Chapter 1004: Profit or Loss?

Blood One took a meaningful glance at Tang Wulin, and said, "The transformation that the seed of the ancient Golden Tree has undergone has benefitted the entire legion immensely. Everyone was nourished by its life force energy, and they've all become more powerful as a result. What reward would you like for this?"

"Reward? I get a reward for this? You were the one who helped me gather so much natural energies, right? I don't really think I can bring myself to ask for a reward! Can I ask for anything I want?" Tang Wulin's eyes were practically glowing.

Blood One had a smile on his face during the first half of Tang Wulin's words, but the conclusion had him at a complete loss for whether he should laugh or cry.

"You really are a greedy little rascal! That's not entirely a bad thing, though. Zhang Huanyun was the one who said that you can choose any reward you want, as long as it's within reason. In the beginning, I was the one who helped you gather natural energies, but after that, everyone chipped in along the way. The seed of the Golden Tree has absorbed an extremely enormous amount of energy; it's sucked away all of the natural energies within at least 500 square kilometers! If you had made your breakthrough anywhere else, you've would've definitely attracted a lot of attention."

Indeed, the extremely sparsely populated Skyend Mountain Ranges had been a perfect location for his breakthrough. If he had made his breakthrough in a place with higher population density, then there was no way that he would've been able to absorb such an enormous amount of natural energies so easily.

"As for a reward, can I ask for a promotion? I've already qualified for the finals for both Soul Master and mecha battles, so isn't it about time I received a promotion?" Tang Wulin asked in a careful manner.

Blood One couldn't help but smile upon hearing this. "Is a promotion that important to you? What I really want to know is why you want to be promoted so badly."

Tang Wulin replied, "Officials above the major rank get leave, don't they?"

Blood One faltered slightly upon hearing this, and Blood Three couldn't help but burst into laughter. "You want to be promoted just so you can take some leave? Members of our Blood God Battalion also get one day of leave per week; you can also save up your leave days and use them all at once for an extended holiday. Even though you're only a fringe member, you're entitled to that right as well."

"Hah?" Tang Wulin had no idea that members of the Blood God Battalion were entitled to a privilege like this.

Blood One couldn't help but chuckle at the sight of his flabbergasted expression. "Do you still want that promotion, then?"

Tang Wulin gritted his teeth, and replied, "Yes." 

The Blood God Legion could only offer him resources or a promotion as a reward. He could exchange his forging accolades for resources, but he could only receive promotions from the Blood God Battalion.

Blood One nodded, and said, "Alright, then a promotion is what you'll get. Zhang Huanyun is still in seclusion, but as long as there's a proper reason, our Blood God Battalion can also hand out promotions to our members. The battle accolades you've accumulated are already enough to promote you to the captain rank. On top of that, you made it to the finals of both battle disciplines, and with your current powers, you'll be a strong contender for the top three, so I'll give you the reward I promised you, which is a promotion to the major rank, early. On this occasion, the life force energy you brought to the legion benefited everyone immensely and extended everyone's lifespans by at least five years while also healing many people's chronic injuries.

"This is a massive contribution that you've made to the entire legion, and if we were to convert that into accolades, it would definitely be an astronomical number. Instead of going through the trouble to calculate the number of accolades you should receive, I'll just give you a promotion of two further ranks, which is something that's virtually unprecedented. Hence, you're going to be directly promoted to the colonel rank; are you willing to accept this as your reward?"

"Yes!" Tang Wulin blurted out almost without any hesitation, and even his voice had raised a few octaves. How could he be unwilling to accept this reward? What could possibly be better than this? This was the colonel rank! He had essentially just been launched up the ranks on a jet pack! This was the equivalent of being promoted from a lowly platoon leader directly to a corps commander! He was now even a rank above Jiang Wuyue; what a satisfying thought that was!

Blood One smiled and nodded as he said, "Very good. I'll arrange a promotion ceremony for you; you can go now."

"Thank you." Tang Wulin stood up straight before extending a military salute.

Blood One smiled and nodded in response.

Thus, Tang Wulin left in an excited manner. He was going to practice his spear techniques. He had manifested a soul core and become a lot more powerful than before, he was going to see if he had also made a breakthrough in his spear techniques.

Blood Three looked on as Tang Wulin entered the elevators in an elated manner before turning to Blood One with a conflicted look on her face. "Haven't you always been looking out for his best interests? Is it really good to screw him over like this?"

Blood One chuckled, "How am I screwing him over? He chose the reward himself; I didn't force him to choose this."

