Tang Wulin had his own Star Dou Cabin, so he could enter at his convenience. Having missed Gu Yuena after the battle with Jiang Wuyue earlier, he made the decision to call her on his communicator.
Tang Wulin stretched his body for a while after he had left the cabin. It was slightly shabby, but it did not make him uncomfortable.
Tang Wulin picked up his soul communicator and connected the signal amplifier, which he had reluctantly purchased with his merit points before he dialed Gu Yuena's number. There was no way he could call to the outside without an amplified signal, but he would need to pay for its every use and his calls would be monitored by the army to prevent the disclosing of military secrets.
Fortunately, the merit points exchanged came from his forging merit points.
The call was connected.
"Doo-doo, doo-doo, doo-doo!"
'No one picked up? Where is she?'
Tang Wulin dialed twice, but there was no answer either time. He could not help feeling slightly anxious.
Even though Gu Yuena possessed great powers, she had no idea whatsoever as to how to use them due to her amnesia!
What should he do now? Tang Wulin was not allowed to leave the army at this time.
The call was finally answered when he dialed for the sixth time.
"Father!" Gu Yuena's joyful voice was heard from the other end of the call.
"Gu Yue, where did you go?" Tang Wulin's voice sounded a little offended.
Gu Yuena did not seem to notice. She laughed and spoke, "I went out to play! I had barbecued meat. It's so scrumptious, and the barbequed meat man only took half of my money. So tasty."
Tang Wulin could not help saying, "Take your soul communicator when you go out to play in the future. I'm anxious when I can't find you."
"Hmm, hmm. Father, when are you coming to visit me?" Gu Yuena's voice was filled with anticipation.
Tang Wulin replied, "I'm taking part in a competition. I can come to visit you if I can score a good result. It will begin in two days, and I estimate that it will take over a month's time to complete. I'll come to see you immediately after the competition has ended."
"Why are you taking so long?" Gu Yuena's voice sounded like she was wronged.
"Be a good girl, Gu Yue. It's going to be fine in a while. I'll call you on the sou communicator every day, okay?"
"Hmm. Alright, then I shall wait for you over here. Father, please tell me in advance if you're coming back, so I won't be out me playing again."
"Sure, I'll tell you in advance for certain."
Tang Wulin felt especially satisfied upon listening to her voice. Actually, he felt slightly worried every time he called her soul communicator, as he wondered whether she had already regained her memories due to the Velvet Skyreach Chrysanthemum's medicinal effect.
He was being pulled between concern and anticipation. He found that he was afraid that Gu Yuena did not pick up his call earlier because she might have already left after regaining her memories.
He could only calm down after hearing her voice.
"What? You're not taking part in Federal Star Dou Battle Network Challenge? Why? This is a good opportunity. If you must know, your nomination as a reserve spiriter has already arrived at our highest level of authority. You will certainly pass if you achieve a good result through this competition. It should be easy for you with your powers. Why aren't you taking part, huh?"
"I'm sorry, teacher. I don't wish to take part anymore. There's no reason. I trust in my abilities and that I can still become a reserve spiriter anyway. Please help me explain to the Pagoda Master. Tell him that I plan to engage in closed-door cultivation and break through to Soul Sage rank."
"You're about to reach to Soul Sage rank? Really?"
"Hmm, I'm almost there. I'll need to engage in closed-door cultivation for a period of time. Teacher, thank you for your trouble."
"Sure, things will be different if you can get to Soul Sage rank. Let's see who would still dare to talk behind our backs. Work hard."
"Compensation? You think too much of yourself. You don't even have that amount of money? I thought you're a Saint Craftsman-ranked blacksmith?" Blood One was speechless as he looked at Tang Wulin. He had never thought that the boy would meet him over such a trivial matter.
Tang Wulin spoke with a confused expression, "But it's so expensive! Shouldn't I be getting some sponsorship since I'm representing our Blood God Army in the competition?"
"Boy, how stingy can you be?" Blood One could not help laughing aloud for he had never expected the young boy to be such a miser.
Tang Wulin hastily spoke with a flattering smile, "It's not that I'm stingy! I really don't have much money. See, I was just a poor student. I need to cultivate and forge, and don't these things require money? I'm a Saint Craftsman-rank blacksmith, yet I don't have anything coming from that either! I don't have time to earn by forging. I can get merit points by forging within the army, and the merit points can't be used to promote my military rank. That's a rule that is specifically targeting me, so how can I earn with my forging?"
