Within the Superpower Headquarters, Tang Tiejin was an extraordinary figure, commanding absolute obedience and unmatched by anyone.
However, Ling Yun is different. The more introverted and reserved his personality is, the more stubborn he becomes as a young man. The stronger the unfairness and oppression he encounters, the greater his resistance becomes. This is the main reason why he refuses to compromise even when faced with threats to the interests of almost the entire Superpower Headquarters.
Therefore, when Tang Tiejin tried to pressure Ling Yun into submission, it only fueled Ling Yun's anger and resistance. His proud personality prevented the young man from actively releasing his spiritual energy field to resist the opponent's aura. Instead, a fierce, burning aura began to emanate from Ling Yun's body—the aura of Ye Feng's earth-shattering sword strike. Since breaking through the incredibly powerful hexagonal array, Ling Yun had become quite familiar with that aura of breaking through limits. Even if he couldn't immediately enter the Void Realm to simulate it, he could still release a slight amount of that aura. With this invincible, unstoppable aura, he could completely withstand the pressure from the head instructor.
Gu Xiaorou took two steps back, looking at Ling Yun in surprise. A fierce yet unstoppable sharp aura suddenly surged from the young man, as if he had transformed into a sword, an invincible sword. The girl had no doubt that if she were to pull her hand close to Ling Yun, she would immediately be cut by this incomparably sharp aura.
The oppressive aura still hung over Ling Yun's head, but Ling Yun straightened his chest and looked directly at Tang Tiejin without flinching. His pupils suddenly became incredibly bright, like the light emanating from the sharpest sword in the world, pointing directly at Tang Tiejin's eyes.
A silent burst of sparks suddenly erupted in the space. Tang Tiejin's narrow, bright eyes flashed with surprise, and he exclaimed, "As expected, heroes have emerged from among the young since ancient times. Lingyun, you are really good. Try taking another attack from me." As he spoke, he gently raised his palm and pressed it down on Lingyun's shoulder. Without any flash of silver light from his telekinetic powers, an invisible force field suddenly enveloped Lingyun's body.
The sharp aura dissipated instantly, and Ling Yun suddenly knelt on the ground with a thud. The pressure on his shoulders increased more than tenfold, and this time it was real pressure from the head instructor, no longer the mental pressure exerted on him by Tang Tiejin.
A tangible silver light surged from Ling Yun's body. In an instant, the young man raised his power to its peak, struggling against the opponent's casually extended, seemingly pressing palm. With his current strength, he could easily overturn not just a palm, but even a truck weighing tens of tons. After breaking the formation, Ling Yun's power had reached an unimaginable level.
Even so, the hand pressing down on his head remained unmoved. The invisible telekinetic force emanating from the hand was like a mountain, and no matter how hard Ling Yun tried, he could not resist it in the slightest.
The admiration in Tang Tiejin's eyes grew stronger, but his expression remained calm. He increased the pressure in his hands, forcing the stubborn boy's head to bend down, and his other kneeling leg trembled uncontrollably. In the blink of an eye, the boy was about to kneel before Tang Tiejin.
Ling Yun's blood boiled, and a strong belief rose fiercely in his heart: I will never yield, never yield! His bones cracked violently, like boiling water, a sign that his life force was about to explode completely.
Tang Tiejin's expression turned serious, and he said softly, "You're too stubborn, kid. Don't you know the saying 'When it's time to bow your head, the sky will be clear'? Why do you have to confront me in this way, so decisively?"
"If I am wrong, I will bow my head. If I am not wrong, I will never bow my head. Even if you are the chief instructor of the Superpower Headquarters, I can die, but I swear I will never bow my head." A roar like that of an angry lion suddenly resounded throughout the entire black space.
Tang Tiejin raised his hand in surprise, and a sound like tearing paper filled the air. Ling Yun had stood up sometime earlier; his left eye had become an eerie blood-red pupil, while his right eye was a shimmering emerald. Between his brows, a bright, vertically oriented third eye shone, emanating boundless majesty and power.
Gu Xiaorou stood aside in horror, watching Ling Yun. She was completely unable to move. Unparalleled power was emanating from Ling Yun's third eye, instantly transforming into a towering wave that could actually rival Tang Tiejin's power!
Tang Tiejin's usually calm expression finally changed, and his voice became urgent: "Heavenly Eye! How could you use such a powerful technique? Stop it now, or you will be drained of energy and die!"
The head instructor finally unleashed a truly tangible spiritual aura. He stepped forward and pressed his hand against Ling Yun, who had lost consciousness and fallen into a state of madness. A golden light emanated from his palm, and his third eye, seemingly unwilling to be suppressed, continuously released the same golden light as if it were consciously resisting the head instructor's golden radiance. However, it ultimately could not withstand Tang Tiejin's boundless power and helplessly and slowly retracted into Ling Yun's forehead, its brow returning to its original smooth appearance in the blink of an eye.
