The entire federation had been enamored with the Star Battle Net Inter-federation Competition lately, and now that the true finals had commenced, the federation was making an active effort to promote the event, essentially transforming it into a grand festival.

The Blood God Legion was no exception to this. Following the first round of elimination matches, two of the spots in the top eight now belonged to the Blood God Legion. Tang Wulin was naturally one of them, and the other one was the Blood God Legion Melee Guard Corps Commander, Qian.

Qian strode slowly into the resting area and arrived at the cafe before ordering a cup of black coffee.

At this time of day, the cafe was already packed to the rafters. The Blood God Legion was supplied with the best of everything, and the coffee here was no exception. He looked around to find that all of the tables were completely filled, with the exception of a single table in the corner, where only one person was sitting.

He was looking out the window with a faint smile on his face, seemingly in deep thought about something.

Even his side profile was very attention-grabbing as his face was very handsome, and his skin was like flawless warm jade.

With Qian's exemplary eyesight, he was naturally able to clearly see every detail about this person. His eyelashes were very long, even longer than most of the women that he'd seen before, and his eyes were very large and bright. The warm smile on his handsome face made him appear very charismatic and energetic.

However, what had truly attracted Qian's attention were the epaulets on his shoulders.

He was a major general? How could there be such a young major general? Was it him?

Qian had already heard of him before, and during recent times, his name was one that had been made known to the entire legion. Over half of the tables around him were filled with female military officials who were at least at the lieutenant colonel rank. As for those below the lieutenant colonel rank, they most likely didn't have the right to sit so close to him.

Qian's eyes narrowed slightly as he strode toward that table.

Ever since he had drunk some coffee here with Long Yuxue, Tang Wulin discovered that he really liked this bitter yet aromatic beverage.

He enjoyed its rich fragrance, and sipping a cup of warm coffee while looking out at the world of snow and ice outside had become an enjoyable activity for him of late.

Wu Zhangkong had cautioned him from very early on that it would not be wise to pile too much pressure on himself, and that it was important to have a cultivate-life balance. He felt like he had maintained this balance quite well during recent times, and he had also been maintaining a positive mental state.

Gu Yuena was his greatest psychological pillar; whenever he was feeling tired, all he had to do was think of her, and all of his exhaustion would instantly be wiped away. In particular, when he was sipping a cup of warm coffee, he felt as if he could recall her image more clearly, and the coffee also gave him a warm feeling inside.

Tang Wulin really enjoyed this feeling, yet as he was enjoying himself, he also discovered that there were more and more people in the cafe. However, everyone seemed to have a tacit understanding with one another, and they would always leave the table in the corner right beside the window to him.

"Can I sit here, Superior?" An unfamiliar voice sounded.

Tang Wulin raised his head to discover a tall military official who appeared to be in his thirties standing in front of him. The epaulets on his shoulders indicated that he was a senior colonel. He wasn't particularly handsome, and his eyes were a little long and narrow, but his hard chiseled facial features still stood out quite prominently.

"Of course." Tang Wulin made an inviting hand gesture.

Qian took a seat and reflexively glanced at Tang Wulin's cup to find that he was also drinking black coffee. It appeared that they shared common tastes when it came to coffee.

Tang Wulin was still looking out the window, and the commotion within the cafe hadn't affected his good mood in the slightest as all of it was naturally filtered out by him.

"Superior." The voice rang out from across the table again.

Tang Wulin turned to look at Qian. "Can I help you with something?"

Qian's black coffee arrived, and he held the cup with both hands as he said, "I'm Number 79; I look forward to facing you in the competition."

Tang Wulin raised an eyebrow. "You mean the Star Battle Net Inter-federation Competition?"

"Yes!"

"Good luck." Tang Wulin nodded and finished his coffee before offering a smile to Qian, then standing up and departing as all of the female military officials in the cafe looked on with longing in their eyes.

Qian faltered slightly in the aftermath of that exchange. He had approached Tang Wulin more so out of curiosity than anything else. However, he didn't manage to learn or sense anything about him during their exchange.

There weren't even any soul power fluctuations emanating from his body, and no matter how Qian looked at him, he seemed like an ordinary person. However, his instincts told him that this remarkably young major general was very dangerous! Would they be pitted against one another in the next round?

Qian reflexively clenched his fists tightly.

Tang Wulin didn't have much of an impression of Qian. His attention was highly focused right now, and he had drunk that cup of coffee for not just for relaxation purposes, but also to adjust his mental state.

It was undoubtedly the case that the upcoming mecha battles were going to be a sterner test for him compared to the Soul Master battles, and soon, he was going to have to compete in the top 16 round of the mecha battle discipline.

He entered the Star Cabin and logged on to the battle net.

His number had changed from 33 to 66, and there was a server to guide him to the competition venue on this occasion as well.

Following the final round of the round-robin stage, he was given the nickname of Spear King, and it was also in the final round of the round-robin stage that Ling Wuyue suffered a close defeat, so she progressed as second in her group. As it turned out, Ling Wuyue was indeed the most exceptional mecha pilot in the entire legion; they were the only two who had progressed to this stage.

They had progressed from the same competition region, so the rules stipulated they weren't going to be matched up against one another in this first elimination round, and he wondered if Ling Wuyue would be able to make it past this round.

Compared to him, Ling Wuyue's mecha piloting skills were definitely superior, but her martial soul was slightly lackluster.

He chose a melee combat mecha and a spear as usual.

Tang Wulin looked at the spear in his mecha's hand, and he couldn't help but heave an internal sigh. It appeared that he was destined to just be a melee combat warrior for life. He had originally planned to master a long-range attacking mecha, but ever since he learned Fury of the Masses, he no longer had any interest in long-range attacking mechas.

He had basically mastered Fury of the Masses now, and he was wondering when Old Tang would be willing to teach him the next spear technique; just the thought of this filled him with anticipation.

Tang Wulin strode into the competition venue in his mecha, and on the other side, his opponent was also being led into the venue.

This was a long-range attacking mecha! Tang Wulin immediately determined this after seeing the size of his opponent's mecha.

It was holding a generic soul cannon that could unleash 10 blasts in a row before requiring a short period cooldown time.

This thing was basically a more powerful version of a soul laser cannon, and it was a long-range weapon that could only be chosen after one reached the final stages of the competition. This was because in the previous rounds, melee combat mechas had held an overall advantage over their long-range attacking counterparts. The soul power of Soul Masters combined with the defensive abilities of mechas made it very difficult for ordinary generic mecha weapons to pose a threat to them, so the battle net had to make some adjustments to even up the playing field.

Both parties entered the competition venue, and the waves of raucous cheers immediately rang out in the spectator stands.

The commentators also commenced their commentary.

"Number 66 has the nickname of Spear King, and he is renowned as the most proficient spear-wielder in this edition of the competition. Number 231 has the nickname of Cannon Fort; his long-range attacks are extremely accurate, and he possesses soul skills that can enhance those long-range attacks. This will be a clash between a melee combat mecha and a long-range attacking mecha, so this battle will be decided by whether Cannon Fort can destroy Spear King's mecha before Spear King can get close to him. Alright, that's enough talking from me; let's all sit back and enjoy what is surely going to be a spectacular match!"

There were no referees for this match, and the electronic voice immediately began its countdown.

"Five, four, three, two, one, begin!"

"Boom!" As soon as the starting command was given, a resounding boom rang out, and a soul cannon blast was sent hurtling toward Tang Wulin's mecha.