Chapter 984: Unyielding

"Tang Wulin." Tang Wulin was looking straight ahead without any changes in his expression as if he hadn't just sent Zhang Huanyun flying.

Zhang Huanyun was enraged to the point of laughter upon seeing this. This little bastard had just thrown him through the air, yet he was looking as if he'd done nothing wrong! Not taking into account anything else, his mental fortitude was quite remarkable.

"Don't you know the rules here? Why didn't you line up?" Zhang Huanyun asked in a calm and placid voice.

Tang Wulin's expression remained unchanged as he replied, "During the competition, I faced Superior Long Yuxue in battle, and an incident occurred during the match that led me to believe that she may have been hurt, so I rushed over to find her."

"You just competed? How did you compete when you weren't even here? Hmm? You're from the Blood God Battalion?" Only then did he notice the crimson rose pattern on Tang Wulin's Blood God Bracelet.

"Yes, Superior, I'm a fringe member of the Blood God Battalion."

Zhang Huanyun said, "Very good. The Blood God Battalion produces only heroes, not rule-breakers. Even if you're part of the Blood God Battalion, you have to accept the same punishment as normal soldiers when you make a mistake. Are you willing to accept your punishment?"

Tang Wulin immediately replied, "No."

A loud commotion immediately rang out as soon as he gave his reply.

Who was Zhang Huanyun? He was not someone who had just been instated as the commander of the Blood God Legion. Instead, he's been in the Skyend Mountain Ranges for 60 years, and he climbed all the way up to his current position from a normal soldier. It could be said that he was the most influential figure in the entire Blood God Legion; even Blood One, Heartless Douluo Cao Dezhi, couldn't compare with him in that regard.

Tang Wulin was the first person who had dared to speak to him like that in the past several decades.

Zhang Huanyun couldn't help but laugh again. "Why aren't you willing to accept your punishment?"

Tang Wulin's expression changed slightly, and he replied, "I feel that the punishment you hand down to me will most likely be more severe than it should be."

Zhang Huanyun chuckled, "Oh? So you're afraid that my punishment won't be fair?" 

"Yes," Tang Wulin replied.

Zhang Huanyun continued, "As a soldier of the military and the commander of the Blood God Legion, I do everything in my power to treat every single subordinate of mine with absolute fairness. I definitely won't allow my personal emotions to affect my decisions, and this is a mantra that I've sworn by ever since the first day I joined the Blood God Legion. That ethos has never changed during the past 60 years and 163 days. However..."

Tang Wulin's lips twitched upon hearing this. He wasn't going to make an exception here, was he?

"Even though I won't make an exception for you, you're not a soldier under my command, and you attacked a superior of yours, so there's a range of punishments that are applicable here. Come with me!" Zhang Huanyun waved a hand toward Tang Wulin as he spoke before turning to depart.

Only then did Long Yuxue get a chance to ask in a low voice, "What did you do?"

A wry smile appeared on Tang Wulin's face. "I was in a bit of a hurry just now, and he stood in my way, so I maaaay have thrown him aside..."

"Hah?" Long Yuxue's legs almost gave out from under her.

Even her father had to refer to this man as senior in a private unofficial setting.

However, despite her astonishment, her expression also changed slightly as she appraised Tang Wulin. He had only done something so rash because he had been concerned for her safety!

Tang Wulin followed Zhang Huanyun out of the resting area in an obedient manner. Zhang Huanyun strode on ahead with his head held high, and his expression appeared to be completely unchanged. Meanwhile, Tang Wulin actually wasn't all that worried. His mental fortitude had been forged on the demonic island, and the old demon had taught him that it was always important to calmly analyze everything instead of flying into a blind panic.

What was the Blood God Legion? It was a noble organization that guarded the entire federation. This man had been the commander of the legion for several dozens of years, and he was also a federal general, so he was definitely a man of justice. Even though Tang Wuln had just thrown him to the side, he had made sure to hold back so even a normal person wouldn't have been injured by that fall. At the same time, he wasn't just doing this for no reason!

As the commander of such a powerful legion, there was no way that he would actually have a bone to pick with a mere second lieutenant like him. As such, he had intentionally expressed an unwillingness to accept a punishment for him in order to make a lasting impression. After all, shouldn't a soldier possess an unyielding spirit? Besides, he really didn't think that he'd done anything wrong. He hadn't been trying to push through the line for his personal benefit; he was simply in a hurry to inspect his comrades' condition.

However, Long Yuxue was clearly not as calm as he was. She was following along closely beside Tang Wulin, and was at a complete loss for words. Due to the fact that she'd been living in the Skyend Mountain Ranges her entire life, she was extremely aware of just how lofty a position Zhang Huanyun held in the legion. In a sense, even the Blood God Battalion had to follow his orders.