As the third eye shrank back into Ling Yun's forehead, his eyes, which had transformed into blood-red and emerald pupils, gradually returned to their original state. Clarity returned to Ling Yun's eyes, and his face gradually showed a hint of fatigue. In just a moment, the third eye had consumed nearly half of his supernatural power. This third eye, obtained from the fifth stage, seemed to possess incredible supernatural abilities and power, but it consumed a great deal of the user's own energy. If Tang Tiejin had not stopped him in time, Ling Yun would probably have been sucked dry by the third eye.
"Ling Yun!" Only then did Gu Xiaorou realize that she could move again. She rushed over and grabbed Ling Yun's arms: "How are you? Are you alright?"
Ling Yun blinked and glanced gently at Gu Xiaorou: "It's alright." Then he clasped his hands in thanks to Tang Tiejin: "Thank you for saving my life, Chief Instructor."
Although he had just fallen into a state of delirium due to using his third eye, Ling Yun knew that Tang Tiejin had pulled him back from near exhaustion. In fact, the moment he used his third eye, Ling Yun realized something was wrong; this eye seemed to possess some kind of eerie power, automatically absorbing the supernatural energy within him. Even though Ling Yun tried his best to stop it, it was too late. This was followed by a gradual loss of consciousness and then a suppressed clarity. He broke out in a cold sweat; if it weren't for Tang Tiejin, he didn't know what a miserable state he would have ended up in.
Despite regaining consciousness, a huge question mark slowly rose in Ling Yun's mind: Why didn't the humanoid creature in the fifth column produce such an anomaly when it used its third eye?
He gently stroked his brow, still feeling lingering fear. He hadn't expected the power of the third eye to be so terrifying, capable of even destroying the user.
All the majesty and imposing aura seemed to vanish in an instant. Tang Tiejin sighed slightly and said, "Ling Yun, it's good that you have such pride and stubbornness, but you can't go too far in anything, otherwise you'll only lose yourself."
Ling Yun remained silent for a long time, inwardly agreeing with the powerful man's words. From childhood to adulthood, he had suffered a lot because of his stubbornness, and coupled with his introverted and honest nature, he wasn't well-liked by others. Before gaining his superpowers, he didn't even have a single close friend. He usually just fantasized about his ideal life in solitude.
However, old habits die hard. Even if Ling Yun wanted to change, he would ultimately have to follow the laws of life to live his life to the fullest.
Seeing that he remained silent but looked distressed, Tang Tiejin clearly agreed with his words. He smiled slightly and said, "Ling Yun, don't blame me for forcing you to bow your head. I admit that I did want to test you a little. But you caused a scene at the Superpower Headquarters, making me lose face. What's wrong with teaching you a lesson? Besides, I'm at least several decades older than you. Even someone of your teacher's level has to behave properly in front of me. Kneeling down to me isn't disgracing your status, is it?"
In fact, Tang Tiejin was being somewhat modest. Countless superhumans would kneel before him to become his apprentices, but a top figure like Tang Tiejin, who had already reached the pinnacle of power, was a rare sight even for others, let alone someone to become his apprentice.
Ling Yun was taken aback. He hadn't expected the head instructor to be so easygoing and down-to-earth, unlike Luo Panxi and the others who were so arrogant. He had initially thought that the head instructor was just trying to humiliate him with his superior personal strength. Even though he knew he was no match for him, he would rather die than be humiliated by his opponent, so he fought back with all his might.
However, after hearing Tang Tiejin's reasons, Ling Yun was both surprised and ashamed. It seemed that he had been judging Tang Tiejin by his own petty standards and misunderstood him. From Tang Tiejin's perspective, it didn't seem entirely unreasonable for him to put pressure on him. Besides, it wasn't a big deal for a senior to instruct a junior.
Thinking of this, Ling Yun couldn't help but say respectfully, "I'm sorry, Chief Instructor. It's not that I'm being disrespectful. I just misunderstood that you were deliberately humiliating me, which is why I fought back so fiercely. I didn't actually want to have any issues with the Superpower Headquarters. It's just that you don't know that Chief Luo..." He was about to tell you about Luo Panxi's attempt to obtain the Heavenly Eye because he was blinded by greed.
Tang Tiejin waved his hand and said calmly, "Ling Yun, I already know about these things. Here, I would also like to make a statement: from the very beginning, the Superpower Headquarters made a fundamental mistake in this conflict. Lao Luo and the others only cared about their immediate interests, but ignored the foundation of the Superpower Headquarters and the spirit that Commander Lu Ximing established when he founded the headquarters. The strong are strong by themselves, and true strong people should not rely on any treasures."
