Tang Wulin estimated that this place had to be at least 6,000 meters up sea level, so it was completely unsuitable for human habitation. It was undoubtedly the case that this as the destination for his trip, and the place where he was going to be joining the military.
The Amorous Douluo really had found quite a challenging place for him!
In any case, he had finally arrived, and with that in mind, he stretched his body before quickly rus.h.i.+ng toward the barracks up ahead.
However, he had only run a few steps when a sense of foreboding abruptly welled up in his heart, and he immediately came to a halt. Less than 20 meters ahead of him, four figures had emerged from within the snow without any premonition, and they had four extremely powerful-looking soul laser guns aimed directly at him.
All four of them were wearing thick white clothes, and they were holding their respective guns in a very steady manner. Even with Tang Wulin"s powers, he could sense a palpable threat from these four people.
He immediately raised his hands up into the air, and yelled, "Don"t shoot! I"m here to join the army."
One of the four soldiers in white put away his weapon while the other three were still aiming their guns at Tang Wulin.
The soldier made his way over to Tang Wulin without saying anything before conducting a quick pat-down search of his body. Only after ascertaining that he wasn"t carrying any weapons did the soldier open the visor on the helmet that he was wearing.
"Where"s your introduction letter?"
Tang Wulin hurriedly fished out the introduction letter than Zang Xin had given him from his storage ring before handing it over. This was a silver piece of metal with a snowy white bird emblazoned onto its surface. The bird was very majestic and resembled an eagle, but its bodily proportions were slightly different from a normal eagle. It appeared to be far larger than the average eagle, and was very muscular and intimidating.
Tang Wulin knew that this was a type of soul beast known as the Snow G.o.d Eagle, and they were said to be the guardian deities of snowy mountains, but they were extremely rare. He had only seen images of such a creature during his lessons at Shrek Academy. This symbol seemed to be the crest of this army.
Tang Wulin really wasn"t all that familiar with the military, and his goal for coming here was very simple; he wanted to integrate himself with this place, then gradually gain control over it through his own powers.
The name of this army was the Blood G.o.d Legion. That"s right, it was Blood G.o.d as opposed to Snow G.o.d. The p.r.o.nunciations of the two were the same, but the meanings they conveyed were completely different.
This legion didn"t even belong to the federal military. Instead, it was a completely special and independent existence, but this was the most powerful army on the entire continent, and they were guarding a secret realm that very few people on this continent knew about.
Only the elite of the elite had the right to join this legion, and there were only a few places that had the right to recommend soldiers to this place.
These places consisted of Shrek Academy, the Tang Sect, the Battle G.o.d Hall, the Spirit PaG.o.da, and a few other Soul Master sects that had been around for countless years.
There were no weaklings here as weaklings wouldn"t be able to survive in this place, and a military service period here spanned at least five years, which was far longer than that of other armies. However, most people chose to stay here for over 10 years.
After examining Tang Wulin"s introduction letter, the soldier suddenly stood up straight and extended a military salute toward him. The military salute here was different from that of normal federal soldiers; it consisted of making a fist with one"s right hand before thumping it into their own chest in a simple yet powerful manner.
Tang Wulin knew the importance of integrating into a new environment as quickly as possible, so he also made a fist with his right hand to return the salute. However, the soldier immediately grabbed onto his arm to stop him.
"You have no right to do that yet. Come with me." The soldier turned and strode toward the barracks as he spoke.
As expected, this place really was quite different. Tang Wulin"s heart stirred slightly, but he still quickly followed along. Meanwhile, the other three soldiers withdrew into the snow again, and the snow above them quickly became flat and even. It was as if they"d never appeared here.
The soldier led Tang Wulin over to the barracks, and the snow near the barracks had clearly been swept, revealing the hard ground underneath. For the first time in days, Tang Wulin was able to walk without having to wade through mounds of snow.
The soldier dusted off the snow on his body before quickly entering the barracks.
The environment in the barracks was vastly different from the outside world. Everything was very neat and orderly here, and aside from the fact that the entire structure was surrounded by snow, it appeared to be no different from normal barracks. However, Tang Wulin discovered that the people here were very few and far in between; there weren"t even any patrolling soldiers.
Tang Wulin didn"t ask any questions about this. The best way to gain an understanding of a place was to see and listen to things for himself. Furthermore, from the tone of the soldier that had led him to this place, he could deduce that the soldiers here were most likely all quite proud and perhaps even slightly xenophobic. Under these circ.u.mstances, all he could do was display his powers to earn everyone"s approval as soon as he could rather than waste time with words.
He wondered if the legions that all of his friends had been sent to were also as strange as this one.
The soldier led Tang Wulin over to a building, then pressed his palm against something, and a beam of light swept over them, following which the metal gate up ahead was opened.
"Come with me!"
After entering the building, a burst of warm air immediately surged toward them, and the soothing heat provided an indescribable sense of comfort. Even the air here seemed to be more abundant than it was outside.
Tang Wulin heaved a long and content sigh.
The soldier turned back to take a glance at him before removing her helmet, and Tang Wulin was greeted by the sight of a woman with a head of long brown hair.
She was very tall, and appeared to be around 25 to 26 years of age. She was wearing a thick military uniform, which was why Tang Wulin had been unable to discern her gender prior to this point. As such, he was rather taken aback to discover that this was a woman.
The female soldier wore a frosty look on her face. "Stop daydreaming and come with me. Let me tell you this; form now on, you need to prepare yourself. Whether you"ll be allowed to stay here will be decided during the next three days."
"Thank you." Tang Wulin nodded in response.
At this point, Tang Wulin was still severely underdressed for the setting, and the female soldier glanced at his attire before leaving a cryptic remark. "Arrogance is the fastest way to death."
She then immediately turned around and continued onward.
Tang Wulin was rather amused to hear this. He knew that she had to have thought that he was showing off by wearing so little in comparison to everyone else here. In reality, he wasn"t completely immune to the effects of extreme temperatures, but the air temperature here really didn"t affect him much. Furthermore, the stimulus provided by the cold increased the speed of his blood essence vortex"s rotation, so it was actually a.s.sisting him in his cultivation.
Tang Wulin followed the woman into the building, and his expression quickly changed. There were all types of devices and apparatus all around him, most of which he didn"t even recognize. There were very few people in here as well.
After walking through a pa.s.sageway, the female soldier led him into a room, and Tang Wulin finally saw a second person in that room.
This was also a female soldier who appeared to be in her forties, and her epaulets carried one line and two stars, indicating that she was a lieutenant.
"Lieutenant, this is a newbie; please arrange a trial for him." The female soldier"s expression remained quite cold.
The middle-aged military official immediately rose to her feet before pounding her chest as part of a military salute. "Yes, Major."
Major? The one who had brought him here was a major rather than a normal soldier?
Tang Wulin had studied military ranks quite extensively, and he was quite surprised to see such a young major, while the lieutenant was clearly a lot older.
After nodding to acknowledge the lieutenant, the female major turned and left.
Tang Wulin looked on at her departing figure, and he became even more intrigued by this place.
"Don"t be surprised, little guy; the major is always this serious when she"s completing missions. You don"t have to be alarmed by our military ranks, either. Here in the Blood G.o.d Legion, age is completely irrelevant; power and accolades are the only things that matter. I"m an administration official here, and my husband fights in the legion, so I essentially came here with him as family. If you can pa.s.s the trial, you"ll learn all of the rules here in the future."
[1] [The Chinese characters for snow (雪) and blood (血) have the same p.r.o.nunciation]