A contemplative look appeared in Tang Wulin's eyes. "Can we use this strained relationship to our advantage?"

Cao Dezhi replied, "That'll be up to you. I'll give you all of the relevant details I know, and we can discuss this at the end. For now, let's talk about the Battle God Hall. Even though the Battle God Hall is situated in the Western Mountains, it's not on the surface. The 18 levels of the Battle God Hall are also known as the 18 Levels of Hell. Its entrance is situated on the tallest mountain peak in the Western Mountains, but the Battle God Hall itself is situated within this mountain. Each level is guarded by a Battle God, and the design was initially implemented to encourage powerful beings in the military to challenge the Battle God Hall.

"With each level conquered, one would receive a reward, and it's the fastest way to earn promotions in the military. As long as you're an official soldier and can conquer all 18 levels of the Battle God Hall, you'll be promoted to the rank of lieutenant general."

Tang Wulin was astonished to hear this. "Lieutenant general? Isn't that way too much?"He had been a soldier in the past, so he knew just how difficult it was to rise up through the ranks.

Cao Dezhi chuckled, "It's not that easy. Generally speaking, the final level of the Battle God Hall is guarded by the hall master, so unless one possesses Limit Douluo level power, there's no way they can conquer all 18 levels. If a Limit Douluo were to become a federal soldier, then they deserve the rank of lieutenant general. As such, this is kind of a pointless reward. For all soldiers, it's far more important to conquer the earlier levels as each successive level conquered results in a promotion of one rank.

"As such, many high-grade military officials will use this method for promotion. It's an extremely massive hurdle for a soldier to progress from colonel to major general, and if they could earn this promotion through conquering a level of the Battle God Hall, it would be a huge shortcut. Thus, the Battle God Hall exists to motivate soldiers to work hard in their cultivation so they can take advantage of this shortcut."

"What about inside the Battle God Hall? What defensive measures are there?" Tang Wulin asked.

Cao Dezhi replied, "The Battle God Hall has 18 levels, but there aren't just 18 Battle Gods; there are many other powerful beings in the Battle God Hall as well. Each level of the Battle God Hall is different, and I'll introduce them to you in detail one by one. The one good thing about the Battle God Hall is that as long as you can conquer the first level, you'll officially begin your conquest, and the people from the Central Legion won't be able to intervene; this is known as a safe harbor tradition, and it means that if even if a soldier has committed a crime, they can't be apprehended until they finish their journey of conquest.

"On top of that, with each level conquered, their punishment will be alleviated slightly, and if they can conquer all 18 levels, they'll automatically be vindicated."

Tang Wulin was stunned to hear this. "Doesn't that mean someone who commits a heinous crime can turn to the Battle God Hall for protection?"

Cao Dezhi replied, "It comes down to their power. How powerful does one need to be for the Battle God Hall to truly be their safe harbor? Don't forget that Chen Xinjie is an extremely righteous man; if a brazen criminal really tries to turn to the Battle God Hall for protection, I daresay they won't make it out alive. Hence, those who can benefit from this system are only soldiers who have committed crimes that are forgivable; those who commit extremely egregious crimes would only be accelerating their execution if they were to try and take advantage of this."

The situation in the Battle God Hall was clearly far more complex than Tang Wulin had imagined. He had read some information about the Battle God Hall during the past few days, but that was all surface-level information, whereas this was the real deal.

...... 

Ling Zichen was already growing rather impatient in the neighboring room. She had thought that Tang Wulin and Cao Dezhi's discussion would last for half an hour at most, but two hours had already passed, and still, no one had come to fetch her yet.

"Tang Wulin, you bastard! How dare you keep everything secret from me! Just you wait!"

"Oh? Who's got our little Zichen so mad?" An amused voice suddenly rang out, and Ling Zichen looked up to discover the smiling Amorous Douluo standing before her.

Ling Zichen rolled her eyes, and said, "Aren't you worried you'll scare me to death?"

Zang Xin immediately burst into laughter. "You're the bravest person in the Tang Sect; who's going to be able to scare you? What's going on? I heard something about Wulin."

Ling Zichen immediately flared up with rage again at the mention of Tang Wulin. "That bastard is here to discuss his plan, but as a participant, he won't let me join in on the discussion; this is discrimination!"

Zang Xin chuckled, "The sect master is still young, but he's experienced a lot, and as a result, he's learned to think a lot; I'm sure he has his reasons to keep things a secret from you."

"Hmph, all of you are on his side. Ever since he came to the Tang Sect, you guys don't even love me anymore." Ling Zichen pouted like an indignant little girl.

If Tang Wulin were to see her in her current state, his jaw would most likely drop straight to the ground.

Zang Xin strode over to her and patted her on the head. "How could we not love you? We've always seen you as our daughter. How about this? I can give him a beating if that'll please you."

Ling Zichen pursed her lips, and replied, "You wouldn't do that; he's the sect master. You guys are favoring him over me."

Zang Xin said, "Don't be so childish all the time, Zichen. Once Old Man Cao and I pass away, you and Wulin will have to support the Tang Sect. You've interacted with him for some time now; you should be able to see how exceptional he is. Old Man Cao and I both think that we made the best decision possible to latch onto Wulin before Shrek Academy could. Trust me; he's going to lead our Tang Sect to greater heights. However, at the same time, the burden on his shoulders is massive. Think about what you would be like in his shoes."

Ling Zichen faltered slightly upon hearing this. In her eyes, Tang Wulin always seemed to be thinking about something. He didn't seem to have any time for himself; his entire day was spent thinking and cultivating.

She couldn't take a look into his heart, but after hearing Zang Xin's words and placing herself into Tang Wulin's shoes, she was immediately struck by a sense of immense pressure.

"It's exactly because he's under so much pressure that we're asking you to help him. You are the core of wisdom and technology in our Tang Sect; you've been rated as the best scientist our Tang Sect has ever seen. Old Man Cao and I have always thought that you were the most intelligent person in this world, so if you can form a partnership with Wulin, you'll be invincible!"

Ling Zichen pursed her lips in response. "Who wants to form a partnership with him?"

Despite what she was saying, her expression had become noticeably more gentle.

Zang Xin chuckled, "Mutual trust takes time to build up; you clearly don't fully trust him right now, so why expect him to trust you? You're all good children; what we have to do is protect you so you can grow healthy and strong." 

"Alright." 

Right at this moment, the door of the conference room was opened, and Tang Wulin emerged from inside.

"Please come with me, Head Researcher Ling."

Zang Xin smiled and patted Ling Zichen on the back. "Go on. I'm rooting for you!"

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