It's Not Easy To Be a Man 210+

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"Peak top-level Qi-Jin!" Qiao Ting's eyes glinted with a keen light. A year ago, he had already known about Ling Lan's physical skills stage. Back then, he was not confident whether he could beat Ling Lan in physical skills, but now, he had a good fighting chance.
"I've said that you will never ever win!" A smirk appeared on Ling Lan's lips. She had barely finished speaking when she unleashed her full force of presence, and a powerful and chilly pressure instantly blanketed the entire control room. Qiao Ting felt the temperature of the central control room dropping drastically; an inescapable chill invaded his heart, and he felt as if his four limbs were about to be frozen stiff.
It was then that he saw a thin layer of ice actually appear on his fist touching Ling Lan's palm, and the ice was slowly winding its way up his arm ...

Seeing this, Qiao Ting frowned and he did not hesitate to unleash his own force of presence as well, trying to prevent that layer of ice on his fist from spreading any further. However, he soon found that when his force of presence encountered the ice, it seemed to sink like a stone into the ocean, disappearing completely without a trace.

Why wasn't it working? A notion flashed through Qiao Ting's mind. His expression changed drastically and he shouted in disbelief, "Domain? That's impossible!"

Qiao Ting could not be blamed for his disbelief — insight alone was not enough for one to become a Domain master. Even the most prodigious talent would need to accumulate countless years of actual battle experience and endure many trials and tribulations before they might grasp the profound secrets of Domain by sheer serendipity, to finally join the ranks of these top-class experts. In over several hundred thousand years of Huaxian history, there had never been anyone who managed to enter the stage of Domain below the age of thirty. No matter how talented Ling Lan was, how aberrant, without the accumulation of real and substantial experience, he should not have been able to enter that enviable realm at the young age of seventeen. Even Qiao Ting himself who had just entered the peak of Qi-Jin would not dare to claim that he would be able to enter that realm ten years later ...

Qiao Ting did not know then that although Ling Lan appeared to only be 17 years old, due to the learning space, she had already lived through multiple hardships and had been through countless massacres. The experience she had accumulated through all that was definitely no less than several decades of an average person's life.

Seeing the shock on Qiao Ting's face, a trace of pity appeared in Ling Lan's eyes. She said softly, "Anything that is impossible will become possible when I'm involved."

Qiao Ting's eyes narrowed at her words. He understood her meaning — his speculation was actually confirmed to be fact. An unnameable emotion rose in his heart, and Qiao Ting was left dumbstruck for a long while.

But then, Ling Lan's next words jolted him back to awareness. "You should feel blessed, because you are the first person to experience my Domain!"

"Domain, activate!" Ling Lan was doing this on purpose. The activation of one's Domain could be done silently, but Ling Lan was intentionally using a verbal command to deal Qiao Ting another blow. When she had first met Qiao Ting earlier, his reserve and low profile had raised flags in Ling Lan's mind.

Qiao Ting was a prodigy — Ling Lan knew very well that if she did not have the learning space and the careful guidance of the learning space's instructors, without that cheat code, her current abilities would definitely not be at Qiao Ting's level. This kind of peerless prodigy with talent, skill, and diligence had unfortunately become her opponent. And now, he had learned forbearance and knew how to endure for the sake of future vengeance. Ling Lan knew this was not a good thing just thinking about it. If the other was given ample time to grow, when he came after her again in the future, it would be a tragedy waiting to happen.