The strong become stronger!
Ling Yun pondered these words, suddenly recalling his teacher, Yu Xiujie, the supreme expert from a hundred years ago, who had now ascended to immortality and merged into the supreme Heavenly Dao. Thinking of this, Ling Yun couldn't help but sigh.
Unexpectedly, the head instructor and the teacher had the same opinion. Great minds think alike. Thinking of this, Ling Yun's impression of Tang Tiejin changed greatly, and he even admired him a little. He truly deserved to be one of the strongest people in the world.
"Brother Lingyun, I have a request, and I hope you can grant it," Tang Tiejin said, looking at him.
"Chief Instructor, you're too kind. You're a senior, so please feel free to give me any instructions." Ling Yun bowed slightly. Just based on the saying "the strong become strong," Tang Tiejin deserved the same closeness and respect as he would show to his teacher.
"It's not about giving orders. It was my mistake that the Superpower Headquarters failed to recruit you." Tang Tiejin sighed softly. "I only hope that Ling Yun won't harbor any resentment towards the Superpower Headquarters. After all, you were once a trainee superpower user there. I know that the headquarters has wronged you. There were many problems with Lao Luo and the others' actions, but many things are complex and cannot be judged simply by their methods. As the head instructor, I also need to maintain a balance. Of course, I'm not saying that I'll ignore the unfair treatment you received."
He paused, then continued, "I'm still the head instructor of the Superpower Headquarters, and my word still counts. Regardless of what you think, Ling Yun, I represent the Superpower Headquarters and consider you a part of it. I believe in your character, not just your strength. In fact, whether you're a superpowered individual or an ordinary person, strength is never the most important thing. Character and spirit should always come first. What I value is not your potential genius at such a young age, but your indomitable personality and never-give-up spirit. These two points are precisely what the Superpower Headquarters lacks most. Since Commander Lu passed away, it seems that this spirit of the headquarters has been declining. I, as the head instructor, have also failed in my duty." As he spoke, a trace of sadness appeared on Tang Tiejin's face.
Looking at this powerful and influential figure, Ling Yun was surprised that such a prominent person could also be so distressed. He wanted to say something to comfort him, but he was not good at showing concern for people and didn't know what to say. After thinking for a moment, he said, "Chief, I don't know what to say, but I can guarantee that as long as you still acknowledge me, I will always be a member of the Superpower Headquarters. I think everything has its ups and downs. With a leader like you at the Superpower Headquarters, things will definitely change in the future."
“Very good, Lingyun, I believe I haven’t misjudged you.” Tang Tiejin looked at him with a smile: “I like you two young people very much. You don’t necessarily have to join the Superpower Headquarters to be successful. Everyone has their own path. Lingyun, you can rest assured that as long as you and this Xiaorou stay in China, you will be safe. The doors of the Superpower Headquarters are always open for you.”
Ling Yun glanced at Gu Xiaorou with surprise. For a moment, the two of them were overjoyed. Being able to obtain a promise from the head instructor of the Superpower Headquarters naturally meant that they would have a guarantee no matter what they did in the future. The China Superpower Headquarters was an organization that was almost on par with the Sky Eye Society. With such a large organization backing them up, it would be much more convenient for the two of them to do things.
The two of them exclaimed in unison, "Thank you, sir."
Tang Tiejin smiled and waved his hand, "Don't be polite. Also, Ling Yun, I have a small request. I would like to borrow this young lady Xiao Rou's Heavenly Eye for a look. I wonder if that would be convenient?"
Gu Xiaorou glanced at Ling Yun with some hesitation. At this moment, the Heavenly Eye was no longer important to her; what mattered was Ling Yun.
"Xiao Rou, let the chief instructor see the Heavenly Eye. If the leader can decipher its secrets, wouldn't that be killing two birds with one stone?" Ling Yun said calmly, his mind at peace, showing no emotional fluctuation at all because Tang Tiejin had asked to see the Heavenly Eye.
Gu Xiaorou reached out and took the silver ball pendant off her neck, then took out the Heavenly Eye and gently handed it to Tang Tiejin.
For the first time, a solemn expression appeared on Tang Tiejin's face. He gently pinched the Heavenly Eye between his index finger and thumb, examining it carefully.
Ling Yun and Gu Xiaorou looked at him nervously. This chief instructor was no match for the two of them, who were only half-baked superhumans. He was not only extremely strong but also very experienced. He might be able to see what secrets the Heavenly Eye held.
However, Tang Tiejin only watched silently for a while before returning the Heavenly Eye to Gu Xiaorou. Instead, he said something unrelated: "Ling Yun, try not to use the Heavenly Eye in the future. With your current strength, you cannot control the third eye. If you force it, it will easily devour your power."