Zhang Huanyun strode directly into the control center, and Tang Wulin and Long Yuxue followed along behind him like a pair of guards.

Only after entering the elevator did Zhang Huanyun turn around to appraise the two of them with a hint of a smile on his face.

He had to admit, this was a match made in heaven! 

What a handsome young man; almost as handsome as I was in my younger days! 

"Where are you from, Tang Wulin?" Only now did Zhang Huanyun realize that he didn't recognize this new soldier.

Tang Wulin immediately replied, "Shrek Academy."

Zhang Huanyun's expression changed slightly upon hearing this, and he asked with furrowed brows, "Did you join the legion after Shrek Academy was destroyed?"

There were over 20,000 people in the Blood God Legion, but he'd been here for several decades already, so he had a certain level of recollection of all of them. Tang Wulin was a second lieutenant and was completely unrecognizable to him, so he was clearly a new soldier. As for how he'd been promoted to the second lieutenant rank, an abyssal tide had just taken place, so it was only normal that he'd managed to earn a quick promotion.

"Yes, Superior," Tang Wulin replied in a clear voice.

Zhang Huanyun's eyes widened slightly as he sighed, "Shrek Academy, eh?"

Tang Wulin could see a very forlorn look in his eyes, but none of the grief and rage that Blood Three and Blood Five had displayed. From his reaction, Tang Wulin could deduce that this man definitely didn't come from Shrek Academy.

Zhang Huanyun continued, "In that case, you most likely weren't recommended here by the academy; who recommended you to come here?"

Tang Wulin replied, "It was His Majesty, the Amorous Douluo of the Tang Sect."

An enlightened look appeared on Zhang Huanyun's face. "I see. No wonder you were able to join the Blood God Batallion so quickly."

"I was enlisted into the Blood God Battalion based on my abilities!" Tang Wulin countered in a clear voice.

At this moment, the elevator drew to a halt, and a "ding" sound rang out as the door was opened.

A hint of amusement appeared on Zhang Huanyun's face. "You seem very confident! You're a very driven young man. Come with me."

He then stepped out of the elevator and walked on ahead.

Long Yuxue was standing behind Tang Wulin with a myriad of emotions flashing through her eyes.

"Yuxue, can you stop pinching me?" Tang Wulin sighed with a resigned smile on his face. As he was answering Zhang Huanyun's questions, Long Yuxue had been constantly pinching him on the back, and it really hurt!

Long Yuxue said in a low voice, "You idiot! How could you... How could you speak to the legion commander like that? Even my father wouldn't dare to speak to him like that!"

Tang Wulin was feeling rather speechless. He was naturally aware that Long Yuxue was only looking out for his best interests, but he was even more aware that a soldier couldn't just be respectful and obedient all the time.

"You don't understand." Tang Wulin shook his head in a resigned manner before striding out of the elevator and following Zhang Huanyun.

Zhang Huanyun's office was the largest that Tang Wulin had seen in the legion. However, it wasn't lavish in the slightest. There were a few bookshelves, a table, a few sofa chairs for guests, and there weren't any extra ornaments or embellishments on the walls.

Zhang Huanyun sat down on one of the sofa chairs, and Tang Wulin took a seat across from him.

"You seem to be very confident in yourself, lad! How about you tell me why you deserve to be a part of the Blood God Batallion?" Zhang Huanyun asked with a smile on his face.

Tang Wulin replied, "Superior, my name is Tang Wulin, and I am an inner court disciple of Shrek Academy. I am the captain of the current generation of Shrek’s Seven Monsters, and I'm a rank 59 Soul King. My conjoined weapon, which is my Golden Dragon Spear, can allow me to absorb the energy of abyssal creatures, making it impossible for their abyssal energy to be recycled. After Senior Blood Eight discovered my abilities, she took me to the Blood God Battalion, and Senior Blood One enlisted me as a fringe member. Blood One assigned me a mission, prohibiting me from entering the abyss, as during the recently concluded abyssal tide, two abyssal emperors unleashed direct attacks against me. It was Blood Eight who saved me on both of those occasions."

Zhang Huanyun was indeed very interested in Tang Wulin, and he found Tang Wulin to be quite intriguing. He had indeed been caught off guard at the time, but even so, no ordinary person could just throw him like that. As a man who was extremely close to the Limit Douluo stage, even if he were entirely unprepared, his body would display an emergency response to attacks. Tang Wulin harbored no malicious intent, so the emergency response wasn't all that pronounced at the time, but his body weight had still multiplied by severalfold as a very natural reaction, thereby making it very difficult for someone to pick him up. However, he had sensed at the time that Tang Wulin possessed insane strength, and he had even been struck by a hint of oppressive pressure from Tang Wulin.