Douluo: Legend of the Dragon King - The Voice of the Purple Emperor

Gu You could tell that when Long Yuxue mentioned investing, it was clearly because he currently had no merit and she didn't want him to be unable to increase his value after gaining merit in the future.

Good deeds always bring good rewards, otherwise why would anyone do good? Moreover, Long Yuxue's network of connections would be enough to help Gu You quickly open up the market. Under these circumstances, Gu You readily agreed.

Actually, Gu You hadn't originally planned to pursue forging because Long Yuxue had mentioned it wasn't a particularly merit-point-earning profession. But then he thought it could be a side job; forging in his spare time could earn him some points. Besides, he'd been stuck at level six forging for quite some time now, and it was time to try soul forging. Then he could directly craft three-word battle armor.

Long Yuxue even gave their forging workshop a name: Longyou Studio.

Gu Youdao said, "The workshop is ready. Boss, you can start taking on jobs for our workshop now. Anything related to forging is fine, but the price must be fair, and we only accept merit points. You can decide how much to charge. Just charge according to the difficulty of the forging."

"Alright!" Long Yuxue laughed, "Before you need to do any real combat, I'll find you something to do so you can earn some pocket money. Are you free this afternoon? I'll find you some work now. Repairing mechs and weapons requires using your own merit points, so we'll charge you a bit more than the legion's repair shop. I guarantee business will be booming. But, are your forging skills any good?"

Gu You patted his chest. "No problem, quality and quantity guaranteed, and speed is key. We're not afraid of a lot of work."

"Alright, go and prepare. At least the merit points you get from forging this thing will be enough for you to eat first." As she spoke, Long Yuxue walked out.

Gu You laughed and said, "Then you'd better find more work."

The two parted ways after leaving Long Yuxue's dormitory, chatting and laughing. Gu You was about to head to his forging workshop to make final preparations when someone blocked his way.

With the rank of lieutenant colonel on his shoulder, Jiang Wuyue's gaze towards Gu You was clearly unfriendly. He had noticed that Gu You had been frequently visiting Long Yuxue's dormitory these past few days. Although his sister had already inquired about it and learned that Gu You was mainly conducting recruit training with Long Yuxue, he still felt uneasy.

Within the Blood God Legion, there are many aristocratic families. These families are formed when their ancestors served in the army, and their descendants continue in the same way, generation after generation. These families hold high positions within the Blood God Legion. For example, the Long family, to which Long Yuxue belongs, has over a hundred members in the legion.

The same applies to the Jiang families of Jiang Wuyue and Jiang Qiyue; the two families are also very close.

Jiang Wuyue has liked Long Yuxue since childhood, but perhaps because he always had a runny nose as a child and was nicknamed "Snotty-nosed," Long Yuxue was indifferent to him and always spoke coldly to him. Now that they've both grown up and reached the age of settling down, Jiang Wuyue's feelings have become increasingly heavy, but Long Yuxue is as cold as an ice hedgehog, making it impossible for him to make a move.

Gu You had only been there a short time, but Jiang Wuyue had already noticed that the smile she might not see even once a year had appeared on Long Yuxue's face with Gu You at least five or six times. How could she not be jealous?

"Ancient travel." Jiang Wuyue called out in a deep voice.

"Good morning, sir." Gu You almost stood up straight, then gave Jiang Wuyue a military salute.

"Alright, no need for formalities. I'm not speaking to you as a superior, but as a man," Jiang Wuyue said in a deep voice.

Even a fool could guess why this person had come, and Gu You couldn't help but give a wry smile. "Uh, so what do you need?"

Jiang Wuyue cut to the chase: "I've liked rain and snow for many years. I challenge you to a one-on-one duel. If you win, I'll stay far away; if you lose, well..." He scratched his head, unable to finish his sentence.

Gu You thought he would say that if he lost, he would stay away from Long Yuxue.

Jiang Wuyue muttered to herself, "Rain and snow aren't commodities either, so it seems we can't give that up. Fine, I don't like you anyway, let's have a fight. Putting everything else aside, I just want to beat you up, it's that simple. Do you dare? Let's go to the battle room."

Gu You almost burst out laughing. This guy was really naive. "Sir, first of all, I have to tell you. There's no way I could ever like her, and besides, I've already fallen for someone. This is my only advice, and I hope you won't bother me again. But I still have to say, don't force yourself to like something you don't like, sir. We can't be simps... well, there are plenty of fish in the sea. Why chase after just one? You must leave the Blood God Legion someday and go see the real bustling cities in the Federation's interior. There are plenty of beautiful girls there. But I'm being realistic. However, with your high-level Soul Master status, I believe finding a beautiful one will be very easy."

Jiang Wuyue was taken aback. "You have someone you like?" But in an instant, his expression turned vicious. "Kid, you're not trying to have your cake and eat it too, are you?"

Gu You almost threw up everything he ate yesterday. How could this guy break his promise?!

He didn't listen to what he should have heard, but he listened to everything he shouldn't have.

"Alright, sir, I'll fight you. But we can't use Commander Long as a wager. But we can't just have a fight like this. How about we wager our battle merits? Name your price."

Raising an eyebrow, Jiang Wuyue said, "Military merits? Where did you get the military merits to bet with me?"

Gu You said, "Just because I don't have it now doesn't mean I won't have it in the future. Look, I was promoted to second lieutenant right away, which proves that I have at least some potential. If I lose, I'll earn merit in battle later to repay you."

Jiang Wuyue thought for a moment and said, "Okay, I'll provide the merit points for the battle room, and then I'll bet you a thousand merit points. Are you in?"

Gu Youdao said, "A thousand? That's a bit low, isn't it?" To be promoted from second lieutenant to first lieutenant, you need ten thousand merit points. How are ten thousand merit points calculated? For abyssal creatures like the Four-Clawed Bat, each one is worth ten merit points. Killing a thousand of them is enough. But for abyssal creatures like Ba'an, each one is worth two thousand merit points. If it's a multi-person cooperative operation, the Blood God Legion has its own special system that distributes merit points based on contributions during the battle.

"A thousand is too little? You've just arrived; you might not even accumulate that much in two or three months. Kid, do you want to lose even your underwear?" Jiang Wuyue said irritably. That day at dinner, Gu You ate over three thousand of his merit points in one go; thinking about it now still stung…

(End of this chapter)