Tang Wulin replied, "I'm at the Blood God Battalion."

Long Yuxue continued, "Are you busy right now? I found a customer for you. The commander of the Iron Will Corps wants you to forge some metals for him."

The commander of the Iron Will Corps? Wasn't that Jiang Wuyue's direct superior? Tang Wulin had heard about this man, and he was somewhat of a legendary figure in the Blood God Legion. He had fought in several hundred battles in the past, and he always led from the front. He possessed extremely powerful combat prowess, and was an eight-ring Soul Douluo, as well as a two-word battle armor master.

He had made countless contributions to the legion, and apparently, he was going to be promoted to become a vice-legion commander in the near future.

"Alright, I'll head over right now," Tang Wulin replied.

Long Yuxue cautioned, "Corps Commander Ma has a rather short temper, so make sure to be careful with what you say around him. Also, he donates a lot of his accolades to his subordinates, so he's hoping that you can give him a discount; you can discuss the specific details when you meet him."

Tang Wulin replied, "Sure, I'll see how it goes."

Long Yuxue continued, "Corps Ma holds a very lofty position in the Blood Division, so if it's possible, try to give him a good discount; it'll be beneficial to your future development in the legion. Wuyue has already told him about you, and he's constantly been trying to get you transferred to his corps. He says that as long as you're willing to make the transfer, he's thinking of a way to get up to the major general rank, so he definitely thinks quite highly of you, and he's seen the footage of you in battle during the last abyssal tide."

"I see." Tang Wulin glanced at his epaulets, and wondered whether he should remove them before heading over.

Long Yuxue urged, "Alright, just come over now and we'll discuss everything else face-to-face."

At the forging workshop.

Ever since he'd moved into this larger forging workshop, Tang Wulin had had more space to work with. Furthermore, he'd recently purchased many types of uncommon metals to be used in his future black mecha.

Ling Wuyue had given him many suggestions, and she had specifically cautioned him against commencing the construction process too early. Her advice was that he had to learn more about the intricacies of mechas and also decide on the type of mecha that he wanted before commencing the construction process. After all, black mechas required an enormous amount of resources to build, so if something were to go wrong, then the reconstruction process would result in severe losses.

Aside from Tang Wulin, Long Yuxue also had a key to the workshop. Hence, after ending her call with Tang Wulin, she came to the workshop first.

The workshop was connected to the warehouse, and a smile appeared on Long Yuxue's face as she looked at the piles of uncommon metals in the workshop. She murmured to herself, "He really is a hoarder."

Right at this moment, a boisterous voice rang out. "Who's a hoarder?"

Long Yuxue hadn't closed the door when she walked in, and now, there was a towering musclebound man who was also making his way into the workshop.

This man was even more muscular than Jiang Wuyue, and he had a gleaming bald head. His military uniform seemed to be bulging in all areas, he was a mountain of a man. There were two bars and four stars on each of his epaulets, indicating that he was a senior colonel, and he wore a smile on his face, but he still looked quite intimidating with his brawny physique.

"Corps Commander." Long Yuxue immediately extended a military salute upon seeing him.

Ma Shan chuckled, "There's no need to salute me when there's no one else around."

Long Yuxue smiled, and said, "You sure came here quickly! I notified Tang Wulin not long ago, so he should be here soon."

Ma Shan rubbed his large bald head, and said, "You know me; I'm not one who likes to wait, so I decided to come here right away. Speaking of which, is this guy legit? Is he seriously a Saint Blacksmith who's in his early twenties?"

Long Yuxue smiled, and said, "I can vouch for him! I've seen him soul refine metals with my very own eyes, and he's really good. He's definitely the youngest Saint Blacksmith the continent has ever seen, so don't worry about his skills and credentials."

Ma Shan said, "Alright, but tell him to give me a discount! Otherwise, I'll beat the crap out of him! He's earning accolades a lot easier than we are. Look at all this good stuff; these are all precious uncommon metals. People from combat units like ours have to earn our accolades little by little; it's certainly isn't easy for us."

