That's right, he had made a breakthrough. During his battle against Tang Wulin, he had finally made the breakthrough that he'd been striving toward for a decade after taking Tang Wulin's final attack. In that instant, he had been elevated to the Titled Douluo stage, and he felt as if he had completely evolved to a higher plane.

Unfortunately, that evolution only took place in the Star Battle Net. After he logged off, all of that disappeared. His soul power had returned to its original level, and even though he'd only been a Titled Douluo for a very brief period of time, it was only natural that he would get hooked on that feeling.

Yue Zhengen didn't give a direct reply. Instead, he responded with a question of his own. "Will you be coming back?"

Sima Jinchi faltered slightly before scratching his own head. "I most likely won't be coming back. According to what I had felt through my saber soul, it seems that I have to stay by that person's side after I find him."

A hint of unadulterated disappointment appeared in Yue Zhengen's eyes. Sima Jinchi was uncouth and untamed, but he was extremely powerful, and he had always been the spearhead of their legion. As such, he was naturally very reluctant to part with such a powerful subordinate.

However, his disappointment was quickly quelled as he nodded, and said, "Zhengyu will be reuniting with him in the future as well; look after him for me."

"I'll be sure to do so," Sima Jinchi promised as he slammed his own barrel chest.

Yue Zhengen smiled, and said, "Go on, then; you'll find him at the Blood God Legion."

"Blood God Legion? Where's that?" This was confidential federal information, so Sima Jinchi had no idea about the existence of this legion.

Yue Zhengen gave him a brief introduction of the Blood God Legion, including its location.

"That sounds like a fantastic place! I'll be able to fight abyssal creatures there; that's fantastic! I'm going now. Farewell, General"

He extended another military salute toward Yue Zhengen as he spoke.

Yue Zhengen nodded, and said, "The Blood God Legion is filled with powerful beings. In particular, their commander, Mirror Douluo Zhang Huanyun, is extremely powerful. After you make your breakthrough, you can go and spar with him on a regular basis; I'm sure that'll be very helpful to your future progression."

"Oh? That sounds great! Mirror Douluo Zhang Huanyun; I'll be sure to remember the name. Thank you, General!"

Yue Zhengen looked on at Sima Jinchi's departing figure with a slightly forlorn look on his face, but all of a sudden, his lips twitched slightly with amusement. "Hehe, Zhang Huanyun, you old bastard! You'll have your hands full very soon!"

……

After awakening from meditation, it was already the next morning. Tang Wulin exhaled, and he could clearly sense that he had improved once again.

After reflecting on the battle, he deduced that Sima Jinchi would be no match for him without his saber soul, so that was the thing that had set them apart.

But what was that Dragonslaying Saber martial soul of his? Even if it were a martial soul of an extremely high caliber, how was it able to nullify the power of his Golden Dragon Spear? Furthermore, it seemed to have devoured a lot of the energy released by his Golden Dragon Spear.

After some careful recollection and contemplation, Tang Wulin was almost sure that Sima Jinchi had to have to borrowed the power of his Golden Dragon Spear to make that breakthrough during battle.

Just how were the Golden Dragon Spear and Dragonslaying Saber related? This was the first time that he'd ever fought such a bizarre battle.

It was undoubtedly the case that the two weapons shared an extremely intimate connection, and Tang Wulin had never felt this before. Furthermore, it was undeniable that the Golden Dragon Spear was a divine weapon that had constantly been a part of his bloodline.

Tang Wulin had experienced the power of the Dragonslaying Saber in person; it seemed to be able to draw upon the powers of the evil dragons it had slain countless years in the past to unleash extremely fearsome attacks.

His Golden Dragon Spear wasn't inferior to the Dragonslaying Saber, yet his spear was unable to harm Sima Jinchi. It kind of felt like he was sparring with a friend, but from their ruined suits of battle armor and the complete demolition of the Star Battle Net competition platform, it was quite clear that the shockwaves from their clashes had been extremely fearsome.

