One time, Qin Fen held back his strength, deliberately allowing a minor slip-up at the very end, which resulted in a successful counterattack and the final victory for the other side.

"Won."

Lin Ling’s tone remained as icy as ever.

Qin Fen paid no mind to her tone; he was far more concerned with her true psychological state.

"How does it feel to win?"

Lin Ling answered without any hesitation: "As it should be. You made a mistake."

Qin Fen began to doubt his tactics—where exactly had he gone wrong? Had he not suppressed her enough?

"Aren't you happy?"

"Why should I be happy?" Lin Ling countered, meeting his gaze. "Your mistake was greater than mine. It’s normal that I won."

Qin Fen felt a pang of regret. It seemed he hadn't driven her to her absolute lowest point just now; the psychology taught by Squad Leader Hao hadn't been perfectly applied yet.

"Let's play something else."

Qin Qin stood up. Losing to Lin Ling once in this game meant that winning against her any further would be ineffective.

It was an online battle simulation game, modified at the arcade for close-quarters combat—a friendly sparring match using toy aircraft.

"Do you know how to fly this?"

Qin Fen felt a twinge of concern. If she simply replied that she didn't know how, his next planned move would be useless.

Lin Ling, without considering the question, slid into the fighter jet’s cockpit before stating, "Ace Pilot level."

Qin Fen, settling into the adjacent cockpit, felt a surge of surprise. He himself had only attained his current skill level after training under several monstrously skilled instructors. Where had this woman come from? A new recruit from the Army, possessing the rank of an Ace Pilot?

Qin Fen chose his signature fighter, the Ghost, and beneath his surprise, excitement bloomed. Regardless of what level of 'Ace Pilot' she claimed, he was confident he could fight her.

He recalled that even against the 'Waste Captain,' his win rate in one-on-one practice sessions had been thirteen percent.

In aerial combat, Qin Fen possessed an almost unimaginable natural talent.

Lin Ling being an Ace Pilot level was exactly what he had hoped for.

To utterly dismantle the skill someone was most proud of was the surest way to ignite their fighting spirit.

No further conversation was needed; both entered the preparation phase. Lin Ling also selected a Ghost fighter.

As the game announced, "FIGHT!", Lin Ling’s hands flew across the controls, attempting to gain the advantage by achieving an immediate takeoff.

Qin Fen didn't even bother thinking about takeoff. His hands flashed across the instruments in a rapid sequence of inputs. Before Lin Ling’s jet could even lift off the tarmac, it had disintegrated into fragments, the four letters on the screen glaringly conspicuous.

"OVER."

Lin Ling stared blankly at the screen for two seconds. This method of combat was entirely unfamiliar to her.

Qin Fen gestured toward Lin Ling’s screen. "Round two has begun. You can select your aircraft now."

Lin Ling made no adjustments or new selections, stubbornly choosing the same Ghost fighter as Qin Fen.

"FIGHT!"

Boom...

This time, the speed at which Lin Ling was blown up doubled.

Qin Fen had likely slowed down last time because she was unaware of his tactics. This time, with her fully aware of what he was capable of, he destroyed her again instantly.

"For round three, I will use this exact tactic again."

Qin Qin stated his method without concern, and seconds later, he blew Lin Ling out of the sky again.

"Tonight, I will use the same tactic one hundred times to destroy you a hundred times over."

Qin Fen’s arrogance elicited no discernible reaction from Lin Ling.

However, he didn't care; his only objective was to fulfill his boast.

One hundred rounds should have been an exceptionally long period for two people skilled in aerial combat.

But for Qin Fen and Lin Ling, the time passed surprisingly quickly.

Qin Fen strictly adhered to his declaration: one tactic used until the end.

It didn't matter which fighter Lin Ling chose, or whether she activated her energy shield immediately upon starting; the result was always instantaneous defeat.

Even when Lin Ling attempted to replicate Qin Fen's strategy to take him down with her, she couldn't manage it.

Qin Fen's control could only be described as 'monstrous.' His precision was perhaps more terrifying than a computer's, and his leaping, unpredictable thought process was something no machine could possess.

One hundred rounds.

Qin Fen stretched languidly, glancing sideways at Lin Ling, the so-called Ace Pilot.

Over these hundred rounds, Lin Ling tasted an insult she had never known before.

Having been told the tactic in advance, she had lost every single one of the hundred rounds, unable even to get airborne once.

This was because, during the last thirty rounds, Qin Fen had stated, "If you can manage to take off, then you win."

Faced with such a blatant challenge, Lin Ling possessed absolutely no means of resistance.

This time, she remained silent before the screen for a full minute.

After sixty seconds, she looked up at Qin Fen and said, "At my current level, I cannot defeat you. You are stronger."

Qin Fen had never encountered such a rationally detached woman. Her logic was mechanical, seemingly suppressing even her competitive drive.

"You don't want to beat me?"

"Victory is unobtainable," Lin Ling replied, stepping out of the cockpit. "Continuing this is meaningless."

Qin Fen felt a sense of failure. After an entire evening's effort, it seemed he had made no real progress.

The two walked unhurriedly toward the arcade exit. As they reached the entrance, Qin Fen patted his pocket, feeling his few remaining game tokens, then glanced at the claw machines near the door.

Adhering to a principle of frugality, Qin Fen approached the claw machines. Lin Ling stood quietly to one side.

These machines only held small plush toys, hair accessories, and similar trinkets—nothing suitable for a man.

