With Ma Shan's strength, it came as a surprise to Tang Wulin that he had lost in the group stages. He was a two-word battle armor master with an eight-ring Soul Douluo's rank. The only thing stopping him from becoming a three-word battle armor master was the completion of his battle armor. However, Ma Shan lost two of the group matches. Hence, he was unable to proceed to the final top sixteen.

Tang Wulin's group was relatively weaker in their overall strength. The abilities he displayed were unique which led to him being listed as one of the hottest picks. Nobody knew the rank of his cultivation base. With the concealing ability he learned from the Demon Island, he was able to conceal his true cultivation base with ease.

That was why the number of soul rings he released in every match seemed different. Their color combinations were odd as well. It was one of the highlights of this year's competition.

Nevertheless, there were a few familiar faces in the finals. There were two that he was most familiar with

Ye Xinglan sat cross-legged with closed eyes in the silent room. Although she was meditating, her body still unleashed a distinctive aura that was difficult to describe.

Her navy blue military uniform meant that she was in the navy. On her shoulders were two golden bars and two golden stars, the rank of a commander.

Selected from the new recruits, she and Xu Lizhi had relied on their own strengths to get into the navy. It was the federal Eastsea Fleet which was known as an invincible fleet. It was also the most powerful fleet of the Federation.

In terms of troop numbers, there was not much of a difference between the Eastsea Army Corps and the Northsea Army Corps. However, in terms of the soldiers' strengths and equipment, the Northsea Army Corps was beyond compare. They were the elite among the elites.

Behind the Eastsea Army Corps, stood the federal Battle God Hall. The supreme force here was the federal parliament.

The commanding officer of the Eastsea Army Corps was an admiral, a true high-ranking official in the army.

The Eastsea Army Corps' military rules were straightforward. Only the strong would be recruited. As long as one had martial strength, it would be quite easy to get promoted. No one dared display favoritism or commit any infractions under the supervision of the Battle God Hall. Besides, the Eastsea Army Corps strongly advocated personal martial strength among all the armies in the Federation.

Ye Xinglan and Xu Lizhi disguised themselves to join the army and took part in the exams.

Undoubtedly, a food-type Soul Emperor instantly caught everyone's attention. When he first arrived, Xu Lizhi received more attention than Ye Xinglan. The reason was simple. A Soul Emperor-ranked food-type soul master could supply all the food needed for a battleship when they were at war. As long as the soul masters on the battleship were being fed, it could virtually keep battling at sea.

After they had enlisted, Xu Lizhi was directly commissioned as a lieutenant commander. Among the Shrek Seven Monsters, he was conferred the highest military rank after enlistment.

Xu Lizhi was an effective commander in the Eastsea Army Corps' logistics department. He had shown outstanding performance during one of the drills. With his bun martial soul, he gave his battleship a great enhancement and was rewarded with the highest compliments from the army. He only had to wait three months before he was promoted to a captain.

A month had passed since the combat drill. It was still fondly remembered by everyone. Xu Lizhi was at the peak of his career. As he made various buns, he hid them at a few crucial battle posts using the Tang Sect's hidden weapon techniques. In fact, the ones that had the most impact were not the Recovery Pork Buns, but the Agility Soup Buns. The soup buns greatly increased the efficiency of all the battle units. The mecha troops on the battleship were also enhanced by his Bloodthirst Bean Buns. When they battled against another battleship's mechas, they defeated their opponents despite being evenly-matched.

It could be said that Xu Lizhi's strength alone was the deciding factor in the battle.

This was the advantage of having a high-ranked food-type soul master. After the drill, he became the most sought after soul master by all the main battleships. It got him a promotion fairly quick. He was known as the new rising star of the Eastsea Fleet's logistics department. Once he broke through the Soul Saint's realm, he held more important positions.

As far as the Eastsea Fleet was concerned, they hoped that he could dedicate his efforts to become a food-type Title Douluo in the future. In the entire continent, there were only two existing food-type Title Douluos. They were over eighty years old and could not possibly serve in the army anymore. Once a fleet had a Title Douluo food-type soul master, the fleet could even be called an eternal fleet.