Blood One pondered for a moment before he said, "Our Blood God Army doesn't really have the concept of money. However, you should be able to exchange forging merits with money even if it can't be used to promote your military rank. Here, let me help you to convert a portion of your merit points into Federation coins as it is usually done. The conversion rate is one to one hundred, so calculate it yourself."
One to one hundred? Tang Wulin immediately felt like he was at a loss.
"That's too low, isn't it? A Saint Craftsman can make millions from a commission out there, while I make one to two thousand merit points for each mission. I've only managed to score one soul forging case for ten to twenty thousand merit points so that only converts to a few million Federation coins…"
"Leave it if you don't agree. Figure out a way by yourself." Blood One waved his hand as if he was swatting a fly.
"No! I still want it," Tang Wulin hastily said with a smile. It would be nice for him to use his excess merit points in exchange for some Federation coins. In truth, he had no lack of funds. It would be relatively better for him to use his merit points to exchange for some rare resources.
He saw from the military supplies department that a wide variety of rare metals were available there. Moreover, there were also some valuable items that could not be found elsewhere. These could only be exchanged for merit points. So, who could say that merit points were useless?
Tang Wulin headed straight for his own forging workshop after he left the Blood God Battalion. He was not feeling anxious for there were still two more days until the Federal Star Dou Battle Network Challenge began. It should not be too much of an issue for him during the first few rounds of the division competition at least. It could not be helped even if he were to truly encounter a powerhouse of an unexpected rank.
He would certainly devote all his efforts into fighting for the chance to be promoted to major soon. However, he had also drafted a series of plans for himself at the same time.
Mu Ye once told him that battle armor and mechas did not need to conflict with each other since the beginning. A top-ranked battle armor master could still own a mecha, only that it was a rare occurrence for a top grade battle armor master to also be a top grade mecha master.
Long ago, Mu Ye made the wrong choice and focused all his efforts into mechas. He eventually became a divine mecha master, but he missed the best period to cultivate his battle armor and lost the opportunity to own four-word battle armor.
Tang Wulin's present situation was much better for he was already a two-word battle armor master at just over twenty years old. Moreover, he could begin forging his own three-word battle armor's metal after he had a broken through to a six-ringed cultivation base. He was already a Saint Craftsman so he was certainly capable. He would only need to accumulate for a few years before he could become a three-word battle armor master.
On the other hand, he had never had adequate time or resources before in regards to his mecha, so he had not paid too much attention to that. He had already made the decision now to forge a special mecha that was compatible with himself. Moreover, he would forge it to the standards of a black mecha. At the same time, his mecha would be just like his battle armor with the possibility for future advancement.
He would require a large number of resources including metal, while he could do ensure the best forging by doing it himself. At the same time, he would also need to learn many things by himself including the study of circuits and mecha design.
He thought about seeking help from someone, but only he would know what was best for himself. Mecha design was not as complicated as battle armor because battle armor was made to fuse into one's body while mechas came in larger sizes that made the designing and modifying process much easier. Thus, Tang Wulin made the decision to forge his own mecha by himself.
All sorts of resources necessary to forge mecha could be exchanged with merit points naturally. Hence, he still needed more merit points in order to proceed.
Tang Wulin received Long Yuxue's call that a three-word battle armor master was here to have his battle armor repaired before Tang Wulin headed to the Blood God Battalion earlier. The battle armor master was seeking his help.
Tang Wulin was startled when he saw the person before himself was Xu Weitao. He was no longer the confused new recruit in the Blood God Army anymore. He could recognize that this man was the division master from the Blood Division that was one of the two great divisions in the Blood God Army. He was one of the fourteen most powerful people in the entire army, a Title Douluo-ranked three-word battle armor master!
Long Yuxue cast Tang Wulin a look as she stood by Xu Weitao's side.
Tang Wulin hastily stood at attention and saluted. "Sir."
Xu Weitao patted Tang Wulin's shoulder with a pleasant smile on his face. "You're already a member of the Blood God Battalion now, so you're no longer governed by the army's military ranks. You can address me as Old Xu."
Old...Old Xu?