If Tang Wulin really were Blood Nine, then his identity as a major general was naturally a given, and his reckless actions could've resulted in severe consequences. In contrast, repairing this workshop would be a piece of cake.

"I'll get everything repaired for you right away!" After that, Ma Shan scurried away with his tail between his legs. After all, he was standing right out in the open in a very revealing manner.

Tang Wulin looked on at Ma Shan's departing figure and shook his head in a resigned manner. He had been struck by a minor ordeal completely out of the blue! As expected, progressing up the ranks too quickly wasn't a good thing.

"Ar, are you really already Blood Nine?" Long Yuxue's incredulous voice rang out from beside him.

Tang Wulin turned toward her with a smile, and said, "I am! There was a lot of luck involved, but at the very least, I'm Blood Nine as long as no one takes the title away from me. The authenticity of my identity is guaranteed or your money back!"

Long Yuxue stared at him with a blank expression.

Back when he'd first arrived at the legion base, she had been his instructor, teaching him all about the legion and taking him into the abyssal passageway to face abyssal creatures.

However, in just a few months, he had already become her superior. There appeared to be only a few ranks in between the lieutenant colonel and major general ranks, but those few ranks were like a massive, insurmountable gulf!

For some reason, Long Yuxue suddenly felt as if they were growing further and further apart.

Not long ago, he was still referring to her as superior, but now, the roles had already been completely reversed, and this sudden development was quite jarring to her.

"Don't think too much about it; we're still business partners. Truth be told, even I still feel like I'm in a dream." Tang Wulin raised a hand and waved it in front of Long Yuxue's glazed-over eyes.

Only then did she return to her senses, and she didn't say anything, but her expression had changed in a minute manner.

Not long after this, Ma Shan returned with a bunch of soldiers from the Iron Will Corps. Repairing the wall and the ground was an extremely simple task for them, and everything was back to normal in less than an hour.

Ma Shan's attitude had clearly changed. "My apologies for what happened earlier today, Superior; I was too reckless."

Tang Wulin smiled, and said, "Please don't call me superior, Corps Commander Ma; you're a strong pillar for the entire legion, and I was only lucky. The former Blood Nine held back against me, and only then did I get a chance to temporarily replace him. You can just call me Blood Nine or Tang Wulin instead of superior."

Ma Shan scratched his head, and chuckled, "Looks like we've become acquaintances through battle; I only admire people more powerful than me. Your strength is really amazing! I haven't lost in this regard for a very long time, and I thought that Jiang Wuyue would surpass me in the future, but who would've thought that you'd be even stronger than him? If we get some time in the future, I'd love to spar with you again. What happened earlier was a little awkward, but I love pure clashes of strength, and it's hard to find a suitable opponent!"

Tang Wulin's eyes lit up in response. "Sure! We can go and spar in the Star Battle Net later." Jiang Wuyue was firmly refusing to fight in the Star Battle Net no matter what he said, so he was searching for an opponent as well. As such, it would be fantastic news for him if he could have Ma Shan as a sparring partner.

"Alright, then it's a promise. I'll give you the number for my Blood God Bracelet, and we'll keep in touch. I have no hobbies other than fighting, and I never concede, so I hope you won't find me too annoying in the future!" Ma Shan chuckled.

Tang Wulin also chuckled, "Likewise."

The two of them exchanged a smile, and that hatchet was buried.

Tang Wulin continued, "Corps Commander Ma, I heard from Yuxue that you require metals for your suit of three-word battle armor. We can have a chat to determine your requirements so I can make a plan for you."

"That'd be great; I almost forgot about this."

Long Yuxue looked on at the pair of chummy men before her, feeling completely speechless. They were engaged in a fierce battle not long ago, yet they looked as if they were old friends now. The world of men was truly incomprehensible!

Tang Wulin's increased powers had also had a positive effect on his forging. After attaining his dragon core, his strength had improved to a whole new level, and forging naturally became a lot easier to him as a result. In particular, ever since he'd attained his yin yang vortex, his control over his soul power, strength, and bloodline power had become a lot more precise, thereby further contributing to his forging prowess.

He had completely consolidated himself as a Saint Blacksmith, and his soul refinement success rate had increased significantly.

After chatting with Ma Shan for a while, Tang Wulin was made aware of his requirements. His requirements were actually very simple; he wanted pure strength enhancement from his suit of battle armor.

After formulating a simple plan, Tang Wulin gave Ma Shan a few suggestions, making improvements to the metals in his original design. He then helped him choose four types of metals to be forged into a spirit alloy, then soul refined after that.

Forging spirit alloys had already become quite a simple task to Tang Wulin, but forging an alloy comprised of four different types of metals was still quite difficult. Furthermore, he had to soul refine the alloy as well, and that made things a lot more difficult. Even an eight-rank Saint Blacksmith couldn't guarantee a 100% success rate. Hence, Tang Wulin told Ma Shan that he'd require at least two months to forge the required metals, and he also required a sufficient supply of uncommon metals.

The material required naturally had to be supplied by Ma Shan, and the improvements made to his original plan naturally required the purchase of more materials. However, as the commander of the Iron Will Corps, Ma Shan had accumulated a lot of accolades, and he wasn't in a hurry to be promoted to a major general, so buying these metals naturally wasn't an issue for him.

Tang Wulin didn't charge him much in terms of labor fees. Ma Shan wanted enough metal for an entire suit of three-word battle armor, so this was a huge job, and all of the metals had to be soul refined. In the outside world, this would definitely require an astronomical amount of money, but Tang Wulin only asked for just enough accolades to purchase the uncommon metals required to construct his black mecha.

He was Blood Nine now, so he was entitled to a 30% discount on all metal purchases. As such, he didn't charge Ma Shan a lot of accolades, and that naturally further improved Ma Shan's impression of him.

However, Tang Wulin also had an additional condition, which was that Ma Shan had to fight him at least 100 times in the Star Battle Net, and he'd have to pay for the venue rental fees.

Even so, this was definitely a great deal for Ma Shan, so he immediately agreed.

The coming month was going to be very important to Tang Wulin. After defeating Blood Nine and being spurred on by Blood One, he had decided that he was going to do everything in his power to keep his title a month from now.

This was not to protect his military rank; it was only to protect his honor. At the same time, it was giving him even greater motivation.

Hence, he had devised a one-month improvement regime for himself.

The finals of the Star Battle Net Inter-federation Competition were going to commence in 15 days, so he was also training for that as well. However, prior to this, he had to further enhance his own powers by honing his abilities through battle. Tang Wulin firmly believed that he'd make further significant strides during the coming month.

Ma Shan's appearance had undoubtedly made his plan even more complete. After all, there was only one match of the competition being held per day, but he could call up Ma Shan at any time for sparring matches in order to challenge the limits of his own body.

Tang Wulin sat down with his legs crossed in his room, and his breathing became slow and even as he entered a profound state.

His dragon core was shimmering with golden light while the light from his soul core was more subdued, and his yin yang vortex was naturally absorbing natural energies into his body during its rotation.