At the sound of those words, Tang Wulin's eyes shone. His first piece of battle armor was his right gauntlet, and next was the right pauldron. Once he had that piece, his entire right arm would be clad in battle armor. Since his Golden Dragon Dreadclaw was his most powerful attack, it would undoubtedly reach new heights with the pauldron. When that time came, he would have a fighting chance in a full-fledged battle against a one-word battle armor master.

“Let's go,” Gu Yue said, leading the way.

Tang Wulin hastened after her. He had gained insights from the battle and now wanted to ponder upon those insights further.

On stage, Ling Wuxie finally picked himself off the ground, stumbling like a zombie as he exited. As he slowly removed his battle armor piece by piece, he noticed the deep gashes on his chestplate. Deep gashes left by Tang Wulin. He would need a mechanic to repair it, but the cost of repairing a one-word battle armor was sky-high. His complexion paled at the thought, his mind growing numb.

“Do you feel discouraged?” asked an elderly man.

Ling Wuxie raised his head and said in a hoa.r.s.e voice, “Teacher.”

The elder walked over to Ling Wuxie. Slapped him across the face! His cheeks flushed with pain, waking him from his stupor.

“Do you feel discouraged?” the elder asked again, his tone grave.

“No.” Ling Wuxie clenched his fists, tears trickling down his face.

The elder raised his palm again, and just when Ling Wuxie thought the elder was about to slap him once more, the elder pulled him into a hug.

“Remember this,” he said in an unyielding tone. “This a shame that you must carry on for the rest of your life. If you ever want to redeem yourself, then you have to become stronger. You can't make any excuses for this shame. A loss is a loss. Do not fear it. Being eliminated doesn't matter. What matters is that you acknowledge your loss and your weakness. You didn't lose because you didn't bring out your full strength, but because your opponent refused to let you. What you lack is real combat experience. So, I'm bringing you to h.e.l.l Valley. You will train and fight there for the day you can redeem yourself. Once you've washed away this shame, you'll truly have become strong.”

“Teacher…”

☀

News of a five-ringed, one-word battle armor master eliminated in the first round of the preliminaries spread like wildfire. But to the dismay of the gossipers, the boy who created this miracle was nowhere to be found. Only a few people knew that his compet.i.tor number was 333.

Unlike Tang Wulin, the rest of his friends had much weaker opponents. Minus those who sat out of the one-on-one compet.i.tion, such as Gu Yue and Xu Lizhi, they were all able to pa.s.s the first round. However, Tang Wulin's match against a one-word battle armor master served as wake-up call for them. The soul masters on Star Luo were no weaker than those of Douluo. In fact, due to their idolization of lone heroes, the people of Star Luo focused on cultivating their strength as individuals far more.

Apart from that, Tang Wulin's victory over a one-word battle armor master shocked them. Even Wu Zhangkong's chilly face froze in shock, pride entering his eyes as he gazed upon Tang Wulin.

That a four-ringed soul master could defeat a one-word battle armor master was simply inconceivable.

☀

“Captain, come to my room later,” Ye Xinglan said after finis.h.i.+ng her meal in the dining hall.

Xie Xie and Yue Zhengyu stared at Tang Wulin, brows scrunched.

“The h.e.l.l are you two looking at?” Tang Wulin glared at them.

Xu Lizhi gave a goofy smile. “Big Sis Xinglan invited Captain 'cause his second piece of battle armor is nearly done.”

“Second piece of battle armor?” A grin slid its way across Xie Xie's lips. “Then isn't it my turn next?”

But Xu Lizhi only stared at him with sincere eyes. “You? Your turn is last. I still remember that look you gave Wulin just now. I'm gonna tell Big Sis Xinglan tomorrow.”

“Lizhi, do you need a spanking?” Xie Xie rolled his sleeves and inched closer to Xu Lizhi.

Rising to his feet, Tang Wulin squeezed Xie Xie's shoulder, keeping him in place. Then turned to Xu Lizhi. “You wanna beat him up?”

Xu Lizhi giggled. “Captain, you shouldn't beat people up. Just hold him there and I'll sit on him instead. That's good enough.”

Which prompted Xie Xie to groan in complaint.

It had been a long time since Tang Wulin obtained his first piece of battle armor, so he understood just how amazing it was to receive his second. He couldn't help but look forward to it. Without any battle armor, he would stand no chance against a battle armor master. Furthermore, it was his dream to become a battle armor master! He had long since chosen the first word for his set: Dragon! Once Tang Wulin completed his one-word battle armor set, he could officially grant it this name.

There was no doubt in Tang Wulin's mind that his achievements were all thanks to the power of the Golden Dragon King within him. Without it, he would never have possessed his current strength no matter if he doubled, tripled, or even quadrupled his time and effort. That was precisely why his one-word battle armor would be named Dragon! In the future, he would add Golden to it as well, making his two-word battle armor Golden Dragon. But that was just the tentative name for now.

While Tang Wulin had been busy gorging himself with dinner, Xie Xie and slipped away. Everyone else had returned to their own rooms as well.

Once he had finished his meal, Tang Wulin made for Ye Xinglan's room.

“Everything is ready,” said Ye Xinglan after inviting him inside. “I just need to put it all together today.” She pointed to the item on the table.

Tang Wulin's eyes shone upon laying eyes on it. A barebones pauldron that was carefully linked with a soul circuit to armor meant for the upper arm. Gu Yue's meticulous design allowed for a full range of movements with it equipped. Tang Wulin himself had forged this incomplete pauldron, but the soul circuit had been engraved by Ye Xinglan.

With the increase in her cultivation level and understanding of battle armor crafting, Ye Xinglan could smoothly make battle armor step by step instead of in one go. Completing a piece of battle armor all at once truly proved difficult and wouldn't necessarily produce the best results. Her current process was to first carve the basic soul circuits into the metal, then slowly add more detail and connect them from there.

The armor on the table was fully ready except for some finis.h.i.+ng touches.

Tang Wulin glanced at Ye Xinglan and she nodded, saying, “Let's get started then. Prepare yourself.”

“Great!” Tang Wulin answered, stepping back from the table.

Ye Xinglan walked over to the table and looked down on the armor. Instantly, starlight gathered around her, her StarG.o.d Sword manifesting in her hand. More starlight emerged, continuing to clad her in s.h.i.+ning battle armor.

Ye Xinglan's battle armor was speckled with stars. Possessed a delicate elegance. Her armor was aimed at providing her flexibility and she was fully accustomed to it now.

Sword intent congealed around her sword, controlled to no more than a s.h.i.+mmer. Only a couple meters away, Tang Wulin could sense the keen edge of that sword intent.

He wasn't the only one who had been improving. His friends were stronger as well!

If Tang Wulin were to duel Ye Xinglan, the winner of the match was up in the air. Not only did she have nearly a complete set of battle armor, her single-minded devotion to the sword brought her terrifying strength.

Among the students in his team, Tang Wulin knew that he had never been the strongest. Gu Yue held that position, then he, Ye Xinglan, and Yuanen Yehui tied for second place. After them came Yue Zhengyu, Xie Xie, and Xu Xiaoyan. Since Xu Lizhi was a support-type, he wasn't counted.

Gu Yue's true strength still posed as a mystery to Tang Wulin since he had never seen her go all-out. He believed her words that she was in the Spirit Abyss realm. Ever since he had met her, he was attracted to her mysterious aura.