Chapter 976 - Other Uses for the Golden Dragon Spear
Tang Wulin did not expect the person before him to be easy going. Aren’t all soldiers supposed to be old-fashioned and obstinate? Xu Weitao had a soldier’s physique with his tall and large figure. He was even a head taller than Tang Wulin, with broad shoulders and sharp, facial features. He did not look laid back at all. He was responsible for the Blood Division and also the close combat division. One could tell how powerful the army was by observing Jiang Wuyue. The Blood Division’s fighting capacity as a whole could be seen by inspecting just a part of the 1st Battalion.
“Sir, that can’t be right.” said Tang Wulin probing for an answer.
Xu Weitao chuckled. “There’s nothing wrong with that. Those few people from your Blood God Battalion call me by that name. Ask them the next time if you don’t believe me. Oh, not all but Blood Seven, Blood Eight, and Blood Nine address me as Old Xu while the others call me Little Xu.”
Tang Wulin felt speechless at once, for he was a nobody but just a supernumerary personnel from the Blood God Battalion. Could he be like the rest of them?
Long Yuxue hastily spoke from the side, “Alright, Wulin. Don’t you worry about salutations any longer. Why don’t you follow me and simply address him as Uncle Xu. Open the door quick and invite us in.” She did not have the forging workshop’s key so she could only wait for Tang Wulin to come open the door.
Tang Wulin hastily invited both of them into the workshop.
Xu Weitao surveyed the rather small forging workshop and said with a smile, “Wulin, I heard from Yuxue that you’re a Saint Craftsman. You’re a scarce talent in our army. The deputy regimental commander did not allow you to use your merit points in exchange for military rank promotion. It’s to prevent the officers and soldiers from having any ill intentions against you. It’s also for the harmony of our people. I hope you understand, and if there’s anything you need, please feel free to ask. We’ll do our best to help you.”
The higher authorities of the army still felt sorry for Tang Wulin regarding the rule of not allowing him to accumulate forging merit points for his military rank promotion. It was truly rare for a Saint Craftsman to be in the army. Sooner or later, they would turn to him for help.
Tang Wulin hastily shook his head and said, “Uncle Xu, don’t mention it. The army is also taking into account the overall situation. Our fighters are killing our enemies with great effort. So, it’s justified that their merit points can be used for promotion when they’re sacrificing their lives for it. They deserve to be promoted. My forging, on the other hand, isn’t that much of a sacrifice.” He seemed nonchalant about it, but how could he conceal his dissatisfaction?
His forging skill was acquired from many years of training! It had been fifteen years since he began at the age of six. Furthermore, he was the youngest Saint Craftsman on the entire continent.
Xu Weitao spoke with a smile, “I understand your resentment, but you’ve already joined the Blood God Battalion. Do you think that it’ll be a problem for you to advance in your military rank in the future? The army has invested its resources in you. So, you’re allowed some reasonable requests as well.”
Tang Wulin smiled. “Then, I won’t beat around the bush. I need a bigger workshop. It’ll be best if it’s large enough to accommodate a mecha. It’ll be beneficial for my forging work and I won’t ask for anything else.”
Xu Weitao was slightly stunned. His purpose in visiting Tang Wulin today was not only to seek his help in repairing the battle armors but more importantly, he was here to express goodwill. A spoonful of sugar goes well with the medicine. There was still some dispute amongst the higher authorities of the army on the issue of disallowing Tang Wulin from gaining a promotion through forging. Although Tang Wulin came from Shrek Academy and was one of the current Shrek Seven Monsters, the Blood God Army need not worry about the troubles he would cause. Also, it would be appropriate for him to use his forging work to exchange for merit points.
In any case, the final decision agreed upon was not to nullify the previous decision. Besides, they would still need the services of a Saint Craftsman.
In a sense, the Blood God Battalion was not directly under the Blood God Army. Blood One was willing to appoint Tang Wulin as a supernumerary personnel of the Blood God Battalion in such a short period of time. Perhaps, it was to show his dissatisfaction of the army. Blood One was the main pillar of support for the entire Blood God Army.