Could it be that the Dragonslaying Saber was also a conjoined weapon of Sima Jinchi's? If the Dragonslaying Saber were also a divine weapon that had become Sima Jinchi's martial soul, did that mean that it and the Golden Dragon Spear were weapons of the same nature?

It was a pity that he couldn't leave the Blood God Legion. Otherwise, he really wanted to seek out Sima Jinchi and ask him some questions. At the same time, he also wanted to experience in person just how powerful the aura of his Dragonslaying Saber was.

Unbeknownst to him, Sima Jinchi had already set off on his journey toward the Blood God Legion. Yue Zhengyu was currently in seclusion, so no one was able to inform him that Xu Xiaoyan had also departed to seek out her own path.

There were still three matches left in total, and from his battle against Sima Jinchi, he could tell that the upcoming matches were all going to be very extremely arduous, particularly the imminent mecha battle!

He had to give everything that he had. He had already come this far, so he couldn't lose no matter what,

Unbeknownst to him, the entire Blood God Legion was currently celebrating his victory against Sima Jinchi. There were no more doubters expressing dissent toward his promotion to the major general rank at such a young age. Instead, there was only one thought in everyone's minds; he was the most powerful being in the world below the Titled Douluo stage! If he could secure victory in the finals, then he would conquer the entire federation while representing the Blood God Legion!

Many of the soldiers in the legion were waiting near the resting area, hoping to catch a glimpse of this legendary young major general, but unfortunately, he didn't turn up.

Thus, the semifinals of the mecha battle discipline commenced.

After Tang Wulin strode into the competition venue in his spear-wielding mecha, he was surprised to find that even though this was also a semifinal, the cheers ringing out from the venue were clearly nowhere near as loud. At the same time, the spectators seemed to be a little apprehensive rather than frenetic.

He had been completely immersed in his battle against Sima Jinchi, so he as unaware that the aftermath of their battle had almost driven the developers of the Star Battle Net insane!

The venue for the semifinals had been destroyed, and countless spectator casualties had resulted.

One couldn't actually die in the Star Battle Net, but they could certainly still experience the pain of death, just like a less extreme version of the Spirit Ascension Plane!

As such, the Star Battle Net was embroiled in its first major controversy. All types of reports had been filed against the system, casting a shadow over this inaugural edition of the competition.

The federal government had been very quick to release a statement dispelling the rumors that were being spread, and they explained that the incident had only taken place due to the fact that the offensive prowess unleashed by Golden Dragon King and Wild Gale Saber Demon had exceeded that of the average three-word battle armor master. Not only did all of the spectators of that match receive full refunds for their tickets, they also received some additional compensation as well. At the same time, it was announced that the competition platform was going to be even further fortified for the remaining three matches of the competition.

A day had passed, and even though the federation had addressed this matter very quickly, that match had still traumatized many of the spectators. As such, people were very interested in spectating this mecha battle semifinal, but at the same time, they were quite nervous in case the events that had taken place the day before were to be replicated. After all, no one wanted to experience death out of the blue.

As such, the enthusiasm of the audience had been severely dented.

However, as soon as Tang Wulin and his opponent entered the competition platform, the atmosphere was gradually filled with more and more excitement. After all, this was a clash that would decide who would progress to the grand final.

Tang Wulin looked on at his opponent while reflecting on the information that he'd learned about him.

Ever since he'd progressed to the quarterfinal stage, every one of his opponents had had higher odds than him, and this was no exception.

Tang Wulin's semifinal opponent was being referred to as the most outlandish participant in the entire competition. This wasn't because he had any unique quirks in his mecha handling. Instead, it was because most of his combat prowess stemmed from his martial soul rather than his mecha. His nickname was "Bubble King", and he was the only one in the mecha battle competition to refrain from equipping a weapon to his mecha. Instead, he chose to add an extra propeller to his mecha in the place of a weapon in order to enhance his mecha's speed.

Mecha pilots like him truly did exist in real life, and they were all extremely confident in their own martial souls. However, the fact that such a mecha pilot had managed to progress to the semifinals was astonishing, and it was a testament to just how powerful his martial soul was.