Tang Wulin was quite glad that he"d pa.s.sed his trial, but he was also rather frustrated that he"d been forced to reveal his bloodline soul rings at such an early state. However, the battles he"d just endured made him feel very good. This sense of pressure was very beneficial to honing his practical combat skills, and the special type of energy he"d absorbed from the Ba"an through his Golden Dragon Spear had also benefited him immensely.
In that instant, he felt as if he"d eaten some kind of extraordinary food that had enhanced his body. Due to how powerful his physical const.i.tution currently was, it had been a long time since he"d last experienced such a feeling. Unfortunately, everything was only a simulation. If only such beings existed in real life; he"d be able to continue to bolster his own body by hunting such creatures.
He followed the major through the base as he recalled the battles that had just taken place to a.s.sess and learn from them.
Soon, the major returned to the room where they"d been once before, and they met the lieutenant again.
"Was the trial completed? That certainly took quite a while! Did he pa.s.s?" the lieutenant asked with a smile.
The major nodded in response. "He did."
Tang Wulin noticed that they weren"t referring to one another by their military ranks during this conversation?
"What grade did he receive?" the lieutenant asked in a curious manner.
The major shook her head in response. "I"m not sure yet; I"ll have to wait for a verdict from the higher-ups, but it"s a very high grade."
"A very high grade?" The lieutenant knew this major very well, and she knew that there weren"t many people in the entire Blood G.o.d Legion that could earn such high praise from her. Just from that alone, she could tell that this handsome young man had thoroughly impressed her.
"Please take him to collect his things and arrange a temporary place for him to stay for now. We"ll find him a more permanent place after a verdict is handed down from our higher-ups," the major said.
"Alright, do you want to take him on a tour so he can get more familiar with our base? He"s already a member of our Blood G.o.d Legion now, after all," the lieutenant asked with a smile.
The major hesitated momentarily, but still nodded in the end. "Alright, I"ll wait for him outside while you complete his registration."
After that, she turned and walked away. However, she had only taken a few steps before suddenly stopping and turning toward Tang Wulin again. "My name is Long Yuxue."
Only then did she exit the room.
Long Yuxue... It sounded like a name with a story behind it.
"Do you like her name?" the lieutenant asked with a smile.
Tang Wulin smiled, and replied, "I do."
The lieutenant put on a mysterious expression, and said, "She"s still single, so you have to work hard!"
Tang Wulin faltered slightly upon hearing this before bursting into laughter. "Are you a part-time match-maker as well?"
The lieutenant heaved a faint sigh. "What can I do? She"s my only daughter."
Daughter? Tang Wulin was stunned to hear this. Long Yuxue didn"t really bear much of a resemblance to this lieutenant.
"She takes after her father. You must feel like our relations.h.i.+p is a little strange, right? It"s actually quite simple. We"re in the legion base here, and during normal work hours, we"ll refer to one another by our military ranks, but during breaks, she"s still my daughter. Alright, that"s enough rambling from me; let"s get you registered. We"ve got your basic information from your invitation letter already. You"re Tang Wulin, and you"re a student from Shrek Academy"s inner court, right?"
"Correct." Tang Wulin nodded in response.
The lieutenant continued, "You"re 21 years old? What rank is your soul power currently at? Please give an honest answer."
"It"s around rank 58; I haven"t tested it for a while," Tang Wulin replied in a truthful manner.
The lieutenant praised, "As expected of a student from Shrek Academy! What about your battle armor? What"s its name?"
Tang Wulin replied, "Dragon Moon."
"You have a suit of two-word battle armor?" The lieutenant"s heart jolted upon hearing this. She was beginning to understand why her daughter seemed to be treating him differently compared to other men. She had taken the initiative to inform Tang Wulin of her daughter"s single status because Long Yuxue had introduced herself to him earlier. As her mother, she had never seen her do that before!
"Yes," Tang Wulin replied with a nod.
After completing his registration, the lieutenant brought over a few sets of military uniforms before handing them to Tang Wulin. Two of them were rather thin, while the other two sets were thick winter uniforms. That was all that he received.
"Superior, don"t we get any weapons here?" Tang Wulin asked.
The lieutenant shook her head in response. "No one gets anything free of charge here in the Blood G.o.d Legion. If you want better weapons and higher military ranks, you"ll have for all of that. Here in this legion, accolades are the only viable form of currency."
He had to acc.u.mulate accolades? How was he going to do that? By completing missions? Surely that would be quite a difficult task. In Tang Wulin"s mind, it was very unlikely that the evil Soul Masters of the Holy Spirit Cult would be lurking in a place with such a harsh environment.