Blood Three heaved a resigned sigh. "But according to what the legion commander told us, we were permitted to give him the highest reward available in our legion, which is a red mecha! Our Blood God Battalion doesn't have any troops under its command, so a military rank is just a title that doesn't really do anything; it can't even begin to compare with a red mecha."

Blood One smiled, and said, "I'm naturally aware of that, but giving him a red mecha now may not be a good thing. He's developing too quickly; he needs more time to accumulate experience. Even if he does come into possession of a red mecha in the future, I want him to construct it through his own efforts, rather than just have one handed to him. He did indeed benefit the entire legion on this occasion, but that wasn't actually his own power. If I give him too much, I'm afraid that his ego will become overinflated. He had a very calm and steadfast personality, which is very rare and valuable, and I don't want to do anything to change that."

Blood Three sighed, "But you and I both know the severity of the hardships that he'll face in the future. If he possesses a divine mecha, that'll at least be an extra layer of protection."

Blood One shook his head with a serious expression as he countered, "The only thing that will truly keep him safe is his own powers. Mechas are indeed very useful, but for Soul Masters like us, we have to rely on our own powers if we want to make it to the very top. I see the potential in him to become more than just a Limit Douluo! He was chosen by the seed of nature; think about it, where did the ancient Golden Tree come from? It came from a place that can only be reached by gods. He received the approval of the ancient Golden Tree, which is the equivalent of approval from the seed of nature. He is the hope of nature on this entire continent. When you take all that into account, it's very like that his future lies..." He pointed directly upward as he spoke.

A stunned expression appeared on Blood Three's face. "Is that really possible?"

Blood One replied, "I don't know, but if there's any possibility at all, then it can only lie with him; I have absolute confidence in him."

Blood Three took a deep breath, and only now did she realize just how high a regard Blood One held Tang Wulin in.

Tang Wulin had no idea what he had just missed out on. He rushed directly over to the gravity training chamber, then pulled out his Golden Dragon Spear and continued to practice his spear techniques. 

In doing so, he quickly discovered that he had changed, and this change was a positive one that he had been anticipating for a long time.

He held onto his Golden Dragon Spear, and as he unleashed his first thrust, both his dragon core and soul core naturally exuded their auras. At this moment, Tang Wulin could sense the strange vortex that had appeared in between his two major energy vortexes releasing a burst of power into his spear.

This was the perfect fusion between his blood essence power and soul power.

The spear projection released by the spear had changed from its original dazzling golden color into a platinum color. Under normal circumstances, if he were to refrain from using any soul skills, a three-foot spear projection would be naturally released by a thrust from his Golden Dragon Spear. However, on this occasion, the spear projection was over seven feet in length.

That was only a casual strike that he'd unleashed without actively drawing on any of his own power!

This meant that not only had his spear projection undergone a qualitative change, its power had been enhanced by at least twofold. On top of that, the platinum spear projection had to be different from his past golden spear projection.

This was a massively pleasant surprise! His powers had increased considerably, and when he injected his power into his Golden Dragon Spear, he was able to gain a better and more profound understanding of this divine weapon. It seemed that the more energy he injected into the Golden Dragon Spear, the more of its own power it was able to unleash.

He unleashed one spear thrust after another, and platinum spear projections surged through the air. When Tang Wulin unleashed a spear strike with all his might, the spear projection exceeded 100 meters in length and almost punctured the training chamber.

Tang Wulin could feel his bloodline churning with excitement. Had he already become this powerful? However, this was a training chamber, so he didn't dare to unleash his full power.

He had to go to the Star Battle Net; that was the only place where he could unleash the full extent of his powers without any inhibitions.

"What are you up to, Wuyue? If you're free? How about a sparring match in the Star Battle Net? My cultivation's been going pretty well recently; are you up for a battle?... Oh? Your cultivation's also been going quite well? That's great! ... Are you paying?... What do you mean we'll split it 50:50? We're friends, aren't we?... You can pay for the sparring match; don't worry about me, I won't feel bad... Hey, don't hang up! Fine, we'll split it 50:50."

It was becoming harder and harder to convince Jiang Wuyue to pay for him in anything. This guy was becoming more and more cunning by the day!

If Jiang Wuyue could hear what Tang Wulin was thinking, then he'd immediately tell Tang Wulin that he was only learning from him!

Tang Wulin logged on to the Star Battle Net first and waited for Jiang Wuyue at the agreed location. Even though there were no competition matches being held, the Star Battle Net was very popular in the legion, so Jiang Wuyue would most definitely still have to line up. Only after Tang Wulin had waited for half an hour did he finally turn up.

"What took you so long?" Tang Wulin asked.