In the past, he had learned some mecha piloting skills at the Tang Sect, but the mecha instructors of the Tang Sect were nowhere near Ling Wuyue's level.

Ling Wuyue's boomerang martial soul was quite powerful, but it was obviously no match for his Golden Dragon King bloodline. This was an essential disparity in their powers, so she certainly hadn't lost to him in a technical aspect.

One had to realize that even with the speed enhancements Tang Wulin had received from his Dragon Moon battle armor, he had still been unable to evade Ling Wuyue's first attack! Battle armor masters normally far exceeded mechas in speed, so it was quite apparent just how extraordinary her mecha piloting skills were. As such, Tang Wulin genuinely wanted to learn from her.

Ling Wuyue harrumphed coldly, "Why should I agree to teach you?"

A smile appeared on Tang Wulin's face. He had brought up the subject, so he was naturally confident in his ability to convince her to accept his request. "I can help you forge the metals you need for your suit of two-word battle armor, and I'm talking about spirit alloys. I'm a Saint Blacksmith."

It had to be said that his identity as a Saint Blacksmith was extremely useful in many circumstances. It was not just something that he could flex with, but instead, a title that was definitely useful in a practical sense.

Sure enough, Ling Wuyue's eyes immediately lit up upon hearing this. However, her expression then quickly turned cold again. "You're a Saint Blacksmith? Who're you trying to fool? Why didn't you tell me that you're a Divine Blacksmith?"

A resigned look appeared on Tang Wulin's face. "But I really am a Saint Blacksmith! You can go and ask Jiang Wuyue if you don't believe me; I've forged some things for him in the past. Why would I lie to you about this? How about this? I can forge some metals for you, and you can teach me after that."

Ling Wuyue's expression changed slightly. "Are you really capable of forging spirit alloys?"

Tang Wulin replied, "I forged the metals for my own suit of battle armor; you can take a look at it for yourself. The most important thing about a suit of two-word battle armor is that it has to fuse into the battle armor master's body. For a Soul Master, a suit of two-word battle armor is far more useful than a suit of one-word battle armor master. At the same time, a strong foundation has to be established with one's suit of two-word battle armor. It has to integrate with the Soul Master's martial soul so it can be a suit of battle armor that's unique to them.

"Your cultivation rank has to be very close to 60 already, right? It's about time you began to prepare the metals required for your two-word battle armor so you can begin the construction process as soon as you become a Soul Emperor. After you attain a suit of two-word battle armor, it won't be easy for me to defeat you, and your boomerangs will become even more powerful."

Ling Wuyue nodded in response. During her battle against Tang Wulin, she had lost almost purely due to the disparity in the calibers of their martial souls. It was quite apparent to her that Tang Wulin possessed far greater aptitude as a Soul Master than she did, but nevertheless, the prospect of becoming a two-word battle armor master was still extremely tempting to her. She was already 28 years old, and if she couldn't become a two-word battle armor master before turning 30, then it would be very difficult for her to progress further in the future.

Her situation was rather similar to that of Mu Ye in that she'd dedicated most of her time and attention to mechas, and only now, when she was close to 30, did she realize that she had to put in more work on her martial soul. As such, Tang Wulin's words really struck a chord with her.

"Alright, if you can really forge the metals required for my suit of two-word battle armor, then you have yourself a deal; I'll teach you mecha piloting skills."

A faint smile appeared on Tang Wulin's face, and he asked, "Can I also ask you some questions about mecha-making in the future?"

"Sure," Ling Wuyue agreed without any hesitation. If Tang Wulin could forge suitable metals for her suit of two-word battle armor, then this deal would be skewed heavily in her favor.

The two of them shook hands to seal the deal.

Tang Wulin had always been one to do things quite quickly, and he led Ling Wuyue straight to his forging workshop.

"I can supply the first piece of metal required for your battle armor for free, but after that, you'll have to prepare the remaining materials on your own. Let's establish this agreement first."

Thus, Tang Wulin asked Ling Wuyue about what kind of battle armor she wanted before immediately beginning the forging process.

With his current skill level as a Saint Blacksmith, forging spirit alloys was naturally quite simple for him, and the spirit alloy that he forged for Ling Wuyue had a harmony rate of over 85%.

