He was standing across from an opponent who was also wearing a white mask, and to Tang Wulin's surprise, his opponent's nickname had been concealed. This was clearly an extra layer of confidentiality that had been implemented during the official competition.

A faint smile appeared on his face. Long Yuxue couldn't say anything now as they wouldn't be able to identify one another even if they were to face each other in the competition!

"Three, two, one, begin!"

Just as Tang Wulin was thinking about how pleased he was with the measures taken by the Star Battle Net to ensure confidentiality, the electronic voice had completed its countdown and officially announced the commencement of his first battle in the Star Battle Net Inter-federation Competition.

As soon as the countdown concluded, four soul rings, two yellow and two purple, appeared beneath his opponent's feet. He raised his right hand and pointed up ahead, upon which a vast expanse of red light rose up into the air. One fist-sized fireball after another then appeared in mid-air before flying directly toward Tang Wulin.

A four-ring Soul Ancestor?

Tang Wulin was struck by the urge to laugh. Had his horrendous luck finally taken a turn for the better?

A series of Bluesilver Emperor vines appeared around him, and he remained standing on the spot as if he couldn't even see the oncoming fireballs. Immediately thereafter, the Bluesilver Emperor vines spread rapidly toward his opponent like a series of giant pythons.

A dozen or so Bluesilver Emperor vines rose up into the air, shattering the vast expanse of fireballs in the air and reducing them to specks of flames amid a string of explosions.

They then pounced toward the Soul Master in a frenzy like a series of giant tentacles.

It was quite clear that the four-ring Soul Ancestor had been completely rooted to the spot. His mask made it impossible to see the expression on his face, but he was clearly becoming slightly panicked in his control over his martial soul. Fire attribute soul power surged forth as he hurriedly activated another soul ring, releasing a massive fireball that hurtled directly toward Tang Wulin.

As a fire attribute Soul Master, he'd be at a great advantage if he were facing a normal plant system martial soul. Everyone knew that fire trumped wood, so his flames should've been able to dominate his opponent's vines.

However, Tang Wulin's Bluesilver Emperor was certainly not an ordinary martial soul; it was the emperor of the plant world, and it had constantly been affected in a subtle yet profound way by Tang Wulin's Golden Dragon King bloodline. As a result, the Bluesilver Emperor vines were beginning to resemble powerful wyrms as they sped toward his opponent.

The giant fireball was punctured by a Bluesilver Emperor vine, yet the vine wasn't even scorched in the slightest. Under the illumination of the giant fireball, the fire attribute Soul Ancestor could even see that the giant vine was shimmering like a blue crystal, and there were golden veins within the vine that resembled a skeletal structure.

What the hell IS this thing? 

The Soul Ancestor was on the verge of tears. At this cultivation rank, he naturally knew that he wouldn't be able to do particularly well in such a major competition, but he didn't want to be eliminated during the first round!

Unfortunately, reality could be very brutal at times. His fire attribute soul skills were destroyed one after another, and he could only look on in despair as the oncoming vines constricted his body in a frenzy, then swung him into the air before slamming him viciously into the ground.

"This battle is over," the electronic voice announced in a concise manner.

This battle had been far too easy for him. He had completely and utterly crushed his opponent, and throughout this entire battle, all he had done was take a few steps forward.

His Golden Dragon King bloodline provided him with a series of immensely powerful abilities, so he was using his martial soul less and less in battle now.

However, after using his Bluesilver Emperor vines for long-range binding during that battle, he discovered that his Bluesilver Emperor vines had undergone some changes.

There was a system of net-like patterns running all over the surface of each and every Bluesilver Emperor vine, and these patterns strongly resembled the ones that had once appeared on his body.

Could it be that his Bluesilver Emperor vines would also grow scales in the future?

His opponent was a four-ring Soul Ancestor, but their soul skills hadn't inflicted any damage onto his Bluesilver Emperor vines at all.

He had also used his Bluesilver Emperor vines during his battle against the abyssal creatures, but they hadn't been very effective during that battle. Looking at it now, the problem was that his opponents had been too powerful, rather than his Bluesilver Emperor vines being too weak, and that was why his martial soul had been unable to display the extent of its power.

During this battle, the Bluesilver Emperor vines had given him a massively pleasant surprise. They were currently already powerful enough to match many melee combat soul weapons, and they'd be useful in both Soul Master and mecha battles!

Would it be easy for a normal mecha to escape from his Bluesilver Emperor's Bind ability? The answer was, of course, no.

A faint smile appeared on Tang Wulin's face.

One win!

After exiting the competition venue, the text above Tang Wulin's head had already been altered. The words "Little Tang" had adopted a faint golden color, and the win/loss counter had been replaced by a golden arrow that was pointing upward.

This clearly indicated that he'd progressed to the next round.

Thinking back to how he had felt while using his Bluesilver Emperor martial soul, Tang Wulin was becoming more and more convinced that this competition was going to be extremely beneficial to him. During these past few years, his powers had progressed far too quickly. In particular, the three years that he'd spent in the Dragon Valley had improved his bloodline power to an extraordinary extent. However, his constant rapid improvement inevitably resulted in a failure to consolidate his current abilities, and the best way to do that was through practical battles. An important step that he had to take now was to integrate his martial soul and bloodline power so they could work together effectively.

His greatest advantage was that he had both soul power and bloodline power at his disposal, and he had to learn to make full use of that unique advantage.

Tang Wulin made a decision there and then that he was going to dedicate more of his time to cultivating his soul power. He could sense that once he obtained a soul core, it would be able to work together with his dragon core to effect some significant changes within his body. After that, he'd have absolute confidence in breaking his 10th seal.

"You're doing extremely well." Just as Tang Wulin was pondering all of these thoughts, a familiar voice suddenly sounded in his mind. The voice came very abruptly, and he was given quite a fright, but his heart was then quickly filled with excitement.

"Old Tang?"

Old Tang had been hibernating for a very long time, and it had been many years since it had offered any guidance to Tang Wulin; he didn't think that Old Tang would suddenly awaken at a time like this.

"You're very correct; if you can attain a soul core, then your two major energy cores will be able to resonate with one another. A chemical reaction will then ensue, and it'll most definitely be a beneficial reaction to you. Your condition is far better than I'd imagined it would be; looks like you must've encountered some great opportunities during my hibernation. It's a very encouraging sign that you've materialized a blood essence core; this is an exceptional foundation. The fact that you've materialized a blood essence core before a soul core has finally shown me a glimmer of hope that you'll be able to absorb the entirety of the Golden Dragon King's essence."

Old Tang's voice was filled with elation, and Tang Wulin reflexively closed his eyes. His consciousness soon entered the same hall that Old Tang was situated in.

Old Tang was standing with his hands clasped behind his back, and he wore a smile on his face. He seemed to have become slightly younger in appearance, as if he'd been rejuvenated somehow.

"Why did you hibernate for so long, Old Tang?" Tang Wulin asked in a puzzled manner.

Old Tang smiled and shook his head as he said, "I've constantly been trying to sense the call from afar, so I dedicated all of my remaining power to doing that. You've always been progressing very smoothly, and you didn't need my guidance. Now, you finally possess the power to protect yourself, so what you have to do next is collate everything that you have and consolidate it. In particular, that blood essence power of yours is a unique and extremely powerful ability at your disposal. To put it in simpler terms, if you can absorb all of the essence within the 18 Golden Dragon King seals, then in a sense, you will become the new Golden Dragon King. In fact, you'll even outstrip the old Golden Dragon King."

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