Long Yuxue's expression changed slightly upon hearing this, but she knew that this was Ma Shan's personality. He was extremely fearless in battle, and at the same time, he had a very uncouth and untamed personality that was bordering on arrogance. Even the commander of the Blood Division struggled to keep him in check from time to time, and aside from the Blood Gods, Legion Commander Zhang Huanyun was the only person he respected in the entire legion. He had been a soldier under Zhang Huanyun for his entire military career.

"Soul refinement is a very arduous task, Corps Commander Ma. I already told Wulin about your request, so he should be willing to offer you a discount," Long Yuxue said with a slightly forced smile on her face.

"Alright, but why is he still not here? How much longer do I have to wait?" Ma Shan was growing rather impatient.

Right at this moment, the sound of footsteps rang out from outside, and Ma Shan and Long Yuxue both turned toward the door just in time to see Tang Wulin walking into the workshop in his military uniform.

Even as a man, Ma Shan was momentarily stunned at the sight of Tang Wulin. His pristine white military uniform, tall and broad figure, handsome facial features, and dazzling eyes created a perfect package. What a handsome young man!

However, his expression abruptly changed in the next instant as he had caught sight of the epaulets on his shoulders.

Long Yuxue hurried over and gave Tang Wulin a meaningful look as she said, "Here, Wulin, let me introduce to you Corps Commander Ma Shan of our Iron Will Corps. He is an extremely renowned figure in our legion and our number one melee combatant."

She hadn't yet noticed Tang Wulin's new epaulets, and she was worried about Ma Shan's mounting impatience, which was why she had hurried over before giving him that meaningful look.

Tang Wulin strode forward with a smile on his face, and greeted, "Hello, Corps Commander Ma."

He didn't extend a military salute as there was no need for a higher-ranking military official to salute to one of his subordinates.

Ma Shan wore a dark expression on his face. "Don't you know that you're breaking the military rules, kid? This is a very serious breach, as well; take off those epaulets right away?"

"Huh?" Long Yuxue was given a fright by the enraged Ma Shan. Only then did she look up toward Tang Wulin's shoulders. She was the shortest one among the three, so she had failed to notice this before, and Ma Shan was taller than Tang Wulin, so he had immediately caught sight of his epaulets.

"M, Major General?" Long Yuxue's expression also changed drastically upon seeing Tang Wulin's epaulets. One had to realize that in the military, the hierarchy was very clear-cut, and if one were to dare to change their own epaulets, they'd be punished severely.

How could this be? How could he be so stupid? Why did he put on those major general epaulets? And why did he have to display them to Ma Shan?

"What's wrong with you, Wulin? Where did you get those epaulets from? Did you put on the wrong clothes?" Long Yue made a series of faces at Tang Wulin as she spoke, hoping to make him realize the severity of his actions.

Tang Wulin initially faltered slightly in response to Ma Shan's fury, but he quickly realized what was going on. Indeed, he was only in his early twenties, yet he was wearing major general epaulets; this had to be quite preposterous in the eyes of others. However, the fact of the matter was that these epaulets rightfully belonged to him, so he couldn't just take them off.

"Corps Commander Ma, I was only just promoted to the major general rank today, and I am now the ninth Blood God of the Blood God Battalion." Tang Wulin couldn't back down at a time like this. His military rank was higher than Ma Shan's anyway.

He raised his hand to reveal his new Blood God Bracelet as he spoke.

Ma Shan glowered at him, and exclaimed, "You're pretty brave, huh? You even dare to pass yourself off as a Blood God? Let me see where this courage of yours comes from! I'll take you down and drag you over to the military law department so they can sentence you there!"

He reached out and made a grab for Tang Wulin as he spoke.

Long Yuxue hurriedly jumped in front of Ma Shan with a distressed look on her face. "Please don't be angry, Corps Commander Ma, there must be some kind of misunderstanding here. Wulin, do you know what you're saying right now? Did your cultivation mess with your mind?"

Even she couldn't believe what Tang Wulin was saying, let alone Ma Shan.