The purpose of Xu Weitao’s visit today was a gesture of goodwill. He was willing to put in some resources for Tang Wulin. However, he did not expect Tang Wulin to be so reasonable in his request.
Although Tang Wulin was a money grubber, at the same time, he was equally smart. Of course, he could seize the opportunity to extort for more resources, but he was not sure how much the army was willing to give. On the other hand, if he were to get the army’s resources for free, it would be difficult for him to decline any forging work requested by the army in the future.
He wished to devote more effort into his cultivation and take part in the competitions. He would not be staying in the Blood God Army forever, so it would be best for him not to owe the army any favors.
Thus, Tang Wulin considered well and only made the most basic request.
“That’s easy. I’ll help you look for a place. There’s one right behind our army’s mecha warehouse. Also, there’s a spot on my battle armor that was severely damaged in the abyssal tide the other day. It may possibly need some repairs. Can you please take a look at it for me?”
Xu Weitao’s right shoulder glowed once as his left hand grabbed the shoulder. A radiance flashed once and a piece of dusk gold pauldron appeared in his hand.
Tang Wulin noticed that his right shoulder was quite stiff. It appeared as if he was injured during the battle with the abyssal creatures earlier.
Tang Wulin drew in a cold breath, as he took a glance at the pauldron upon receiving it. Generally, a three-word battle armor was forged from soul-forged metal. A qualitative leap was made during the transition from a two-word battle armor to three-word battle armor. There were so few Saint Craftsmen that the number of three-word battle armor masters was only a tenth of the number of two-word battle armor masters.
The soul-forged metal was already bestowed with intelligence and life, so it was capable of repairing itself on a large scale. That was why general trauma was considered as nothing to the soul-forged metal. Yet, the damage to this pauldron was out of the ordinary.
There was only a cut on the pauldron, but it was in the middle of the pauldron. Tang Wulin was unnerved to find countless fine threads of energy corroding the pauldron around the cut such that the metal was rendered incapable of self-repair.
These fine threads of energy looked like tiny gray-white worms that were densely arranged together. It was a ghastly sight.
Good lord, what sort of energy could produce such damage! There were abundant powerhouses amongst those abyssal creatures as expected.
Despite his initial shock, Tang Wulin was figuring how to repair the pauldron. There was no way it could repair itself even with the help of soul power. This piece of battle armor might possibly be wasted.
He was a blacksmith, but not a battle armor maker. There was only one way he could repair the piece of battle armor. It would be to make the battle armor’s self-repairing ability defeat the mutation energy’s destructive ability. Only by doing so, would he be able to restore the battle armor.
After pondering for a moment, Tang Wulin’s eyes suddenly glowed brightly as he got an idea.
He carried the battle armor and placed it on top of his forging table. He did not use his forging hammers. Instead, he rubbed the area between his brows once and unleashed his Golden Dragon Spear.
There was a twinkle in Xu Weitao’s eyes when he saw the Golden Dragon Spear. “What a remarkable weapon!” He had watched Tang Wulin use the Golden Dragon Spear in the video recording, but the spear seemed to have changed as compared to previously. It exuded a sharp, hidden energy that made one feel as if one’s heart was sliced just by looking at it.
Tang Wulin smiled at Xu Weitao and touched the tip of the spear against the battle armor.
A peculiar scene appeared immediately. A radiance flashed once on the Golden Dragon Spear as the fine threads of mutated energy on the battle armor shook once, then surged into the Golden Dragon Spear, akin to the rivers which flowed into the sea, before vanishing.
Tang Wulin’s body shook once. A gush of pure and dense energy infused into his body through the Golden Dragon Spear. He was filled with vigor while his Dragon Core glowed brightly as well.
What… the energy that seemed miniscule could be so pure and dense. It was almost similar to the energy absorbed after killing a Ba An.
Tang Wulin’s lips cracked into a satisfied smile.