Hence, Xu Lizhi was a strategic talent in the fleet.

Compared to Xu Lizhi, the path Ye Xinglan took was starkly different. As a six-ring Soul Emperor, she could have been commissioned as a lieutenant commander. However, it was not the case for the Eastsea Fleet. The Eastsea Fleet had strict requirements. Besides, they had a large number of experts to begin with. Plain old strength was not enough, it had to be combat strength. These two strengths were not the same. Many soul masters recommended by the academy could hardly demonstrate their cultivation bases after they joined the army.

There were well-set rules in the Eastsea Army Corps which stipulated the highest rank a true battle soul master could receive was a lieutenant. Hence, Ye Xinglan joined as a lieutenant.

The reason why she was able to become a commander in such a short period of time was completely due to her own efforts!

The Eastsea Army Corps advocated personal martial strength the most. There were various competitions within the army. Ye Xinglan had relied on her super powerful personal strength to win three solo competitions. Her achievements had caught the attention of the higher-ups.

She was a very beautiful young lady. At the same time, she displayed super powerful combat strength. This made the army's top-ranking officials focus on her even more.

Not long ago, she had relied on her powerful Sword's Consciousness with an indomitable will to defeat a Soul Douluo-ranked two-word battle armor master. Following that, she was promoted to a commander. Ye Xinglan was also seriously wounded during the battle. Not to mention, she had risked her life to defeat her opponent. The Soul Douluo-ranked two-word battle armor master, who was also a senior colonel was fearful in the face of her terrifying Sword's Consciousness.

From that day onward, Ye Xinglan had the moniker of the Battle Goddess!

Everyone knew the Starlight Battle Goddess. Ye Xinglan had registered her martial soul as the Starlight Sword, not the Stargod Sword.

After joining the army, she was not in the same department as Xu Lizhi. They had the same goals, though the paths they took were different. Both of them had taken Tang Wulin's advice and begun to practice operating the mecha. They had already mastered the basic controls of the mechas.

Xu Lizhi had worked especially hard in this regard. In addition, the army had given him ample support in terms of resources. Hence, he made vast improvements in his mecha operating skills.

Ye Xinglan was silently meditating. She currently had a fervent battle will. Not far from her, there was a Star Dou Cabin being sold at a high price in the market.

She represented the Eastsea Army Corps in the competition. She was the only one left from the army who made it to the top sixteen of the solo matches. The army's top officials had promised her that if she made it into the quarter-finals, they would bend the rules and promote her to a captain. In the event she turned out to be the winner for the finals, they would make her a senior colonel.

On the mountain peak, a small figure slowly hurled a punch. Suddenly a gale broke out on the mountain-top. Far away, a giant imprint of a fist was slowly etched onto a cluster of clouds by the shockwaves. Although it only lasted for a while, the fist's imprint was a splendid sight indeed.

The figure spun again and threw another punch. Her movements were relatively quiet, but the mountain-top was once again battered by a strong wind. She appeared to be a vicious beast that could create a wind and disperse the clouds!

Her actions were excruciatingly slow. However, she silently warped the space around her. A vortex formed by the clouds and the mist slowly appeared in the sky. Her movements began to pick up speed. With each punch she threw, the air would shake violently and the vortex would enlarge slightly.

Circles of soul rings rose from under her feet. There were as many as six rings. Two purples and four blacks. It was definitely a combination of high-ranking soul rings.

Suddenly, she let out a skyward roar. Her roar was consistent and did not scatter. The clouds in the sky were suddenly sucked into her fists. When she threw her punches again, the vortex-shaped clouds shot out of her fists. Each punch was more powerful than the previous one. The air shook violently. Even the faraway mountain peaks seemed to convulse.

This went on for a quarter of an hour before she finally stopped her exercise. She then pressed her palms down to relax. Afterward, when a mountain gale blew, large swathes of rock powder were scattered through the air. The height of the mountain was lowered by a foot. The rocks were pulverized by the force from her punches, but they had remained in place and maintained their form until the wind blew. In terms of soul power utilization, her control was extremely precise.