Qin Fen turned to Lin Ling. "What do you want?"

"You won, I lost. I am not entitled to a reward."

Lin Ling maintained that air of inherent justification. This answer only made Qin Fen ponder harder: what kind of person had trained her?

Qin Fen stopped soliciting her opinion. After spending this evening together, if he still didn't understand what kind of person she was, he would be a fool.

He looked at Lin Ling. Her current attire was already perfect, but perhaps adding a hair clip would make her look even better.

He inserted a token and began to operate the claw.

Controlling the precision of the grip, and analyzing the necessary force, was no challenge for Qin Fen.

Soon, the delicate hair clip he had chosen was successfully retrieved.

"For you."

Qin Fen handed her the clip.

"For me?" Lin Ling was slightly taken aback. She tentatively reached out, taking the clip and scrutinizing it seriously from left to right. "It's unsuitable for combat; it would fall out easily."

Qin Fen realized he had never met such a dedicated warrior before, one who evaluated everything based on its combat utility first.

He gently took the clip back from Lin Ling's hand and, with slightly clumsy movements, fastened it into her hair, leading her to a nearby mirror. "How does it feel? Don't worry about its combat effectiveness."

"Pretty."

Lin Ling's single word of approval was the first sign Qin Fen detected of her possessing any normal sentiment.

"Then keep it," Qin Fen said, turning back to engage the claw machine again. He intended to win a bracelet he had spotted; the moment he saw it, he felt it would perfectly suit Song Jia, so even if he couldn't give it to her immediately, he could present it at their next meeting.

Lin Ling stared blankly at her reflection, then looked at Qin Fen, who was engrossed in operating the machine. Finally, she removed the clip, examining it closely from side to side. No one could know what thoughts were churning beneath her expressionless face.

Back at their lodging, Qin Fen did not press her further about happiness, gentleness, or bliss. He understood that these concepts would take more than a day or two to penetrate Lin Ling’s understanding.

After training with the veterans all day, Qin Fen was tired.

He took a shower and found Lin Ling staring blankly at the computer screen; he decided against further conversation.

He quickly performed a set of the Twenty-Four Form Simplified Tai Chi, followed by some stretching, and then went to bed, plunging into dreams where he sought instruction from another master.

"The meaning of a gift..."

Lin Ling scrolled through various online articles about the significance of gifts: what women give women, men give women, women give men, wives to husbands, husbands to wives.

Regardless of the answer, the consensus was that a gift represented a token of sincerity, an expression of goodwill.

Lin Ling took the hair clip from her head again. This was the first gift she had ever received, and the internet stated that the first gift was exceptionally precious.

"No combat function, a combat hindrance..." Lin Ling murmured, then placed the clip, which served no martial purpose, carefully on the dressing table before changing into a cute set of pajamas and climbing into Qin Fen's bed.

Qin Fen remained completely unaware of all this; he was undergoing the most grueling training of his life in his dreamscape. His instructor tonight was a master of the Hard Style lineage, who found no fault in his Hard Fist technique, merely delivering blow after relentless blow with an even fiercer counter-style.

The only thing that brought Qin Fen comfort was that the Hard Fist delivered by this master was a Four-Star peak technique!

He remembered that not long ago, any master in this dreamscape, using only Two-Star strength, could batter him—then a Four-Star practitioner—into the ground. Now, facing a Four-Star peak power, he was only being pushed onto the defensive. This proved he had made massive strides in force control.

However, the higher the level ascended, the harder precise control became. Qin Fen even suspected that if he reached Six-Star, facing these masters’ attacks, he would still function at a Four-Star level.

Soon, Qin Fen dismissed this speculation as unproductive.

His current goal was simple: push his strength hard so he could successfully complete the mission coming up soon. This, too, was a challenge to himself.

If he dared not venture into the Golden Triangle, what kind of heroic spirit would he possess to face challengers emerging from various planets at any moment?

With a clear objective, Qin Fen's efforts became even more desperate.

The following week passed in a blur. By day, he sparred fiercely with the veterans in the gravity room, requiring technicians to perform specialized maintenance daily to prepare the room for the next day’s use.

By night, he accompanied Lin Ling, who had taken the initiative to go shopping, as they wandered around searching for that elusive emotion called happiness.

Late at night, he received guidance from the strong figures in his dreams.

The Theoretical Master, in particular, stopped discussing Qin Fen’s future trajectory and instead engaged him in a detailed debate on the advantages and disadvantages of various martial arts internal energy systems.

Regarding internal energy knowledge, Qin Fen never considered himself a master-level expert, though he never suffered from false modesty either.

As he delved deeper into the martial path, he was beginning to grasp that the ability to cultivate the Jade Maiden Heart Sutra was, in itself, a heaven-defying feat.

Yet, for him, this heaven-defying feat didn't feel particularly significant.

Qin Fen initially thought his discussion with the Theoretical Master was merely to broaden his horizons.

However, when he awoke the next day and fought the veterans again, he realized that during combat, he was unconsciously filtering and selecting the subtle external force techniques discussed, and even his simulated Vajra Crushing Essence technique could easily achieve more than double the pressure amplification.

A week passed—neither very long nor very short.

Qin Fen sped through the week in this intense and fulfilling routine.

Although he hadn't achieved another breakthrough, Qin Fen felt he was separated from the Six-Star level by only a thin sheet of window paper.

Moreover, even without breaking through, the training he received in these days made him confident that if he faced any existing Six-Star martial artist, he might not be the one at a disadvantage.