It had only taken him less than an hour to forge a silver pauldron-shaped piece of spirit alloy for Ling Wuyue.

Ling Wuyue looked at the piece of metal before her, which was emanating life force fluctuations, then glanced at the smiling Tang Wulin before heaving a long sigh. "I finally understand why Jiang Wuyue says you're a freak; you really ARE a freak! I'm going now. I'll teach you for two hours every afternoon when I'm off duty."

Tang Wulin was quite fond of Ling Wuyue's personality. It was slightly aggressive, but it was very simple and concise, making it very easy to interact with her. Her personality exemplified that of a stereotypical soldier.

Tang Wulin was naturally quite elated that he'd found a mecha instructor for himself. With Ling Wuyue's guidance, he'd definitely be able to progress very quickly both in his black mecha forging, as well as in his mecha piloting skills.

At the same time, he'd experimented with his blood soul fusion skill today, and as expected, it was incredibly powerful. He still had to continue to cultivate and refine this ability.

The fusion was only in its infancy stages at the moment, so there was a lot of room for improvement. Compared to martial soul fusion skills, the power of his blood soul fusion skills were still slightly lacking, but he firmly believed that his blood soul fusion skills would become just as powerful as martial soul fusion skills once he increased the harmony rate.

After his agreement with Ling Wuyue was established, Tang Wulin's daily life became even busier than before. He cultivated in the morning, then forged for Ling Wuyue in the afternoon and also took mecha lessons from her. At the same time, he had to prepare for his own black mecha construction. At night, he had to participate in the competition, and after that, he would continue to cultivate.

As his reputation as a Saint Blacksmith began to spread, some of the high-ranking officials of the legion began to come to him with forging jobs. There weren't many such jobs, but each and every one of them earned him a large sum of accolades. These accolades were all exchanged for uncommon materials to prepare for his black mecha construction. As for his suit of three-word battle armor, he wasn't in a hurry to forge metals for it.

He could already complete soul refinement now, but he was still a beginner with rather unpolished skills. Tang Wulin's plan was to only forge the metals required for his suit of three-word battle armor master after he became an eighth-rank blacksmith. This was something that was going to require time and accumulation.

Everything had to be done in order, and his current top priorities were to manifest a soul core, then progress to rank 60 in soul power so he could attain his sixth soul ring and fuse with the 100,000-year-old Beautiful Silk Tulip. Everything else would have to wait until after that. As such, he was only preparing for his black mecha, rather than rushing to commence the construction process. In any case, he didn't have enough time on his hands to be constructing it anyway. As for his suit of three-word battle armor, that was even further down his current list of priorities.

One had to be a seven-ring Soul Sage in order to truly bring out the full power of a suit of three-word battle armor. Even if Tang Wulin were to attain a soul core before that, he still wouldn't possess a martial soul true body, so the three-word battle armor would have to wait.

During the next few round-robin matches, the Soul Master battles were quite smooth, and Tang Wulin didn't encounter any overly powerful opponents. However, all of his mecha battle opponents were very difficult to deal with, and he had to use his martial soul advantage to defeat all of them.

"This is really strange!" Tang Wulin suddenly said in a low voice to Jiang Wuyue as they were having lunch together.

"What do you mean? What's strange?" Jiang Wuyue asked in a perplexed manner.

Tang Wulin replied, "Haven't you noticed that we still haven't encountered any particularly powerful opponents even in the round-robin stage? Could it be that there are no seven-ring and eight-ring seniors from the legions participating in the competition?"

Jiang Wuyue rolled his eyes in response. "So that's what's on your mind! Do you WANT to get abused? Isn't this a good thing?"

Tang Wulin's brows furrowed slightly. "How is this a good thing? We participated in this tournament as a means to improve ourselves; only with more powerful opponents will we be able to improve!"

Jiang Wuyue scoffed, "I see what this is; you're just a masochist! Let me tell you why this is the case; the legion made a decision to prohibit all soldiers at or above the seven-ring level to participate in the competition, so of course you haven't encountered any powerful opponents. Only a very small handful of the highest-ranking military officials are aware of the existence of our Blood God Legion. The western region of the continent is so bleak and barren; if a bunch of powerful Soul Masters suddenly appear to participate in the finals of the competition, our cover will be blown! As for the rewards on offer, those aren't enough to tempt our legion into risking exposure."