"You"ll figure everything out soon. Go on now, she"s waiting for you outside," the lieutenant urged with a slightly suggestive smile on her face.
Tang Wulin smiled, and replied, "Superior, I already have a girlfriend."
The lieutenant faltered slightly before giving a nonchalant shrug. "So what? All possibilities are open before marriage."
Tang Wulin didn"t respond to that. He thumped his right fist against his chest to complete his first official military salute, then stowed his uniforms away into his storage ring before making his way outside.
Long Yuxue was waiting outside with her usual cold expression on her face. She turned toward Tang Wulin as he emerged, and said, "Come with me; I"ll take you to the place that you"ll be staying and also give you a brief tour of the base."
The weather was still very cold, but this degree of coldness didn"t affect Tang Wulin much.
"The first things you need to know are what places you can"t go to. That building over there is the legion control center. Without a sufficient military rank or an instruction from a superior, you"re prohibited from entering that place. Over there is the weapons warehouse; it"s a restricted zone that you can"t enter for no good reason. Those are the barracks, and the training area is over there. Those are the places where you"ll generally find the most people. The training area has the most cutting training facilities in the entire federation, and you can access those facilities at any time, but you have to wear your military uniform. Your uniform has your identification badge within it, and without your uniform, it"ll be quite difficult for you to go anywhere in the base."
Long Yuxue gave Tang Wulin a very detailed introduction of the base.
"Superior, I have a question; can I leave the base as I please?" Tang Wulin asked.
Long Yuxue stopped and turned around to look at him. "Why would you leave the base?"
Tang Wulin replied, "Perhaps I"d like to take a walk outside sometimes."
Long Yuxue replied in an indifferent manner, "You get no holidays until you become a major, and after you become a major or a higher ranking official, you"ll get one day"s break per week. However, before you leave, you have to hand over all of your weapons, including your mecha, and you"ll only be able to leave through your own power."
"I see."
Tang Wulin wasn"t concerned about that. Everything would be fine as long as they didn"t prohibit him from using his martial soul and battle armor. It was slightly far to be making a return trip to and from the Scorching Basin in a day, but he"d just have to fly there.
However, the major military rank was quite far away from him!
According to his understanding of the military, after joining the army, one started off as a rank soldier. There were also second-rank and first-rank soldiers above this.
After that, the progression went second lieutenant, lieutenant, captain, and only after that was the major rank
This meant that he was still five or six ranks away from his goal.
"Raising your military rank is pretty easy in the initial stages, especially with your combat prowess. However, before that, you have to undertake a month of special training. This is something that needs to be undertaken by all new soldiers. During this month of training, you"ll learn about the Blood G.o.d Legion and also what duties you have as a member of the Blood G.o.d Legion."
Tang Wulin couldn"t help but ask, "Superior, how long did it take you to become a major?"
Long Yuxue raised an eyebrow in response. "Don"t get ahead of yourself. It took me four years to get to this rank, and you"ll most likely progress faster than I did, but remember not to strive for too many accolades. Most of our young casualties in the Blood G.o.d Legion arose as a direct result of this. During your month-long special training, there"s a special segment to address that topic."
"I see." Four years... He couldn"t leave Gu Yuena at the Scorching Basin for four years! What was even more frustrating to him was that there was no signal here for his soul communicator, which meant that he couldn"t even contact Gu Yuena right now.
"Are you in a hurry to leave?" Long Yuxue had detected the changes in Tang Wulin"s expression.
Tang Wulin replied, "Not really; I"m just in a hurry to improve."
He naturally wasn"t going to tell her that he had a girlfriend waiting for her outside the legion; that would be a major taboo topic in any army.
Long Yuxue led Tang Wulin to a barrack before making her way into the. The interior of the barrack was very clean, and it was entirely constructed from metal. However, as soon as one entered the barrack, they"d discover that the temperature was much higher here than outside. It was a very warm and cozy place.
"This is your room. Everyone gets separate rooms here, and the room you get will depend on your military rank. You"re a newbie, so this is the lowest level of accommodation. You"ll be able to upgrade once you become a second lieutenant. After that, you"ll have to become a major for your next upgrade. The results of your trial will be a.s.sessed today, and your special training will commence tomorrow. You can rest for now."
[1] [The name literally translates to Dragon Rain Snow, I"m not sure if this is just an errant remark by the author that won"t ever lead to anything, but just in case it"s explored again in the future, that"s what the name means.]