Thus, he thanked Qi Long personally .

Qi Long nodded at Ling Yi . His behavior drew Qi Long's admiration . Qi Long decided that Ling Yi would be the first choice to accept into the mecha clan .

Afterwards, Ling Yi turned around and walked off the arena . Every step he took was difficult, but he didn't show it on his expression . He was a proud individual, especially at that moment when he didn't know where Young Master Lan was watching this evaluation from . As Young Master Lan's loyalist, he couldn't lose his master's dignity .

Ling Yi finally walked off the arena . He walked beside his comrades . Yi Tiange comforted him and said, “Captain, your performance was great . It's just that…” But before he could finish, Ling Yi was already falling over .

Rong Ziruo and Yan Wuyou reacted quickly; they supported their captain, one from the left and one from the right, to make sure he didn't fall over .

“He's totally exhausted . It's alright, it's only temporary unconsciousness . ” Yan Wuyou held onto to Ling Yi as he felt his pulse and informed the other members of Ling Yi's condition so that they wouldn't worry .

“Who would've known that Commander Qi Long would advance during battle? Our captain's efforts were all for naught,” Yi Tiange remarked sympathetically .

Rong Ziruo turned around and looked at Qi Long, who was looking over at them from the arena . That straight stance and calm expression of his didn't need any explanations . It was as though he were a king looking down at his subjects .

“Commander Qi Long is really strong!” Rong Ziruo mumbled . He began to think about how strong Ling Lan would have to be to have become the captain of Commander Qi Long .

“Now, probably no one will challenge Commander Qi Long,” Yi Tiange said . Smart individuals wouldn't choose such a strong and unbeatable examiner .

As expected, after three minutes, another freshman finally chose their opponent for their evaluation . This time, they chose a different captain from Lingtian…

Ling Yi opened his eyes and discovered he was lying in a bed . He instantly jumped up .

His movements surprised Rong Ziruo, who had been sitting beside him while looking through the information in his communicator . He asked with concern, “Captain, how do you feel?”

Seeing Rong Ziruo and also seeing that he was in his own room, Ling Yi was relieved . He laid himself back into the bed and asked, “How long did I sleep for?”

“18 hours . I have already called in sick for you and informed the instructor,” Rong Ziruo replied .

Ling Yi was silent for a few seconds before finally asking the question he was most concerned about . “Lingtian . How were the results of the evaluation?”

“Although we all lost, we all pa.s.sed . ” Hearing his question, Rong Ziruo instantly smiled .

Ling Yi raised his head, his eyes showing a hint of joy . “All of us pa.s.sed?”

“Yeah, everyone pa.s.sed . They even let us keep our battle team . As long as we pa.s.s the mainframe's battle team evaluation and become a real battle team, we'll then be able to officially register . However, the treatment that we'll get will only start from the lowest rank, the fifth level . Advancement will be based on our contributions,” Rong Ziruo explained with a bit of regret .

“I see . ” Ling Yi felt that there wasn't anything wrong with all this . He looked at Rong Ziruo and the expression on his face showed slight signs of struggle . He then asked, “Did Young Master Lan come out in the end?”

Rong Ziruo shook his head and said, “No, it was Commander Wu Jiong who came out to announce the list of names . However, this is normal . From the information that we received, the person responsible for managing Lingtian Mecha Clan's work has always been Commander Wu Jiong . The commanders Qi Long and Li Yingjie are the helpers . Commander Ling Lan never meddles with anything . ”

“Never?”

Ling Yi talked to himself . He clenched his fists and his eyes showed a hint of determination . Whatever the case, he had already successfully joined the mecha clan that Young Master Lan had created . He was now slowly getting closer to his Young Master Lan . His strength wasn't enough at this moment . However, there would be a day when he would catch up to those in Young Master Lan's battle team . Then he will become a real loyalist of Young Master Lan and give him all of his loyalty .